Datasets:

karukas

/

mediasum-summary-matching

like 1

Trump, Biden Make Case to Voters at Dueling Town Halls; GOP Senator Slams Trump, Warns of Republican Blood Bath.

SCIUTTO: Well, you may have heard there's an election in a couple weeks' time, and many people are already voting and the president and Joe Biden fighting for last-minute holdouts, undecideds ahead of November 3rd. It comes as a Republican is warning of a blood bath for the GOP. Listen to what Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said on a call with 17,000 constituents.</s>SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): If young people become permanent Democrats because they've just been repulsed by the obsessive nature of our politics or if women who were willing to still vote with the Republican Party in 2016 decide that they need to turn away from this party permanently in the future, the debate is not going to be, Ben Sasse, why were you so mean to Donald Trump? It's going to be what the heck were any of us thinking that selling a T.V. obsessed narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea. It is not a good idea.</s>HARLOW: We are joined now by David Gergen, former adviser to four presidents and Axios Political and White House Editor Margaret Talev. Good morning to you, both. David, we know Ben Sasse didn't vote for the president before, he's not been a huge -- I will note he's voted with the president, though, 86 percent of the time. But it's kind of like it's still wow when you hear it, right? And I wonder what you think it means for the party, right? It's -- I mean, is it like, you know, all of a sudden Nebraska is going to become blue for the first time since 1964 or what?</s>DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. But I do -- I think that the impact of this is going to come after the elections. If the Republicans lose this election, Ben Sasse's comments are going to be mild compared to what we're going to hear from a lot of other Republicans who have, in many ways, cowardly not spoken up yet. They're going to get, again, into a real fight about the future of the Republican Party when this is over. It will not be pretty, it will divide the base but it will be healthy for the party.</s>SCIUTTO: Margaret Talev, we do have this election coming up in a couple of weeks, people have already started voting. There are though undecideds. And I wonder when you looked at last night, did you see from Trump or Biden, frankly, an appeal -- a workable appeal to undecideds that makes a difference at this point?</s>MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Jim, you know, I think Biden's appeal to undecideds is this notion that he can unite the country, that he is committed to protecting or reaching out to or including Republicans or people who opposed him and maybe he thinks that will appeal to some independents. But, really, I think both of the -- the problem with Biden is that last night's performance wasn't exactly like energizing. We saw him kind of -- there was a young African-American male voter who just didn't seem particularly enthused but more resigned to his choices. But I think with President Trump, you really -- if you are in the middle and undecided and looking for any sense of sort of calm or resolution or, you know, next chapters, you didn't get that last night. You got a fight. And if a fight is what you wanted, you probably already know where you are. But I don't think either candidate is really thinking about the undecideds at this point. I think for both of them, it's clearly about energizing their base and turnout, President Trump working to depress turnout for Biden and Biden just trying to energize as much turnout for himself as possible. But you wouldn't see President Trump courting seniors today in Florida or making a trip to Georgia unless he was really in trouble in some strongholds. So that tells you a lot.</s>HARLOW: To that point, Margaret, just quickly, you believe on the energizing point that Biden did not do a strong enough job last night of energizing young black men.</s>TALEV: I think it's a potential concern but only in battleground states where it's really, really close. I mean, African-American voters, male and female, overwhelmingly support Democrats but President Trump, all the polls tell us, at least, has ticked up a couple of percentage points with younger black men or black men, in general. And for Biden, if he has a turnout problem in other segments of the Democratic Party, you know, we all know how close this race came in a handful of key states, that's President Trump's best hope now, some of those same states as before, right, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has got a bunch of legal challenges also. So, really, every vote is going to count in Pennsylvania.</s>SCIUTTO: David Gergen, you've watched a fair number of elections in your time, including 2016 when so many folks were surprised by the end result. There is a view of this race that you hear in Senator Sasse's comments there, right, and that other Republicans are saying privately about a fear of not just a loss but a landslide. I just wonder, do you believe that at this point?</s>GERGEN: Look, I think Senator Ben Sasse wouldn't have spoken up that way if he felt this was truly going to be a very, very close election, and maybe because he would then be -- he'd be thrown out of the party, in effect, for tipping it over. I have a somewhat different view from Margaret. I think what Joe Biden did last night was to reassure voters. I don't think he brought out a lot of new voters but I think he gave reassurances that he is going to be a normal kind of person that somebody can relate to. Susan Glasser, I thought, had it right in the commentary this morning when she said it was Mr. Rogers on one side versus your nasty uncle on the other in that context (ph). But one other point that's important, while it's true that -- you know, that neither side thinks they're going to win over many independents, but a lot now depends on turnout. And the Democrats, even though the registration numbers over the last few years favor the Republicans, the turnouts so far have been astonishing and they favor the Democrats. And I think that Biden is -- he's not sitting on a lead but I think he's trying to solidify the kinds of people coming to the polls.</s>HARLOW: Margaret, I know it's probably really different in a pandemic, but if the phrase, you know, it's the economy, stupid, still holds, at least to a certain extent, you have the president who still beats Biden on the economy in polling or is pretty neck and neck with him. And even Biden advisers will say they need to be stronger on the economy message. And you heard the president last night say, we have got the strongest economy in the world, we set a record 11.4 million jobs. I mean, he forgets the fact that we're still down 10.7 million jobs since March. Given that and given the poverty numbers we've been talking about here, how many more Americans are being pushed into poverty, does the Biden camp need to be much stronger on their economic message?</s>TALEV: You know, this is a difficult question, right, because, yes, voters vote on the economy. But the pandemic and real concerns about the way the president has handled it, including the economic implications, are working for Biden. They are helping drive so much of the support around him because the contrast to the way President Trump handled this situation. So I think Biden is going to be very careful not to pivot too fast from the pandemic. It's such a strong issue for him. But I do think to the extent that he can tie the economy and concerns about what's going to happen next with the economy, the longer term effects of this pandemic, that's probably his route for making this case in some of those crucial battleground states in closing weeks but not to the extent that it would pull away from the pandemic. He's stronger on the health news right now, why walk away from that?</s>SCIUTTO: David, we still have one more presidential debate on the schedule next week, right, what was meant to be the third but will be the second, if it happens. Did last night give us any hints as to how that might go, if any differently from the first one, which, of course, was notably contentious?</s>GERGEN: Well, I think the only real question is, is Donald Trump going to try to change stripes, is he going to try to show some other side of him that's not come out? So far, I think we've had a couple of nights out here now and plus a Kamala debate. And so far, I think the Democrats have won every encounter like this. The Democrats do have a message, and Trump does not have a message. I do think, and I have to go to Margaret's point about the economy, Joe Biden needs to drive home now that he's not going to be taxing people who make under $400,000 a year. That point is still very much in contention. The Republicans are attacking it. And I can tell you, there are a lot of middle class people who will vote to a large extent upon getting that kind of reassurance.</s>HARLOW: Very good points. Thank you all. Try to have a restful weekend, because I think it's going to be another busy week ahead. Thanks, Margaret, thanks David.</s>TALEV: Thanks.</s>GERGEN: Thank you.</s>SCIUTTO: Well, we'll try. We'll try. More than 30 states are seeing a rise now in coronavirus, new infections, several of those setting records as they do. We're going to have a live update on the hardest hit states in this country. That's coming up next.

Trump to Campaign in Wisconsin; Misconceptions about Covid-19

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. The surge of new COVID-19 infections that health experts had warned about might happen this fall, it's here, sadly. And the northern Midwest in particular is already being hit especially hard. Cases skyrocketing in states like Wisconsin.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Our correspondent, Adrienne Broaddus joins us again in Janesville, Wisconsin, where the president is set to hold a rally tomorrow despite the surging cases there. Many are worried that this could be another super spreader event because they are not mandating masks, right? They've giving them out, but there's no mandate.</s>ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy and -- absolutely, you have it right. Officials here are not only worried, but the governor is pleading with folks here in Wisconsin to stay home. The test positivity rate tops 21 percent, more than 3,700 new cases were reported yesterday. And in the last six weeks, the average case number nearly quadrupled. In the same time period, the average number of the deaths nearly tripled. But despite these troubling numbers, President Trump is still expected to come here tomorrow for a rally. We're in Janesville. You might remember, this is the same town the president was planning to visit before he tested positive for COVID-19. By contrast, the president's task force is reminding people here in Wisconsin to wear a mask, socially stay distant from folks around you, or prevent -- or risk, I should say, preventable deaths. And the governor echoes that message. Governor Tony Evers said mass gatherings is not the way to stop the spread of the virus.</s>GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WI): We've had many record-setting days recently for hospitalizations, new cases and COVID-19 deaths. And just because some folks out there want to see full bars and full hospitals doesn't mean we have to follow their lead.</s>BROADDUS: And did you pick up what the governor was throwing down? Essentially, if the numbers of cases goes up, you will see more hospitalizations. And we know what has happened to so many people who were sent to the hospital to be treated for COVID-19. They never came home. Back to you.</s>SCIUTTO: Adrienne Broaddus, good to have you there. I mean, I think of all the families being impacted by this. Well, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about the virus, and, sadly, some of them spread by the president himself.</s>HARLOW: That's right. What is the truth? What is the best strategy for getting COVID-19 under control? Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, clears up the confusion.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I went through it and now they say I'm immune. I can feel -- I feel so powerful, I'll walk into that audience.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Misconception number one, once you get COVID-19, you're forever immune. One study has shown that neutralizing antibodies are produced for at least five months after someone's been infected, but we don't know just how that translates to how long someone will be protected or immunized after an infection.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're starting to see a number of cases that are being reported of people who get re-infected, well-documented cases of people who were infected after a relatively brief period of time. So you really have to be careful that you're not completely, quote, immune.</s>GUPTA: Misconception two, we should try to mitigate this virus by naturally achieving herd immunity.</s>DR. SCOTT ATLAS, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: It's important for people to understand medical science, to know that natural human immunity of populations, that is sometimes called herd immunity, it's very important that that develops. That's how viruses are eradicated.</s>GUPTA: Let me clarify something, herd immunity is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just a question of how you get there. One way is a vaccine, which many people are hopeful for, but what Dr. Scott Atlas seems to be describing is just letting the infection run free. And now this idea has gained more traction with a controversial declaration written by some scientists who seem to be encouraging those who are not vulnerable to go ahead and get exposed to COVID-19, to resume normal life in order to reach herd immunity.</s>DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CDC: A majority of our nation, more than 90 percent of the population, remains susceptible.</s>GUPTA: What CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is talking about is a study that shows fewer than 10 percent of the people in the United States have likely been infected. Now, keep in mind, to achieve herd immunity, that number would need to be around 60 to 70 percent of the population. Now considering more than 217,000 people have already died from COVID-19 with 10 percent infected, look at what 60 percent infection could mean. IHME calculates this could mean more than 1.2 million deaths.</s>TEDROS ADHANOM, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: It's scientifically and</s>GUPTA: Misconception three, early travel restrictions helped prevent millions of deaths.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The country would have been left wide open, millions of people would have died, not 200,000.</s>GUPTA: On February 2nd, the Trump administration began to implement travel restrictions from mainland China. Restrictions but not a complete ban. Since U.S. citizens and permanent residents were still able to travel into the country from China.</s>DR. PAUL SAX, CLINICAL DIRECTOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES DIVISION, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: Travel bans could potentially prevent the spread of infection in a country, but not if they're instituted solely for the people who are traveling as citizens of the foreign countries.</s>GUPTA: And an analysis by the CDC found that the restrictions on travel from Europe came too late, since by March 15th there was already widespread infection in New York City, an early epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. Back then we had fewer than 100 deaths. Now we are have more than 200,000. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.</s>SCIUTTO: Listen to the facts. They matter. Well, many American families are hurting right now. Perhaps many of you. And another stimulus package badly needed. So how can one get done when President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have not personally spoken in a year?

Ballot Ruling in North Carolina; Texas Judge Strikes down Drop Box Limits.

HARLOW: Well, this morning, the election is very much underway, right? In some fashion, people are voting in all 50 states this morning. And while we're 18 days out from the official election, more than 17 million people have already cast their ballot. In North Carolina, lawmakers are pushing to stop absentee ballots from being accepted after Election Day. In Texas, a state judge is striking down Governor Greg Abbott's order limiting ballot drop boxes, you've heard a lot about this, to one per county. That's caused a lot of confusion because a federal appeals court upheld Abbott's order earlier this week.</s>SCIUTTO: Let's talk about all these developments. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us now. Let's begin with North Carolina. What is the law there about went absentee ballots can be accepted if they're postmarked before the election, and what then is the GOP's effort intending to do here?</s>KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, let's take a step back. All of this is coming after a mixed ruling earlier in the week. Meaning, of course, that Republicans won a little, voter advocacy groups won a little, but they also all lost a little bit. Now, in terms of a win for Republicans, a judge ruled that every single ballot, in order to be counted, had to have a witness signature. In a winning -- excuse me, in a win for voter advocacy groups, a judge ruled that the ballots, if they had some mistakes, could still be fixed and counted. A big win there. And then the other one was this 12 days after Election Day. Now we see these GOP lawmakers, they are filing appeals on both of these. And that's the question, Jim, is what is the law? They had just ruled that you can count them up to 12 days afterwards. Now, of course, that could be not in effect. It's causing a lot of confusion for a lot of these voters. And really what it means is that there are thousands of ballots right now that are currently in limbo, particularly when it comes to fixing those mistakes, because North Carolina state officials had told ballot counters to put aside ballots with errors until this was solved. And, clearly, this is still not solved.</s>SCIUTTO: OK, so Texas, it seemed like this issue was done, right, this idea of having only one ballot drop box per county, even a county like Harris County with five million some odd people. But now a Texas judge has struck that down. Where does this go from here?</s>HOLMES: Jim, that is the big question. And, unfortunately, not only do we not know, but the voters in Texas don't know either. There's a lot of confusion around this issue as to what exactly is going to happen next. Now, we do know that an appeal has been filed by the state. They are trying to issue a stay again so that none of these ballot boxes are put back in place. But there's a real lack of understanding of what happens in this kind of situation given that we have an appeals court that had said that it would uphold Governor Abbott's ruling. And now we have another judge striking it down. So this is a bit of an unprecedented situation and really, again, it effects the voters the most. But I do want to say two things here because this is a very positive thing. One, despite all of this confusion in Texas, we still saw record numbers showing up to vote in person earlier this week and it's happening all across the country. In Louisiana today we have already started to see those long lines. It is the first day of early, in- person voting there.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes, it looks like folks are saying, hey, whatever the roadblocks, I'm going to get my vote counted.</s>HOLMES: Absolutely.</s>SCIUTTO: Kristen Holmes, good to have you on this every day. And, folks, we're going to continue to bring this to you every day because it's important. If you want to find your polling station, your voter registration status, get information on absentee or early voting, the facts, not all the claims floating around out there, please go to cnn.com/vote. A lot of stuff there can help you out. Today, the U.S. could reach 8 million confirmed coronavirus infections as more than half the country right now is dealing with this growing surge.

COVID-19 Case Counts Continue to Rise

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, look at the map, it's concerning. This morning, 32 states across this country are seeing a rise in new coronavirus infections. Many of those are reporting their highest levels -- record levels -- since this outbreak began.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Our correspondent Adrienne Broaddus joins us, she's following the numbers. Good morning. So much of that map is orange, which means cases are up 10 to 50 percent there. And it seems like it's even more states every single day.</s>ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. You can throw a dart and it can land anywhere on the map, and they're seeing an increase in cases. Experts say students returning to college campuses has helped lead to the spread of the virus. And think about it, back in September, folks celebrated the Labor Day holiday, so small family gatherings has also contributed to the spread. Let's take a closer look at what we're seeing on this map. Let's start with Michigan. Michigan reports a new record high of COVID-19 cases. Michigan isn't alone, let's slide to the south and you see Arkansas reports the highest daily COVID-19 cases count on record. And Ohio's governor reports a record number of cases for the second day in a row. North Carolina, also reporting the highest daily COVID-19 case count. And as we've been telling you throughout the morning, Wisconsin reports the highest daily total of COVID-19-positive cases with more than 3,700 cases. Listen, we're in the middle of a crisis. We've said this repeatedly, but it's worth saying again. A tiny mask like this is small, but health experts say it can solve a big problem -- Poppy and Jim.</s>HARLOW: So true.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>HARLOW: Undeniable facts, Jim's favorite phrase, "follow the science" --</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>HARLOW: -- a good reminder for us, Adrienne. Thank you very much. Well, according to a new study, in just the past three months, 6 million Americans have been pushed into poverty, 6 million. And it's getting worse. We'll talk about it with an economist, next.

Millions in U.S. Entered Poverty in Last Three Months

HARLOW: Welcome back. So we're learning new and devastating details about just how many people's lives have been derailed by this pandemic economically. Researchers from the University of Chicago and Notre Dame say that poverty has grown by 6 million people in the U.S. in just the last three months, with circumstances worsening particularly for black people and children. All of this as the federal government fails to support the American people with a new stimulus bill. Joining me now to discuss the implications here, Michelle Holder, economics professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Good morning and thanks for being here.</s>MICHELLE HOLDER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Hi, good morning, Poppy. Thank you for having me.</s>HARLOW: Of course. So we heard the president say last night in his town hall, quote, "We have the strongest economy in the world." That may be true for the top earners, when you look at how unequal this has been, the top 25 percent of earners are actually -- there are more jobs in that space and there are so many fewer jobs for those in the bottom quarter. Researchers at Columbia this week, saying that 8 million people in the U.S. have slipped into poverty since May, and there's still no stimulus deal. So I guess my question to you this morning is, is this really any sort of economic recovery for most Americans?</s>HOLDER: No, not really for most Americans. I think that those Americans who were well positioned before the pandemic occurred -- and of course the resulting pandemic recession -- are still OK. But for lower wage workers, for struggling families, for working-class families, this is simply not a recovery for them, no.</s>HARLOW: I was looking at some data yesterday from Northwestern, and I was so stunned by the chart, I kept re-reading it. But what it shows is that 41 percent of black households in America right now with children -- 41 percent -- do not have enough to eat, 36 percent for Hispanic households with children. You've done a lot of research on the overall economic picture and economic recovery, and the inability to bounce back without lifting up black families. What policies would do that right now?</s>HOLDER: Well, we certainly need another round of stimulus. And it is unfortunate that right now, the Congress, the Senate, the president, Secretary Mnuchin can't seem to come to an agreement. The sooner the better with a new package. We are going to get a package, the question is the timing. So that would go a long way in helping black families. Also, you know, about half of black children in the U.S. grow up in single-parent homes. As you might imagine, these homes have few resources to rely on. And certainly with school reopenings across the country being quite uneven, one might imagine that there are many single black mothers who are struggling, particularly if they need to be physically at their work environment while their children are potentially doing schooling from home. So those women may have no recourse other than to leave the job market. We don't want to see that, we don't need, you know more --</s>HARLOW: But it's happening.</s>HOLDER: -- unemployed single mothers. Go ahead, Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Michelle, it's happening, it's happening! I mean, look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics --</s>HOLDER: Yes.</s>HARLOW: -- data from September, 865,000 women left the workforce in the month versus 216,000 men. And McKinsey says as many as 2 million women, right now in America, are considering leaving work. And a lot of it's because of a lack of a child care plan, so what do we do?</s>HOLDER: Right. Poppy, you know, it's -- I've been warning about this. If anyone sort of, you know, has followed me or followed my comments in the media, I have been warning about the issue of moms having to leave the workforce because their children are either doing distance learning or in hybrid models. What do we do? We need some significant child care options for mothers who have to be physically at their workspace, but their children may be doing schooling in a hybrid model or completely remote model. We've got to figure out some type of child care model for those children --</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>HOLDER: -- or else these women, it's what we've seen with mass exodus from the labor market.</s>HARLOW: I also think for fathers too, who are often equal and primary caregivers as well, not as often as women -- who bear a lot of the burden --</s>HOLDER: Right.</s>HARLOW: -- but still for dads too. And by the way, I think it's not just on the government, it's also on the private sector. There are some big companies -- Bank of America, for example -- that are giving stipends to employees to help with child care in a moment like this. Final question -- 30 seconds left -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday it's going to be really hard to get a deal done before the election. Not impossible, but hard. What is the economic consequence of not having one?</s>HOLDER: I mean, we're seeing it, right? The number of people in poverty has increased by 6 to 8 million over the course of the last three months. We -- I personally don't think we're going to get a new stimulus package before Election Day. This is -- we just simply cannot delay this any further. We need something quicker, something sooner. You know, short of that, what we're going to find is more children, more families dealing with poverty, dealing with hunger, dealing with homelessness.</s>HARLOW: Yes. Well, it's a dire situation for sure. We appreciate your expertise this morning, Michelle, thanks so much.</s>HOLDER: Thank you, Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Jim.</s>SCIUTTO: Goodness, yes, and all this in America in 2020, such poverty. Great to do that story. Well, we heard the president refuse to denounce the far-right conspiracy group QAnon last night. Coming up, one former believer shares his story: how he got out and his message to those who still believe.

QAnon Numbers Rose During Lockdown.

HARLOW: So on the same day that YouTube said that it will crack down on QAnon conspiracy theories, the president refused to denounce the conspiracy theorists.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know nothing about QAnon --</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC HOST: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: -- I know very -- you told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia, they fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you would like me to --</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.</s>TRUMP: -- study the --</s>SCIUTTO: And that's the key point there, this whole sex cult thing that the president said, maybe it's true, maybe it isn't. That's where we are. CNN business reporter Donie O'Sullivan joins us now with the story of how one former QAnon believer got out. Donie, remarkable to hear this view from the inside.</s>DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN TECH REPORTER: Hey, Jim. Yes, as you mentioned, it's -- QAnon is essentially a virtual cult and it's quickly gaining popularity not just here in the U.S., but also around the world. And now a former follower is speaking out, telling CNN how the conspiracy theory drew him in. And he says it's tearing families apart. Have a listen.</s>JITARTH JADEJA, FORMER QANON BELIEVER: Looking back, it seems so obvious. That I was like probably in a deep depression when I found</s>Q. O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Jitarth Jadeja, who is 32, says he found QAnon on the internet in 2017. Though he's Australian, he had previously lived in the U.S. and was already interested in American politics.</s>JADEJA: I think superficially, it did seem like it gave me comfort and I didn't realize the nefarious kind of impact it was having on me because it was very insidious, how it slowly disconnected me from reality.</s>O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): QAnon is a baseless conspiracy theory with a growing online community of believers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are</s>Q! O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): At the heart of the theory is Q, an anonymous insider who purportedly reveals information via cryptic posts. The theory claims there is a deep state within the U.S. government that is controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, and that President Donald Trump is trying to take them down.</s>JADEJA: I would have been so happy to see Hillary Clinton dragged in front of a military tribunal. That still bothers me to this day, that how willing and happy and joyfully I would have reacted to something that I would normally want no part in.</s>O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Jadeja followed QAnon for over two years: long enough, he says, to share the theories with his father.</s>JADEJA: We used to talk about it a lot. We'd show each other things, like, did you see that? Did you see that?</s>CINDY OTIS, V.P. OF ANALYSIS, ALETHEA GROUP: We tend to underestimate the extent to which these sorts of narratives are appealing. You have people who are essentially looking for answers. They want to know why bad things are happening in their lives, and so it's a very compelling narrative to say, all of this is orchestrated. There's a cabal coming after you, they're trying to make your miserable. You want an answer for why bad things are happening? Here they are.</s>O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): While there aren't good estimates for the number of Q followers, it's clear their ranks are growing. And now, the FBI has warned that conspiracy theories like QAnon could very likely motivate criminal, sometimes violent activity in the U.S. For Jadeja, cracks had already begun to form about QAnon when he started noticing logical inconsistencies in theories. The turning point came when he watched a video that disproved the final part of the conspiracy he believed in.</s>JADEJA: That kind of like shattered me. Like, I've never felt so down -- it was the worst feeling I've ever had in my life, it's like, I'm like, I cannot trust my thoughts and emotions any more. I don't know what to do. I was full of self-loathing.</s>O'SULLIVAN: You know, you obviously went down the Q rabbit hole and got back out. For people who are very deeply entrenched and believe in it now, is there any way to sort of bring them back?</s>JADEJA: Yes, there is. But it has to start with empathy and understanding, allowing them to keep their dignity. Because otherwise, what's their incentive? You have to admit you were wrong, so wrong for so many years and that you were made a fool of.</s>O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Jadeja says he feels deep guilt over sharing QAnon theories with his dad. Jadeja's father did not respond to CNN's multiple attempts to contact him.</s>JADEJA: And that is why that this is a big problem, not just because people are being taken in and their families are like being ripped apart. This is an existential battle between good and evil that these people think they're fighting.</s>HARLOW: Wow, what a story, Donie. How significant that just yesterday, YouTube finally cracked down on people spreading these conspiracy theories on their platform just after Facebook did the same. For years, they've been using those platforms.</s>O'SULLIVAN: Yes. All these social media platforms now are basically trying to close the barn door after the QAnon horse has bolted. QAnon and all these conspiracy theories really became very popular over the COVID lockdown. You know, so many of us are at home with a lot more time on our hands, and a lot of people spent more time online. I've been at QAnon events, Trump rallies with so many people who told me they got into QAnon because they saw it on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and YouTube. It's good these companies are taking a step now, but it is a bit too late.</s>HARLOW: Donie, thank you for the reporting. And thanks to all of you for joining us today and all week. We'll see you back here Monday morning, have a good weekend. I'm Poppy Harlow.</s>SCIUTTO: I'm Jim Sciutto. It's Friday, enjoy it. NEWSROOM with John King starts after a short break.

GOP Sen Attacks Trump As "TV Obsessed" & "Narcissistic"

KING: Some Republicans are beginning to say out loud what they have been whispering in the past four years. The way President Trump conducts himself is driving away key voters and driving the Republican Party to the edge of a demographic cliff. This is Republican Senator Ben Sasse. Listen here, speaking to constituents back home in Ruby Red Nebraska.</s>SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): If young people become permanent Democrats because they've just been repulsed by the obsessive nature of our politics, or if women who were willing to still vote with the Republican Party on 2016 decided that they need to turn away from this party permanently in the future, the debate is not going to be, you know, Ben Sasse, why were you so mean to Donald Trump? It's going to be, what the heck were any of us thinking that selling a TV-obsessed narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea? It is not a good idea.</s>KING: Joining us now the former Republican senator and our CNN senior political commentator, Rick Santorum. Senator, again, a lot of Republicans have been whispering things you yourself while trying to help the President sometimes have said, Sir, please stop conducting yourself like this. Is Ben Sasse right? Is Donald Trump driving away young voters and women to the point where the party will be on the edge of a demographic cliff?</s>RICK SANTORUM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hello?</s>KING: Senator, I don't know. Can you hear me now?</s>SANTORUM: I somewhat -- I just heard someone on the iffy come over and I didn't hear your question. I'm sorry.</s>KING: OK. That's all right. That's all right. No, it happens in this wacky world we live in. My point, Senator Sasse --</s>SANTORUM: Yes.</s>KING: Senator Sasse says that young people, women are leaving the Republican Party in droves because of the way this President conducts himself. Do you agree?</s>SANTORUM: Right. Look, yes, like as you mentioned, I have said that repeatedly on CNN that that the issue of the President's demeanor is the reason I believe that he is not way ahead in this race. He should be way ahead in this race. And he's not because his personality is turned off a lot of voters. And I think we saw it unfortunately, in the first debate. I think that's why a lot of -- we saw it in the polls, a lot of conservatives got, you know, get very, very, very concerned after that first debate. I think in the last two weeks, the President has actually pretty been on -- pretty well been on message last night. I thought he was on message and did a -- with, you know, a couple of apples, did a very good job and connected with the audience. So I still think there's a chance. But I think Ben has been a pretty consistent critic from the very beginning. So this is not new for Ben. But I think he is voicing what a lot of Republicans in the last couple weeks were concerned about.</s>KING: You mentioned the town hall last night. I thought the President looked good. He looked energetic if you were worried about his health. He certainly turned in a strong performance in that town hall. But you said a couple of bubbles. Here's one, Savannah Guthrie tried to get him to denounce this QAnon wack job conspiracy theorist that thinks there's a deep state of the United States government of Satan worshipping pedophiles. I mean, they have to speak these words is just nuts in and of itself. The President refused to do so. He kept saying I don't know anything about them. He's praised a congressional candidate who's QAnon believer. He's been asked this question many times. If he doesn't know anything about them, he could have learned by now. Senator Mitt Romney, just tweeting moments ago the President's unwillingness to denounce an absurd and dangerous conspiracy theory last night continues an alarming pattern. He goes on and say parties rushed down a rabbit hole opened a door to political movement that could eclipse them both. Mitt Romney saying again this is dangerous behavior for any leader but certainly the President of United States, agree?</s>SANTORUM: Yes. Look, it was a huge mistake last night. Hopefully he will -- I'm sure he'll get this question again. So have an opportunity to hit it right just like he did with the first question out of the box last night with Savannah, which was, you know, you're going to denounce racism. And I understand he's frustrated because he's done it 20 times. But, you know, in politics, you're going to get that 21st, 22nd, 23rd question because that's what -- that's how things work in politics. It's not fair. The, you know, the media isn't always nice you and you have to answer the questions and not worry about them, worry about who you're talking to beyond them. Don't let them distract you from your message.</s>KING: You talk about the media sometimes not being nice. At the moment, I want you to listen here. Governor Chris Christie came into the White House to help the President with debate prep. He's an ally of the President. He's not being nice to the President right now, either. Listen.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I was doing it right for seven months and avoided the virus. I let my guard down for a couple of days inside the White House grounds. And it costs me in a significant way.</s>KING: There's a couple issues here, Senator, number one, Senator Christie saying they're not doing this right. They're not being careful enough inside the Trump White House when it comes to coronavirus. So we could talk about it in that context. But you have won in tough climates and you have lost in tough climates. My bigger question is when you have a Chris Christie, a Ben Sasse, a Mitt Romney, Larry Hogan, the more moderate, yes, but still Republican governor of Maryland, following the Republican governor of Massachusetts saying we're not going to vote for Donald Trump. When you have that dissonance in the party, it is hurtful is it not? Isn't that self-evident in the final days of a campaign when you're already behind?</s>SANTORUM: Yes. I mean, you look at it, it's pretty clear. People are watching the polls, and they're all sort of, you know, Ben is up for reelection. Others have political futures and are looking at polls and already trying to get out ahead of what they think is going to happen in November. You know, I'm not convinced that that's going to happen. I still think this race is still very much up in the air. But I'm not surprised to see, you know, individual members sort of cutting their own path just to make sure that they've separated themselves should bad things happen.</s>KING: And to that point, I was just talking about Republican dissonance. A lot of it's coming at the President. He started some up this morning, tweeting this morning about Susan Collins. He says there's a nasty rumor, Susan Collins of Maine, will not be supporting our great United States Supreme Court nominee. He goes on to criticize her, not worth the work. Susan Collins has made clear she doesn't like the process here. It's so much about Judge Barrett. She doesn't think the process is right. But again, this is the President making a choice about how to use his time and his Twitter feed at a time he's trailing and trailing badly, wise?</s>SANTORUM: No, it's not wise on a couple of fronts. Number one, there's a vote up there in Maine that he can win which is, you know, one of those congressional districts.</s>KING: Right.</s>SANTORUM: And I don't think trashing Susan Collins helps him win that. And, you know, Susan Collins isn't out of that race either. Whether it helps or hurts her, I don't know politically. But I just don't think it's worth his time to do it. I mean, Susan was, you know, was actually a courageous vote in his last nomination and, you know, he -- and she's paying a huge price for it up at the State of Maine as a result of that. You know, sometimes you just leave well enough alone and allow a senator in a tough state to run a race.</s>KING: Senator Rick Santorum, you know what it's like to win a tough race and to lose tough races in a Senate race. Appreciate your insights today.</s>SANTORUM: Thank you.</s>KING: Interesting 18 days ahead. Up next for us, U.S. authorities now investigating whether recently published e-mails are tied to a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at the Bidens.

CNN: U.S. Officials Investigating Whether E-Mails Are Tied To A Russian Misinformation Campaign Against The Bidens.

KING: Some important news just in two CNN. Federal authorities are now investigating whether recently published e-mails that purport to detail the business dealings of Joe Biden's son, Hunter, are connected to an ongoing Russian disinformation effort targeting Joe Biden and his campaign. CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt joins us now. Alex, take us through this.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we do know that Russia is very actively involved in a disinformation campaign against the 2020 election and in particular against former Vice President Joe Biden. That is what the intelligence community has said for months now. Now, according to a U.S. official and a congressional source who have been briefed on the matter, the FBI is looking into whether these unverified e-mails about Hunter Biden that were published by "The New York Post", about foreign business dealings in Ukraine and China, whether they are part of those broader Russian disinformation efforts. Now, the intelligence community is always critical and helping the FBI with their investigations into Russian disinformation, since they deal on a daily basis with foreign intelligence. And they have said that Russia is working to denigrate Biden, that's their word. Now, "The New York Post" says that they got these Hunter Biden e-mails from Giuliani and Steve Bannon. And we know that Giuliani has openly worked with a Ukrainian politician to promote disinformation about the Biden's. That politician whose name is Andriy Derkach, he has been named by the U.S. intelligence community as a Russian agent and has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. Now, John, "The Washington Post" is also reporting that the White House was warned by the intelligence community last year that Giuliani, quote, was being used to feed Russian misinformation to the President.</s>KING: Giuliani's own daughter today quoted saying she have used her father as part of corruption here. Does he responded to any of this?</s>MARQUARDT: He has earlier today. And predictably perhaps he doesn't believe that. He says that he wasn't warned about anything by the intelligence community. Listen to what he said earlier today on "Fox News".</s>RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: No one in the Trump administration warned me. No one in the intelligence community warned me. The President didn't say that to me. This is the first time I'm hearing that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>GIULIANI: And I have a pretty good idea where it's coming from. And these are people who are trying to tear down Donald Trump and destroy his presidency from the inside of the intelligence community, of which there aren't many.</s>MARQUARDT: So, John, Giuliani, they're leaning hard into that deep state argument and pitting the President against his intelligence community. John?</s>KING: As he, yes, that is his go to and his standby and we'll wait additional important reporting. Alex Marquardt, thank you very much, grateful for that important news for us. Up next, an E.U. Summit canceled now as Europe fights a COVID surge.

Pfizer Expects Major Development on Its Vaccine Early Next Month; Trump, Biden Make Case to Voters at Dueling Town Halls; President Trump Debunks Claims of Knowing QAnon; CNN: More Than 17 Million Americans have Already Voted; Biden Promises Answer on Court Packing By Election Day.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Morning, everyone. It is Friday and it's been quite a week. We're glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto. The breaking news this morning, health news. It matters. Drug giant Pfizer says it expects to apply for what's known as Emergency Use Authorization for its coronavirus vaccine in the U.S. as early as the third week of November. In an open letter, the company's CEO says, "All the data contained in our U.S. application would be reviewed not only by the FDA's own scientists," and this is important, "but also an external panel of independent experts at a publicly held meeting convened by the agency." This is a potentially major development as virus cases are now surging across this country, hospitalizations rising as well, and doctors warning of a brutal winter.</s>HARLOW: So those are the facts. And at last night's town hall with the president, you might be wondering, is he listening to those facts? Because while we didn't get a debate between the two candidates, we did get two very different realities of what's happening in the country right now. The president said, again, it was astounding to me, he said that we're rounding the corner again. But the truth is we are not. The facts do not show that. The vice president, Joe Biden, said he will follow the science, this is at his own town hall, and may have found it hard to follow his answers, though you may have on other really key issues like Supreme Court, and packing the court. So we're going to get in all those big headlines. First, let's begin, though, with this breaking news. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has it. How big of an announcement is this from Pfizer?</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, this definitely is big news. But I'm going to temper it a little bit. But before we talk about the details I want to say this is yet another piece of evidence that President Trump was wrong and we are not going to have a vaccine by election day. Let's look at the actual words that the CEO of Pfizer said. He said, "Assuming positive data," that's just assuming, I'm going to get back to that, that's important. "Assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for Emergency Authorization Use in the U.S. soon after a safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November." In the third week of November so well after election day. And here's some of that tempering that I was just mentioning. That phrase, assuming positive data, basically what Pfizer is saying is, look, we anticipate we are going to have some data that we can present to the FDA as early as the third week of November. That data might show that the vaccine doesn't work or it might show, eh, we're not quite sure if it works so we're going to keep plugging away, or it could show that it works. So let's not assume that that data is going to be good news. We certainly all hope it will be but it very well might not be. Pfizer might very well come back and say, you know, we've got to keep plugging away, this data is unclear -- Poppy.</s>SCIUTTO: Elizabeth, let me ask you a question here because it's notable that Pfizer is saying publicly we're not just going to take the FDA's seal of approval here, we are going to have an outside panel, in effect, and also make the data public. I mean, we know, we've talked about this on this broadcast with you many times about concerns about political influence here. What does it say that Pfizer is taking this what seems to be an unusual step?</s>COHEN: It is unusual step and it's a step that many people have urged. We actually talked about this a month or two ago, you know, the three of us, which is that there were urgings that more independent panels should be looking at this. So you already have the Data Safety Monitoring Board, which is an independent panel. They're so independent we don't even know who's on the panel. They try to keep it a secret. And there's been a lot of advocacy for we need even more people outside of the FDA to look at this because sadly the FDA has become less and less trusted over time, and so there have been people saying, you know what, look, let's make sure we have as many eyes on this as possible.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, remarkable you need that step but I suppose the focus -- anything we can do, right, to increase peoples' confidence about a vaccine going forward.</s>COHEN: Right.</s>SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen, always good to have you walk us through it. Well, President Trump and Joe Biden were both back, they're both back on the campaign trail today after last night's dueling town halls.</s>HARLOW: Let's get to our Jeremy Diamond. He is in Ocala, Florida, where the president will hold a rally tonight. Jeremy, good morning to you. The two candidates were on different stages last night, still clashing, particularly on the issue of wearing masks. And I have to say the line of the night for me was Savannah Guthrie saying you can still see people with a mask.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the contrast was striking between the two candidates on no issue perhaps more than this issue of coronavirus. And what we heard from President Trump was this continued, you know, attempt to bring other people into his alternate reality in which the coronavirus is disappearing, and of course he also sought to continue to spread misinformation about the issue of masks. Even as he said that he is good with masks, the president misleading. Listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks, I'm OK with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it so --</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS HOST: They didn't say that. I know that study.</s>TRUMP: You know, this is a very -- that's what I heard and that's what I saw.</s>DIAMOND: And that is just completely false. Even the CDC has had to since come out on Twitter and say that that is not the conclusions of that study. The study the president was referencing wasn't even looking at the issue of whether masks made it more or less likely to get the virus. It was instead looking at in-house dining and whether that raised the risk of transmission, which it does according to this study. But the study was not aimed at looking at this issue of masks so the president was just completely misleading on this. In contrast, what we heard from Joe Biden, he talked about the importance of a president's words specifically on this issue.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The words of a president matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.</s>BIDEN: No matter whether they're good, bad or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then, you know, people say, well, it mustn't be that important.</s>DIAMOND: And Jim and Poppy, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden both back on the campaign trail today. And you will once again see that contrast. Former Vice President Joe Biden having socially distanced events in Michigan, while President Trump is going to be campaigning here, two stops in the state of Florida, and then a rally later tonight in Georgia. And you can expect the same images that we have seen from the president over the last several weeks, which is several hundred or sometimes thousands of people closely packed together, no social distancing, very few masks, and the president himself continuing to spread misinformation about the virus -- Jim, Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Thank you for setting the record straight, Jeremy. Appreciate it. Let's bring in Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC and president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We're glad to have you and I know we're, you know, the morning after two important town halls. But I want to take politics out of this completely, Doctor, and just talk to you about the science, because I'm worried that numerous times yesterday the president has said this 85 percent stat about masks. It is completely untrue. What does the science tell us?</s>DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CDC: Yes. So, you know, it's an unanswered question what the level of protection is from wearing mask, but it's clear that wearing a mask has a big impact on disease transmission. You know, if you look at what took place this summer, where we were seeing dramatic increases in disease in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona, from the behavior of young people, in states where mask wearing was barely encouraged. When those states changed and allowed counties to require mask wearing, the number of cases went down dramatically. The study that's being cited is a study that was looking at what were the risks from indoor activities. And what they found was that in the groups who got sick, when they compared those to people who were similar, except that they had not gotten sick, they found that overall the mask wearing levels were about the same, at about 85 percent, but those who got sick were much more likely to have spent time in places where you couldn't wear a mask, like indoor dining. And so it was basically enforcing was that these are risky settings specifically because you are less likely to be able to wear a mask and it's a place where viruses may stay in the air.</s>SCIUTTO: Doctor, thank you for just stating that in such clear terms.</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>SCIUTTO: It's important, to Poppy's point, for people to hear it that way. So to that point, another question of science here. Doctors like you and others we've had on this broadcast for months have said contact tracing is essential to controlling an outbreak. When you have an outbreak you find out who's infected and who else they had contact with. A remarkable revelation from Chris Christie this morning who, of course, who was infected. He was at that White House super spreader event, prepared the president for the first debate. What he said after he was infected about what the White House did not do. Have a listen. I want to get your reaction.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Well, I know there was no contact tracing done with me, George. My contact tracing was down by my local county board of health. They called me while I was in the hospital to contact trace and make sure they had all that information.</s>SCIUTTO: The man who prepared the president for the debate and who spent seven days in an ICU with a COVID infection. The White House didn't contact trace. Tell us the importance of that.</s>BESSER: Well, contact tracing is absolutely essential. There are different ways to do it and most contact tracing will be done by local health departments. So if the approach was to identify everyone who was at the event and notify all of those local health departments so they could do thorough contact tracing, that could be an effective mechanism. But one of the things we're finding across the country is that many people are resistant to identify who their contracts are. And part of that is because if you tell who your contacts are, some of those people will not be allowed to go to work for two weeks. And many people in America that means losing their job, not putting food on the table, not paying the rent.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>BESSER: And, you know, with Congress not coming together to provide those benefits, there's a real reluctance for people to participate.</s>HARLOW: On the topic of a vaccine, I thought this exchange last night with Vice President Biden was really interesting. Listen.</s>BIDEN: We should be talking about, depending on the continuation of the spread of the virus, we should be thinking about making it mandatory.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: How could you enforce that?</s>BIDEN: Well, you couldn't. That's the problem. Just like you can't enforce measles -- you can't come to school unless you have a measles shot. You know, you can't --</s>HARLOW: So he's saying you can't enforce it, which you can't legally, but Pew shows that, you know, in May 72 percent of folks said they'd take a vaccine, now only 51 percent of folks say they will. So what are we going to do? It's not mandated and only half the folks trust it.</s>BESSER: Yes, you know, this is a real challenge. The U.S. government does mandate vaccines for people who are immigrating to the U.S. as a --</s>HARLOW: Interesting.</s>BESSER: -- criteria for coming in. Schools, you know, states can set vaccine requirements and they do that at the school level. CDC through its work with what's called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices makes recommendations, but what you really want to do is create demand. And in order to create demand, there has to be transparency, there has to be trust, you have to believe that any vaccine that the FDA is going to prove has gone through the right testing, to show it's safe and it's effective. And you have to be working with communities so that they understand the value in vaccination. Mandatory vaccination rules have had challenges and problems throughout. Even in health care where it's critically important that health care workers get vaccinated. So you want to increase the demand for this and that involves trust. And we are faced with a situation right now where there is a bankruptcy of trust.</s>SCIUTTO: Huge trust deficit. Just quickly, before we go, the president did not give a clear answer once again on whether he took a test, whether he was tested for coronavirus on the day of the debate.</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>SCIUTTO: He seemed to be saying perhaps not. I just wonder from a health perspective, I mean, it was an honor system. These were the requirements of the debate. Irresponsible at a minimum to have a clear answer on that?</s>BESSER: Well, you know, one of the things that's clear, if you are doing contact tracing is you need to know what the starting point is. And you know, that starting point should be when someone had symptoms or in a situation where people are getting serial testing, that it's when they were last negative. So the dates of that are very important. The further out that we get the less relevant that becomes, but it is so important that for contact tracing you understand when someone first develops symptoms.</s>SCIUTTO: Simple questions and important ones. Doctor Richard Besser, we hope we get answers. Thanks very much. The FBI has labeled QAnon a domestic terror threat, so why is the president refusing in simple terms to denounce the group's conspiracy theorists, even last night seeming to elevate one of their conspiracy theories? And the president says if he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agree on a stimulus plan, he is ready to sign. However we just learned this morning the two have not spoken in a year. What does that say about the prospect for negotiations for a deal as millions of Americans, perhaps many of you, wait for aid.</s>HARLOW: And just an unbelievable turnout for early voters. So far 17 million people have casts their ballots. We'll hit the latest headlines.

"Sailing" Singer Christopher Cross Says COVID Paralyzed Him

KEILAR: Grammy-winning singer, Christopher Cross, is sharing his frightening coronavirus story. CNN entertainment reporter, Chloe Melas, explains how COVID-19 almost killed him.</s>CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Brianna, singer, Christopher Cross, said that COVID-19 caused him to become temporarily paralyzed. Cross, who is best known for his hits like "Ride Like the Wind" and "Sailing," told "CBS Sunday Morning" that he and his girlfriend contracted the virus after returning from a trip to Mexico City. He said they were sick for several weeks. And that his doctors also diagnosed him with a rare neurological disorder, which they believe was due to the coronavirus. Cross says he was unable to walk and that it was his, quote, "darkest of times." He now walks with a cane. And says he feels like it's his obligation to share what happened to him. Saying, quote, "This is a big deal. You've got to wear your mask. You've got to take care of each other, because, you know, this could happen to you -- Brianna?</s>KEILAR: Chloe, thank you so much. We have some breaking news. The U.S. has surpassed eight million coronavirus cases. This, amid new questions about a promise made by President Trump. Why the antibody cocktail that he calls a cure may not be available for months and may not be affordable for many Americans.

U.S. Surpasses 8 Million Cases of Coronavirus

KEILAR: It is the top of the hour. I am Brianna Keilar. The U.S. has now surpassed eight million cases of the coronavirus just a day after hitting a pandemic milestone that hasn't been seen since mid-August. More than 60,000 new cases in a single day, as multiple states post record highs for single-day infections. With almost two-thirds of the country reporting double-digit increases compared to a week ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci says that while the numbers are not where they should be, Americans still have a chance to bring things under control.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can't enter into the cool months of the fall and the cold months of the winter with a high community infection baseline. And looking at the map and seeing the heat map, how it lights up with test positivity that is in more than 30-plus states is going in the wrong direction. It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures. And again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>KEILAR: And let's listen in now to President Trump.</s>TRUMP: Thank you very much. Please. We're going to be talking to our great senior citizens. That's what I'm here for today.</s>TRUMP: We love our senior citizens. I'm honored to be here in Fort Myers to reaffirm my solid pledge to American seniors. It's so important to me. I happen to be a senior.</s>TRUMP: I will protect you, I will defend you, and I will fight for you with every ounce of energy and conviction that I have.</s>TRUMP: You devoted your life to this country, and I am devoting my life to you.</s>TRUMP: My administration is working every day to give our amazing senior citizens the care, support and respect that you deserve. And you understand that. We've worked together for a long time. As president, I'm deeply aware that America's 54 million seniors have borne the heaviest burden of the China virus.

Stark Contrast Between Biden and Trump Town Halls; Trump Evades Straight Answers in Combative Town Hall; Biden Goes Heavy on Policy at Town Hall in Philadelphia; Trump on QAnon: "I Know Nothing About It"; Biden Promises Clarity Before Election Day on Court Packing; U.S. Reports Nearly 60,000 New COVID-19 Cases; Washington Deadlocked on New Virus Relief Measures.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to you, our viewers joining us in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Just ahead, the candidates vying for the U.S. presidency appearing in separate town halls. Each setting a very different tone. So, we'll get you caught up on the key moments. Also, this hour, a worrying glimpse into what the coming months could look like with COVID cases hit highs in states across the U.S. And defiance as cases surge in Europe. Local leaders in one city are rejecting strict new measures by the Prime Minister. On the night when Joe Biden and Donald Trump were supposed to share the same stage for their second debate, the two presidential candidates instead held competing town halls on rival television networks at the same time. You'll see the sharp contrast between them for yourself in just a moment. For Biden, the format was familiar territory, to talk policy, although sometimes he avoided straight answers. When the event was over, he stayed to talk with voters off camera, and in contrast, that with the President. President Trump was much more combative, his responses to pointed questions about the pandemic, white supremacy, conspiracy theories and other issues were largely defensive and peppered with falsehoods. Now if voters were hoping to find out what President Trump plans to do if he wins a second term, they were probably disappointed. We get more from CNN's Jim Acosta in Miami.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The voters did not get a lot of straight answers from President Trump during that town hall that took the place of a presidential debate with Joe Biden. Given multiple opportunities to denounce the false conspiracy theory QAnon, the President evaded the question and simply would not say what he thought about the group. Here is more of what he had to say.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC ANCHOR: They believe it is a satanic cult run by the deep states.</s>TRUMP: If you like me to study the subject -- I tell you what I do know about. I know about Antifa, I know about the radical left. I know how violent they are and how vicious they are, and I know how they are burning down cities run by Democrats, not run by Republicans.</s>GUTHRIE: Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, QAnon is nuts and real leaders call conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories.</s>TRUMP: He may be right.</s>GUTHRIE: Why not just say it's crazy and not true?</s>TRUMP: Can I be honest: He may be right. I just don't know about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: You do know.</s>TRUMP: I don't know. No, I don't know.</s>ACOSTA: And the President also gave evasive answers on health care, abortion, even his own personal income taxes. But perhaps the biggest missed opportunity of the night for the voters was when the President would not say when his last negative coronavirus test was, leaving open the possibility that he walked into that last presidential debate with Joe Biden potentially symptomatic for COVID-19. Jim Acosta, CNN, Miami.</s>BRUNHUBER: Biden faced plenty of tough questions in Philadelphia in a town hall moderated by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. As we mentioned, the former vice president stuck around after the event to keep talking with voters. And while his responses were heavy on policy, there were a few times he chose to dodge, rather than give a straight answer. CNN's Arlette Saenz reports.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Over the course of a 90- minute town hall here in Philadelphia, Joe Biden faced a range of questions, from how to handle the coronavirus pandemic to the economy and even his support for the 1994 Crime Bill. This was a heavily policy-focused discussion, as he faced questions from a mix of undecided voters and people who've already made up their minds about supporting Biden or Trump. And one of the most noteworthy exchanges came during a discussion about the issue of court packing. Joe Biden has deflected when asked about adding more justices to the Supreme Court for weeks now. And he offered a bit more of a detailed answer in this town hall. Take a listen.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not a fan. I then say it depends on how this turns out. I am open to considering what happens from that point on.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: You know, you said so many times during the campaign, all through the course of your career, it is important to level --</s>BIDEN: It is, but George, if I say -- no matter what answer I gave you, if I say it, that is the headline tomorrow. It won't be about what is going on now. The improper way they are proceeding.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: But don't voters have a right to know where you stand?</s>BIDEN: They do have a right to know where I stand. They have a right to know where I stand before they vote.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you will come out with a clear position before Election Day?</s>BIDEN: Yes.</s>SAENZ: So Biden there not completely ruling out the possibility of adding more justices to the Supreme Court, saying he wants to see how the nomination with Amy Coney Barrett moves forward and will give voters a bit more of an answer, closer to Election Day. Now Biden also criticized President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. And he was asked about a coronavirus vaccine, whether it should be mandated. Biden said that there should be a discussion about making it mandatory but acknowledged that there could be legal issues with actually implementing that. But overall, Biden stayed very policy focused as he was presenting his agenda for a Biden administration, offering a contrast to the President, without the President even being on that stage. Now on Friday, Joe Biden is heading to Michigan, where he will have two stops in that critical battleground state as early voting is underway and he is trying to get people to head out and vote. Back to you.</s>BRUNHUBER: After the town hall, Biden's running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris spoke with CNN. When asked about adding justices to the Supreme Court, she argued that Republicans have been packing the court for years under President Trump.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that Joe Biden has been consistent on saying this is not the time right now to have this discussion. I'm sorry but I can't have a conversation about court packing around something that has not even happened yet, which is who is going to be the next president without dealing with what they've been doing for the last few years.</s>BRUNHUBER: Harris cancelled travel plans after two people linked to the campaign tested positive for COVID-19. She and her husband both tested negative Thursday. Well, at their town halls, both candidates were asked about their personal COVID testing regimens. Their answers Biden just showed how different the two men are. Biden confirmed daily testing and described the test he usually takes. Mr. Trump wouldn't give specific details and he refused to say whether he had taken a test before the first presidential debate days before he was hospitalized with the virus.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess, is the bottom line.</s>TRUMP: Probably did and I took a test the day before and the before and I was always in great shape. And I was in great shape for the debate.</s>GUTHRIE: Do you take a test every single day?</s>TRUMP: No, no, but I take a lot of tests.</s>GUTHRIE: OK. And you don't know if you took a test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: Possibly I did, possibly I didn't.</s>BIDEN: By the way, before I came up here, I took another test. I've been taking it every day and the deep test. You know</s>BRUNHUBER: So, as we heard in Jim Acosta's report, President Trump refused during his town hall in Miami to denounce the group QAnon, which the FBI calls a domestic terror threat. So last hour, I spoke with this about Leslie Vinjamuri of Chatham House in London. Take a listen.</s>LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD, U.S. AND THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: The words of the president speak miles to those who are listening and for QAnon and for permission. So, yes, it's certainly a distraction for him if he's trying to get that 5 percent of the electorate that hasn't fully decided who they intent to vote for. If he's trying to persuade them that this is a president who will ensure security and safety in America streets, then I think that that's a distraction. But it's far more potentially damaging and destabilizing, because it sends a signal to certain groups that they -- that the President is granting them permission to remain active.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right, let's turn to Biden, now. Why this sort of waffly middle ground of not taking a firm position on court packing until later?</s>VINJAMURI: Yes, this has been very interesting. And we saw also the vice-presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, in the debates with Mike Pence, also deflect this question. They've clearly wanted to watch and see the hearings for Amy Coney Barrett to judge the public sentiment, to see how critically the Senate will move towards a confirmation. All of these are critical questions. But you know, what we did hear last night is that there will be that Vice President Biden will make a decision before those debates -- before the election. So, there is a commitment. But it is true that they haven't wanted to very clearly say what their position yet, is. And this is a very important, very important issue, obviously, for Democratic Party voters, very important issue for Trump's base. America is very polarized. They feel very passionately about social issues in very different ways. And the Supreme Court is the lightning rod for that social division in America.</s>BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Well there's no question looking at them that of the two town halls, I guess, the president got the greater grilling from the moderator. We saw the Trump campaign tweet about it after. It's all they were talking about on Fox, that and Hunter Biden, I guess, so. Will his supporters see this town hall as the real debate? The debate Trump is engaged with every day a debate, not against Biden, but against the left-wing press intent on destroying him. This, you know, watching this would just confirm everything that they knew, that the establishment is against him, and maybe it'll further encourage them to rally the wagons?</s>VINJAMURI: I -- you know, I think that that is beyond a shadow of a doubt. That is the narrative has really taken hold for several years now. It's not new that the President hasn't been given a fair platform, that he has been attacked by the media. We've seen this -- I don't think it's going to change anything to do with the turnout or voting. It might drive more people to be sure that they vote for -- remember, that we are on track for a record turnout in the United States. David Wassermann of the Cook Political Report is anticipating between 150 and 160 million Americans will turn out to vote. That's one up from 137 million in 2016. So, people are already passionate. They are passionate on both sides. But absolutely, his supporters will see him as being attacked again. It will drive turnout. And a lot of what's happening right now on both sides of that aisle is about ensuring that people stand in those very, very long lines, that they mail-in their ballots, that they exercise their right to vote. It's incredibly important, but it's also important for the candidates to ensure that people do turn out and vote. Because remember, as I said before, there's only about 5 percent of the electorate that haven't made up their minds. For most people, it's just about ensuring that they do actually vote.</s>BRUNHUBER: And our thanks to Leslie Vinjamuri for her analysis there. U.S. coronavirus cases are definitely headed in the wrong direction. Since Sunday, 21 states have hit their peak 7-day average of the new cases since the pandemic began, and now an influential model predicts there could be more than 390,000 virus deaths in the country by February, and that's slightly lower than the previous forecast. But the harsh reality is in just over three months, as many as 170,000 more Americans could be dead. CNN's Nick Watt has more from Los Angeles.</s>RICARDO AGUIRRE, LOST BUSINESS AND SEVERAL FAMILY MEMBERS TO COVID-19: I feel very incompetent.</s>NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This virus destroyed Ricardo Aguirre's business. It killed eight family members, including his father.</s>AGUIRRE: We did everything together.</s>WATT: And nearly 60,000 new COVID-19 infections across America yesterday, highest tally in a couple of months.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is now unconscionable, this late into the outbreak.</s>WATT: The Atlanta Falcons won't practice today after a positive test, and perhaps the biggest name in college sports is now COVID positive.</s>NICK SABAN, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: I'm feel fine. I felt fine. I was very surprised, you know, by this.</s>WATT: These are the nationwide daily case counts. Bad in the spring, worse in the summer, rising again, and rising fast, a call to arms in NYC, our one-time epicenter.</s>MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D) NEW YORK CITY: Simple as this crucial week. This is the week to stop the second wave.</s>WATT: This week, 21 states logged their highest average daily case counts ever.</s>GOV. JARED POLIS (D) COLORADO: We've got get these numbers down. And if this trend continues, our hospital capacity will be in jeopardy.</s>WATT: In just a week, the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospitals in Indiana jumped 25 percent, in Ohio, 28 percent, in Delaware, 30 percent, in Minnesota, 32 percent, in Wisconsin, more COVID-19 patients in the hospital now than ever.</s>DR. ASHOK RAI, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PREVEA HEALTH: If there is a major car accident today in Green Bay, between all of the hospitals, we wouldn't be able to take care of it.</s>WATT: But advisers to our president reportedly promoting herd immunity AKA let it rip.</s>ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think that we just got to that square in the eye and say it's nonsense.</s>MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, W.H.O. HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAM: It leads to unnecessary cases and at least to unnecessary deaths.</s>WATT: What might have been? New Zealand, a small island nation, granted, but 25 deaths total. Why? Quick action, real border closures, and nationwide lockdown, strong test and trace, this, according to a new study, in the Lancet. Here, cases are rising, temperatures are falling. Some say the first wave never ended. Here comes the second. So, Thanksgiving?</s>FAUCI: You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering.</s>WATT (on camera): Before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S., of course, it is Halloween. And Beverly Hills now one of the first cities in the country to ban trick or treating. And they say they will not be out there hunting for kids wearing costumes. But if you are caught trick or treating or caught giving candy to a stranger, you may get a 100-dollar fine. Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>BRUNHUBER: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is revealing just how seriously ill he was with coronavirus, and he's warning people to take the virus very seriously. In a statement released on Thursday, Christie said he was in intensive care for seven days. His statement referred to the Supreme Court nominating event he attended last month at the White House. It read in part, I believed that when I entered the White House grounds that I had entered a safe zone due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong. I hope my experience shows my fellow citizens that you should follow CDC guidelines and wear a mask to protect yourself and others. A second coronavirus waver is bringing infection rates not seen before in this pandemic. Coming up, we'll go live to several cities in Europe to find out how severe it's getting, and new restrictions taken to fight it. And Washington is split on an economic stimulus plan even as millions of Americans struggle during the pandemic. We'll look at what the government is doing to help them and what's standing in the way. Stay with us.

Early Voting Begins in Washington State

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: More than 39 million ballots have been requested across the country. We are in a pandemic election. Some people think it's just not safe to vote. Some people think, give the modern technology, why should Election Day be just one day, I'll do it by mail. Last night in the debate, the issue came up again. We know how this works. Many states are new at this. Some states are having problems and some issues. But the president doesn't describe it as problems or hiccups or issues, he says massive fraud.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, MSNBC HOST: Your own FBI director says there is no evidence of widespread fraud.</s>DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Really? Well, then he's not doing a very good job. All you have to do is pick up the papers every day, 50,000 in Ohio, the great state of Ohio, 50,000 in another location, I think North Carolina, 500,000 applications in Virginia, no, no. There's a tremendous problem.</s>KING: Washington State kicks its election work into gear today, in- person early voting locations open and ballots are being sent to all residents in Washington State beginning today. The state reported record primary turnout back in August, and officials believe that's an indicator for higher turnout general election as well. Washington though not new to the vote-by-mail phenomenon, it is the norm there. And officials are confident they can handle the volume. Joining me now, the Washington secretary of state, Kim Wyman. Madam Secretary, grateful for your time again. You're sort of the nation's premier expert of this since you've been at it for so long in Washington State. I was reading the other day a transcript of an interview you did, I believe, on public radio. You were talking about how you can handle this but what strikes you is the vitriol in this campaign unlike any other, including the president of the United States. And you're a republican, the nation's top Republican saying fraud, saying rigged, saying things that frankly are wrong, correct?</s>KIM WYMAN (R), WASHINGTON SECRETARY OF STATE: That's correct. And every time President Trump takes a swing at absentee ballots or vote- by-mail ballots, it undermines voters' confidence. And so election officials have even more work to do to try to make sure that they know -- their voters know that their vote is protected, that their vote is going to be counted accurately and that we're going to count for every vote we receive.</s>KING: And so the numbers the president was using there with Savannah Guthrie last night were just wrong, just wrong, exaggerated. But there have been cases where people are finding ballots discarded or ballots in wrong locations. Are your colleagues around the country, other secretaries of state, are they reaching out to you about how to handle this? From what you've seen so far or you have major concerned so far? Do you think these are routine hiccups?</s>WYMAN: Well, we've been working with secretaries of state and election officials from across the country for the last seven, eight months, and we're all facing the same challenges. 10 percent of the population moves every year. So we're constantly trying to keep up our voter roles to make sure that we have the most accurate address, we get the ballot to the voter on the first try and we get the right ballot to the voter. But people do move in an apartment or a condominium, we're going to have opportunities for people to receive someone else's ballot and that's why we have security measures in place to make sure that only the voter it was issued to is the one that gets to cast that ballot.</s>KING: Your state is a high participation state anyway, a civic tradition and all that. But I look at the numbers, I look at primary turnout, number one, now, I look at these early requests, the off the charts. You see lines for the states that have in-person early voting open, huge lines in many states. You see the numbers of mail-in ballots requested that is off the charts. Based on those and based on your experience, what does it tell you about the interest in this election?</s>WYMAN: It's exactly what we expected. We're going to see very high turnout. And I'm really excited because I think we're going to see here in Washington close to 90 percent turnout of our registered voters. So, as an election official, it makes you excited and we just have to work really hard to make sure we can get through all the volume.</s>KING: Get through all the volume. Secretary of State Kim Wyman, we'll bring you back again as we get through it. I appreciate your candor and your experience at this critical issue for the country right now. Up next for us, Pfizer says it's getting ready to apply for emergency use authorization of its coronavirus vaccine.

Pfizer Plans to Apply for COVID-19 Vaccine Emergency Use Authorization Next Month

KING: Drug giant Pfizer announcing today its plans to apply for emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine perhaps next month. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. Elizabeth, this sounds like progress. Is it?</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is progress, John, but there is a huge caveat here. Before I get into the details, I want to just say, you and I have talked about this so many times, this is yet another indication that President Trump is not going to have the vaccine by Election Day because Pfizer is talking about having data by the end of November. So as if we needed more evidence, this is yet more what the president said is just not true. So let's look at what the Pfizer president said here -- CEO, rather, said. He said, assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S., meaning permission from FDA to put it on this market, soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November. But let's take look at that first phrase, assuming positive data. John, basically, saying, this is what they're saying. We think that we will have data by the end of November, and assuming it is positive, we will apply for permission to put this vaccine on the market. But that assumes that that data looks good. There is a real possibility that that data may show the vaccine doesn't work or that the vaccine maybe works and that Pfizer needs to keep going with their clinical trial but then it's not ready for approval yet. So that phrase, assuming positive data, is a huge caveat. Of course, we hope their data looks terrific but this is very early on, it might not look terrific yet. John?</s>KING: And emergency use authorization is also something we should explain. That means if they get that positive data and if they give it to the government, the government gives it initial, yes, that's emergency use, it's not widespread, that would be then limited use, right? Because of availability or would that be everybody?</s>COHEN: Well, actually, it could eventually be everybody. I mean, EUAs can apply to the population. But to your point, John, it's not going to be made available to everyone all at once. You can't vaccinate the whole country all at once. Remember, the vaccines require two doses, which makes it more time consuming. So, Pfizer is one of the companies that is out ahead on this. The other company is a frontrunner is Moderna. Let's take a look at what a Moderna source is telling me. They are saying that they think they're going to finish their enrollment of 30,000 people by next week or during next week. And then they say that they also think they could have data next month. So the thinking is that Pfizer may be a bit ahead here, but not by much, that we should see some data coming out of both Pfizer and Moderna next month.</s>KING: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you, important reporting and the timetable and context, all the more critical. Elizabeth, thank you. Coming up for us, how the coronavirus is impacting campaign ads for both candidates.

Coronavirus Becomes a Big Ad Theme in 2020 Race.

KING: The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest issue in the 2020 campaign and more and more focus of the political ads now everywhere on television. President Trump had hoped the virus would fade as a campaign issue. This tells you he knows it will not. Take a look. 56 percent of the president's ad spending in the past week or so is COVID-related. Before, COVID only account for about 36 percent of his campaign ad spending. The president's pandemic response is a consistent response in Biden's ads. Look there in the most recent week, 46 percent of Biden's ad spending was about the virus down just a bit from 51 percent in the weeks before.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If I'm your president, on day one, we'll implement a national strategy I've been laying out since March. Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation. He's failed to protect America.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Donald J. Trump delivered on the impossible in his first term. And in his second term, he will continue to fight for you. President Trump will end our reliance on China, eradicate the coronavirus.</s>KING: With us now to discuss, Meredith Kelly, she was communications director for Kirsten Gillibrand's presidential campaign, now a partner with Democratic communications and ad making firm, Sena Kozar Strategies, and Colin Reed was a spokesman for Chris Christie, and is managing director at The Levinson Group. Thank you both for your time today. Meredith, let me start with you, in the sense that campaigns make calculations about how to do their ads, Joe Biden straight to camera using a speech of him about the coronavirus to put it in an ad. What does that tell you about the confidence of the campaign and the message?</s>MEREDITH KELLY, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, thanks for having me John. I noticed a few things about the ad campaign that's going on in these final weeks of the presidential. One thing I'll point out first is before we get into the content is just the sheer difference in the amount of money that each campaign has and where that has taken the air war. Biden has been able to outspend Trump in the key northern battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan by nearly double this week, as well as expand into places like Arizona, Texas, and others, and go back into old battlegrounds like Iowa. So I think it's notable where the T.V. ads are actually running before we get into the content. When it comes to the content themselves, you're seeing Joe Biden offer a vision for the future. It is one that, on the short-term, rebuild our economy after coronavirus and also speaks about his plans to have a safe and just society where health care is affordable, or we deal with climate change and we fight for workers unlike big corporations and the very rich. Coronavirus is only amplified what was a successful message strategy in 2018, focused on health care and the economy. It has only exacerbated hardworking family's concerns about the costs they face. And so Joe Biden is able to speak to them directly with a lot of credibility about fighting for workers, fighting for health care and fighting for jobs. And while it's a tragedy for the country, the pandemic has made his messaging all the more personal and relevant right now.</s>KING: And, Colin, to the point about money, number one, do you think the Trump campaign blew too much money early on? There was a lot of money spent early on when the president had no primary challenge. And you get it, as there's an incumbent president, you're trying to lay the ground work but some people say, now, maybe you would have been better off to keep that money in the bank. And then how do you message coronavirus if you're this president that right now the numbers are heading in the direction?</s>COLIN REED, GOP STRATEGIST: You're right, John. Well, look, hindsight is going to be 20/20 and everyone is going to be able to analyze the spending after the election is over. Right now though with the remaining two and a half weeks are left, if you look at the arenas these two campaigns want to be fighting in, Joe Biden clearly wants to be talking about coronavirus and the president's handling of it. And Donald Trump needs to talk about the economy. Because poll after poll after poll that shows Joe Biden leading Donald Trump also shows voters favoring Donald Trump on the issue of the economy. So politics isn't rocket science. If you're fighting in your opponent's e arena and not yours, you've got to figure out a way to shift back to yours. The trouble is right now for the Trump campaign is the COVID-19 outbreak and continuing cases is not really allowing him to shift the conversation where he needed to go.</s>KING: Well, you better call or text your friends at the Trump campaign if that's the case. If you look at the percentage of Trump ad spending related to the economy, if you go back just a couple of weeks ago, he was spending, look, 44 percent of his ads on the economy. You look right now, they dropped that number quite a bit. So if you think they should spend more on the economy, you'd better get on the phone with them. Flipside is Joe Biden does realizes that this is -- the president has a strength left in the campaign, it is on the economy. And look at his T.V. ad spending, it was less on the economy just a little while ago. Now, it has jumped up to about 37 percent of his ads, a little more than a third there. Another fascinating issue to me is health care, because I've been around it a long time. And so I want you to listen here to ads on health care. And I'll talk about how times changed on the other side.</s>BIDEN: My son, beau, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, given months to live. Fact of the matter is health care is personal to me. Obamacare is personal to me.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden tried to cut social security and Medicare for decades. Now, Biden is promising your benefits to illegal immigrants. President Trump is protecting social security and Medicare.</s>KING: Meredith, ten years ago, Democrats were running from their own accomplishment, Obamacare, in the 2010 midterms, they got crushed. Joe Biden quite proud to stand on it now.</s>KELLY: Yes. So I was actually at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018 when we flipped the House almost exclusively on the issue of health care. I remember being worried that the Republicans might actu7ally have a plan to repeal and replace the ACA that was popular, but then they came in with a plan that would get rid of protections with pre-existing conditions, increased cost and so much more that would harm the American people. And ever since then, Democrats have built up an incredible amount trust on the issue of health care. And I think Joe Biden benefits from that. That's why I think the attack about very old tapes about Medicare and social security from that, Trump is using in his ads, will really fall short and really defy credibility right now. And I got to say, the most popular position on health care in the entire country is being against the Republican and the Donald Trump plan to repeal it. And so I think the more it is about health care, the better off we all are up and down the ballot.</s>KING: All right. Sorry, we're out of time for this conversation today. Meredith and Colin, we'll bring you both back on, I'll give you a little more time next time. I'm out of time. Up next though, NFL's Indianapolis Colts report four new COVID-19 test results that are actually false positives. We'll explore that in a second. But, first, social distancing has had devastating effect on the mental and emotional well-being of the elderly seniors. Social isolation can increase the risk of developing dementia by 50 percent. Since 2014, CNN Hero Carol Rosenstein has been using music to help people battling dementia, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases. When COVID hit, she moved for organizations programming online and it is worked now more crucial than ever.</s>CAROL ROSENSTEIN, CNN HERO: COVID just makes this doubly difficult for people to sustain their levels of wellness because they've got so much isolation going on, going to see people deteriorating faster. But we can provide a great substitute that it's going to keep us healthy and well during quarantine. Music is medicine for the mind. The complexity excites so many centers in our brains. All of that excitement miraculously pushes neurotransmitters that help us function. Medicine with a side effect? It is pure joy.</s>KING: See Anderson Cooper's full story about Carol's remarkable work using music to battle the impact of COVID. Go to cnnheroes.com. And go right now.

Live Coverage of Trump Campaign Event; Trump Continues to Spread COVID-19 Confusion; Interview with Former FBI Chief Peter Strzok.

KEILAR: Just in to CNN, federal authorities are now investigating whether recently published e-mails that purport to detail the business dealings of Joe Biden's son are tied to an ongoing Russian disinformation effort targeting the Biden campaign. CNN's senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt is joining me now. I mean, Alex, tell us what's happening here.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we're being told by two people who have been briefed on what the FBI is doing that they're looking into whether these unverified e- mails about Hunter Biden that were published by the "New York Post" about foreign business dealings are part of that bigger Russian disinformation effort, which of course is well under way in these final days of the 2020 presidential election. Now, the intelligence community has said for months that Russia is very actively engaged in a disinformation campaign against the election, in this election -- in particular, against Joe Biden trying to denigrate his campaign, as they said, in favor of President Trump. So the "New York Post" says that they got these Hunter Biden e-mails from Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon, that they were found on a laptop left in a repair shop in Delaware which, according to Giuliani's lawyer, reached out to him. Bannon, according to the newspaper, indicated that he also knew about these e-mails last month. Now for a long time, Rudy Giuliani has been openly working to dig up dirt and promote disinformation on the Bidens. One person he has teamed up with is a Ukrainian politician whose name is Andriy Derkach. Derkach has been named by the U.S. intelligence community as a Russian agent, and has even been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. So here you have Giuliani, openly working with a known Russian agent. And now the "Washington Post" is also reporting that the intelligence community was so concerned that the Russians were using Giuliani to feed Russian disinformation to President Trump, that they warned the White House about it last year. Giuliani, as you might imagine, is denying this. Listen to what he said on "Fox News" earlier today.</s>RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: No one in the Trump administration warned me, no one in the intelligence community warned me. President didn't say that to me. This is the first time I'm hearing that. And I have a pretty good idea of where it's coming from, and these are people who are trying to tear down Donald Trump and destroy his presidency --</s>BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX ANCHOR: And Mr. Mayor --</s>GIULIANI: -- from inside the intelligence community, of which there are many.</s>MARQUARDT: So people trying to tear down President Trump. Again, that classic deep state argument that we hear from the president and his supporters time and time again -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: Alex, great reporting. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Joining me now to discuss is Peter Strzok, he served as the chief of the FBI's counter-espionage section before he was fired from the agency in 2018 after disparaging comments that he made about the president in text messages were revealed. He is now suing the Justice Department, saying that his firing was politically motivated. And I should also mention he's the author of the book, "Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump." So Peter, there's a saying of someone who is considered a person of utility by foreign intel, that they are a useful idiot. Perhaps they are not an actual foreign agent, but they essentially operate in purposefully for a foreign government. Is that how Russia sees Giuliani, as a useful idiot?</s>PETER STRZOK, FORMER CHIEF OF FBI COUNTERESPIONAGE SECTION: Well, I think -- Brianna, thanks for having me on. I think one of the hallmarks of any sort of disinformation is you can't give it directly to somebody that is your target audience, so you need to find a way to essentially launder that disinformation, to get it into the dialogue and legitimize it and allow it to be used. And this is kind of a routine way that disinformation is seeded and planted into the larger dialogue. What's concerning about Rudy Giuliani is he's no, you know, kind of unwitting mope (ph). He was the former mayor of New York City. He's no sucker, he's no rube. He is -- should be -- wise in the ways of the world. And when I see this reporting out of the "Washington Post," that multiple officials briefed the president himself in December of last year about concerns that Giuliani was the target of Russian disinformation, it's staggering to think that there was nobody who reached out to Giuliani to warn him. Because I can tell you one of two things are going to happen. In my 20-plus years at the FBI, if we saw somebody targeted as part of a disinformation campaign, either we're going to open a counterintelligence case or we're going to go out and warn them. And if, after warning them, they continue the contact, we're going to open a counterintelligence case. So I find it very hard to believe when Giuliani says he has absolutely no idea that he was being targeted by these folks associated with Russian intelligence.</s>KEILAR: So I mean, that's not exactly a useful idiot, that is someone who is purposefully using that information they may receive to help their political interests or that of their -- basically their boss.</s>STRZOK: That's right. And I think, you know, when the "New York Post" story, when you look at this computer store owner in Delaware who allegedly received Hunter Biden's laptop, that is more in line when you think about somebody who's a useful idiot, that's kind of the entry point that is kind of, again, a classic indicator of the potential presence of disinformation. But again, the concern with Rudy Giuliani is he is far down the chain. He isn't the entry point, although he's actively running around, was actively running around the Ukraine (ph) soliciting this information. And what's really staggering, when you step back, Brianna, and look at this story, President Trump was warned that his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was being targeted by a disinformation campaign by Russian intelligence. Nevertheless, after that, he sent Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to dig up information on Biden, he actively met with Giuliani after his return from Ukraine -- multiple times in December, at the same time his impeachment was brewing -- and then after that, not only used this information but continues to use it to this day. So you have a president who is asking to obtain Russian disinformation, knowing that that is what it is. He is accepting that same information, and he is then turning it and using it on the campaign trail against his opponent. And that's mind-blowing. There's no president in modern history that I can think of who did anything remotely close to this.</s>KEILAR: All right, Peter, I want you to stand by because I also want to ask you about something that President Trump said at last night's town hall -- or really, what he didn't say. He once again refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy theory.</s>TRUMP: -- about QAnon --</s>GUTHRIE: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: -- I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact, I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia, they fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.</s>TRUMP: If you'd like me to study the subject -- I'll tell you what I do know about, I know about Antifa and I know about the radical left and I know how violent they are and how vicious they are.</s>KEILAR: Now, the president continued to insist he knows nothing about this movement even though he regularly retweets its theories and followers, and he did seem to have some information at least about themes that they discuss or are prominent for them. Let's be clear though, this is a wild, dangerous and completely factless conspiracy claim -- series of claims -- that dozens of Satan- worshiping politicians and celebrities are working with governments around the world to engage in child sex abuse. CNN recently spoke with one former follower of QAnon to learn how he was sucked into this.</s>JITARTH JADEJA, FORMER QANON BELIEVER: I didn't realize the nefarious kind of impact it was having on me because it was very insidious, how it slowly disconnected me from reality. I would have been so happy to see Hillary Clinton dragged in front of a military tribunal. That still bothers me to this day, that how willing and happy and joyfully I would have reacted to something that I would normally want no part in.</s>KEILAR: You know, Peter, the FBI has deemed QAnon a potential threat. What risk is the president posing for the country by not denouncing this and calling it out for what it is?</s>STRZOK: Well, he's legitimizing a group that his own government has said is encouraging violence and is also espousing a number of things from anti-Semitism to various racist beliefs. Any time the president says something that aids or otherwise normalizes the group, it brings them into the mainstream, it immediately allows and enhances their ability to recruit people. It's simply not believable that the president doesn't know what QAnon is. And furthermore, it's absolutely not believable that he hasn't heard or been briefed about the concerns of his own government about that group.</s>KEILAR: Peter, thank you so much. Peter Strzok, we appreciate you being with us. And still ahead, I'll be speaking to a former federal prosecutor who just quit after nearly four decades at the Justice Department. Why he says he couldn't bear to work any longer under Attorney General Bill Barr. Plus, we'll solve the biggest mystery of President Trump's town hall: Who was the woman constantly nodding over his shoulder?

Woman Nodding Behind Trump Ran Pro-Trump Campaign in 2018

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Of all questions to come from last night's town hall with President Trump, one of the big ones: Who is the woman nodding behind President Trump? The overly agreeable woman immediately garnered Internet fame. And she's been identified as immigration attorney, Mayra Joli. As the president was questioned on a range of topics, Joli could be seen nodding as Trump answered. Despite the town hall being billed as an audience of undecided voters, Joli is actually a Trump supporter who ran for Congress as a pro-Trump candidate in 2018. Alex Daugherty is joining me now. He's the Washington correspondent for "The Miami Herald". And he tracked down the nodding woman, who everyone wanted to know her identify. Tell us what you found out about here. Tell us who she is.</s>ALEX DAUGHERTY, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "THE MIAMI HERALD": Yes, so Mayra Joli is former congressional candidate and well-known Trump activist in local circles in Miami. I picked her out because I saw the pictures and videos just like everybody was while covering the debate or covering the town hall. And I noticed a lot of her mannerisms looked similar, having written about her and covered her and talking to her in the past. I went to her social media pages and she was already posting live videos of her conversations with the president shortly after the town hall, to kind of confirm it was her. She's a really enthusiastic Trump supporter. Ran for congress two years ago as an Independent but as a pro-Trump Independent and still is a presence in local circles in Miami.</s>KEILAR: So you mention that what she posted online is what confirmed it to you. This is actually a video of the interaction of what she posted.</s>MAYRA JOLI, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: You are the best. You are the best for migrants. I'm from the Dominican Republican. But I'm American. I'm an American. Oh, yes.</s>JOLI: Trump, Sammy hey, Sammy, he adores me. Mr. President, I was running. I was running. I was running for Congress. Mr. Trump, Sammy, he's a good guy. He's a good guy.</s>JOLI: I will. I will.</s>KEILAR: You knew to go to her social media page because, I mean, obviously, she has quite a presence there. Can you tell us about that?</s>DAUGHERTY: Yes. So she's a well-known pro-Trump activist in local circles. I think what is more interesting here is - and you heard in the video her companion shouting "Brazilians for Trump" and she's a Dominican for Trump. Miami is a very diverse place. And these are folks who are going to be part of Trump's winning coalition if he's going to win Florida. He's going to have to win Latino and Hispanic voters from all across Latin America. And Joli's support is kind of emblematic of the type of voters he needs to win. Joli is obviously a very enthusiastic Trump supporter, and very well known in local political circles. But it's a point of a larger phenomenon that is really present in Miami this cycle.</s>KEILAR: Does he have the support of that group that he needs?</s>DAUGHERTY: It's not clear. There's polls that show he's performing better, Trump is performing better with Latino voters in south Florida, in Miami, than he did in 2016. But it's going to be close, just like every election is in Florida. And it's a really big point for the Trump campaign. Vice President Pence was also in Miami yesterday making explicit points about Colombian politics, the country Colombia. Not something you typically hear on the trail. But definitely something that matters to slices of voters in Miami who are going to be crucial to the president's reelection.</s>KEILAR: Yes. Well, he certainty does have her very ardent support and the attention of anyone who was watching that town hall. Alex Daugherty, thanks so much for joining us.</s>DAUGHERTY: Thank you. Next, a DOJ prosecutor quits a life-long career because he says he was compelled to speak out about the attorney general acting like a lap dog for the president. He's going to join me live in just a moment.

Interview with Phillip Halpern, Who Quit DOJ Due to Barr Being "Lap Dog" to Trump; NY College President Resigns after Hundreds of COVID-19 Cases.

KEILAR: A prosecutor who spent three and a half decades at the Justice Department is now blasting Attorney General William Barr for his, quote, "slavish obedience to Donald Trump's will." Phillip Halpern just quit the DOJ after serving under 19 different attorneys general and six different presidents. And he's joining me now from San Diego. Sir, thank you so much for coming on to talk with us. I want to read first part of your op-ed that is in the "San Diego Union Tribute." You say, quote, "Barr overruled career prosecutors in order to assist the president's associates and/or friends who potentially harbor incriminating information. This career bureaucrat seems determined to turn our democracy into an autocracy." You call Barr a "lap dog" to Trump. Why did you finally decide that you were going to go public?</s>PHILLIP HALPERN, CAREER PROSECUTOR WHO RESIGNED SAYING BILL BARR POLITICIZING DOJ: The question is, when could I have gone public. Because this is something that I think has bothered many people in the Department of Justice for a long time. I think, at the outset, I should say it's a truly sad day for me when I end up criticizing and speaking out against the attorney general of the United States. I've made my career in the Department of Justice. I cherish the work it does and I cherish the people in it. However, it became apparent to me, though, our democracy is not guaranteed anymore. It's not guaranteed any more than the Roman Empire was destined to last forever. When the attorney general of the United States believes he serves the president and not the people, our very democracy is in peril.</s>KEILAR: One of the things we've seen Barr be noticeably absent on is the issue of this domestic terror plot against Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who is a Democrat, who the President Trump has been very critical of. Why has Barr been so absent from something that usually an attorney general would be very present on?</s>HALPERN: You make a great point here. I want to make it clear to everybody that I don't run the Department of Justice. I firmly believe that the attorney general should decide what he needs to speak out on. But justice has to be blindfolded. It has to be done evenhanded. So the question is really, and what disturbs everybody that I speak to in the department, is: Why does he choose to speak out guess Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland? Why does he authorize the use of tear gas in Lafayette Park against American citizens, yet stand idly by when storm troopers, armed militia storm the Michigan state capital? That is a problem. And not only does he do that, but he doubles down. When the president tweets about it, "Liberate Michigan," he goes on TV and tells people that the governor's public health orders are the greatest danger to the United States since slavery. This is abhorrent. This should be abhorrent to every single American citizen who listens to this. And it's certainly abhorrent to anybody who has to serve under his at the Department of Justice.</s>KEILAR: What do you think, if the president is to lose this election, what happens in the final two months of his presidency? What are you concerned could happen? Whether it's pardons, or there are cases involving Barr? What are your worries?</s>HALPERN: Well, the president has a track record, from General Kelly to General Mattis to John Bolton to Jeff Sessions. Donald Trump has made it clear that there's no place in his administration for anybody who places loyal service to their country over blind obedience to him. That worries me. Because these are the demands of a dictator, not a patriot. And what is particularly troubling is that this attorney general appears almost universally to simply, as you said, act as his lapdog. And unless the Department of Justice is vigilant in looking at the electoral system, our country has a problem. This is something we have been consistently in the past. And what gives me great heart is that there's so many people in the Department of Justice who I know, like myself, will be committed to making sure we don't have abuses.</s>KEILAR: Phillip, thank you so much for coming on and talking to us about this. Phillip Halpern, we really appreciate it.</s>HALPERN: Thank you, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: One of President Trump's most ardent supporters is warning Americans about coronavirus. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spent seven days in the intensive care unit recovering from his bought with COVID-19. Last month, Christie spent time with the president doing debate prep and he also attended the super-spreader event that followed the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. In an interview this morning, Christie admitted he was wrong to not wear a mask.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I was doing it right for seven months and avoided the virus. I let my guard down for a couple of days inside the White House grounds and it cost me in a significant way.</s>KEILAR: Just ahead on CNN, another blow to President Trump's hopes of a vaccine by Election Day. Pfizer now saying it won't try to get its version approved until late November.

W.H.O.: Infections Up in Roughly 80 Percent of European Countries; London, other Areas Moving to High Alert on Saturday; Italy and France Take Actions as COVID Cases Surge

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Europe is facing an alarming surge in COVID-19 with numerous counties posting record numbers of new cases. The World Health Organization says roughly 80 percent of European countries are seeing a rise in infections. Countries like Italy and France are seeing new cases increase by more than 50 percent compared to last week. And just compare Europe in the blue there with the U.S. a rise in new European cases is now much sharper compared to how things were during the summer. And Russia's health ministry is among those reporting a record daily high, more than 15,000 new cases, as well as 232 deaths. We have reporters all across Europe covering these developments. I'm joined by CNN's Phil Black in London, and Salma Abdelaziz in Manchester with the latest from the U.K. So, Phil, let's begin with you, several regions, including London where you are moving to tier 2 lock downs. So exactly what does that mean?</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they aren't locked down. Businesses aren't forced to close, not yet anyway. But for the 9 million or so people who in and around London, and other areas of England as well, they're going to suffer some pretty tough restrictions on their personal lives. The key change will be from tomorrow. It'll become illegal for people who don't live together to spend time together indoors. So now hanging out with family or friends anywhere inside, homes, restaurants cafes, bars. Still possible to socialize outside in groups of up to 6. But that's going to become less practical as the days get shorter and colder, as winter deepens. London's mayor says this was necessary. There was no choice because the virus was spreading, is spreading rapidly in all parts of the capital. All the key indicators are trending in the wrong direction. Here in London, you don't meet too many people who are surprised by this. They fear it could be just the beginning. Tougher restrictions could still come yet, but it confirms what many have long suspected what the politicians have been saying pretty frequently lately and that is that it's going to be a long difficult winter -- Kim. Ray, thanks so much. Just Now we'll go to Salma in Manchester there in the north of England, the situation even worse, the government wants to make restrictions even tighter, but now I understand the local officials are fighting back?</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: That's absolutely right, Kim, the mayor has outright rejected plans by the government to move this city to tier 3, very high risk, that's the highest level in England's new three-tier COVID alert system. Take a listen to how he justified his reasoning.</s>ANDY BURNHAM, MAYOR OF GREATER MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: They are asking us to gamble our residents' jobs, homes, and businesses and a large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts tell them might not work. We would never sign up for that.</s>ABDELAZIZ: Now, the mayor is not Prime Minister Boris Johnson's only critic. There's a growing chorus of opposition voices that say Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his administration are taking the wrong strategy. Essentially, one side you have the government saying, look, the best way forward is small, limited regional lock downs. On the other hand, you have those backed by scientific advisers saying, no, we need what is called a circuit breaker. Which is a nationwide complete lock down for a short period of time to stem the rise in cases. Now we have heard from the Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb this morning. His response to the mayor was essentially saying that as a matter of last resort, we can proceed with the plans to move this city to that very high-level risk category. However, we would like to cooperate with the city as local authorities and while all of this political wrangling is going on, the virus continues to spread, and the clock is ticking -- Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much, Salma Abdelaziz in Manchester, England, and Phil Black for us in London. Appreciate both of you. A nighttime curfew is about to begin in Paris and other French cities, while Italy begins to close schools again. So, keeping track of this in Bordeaux, France and Rome are CNN's Melissa Bell and Ben Wedeman. So, let's start with you, Melissa. The curfew just over the horizon. What's the latest there?</s>MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just over the horizon, and really the government authorities are going to be looking to see whether this makes the difference that it needs to make. Again, last night, just ahead of those curfews, we saw another record rise in terms of the number of new daily cases. So, the question is whether the curfew is going to be applied in nine cities from Saturday between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. for at least four weeks is actually going to bring the numbers back down. Because in cities like greater Paris there is already a serious strain on ICU units as a result of COVID-19 patients taking up a greater and greater proportion of the beds that are there. So, will the curfews be enough? That is one of the big questions that the government is facing. He continues to look at the number of new cases but also the positivity rate now nationally at 12.6 percent, Kim. On the first of September, it was three times less than that. It has risen very quickly indeed, and again, already in Paris, more than 45 percent of ICU beds taken by COVID-19 patients. But Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, was that this second wave is looking to be even worse than the first in France. Because it's so spread out all over the country and because this time, he explained, there simply were no spare beds.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much for that. We'll go to Ben Wedeman in Rome. Ben, the U.K. just added Italy to its list of quarantined countries when visitors have to come back, I guess a sign of the worsening situation there in Italy?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no question, Kim, that the situation is worsening here. We saw a number of new coronavirus cases reported yesterday, which was almost 2,000 higher than at its height. The height of the pandemic here in Italy earlier this year. So certainly, the expectation is things are going to get much worse. At this point, people are particularly concerned about the situation in Campania, a region in the south where Naples is located. That area was spared from the pandemic earlier in the year when it really was concentrated in the north of the country. Now, however, we're seeing a surge of cases there. The problem in Campania is that it's a much poorer part of the country. The medical, the public health infrastructure is much less prepared and it's also one of the most densely populated parts of Italy. And so, the concern is that with these rising numbers, the situation could get much worse. Now we already know that the governor of the region has ordered schools and universities to be closed. All parties and public, and religious, civic festivities are now banned. Also, restaurants must close at 9:00, and there is serious consideration about imposing curfews along the line of what we heard Melissa talking about in France -- Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much, Ben Wedeman in Rome. Melissa Bell in Bordeaux appreciate it. Now earlier I spoke with Sterghios Moschos from Newcastle England. He's an associate professor of molecular virology at Northumbria University. And he told me children play an important role in the transmission of the virus, and he says in-person learning should stop for now. Listen to this.</s>STERGHIOS MOSCHOS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN CELLULAR & MOLECULAR SCIENCES, NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY: For the foreseeable future unless it's absolutely necessary. It's very clear that we cannot have face to face education. That involves both the academics the teachers at schools, and I would even hazard the primary schools and below nurseries not being open. Because we now have data from Switzerland, from France, from Germany, from Italy, from Greece, you know, from everywhere, showing that transmission happens with children, and we do not know, still, and we won't know for years what is the developmental impact of this virus. So, we cannot take that risk. Beyond that, we need to be able to sustain function of this society and the economy. And if we are allowing the virus to create to access bubbles of the sizes of schools and their associated families and workplace, well, we are not achieving that.</s>BRUNHUBER: Well, one thing that might help bring down those numbers, experts agree of course we have to wear masks. But even yesterday at a town hall with voters President Trump questioned the use of masks. Listen to this.</s>TRUMP: I am OK with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day they came with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right. So, the president got the number right there, but the interpretation of the study was wrong. You know, the truth is, though, I mean, wearing mask, especially a cloth mask as we know isn't necessarily designed to protect the wearer, but how pervasive is this, you know, masks don't stop the spread claim? And how harmful is this misinformation giving -- given what we are seeing now with the rise in case numbers?</s>MOSCHOS: Yes, it's absolutely and totally harmful. I cannot emphasize in stronger words without being not appropriate for the time of day, that the lack of use of reasonable personal protective equipment, and by God, a cloth mask is a reasonable piece of protective personal equipment, put at risk everyone in your own immediate vicinity and everyone in your community. The data is clear from the best universities of the United States, the best universities in the U.K. that face masks prevent the migration of aerosols. And we also have results showing that even the incoming aerosols can be contained to an extent by masks. So why shouldn't we not wear this?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a time I didn't like him at all. I loved him.</s>BRUNHUBER: Florida is flip flopping amid a tight U.S. presidential race in Florida. Some seniors who backed President Trump in 2016 say they will vote for Biden. We'll find out why. Stay with us.

Trump Misinterprets Data on Mask Wearing at Town Hall; NBC Network Under Fire for Booking Trump Town Hall; Comparing and Contrasting Dueling Town Halls; Some Seniors Who Backed Trump in 2016 Now Prefer Biden.

BRUNHUBER: There's been a backlash against the dueling town halls involving Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Voters wanting to compare the candidates were forced to flip-flop back-and-forth on different TV networks. And NBC is coming under fire for letting the President take a competing time slot. Here's CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: There these twin town halls were a poor substitute for an actual presidential debate. However, they were still worthwhile, and some of the critics who were complaining about the format and the scheduling of these town halls, started to change their tune about halfway through. Of course, it was ABC that schedule a town hall with Joe Biden first. And then NBC that followed up with a town hall with President Trump. They were at the same time on the East Coast in United States. Some viewers did flip back and forth, but I think there is more interest in the Trump town hall, because he had not sat down with a journalist to interview, someone of the caliber of Savannah Guthrie, ever since he came down with coronavirus two weeks ago. Trump has been calling in to Fox, calling his friends on the radio, but he had not sat down for a big rigorous interview. So, it is notable that Guthrie challenged him about his coronavirus testing history, as well as some other issues in the news. Like his comments in the past about QAnon. So, it was a very newsworthy town hall NBC, but there's still been a lot of criticism both internally and externally about why the network decided to host a town hall with Trump at the very same time that Biden was scheduled to appear on ABC. In some ways, this was just about a petty network TV rivalry, but the stakes are very high which is just a few weeks left in this election, and with millions of people already voting. Over an ABC, Biden try to appear to be above the fray, above all the Trump noise. Trump, of course, as always in the fray, always making lots of news, always shocking people with lots of comments. Biden, on the other hand, trying to play the decent statesman, suggesting to people, hey, look over at NBC. You want really four more years of that? It was definitely a split screen for the agents between these two networks. And, later on Friday, we will hear about the ratings. We will see if Trump or Biden had higher ratings, I suspect Trump will be the higher rated program, but of course ratings are not all that matters. What matters in these town halls is, was there news made? Did we learn more about the candidate? And most importantly, where any minds change at all. Of course, this time next week, there is one more debate on the calendar. Trump and Biden are expected to meet for one more debate on October 22nd. Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.</s>BRUNHUBER: The swing state of Florida has been a big focus in this presidential race, and President Trump won Florida in the last election. But now the coronavirus pandemic is making some senior voters reconsider their stance. Jeff Zeleny reports.</s>JEFF ZELENY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice-over): These Florida seniors are fired up for Joe Biden. But it's not only Democrats taking their stand. A bigger threat to President Trump's reelection may come from voters like Tommye and Rody Johnson. They are lifelong Republicans, who supported him 4 years ago, but won't again.</s>TOMMYE JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN BIDEN SUPPORTER: I feel he is responsible for thousands and thousands of deaths, because of his attitude about it. He's still dishonest about it, he keeps saying it's getting better and it never is, it's getting worse.</s>ZELENY: Their frustration at the President turned to fury with his handling of coronavirus.</s>RODY JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN BIDEN SUPPORTER: Dammit, we voted for him. And of course, the virus COVID has been terrible.</s>ZELENY: Three weeks ago, his son tested positive for COVID-19.</s>R. JOHNSON: I was mad because he had it, and it was, you know, and I kept thinking, it's Mr. Trump's fault, because this thing should never have gotten as far as it had.</s>ZELENY: Seniors were key to Trump's victory in 2016, yet falloff from this critical voting bloc had the President sounding the alarm this week at a rally here.</s>TRUMP: Biden's agenda would be a catastrophe for Florida seniors.</s>ZELENY: During his own Florida visit, Biden turned the subject back to coronavirus.</s>JOE BIDEN, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So many lives have been lost unnecessarily because this president cares more about the stock market than he does about well-being of seniors.</s>ZELENY: Tobi Schelin is a nurse who is going door-to-door for Biden, where she hears the stories.</s>TOBI SCHELIN, BIDEN SUPPORTER, VOLUNTEER: They can't hug their grandkids, so it's been huge, that's been a huge factor. Let's go together.</s>ZELENY: The pandemic and the fear of a close election drives these senior volunteers.</s>MARY MCBEE, BIDEN VOLUNTEER: My precinct went to Trump by 4 votes, only 4 votes. That's maybe 2 houses, 3 houses. I don't want to wake up this year, the day after election and say, what more could I have done?</s>ZELENY: Signs of an exceedingly tight race are plentiful here, with passionate support for Trump on display, from flags to front yards.</s>ANN ALEKSINAS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: There's more people out supporting him now, because he has had so many people going against him. And I don't feel he's been treated fairly by the Democrats at all.</s>ZELENY: The question is just how many Trump voters have soured on the President. The Johnson's live in a county that is still deep red, but they are no longer shy about showing their affirmative support for Biden.</s>R. JOHNSON: Mr. Biden is a nice man. And there was a time I didn't like him at all. I love him.</s>ZELENY: But it's Trump that is driving them, and this race.</s>T. JOHNSON: He is so dishonest. And the worst is that, whenever he is caught in a lie, he blames it on someone else. It's always somebody else. He is impossible.</s>ZELENY (on camera): On top of all of this, the TV air waves here are flooded with hundreds of millions of dollars worth in advertising about Social Security and taxes. Those of course are familiar issues. But it is the new political issue of coronavirus that also is front and center every time President Trump holds a rally. He spent three of five days this past week here in the state of Florida, certainly underscoring the importance of the 29 electoral votes. Now early voting begins in many Florida counties next week. Certainly, this state as critical as it ever is. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Vero Beach, Florida.</s>BRUNHUBER: Coming up, the Queen of England has emerged in public again, but something was noticeably missing from her royal attire. We'll have the details next. Stay with us.

Coronavirus Rising In 32 States Versus Last Week; Dr. Anthony Fauci: If Your Aren't Wearing Masks, Distancing, "You're Becoming Part Of The Problem"

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello to our viewers in the Unites States and around the world. I am John King in Washington. Thank you so much for sharing a very busy news day with us. A new interview last hour from the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the clear take away? We have big reason to worry.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The baseline fluctuated, and never went down to the level that I would have hoped it went down to. You can't enter into the cool months of the fall and the cold months of the winter with a high community infection baseline and looking at the map and seeing the heat map, how it lights up with test positivity that is more than 30 plus states is going in the wrong direction.</s>KING: Dr. Fauci says, it is not too late to turn around the alarming trends, but he says that requires everybody, but especially young people, to take public health seriously and to have a more uniform approach to things like wearing masks from states across the country. The numbers underlying the growing trouble. Thursday, 63,000 plus new cases. The United States topping that 60,000 new infections mark for the first time since August 14th. The pandemic truly a nationwide concern. 26 states reporting more than 1,000 cases on Thursday. Dr. Fauci says Thanksgiving this year, yes, will look very different and that we are a long way away from back to normal. The president again though at odds with his top expert. The president says we're on the way down. That is simply a lie. Listen here to a close ally of the president who got infected at a Trump White House that ignores basic science and ignores common sense.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I was doing it right for seven months and avoided the virus. I let my guard down for a couple of days inside the White House grounds and it cost me in a significant way.</s>KING: Let's take a closer look at the numbers that have Dr. Fauci so concerned and you start with the 50 states trend map. Orange and red is bad, so a lot of bad. 32 states heading in the wrong direction, by that meaning more new COVID infections being reported right now than a week ago. 32 states are trending up. 15 states in beige holding steady. Only three of the 50 states reporting fewer new COVID infections right now than a week ago. So, 32 states trending up and you see it, not all of it, it goes Florida up to Washington State diagonally across, but the northern part of the country where it is getting cooler and colder, the bulk of the problem right now. If you want to look at cases just yesterday, consider this the heat map. The deeper the orange, the higher the case count. You see Wisconsin and Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and California, lighter out here, but still these are smaller or less populous states, the Dakotas for example, Nebraska, Montana. So, they don't have as many cases, but given the way they're going, it's still bad news out there. Nine states just yesterday, nine states setting records, case records just yesterday. And you see again a cluster here in the Midwest out here across New Mexico and Colorado, included in there as well and North Carolina. This case timeline is what Dr. Fauci is so worried about. When you hear him say baseline, he means this, back at the beginning of the summer surge, 18,000 new infections were about the average every day. He wanted that shoved down even more. Didn't happen, and we got up high. 64,000 on August 14th, 77 back in the middle of July. Why do we have August 14th highlighted? Because for the first time since then, we went back above 60,000 yesterday. Came down a bit from the summer surge, but we began it at about 20, we came down to about 40, and now going back up. The concern of all the public health experts, if you start at 40,000 as your baseline, how high do you go if cases start to explode again. The death trend at the moment, you see the blue line, that's your seven-day moving average that's flat. Still sad, it is still sad between 500 and a thousand. But you see a lot of red above the blue line. That tells you the trend line is going to trickle back up if that continues, if you have the daily count coming in above the trend line. Dr. Fauci just talked about positivity. First the national numbers 6.3 percent. Again, every public health expert says get it to five, shove it down more. If you're above five, and you have more widespread, more likely community spread, that's the national number. This is the map Dr. Fauci is worried about. 36 percent positivity in South Dakota, 22 percent in Idaho, 23 percent in Wisconsin, 20 percent in Iowa, 12 percent in Florida. The deeper the blue or gray, the higher the positivity. A lot of double digits across the country here. So what can be done? Well, Dr. Fauci says everybody needs to listen, wear a mask and spread out. But he says it is difficult to get that message across especially to young people because many of them get Coronavirus that's not so bad.</s>DR. FAUCI: It is very difficult in relating to the people how serious it really is, because there are so many people who get infected who have no serious consequences. All you need to do is look at the numbers. 215,000 deaths in the United States, 7.8 million infections. If you think that by getting infected and saying, pooh-poohing the prevention modalities that you're living in a vacuum and you're not, no. You're becoming part of the problem.</s>KING: Joining our conversation is, Dr. Jennifer Pena, she was the Vice President Pence's Physician. Dr. Pena, it's good to see you again. You hear Dr. Fauci almost every day, but there in great detail. He is exasperated and he is trying to get a message out, he's frankly trying to get a message out that the president and vice president are not helping with him at the moment, because they're campaigning and trying to suggest that everything is fine. When you see the case count now trickling back above 60,000 new infections a day, what does that tell you about the trajectory?</s>DR. JENNIFER PENA, FORMER PHYSICIAN TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Yes, good afternoon, John. And thank you for having me back. You know as a medical provider, I took a Hippocratic Oath and it feels at times that the president and vice president and this administration are taking a hypocritical oath or took a hypocritical oath by doing things that hurt the American people that they promised to serve and protect. Meaning this administration insist on holding these large rallies, creating these known super spreader events in places like Wisconsin tomorrow where the positivity rate is over 20 percent. In Iowa just earlier this week, where the White House experts themselves are insisting against large gatherings and promoting social distancing. So, I'm concerned about this, because it's not just the people that attend these rallies, it is the second and third order effects of these people bringing the infection home, and we are starting at a bad baseline like Dr. Fauci just mentioned. So, honestly this behavior to me is almost bordering on crenel when you're deliberately doing something that you know will hurt the American people, and lead to more disease and death. This is just extremely concerning.</s>KING: But we're in a political year of course, and you mentioned the president's rallies. One of them was in North Carolina just yesterday. The president knows that Dr. Fauci is saying things that cast his handling of the pandemic in a bad light. He knows Dr. Fauci is saying people need to double down, that things are getting worse, not better. So the president says well, don't listen to Dr. Fauci.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And - my friend, he's a nice guy, Tony. Tony Fauci. He is a nice guy. He said this is not a threat, this is not a problem, don't worry about this. There was a problem. It is the craziest thing. Then he said do not wear a mask. Do not wear a mask under any circumstances. But he's a nice guy, so I keep him around, I keep him around. He is a Democrat. Everybody knows that. He is Cuomo's friend.</s>KING: At the beginning of that, he is taking Dr. Fauci out of context, months ago and months ago and months ago, yes, a lot of experts said don't get a mask. Dr. Fauci has been quite consistent in recent months about the power of masks in saving lives and protecting people. But the last part there, the president essentially telling anyone who supports him, don't listen to the nation's top health expert because he is a Democrat. You worked with Dr. Fauci. Should we listen to him?</s>DR. PENA: John, Dr. Fauci has been the voice of reason in an extremely unreasonable time for our country. And I'll tell you, as somebody who has worked at the White House and served this administration, I can tell you it's a thankless job to be a medical provider in this White House. It's hard to continue to be ethical and moral and it comes at a lot of sacrifice. And Dr. Fauci sacrifices every day to keep our people informed of the truth and the science and he has owed an immense debt of gratitude for his service to this country. He does not deserve to be misrepresented, politicized or insulted.</s>KING: One of the big issues in the campaign and one of the biggest issues for the country right now set the campaign aside, is when we might have a proven, efficient, effective Coronavirus vaccine ready? This was the subject last night that came up in Joe Biden's Town Hall. The Democrat listen here saying that, if the scientists say and certify this is safe, maybe because of all of the public skepticism out there, we should make it mandatory. Listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And once we get it, if it's safe, if it's effective, will you mandate its use?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would think that we should be talking about, depending on the continuation of the spread of the virus, we should be thinking about making it mandatory.</s>KING: Mandatory in the context of politics and government causes a lot of people to step back. But do you think that is wise and necessary from a public health perspective?</s>DR. PENA: Well, you know, John, there's been a lot of talk about this herd immunity concept. And I'll tell you, the only way or the best way that we're going to achieve that herd immunity in this country will be through vaccination, and not irresponsible exposure as has been suggested by this administration recently. I will say, as public health folks, we have lost a lot of credibility because of the unfortunate politicizing of the pandemic. And so, it's going to require time to regain that trust. But vaccination is going to be important. But that's only going to come once we are able to fully demonstrate the safety and efficacy of these vaccines.</s>KING: Dr. Pena grateful for your expertise and your insights, especially your White House experience. Thank you so much for your time today.</s>DR. PENA: Thank you, John.</s>KING: Up next for us, as we noted, last night was town hall night. Among the highlights for the president, defending his practice of sharing wild conspiracy theories.

New Mexico Governor Tells Residents To "Stay Home".

KING: New Mexico's Governor not pulling any punches.</s>GOV. MICHELLE GRISHAM (D-NM): This is the most serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced. Stay home. If you don't have to go out, don't go out. If an errand is not required, food, life, safety, school, work, don't do it because it's that errand, that traveling that's moving the virus around.</s>KING: The numbers from New Mexico support that urgent tone. Look here, more than 600 new Coronavirus cases in the state yesterday. Hospitalizations, the governor says up 74 percent so far this month. And the state's top health official worries beds are getting scarce. New Mexico's Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase is with us now. Doctor, thank you for joining us at a very time for you in the state. 74 percent up for hospitalizations, the number itself sounds hard and high. Listen here to Dr. Jon Fleming from the University of New Mexico Hospital putting it in context for us.</s>DR. JON FLEMING, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO EMERGENCY MEDICINE: Things are bad now in the hospital setting. We're full. We ran out of space in every way that you can imagine this week and it was a little bit scary.</s>KING: It sounds a little bit scary. So walk us through the crisis in your state right now.</s>DR. DAVID SCRASE, NEW MEXICO HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Well, John, I think I would just echo the words of Dr. Fauci earlier about the slightly higher baseline. We were doing very, very well just three, four, five weeks ago with test positivity rates in the 2 to 3 percent range, and case counts, in 6 to 8 per 100,000. And over those past five weeks, we have seen a very rapid up tick as one would expect with a virulent virus like COVID-19.</s>KING: So, what is it? Is it obviously you're in a better part of the country but it is getting cooler everywhere, especially in the mountain areas, the northern part of your state. Is it the cool, is it college campuses, is it all of the above?</s>DR. SCRASE: Yes, you know, we believe that it is just people being with other people, breathing the same air, which there are lots of opportunities to do in New Mexico. Of course, we think indoor gatherings, more dangerous than outdoor gatherings. New Mexico is a big, large family gathering state. We had a fair amount of that over Labor Day. And people are getting tired of hunkering down. I don't think they want to believe it's another year ahead of us with this.

Infections, Hospitalizations Rise Across Nation, the Virus is Winning

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Thanks for morning us today. I hope to see you back here next week. And if you're up early on Sunday morning, we'll be here at 8:00 A.M. Eastern as well. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now. Have a good day.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. The virus is now winning. That is a blunt warning from the governor of New Mexico where new cases of COVID-19 have surged 50 percent from a week ago. And New Mexico is one of 32 states that is showing an upward trend in infections. Just three are on the decline while 15 are holding steady. On Thursday, the U.S. topped 60,000 new cases in a single day. This is actually the first time that's happened since mid-August. Nine states are reporting their highest single day of new infections, while seven posted record hospitalizations. Nationwide there were just other 37,000 hospitalizations. And when it comes to shortening those hospital stays or preventing deaths from the virus, the only drug given emergency use authorization for treating COVID-19 is now showing some disappointing signs. According to a new study from the World Health Organization, the antiviral drug, remdesivir did not help patients live longer or get out of the hospital sooner. Despite all of this, President Trump continues to paint a rosy outlook for the nation that is diverging from reality while he is spreading misinformation about the use of masks to prevent transmission of the virus.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks. I'm okay with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it. So this is a very --</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, MSNBC HOST: They didn't say that. I know that study. That's --</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard and that's what I say. And what we have done has been amazing, and we have done an amazing job, and it's rounding the corner, and we have the vaccines coming and we have the therapies coming.</s>KEILAR: Dr. Saju Matthew is joining us now to discuss this. He is a primary care physician who specializes in public health. And, Dr. Matthew, these are words coming from the president that matter, especially in the middle of a pandemic. And yet, he continues to downplay the threat while the numbers point to a difficult winter. Can you give us a sense of how you are seeing the months ahead of us here?</s>DR. SAJU MATTHEW, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Brianna, we are not where we need to be. In fact, I am disappointed that we are talking about how the cases are rising. Listen, what happens is the cases can go in this type of a fashion and then all of a sudden in a week it can go up linearly. And we're seeing already 60,000 cases. This is the cold and flu season. And next, what happens is hospitalizations. We're already seeing hospitalization rates go up in a lot of cities and states where it's really cold. In Georgia, for example, which is not considered to really be a state that that's cold when it comes to temperatures, we're at 89 percent, Brianna, already of hospital capacity. And after hospitalizations, unfortunately, follows deaths. So we are not doing well at all. In fact, we're doing much worse.</s>KEILAR: The former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, who is a close ally of the president's, is now out of intensive care after he contracted the coronavirus apparently in connection to either his participation in debate prep or from his attendance at that White House ceremony that honored the Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. There were multiple people at this event that were infected. But let's listen to what Christie said happened afterward.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: Well, I know that there was no contact tracing done with me, George. My contact tracing was done by my local county board of health. They called me while I was in the hospital to contact trace and make sure they had all that information.</s>KEILAR: I mean, what happens if you just don't contact trace a super- spreader event? Can you explain why this is so essential?</s>MATTHEW: We have been talking about contact tracing for such a long time, eight, nine months in the United States. Contact tracing is key because that's the only way that you can backtrack from the time that somebody develops symptoms or tested positive and contact everybody or at least as many people as you can that they have been in contact with. And so to give you an example with like that Rose Garden party that happened in the White House, that was an ideal opportunity to show how effective contact tracing can be because the White House has the capabilities, they have the money to do it and they have the convenience to have done it correctly. So it's disappointing that Mr. Christie did not get a call from the White House. If you skip a family, remember, one person can infect three people, and each one of those people can infect 60,000 people in a matter of weeks. So you can imagine how exponentially this can get out of hand.</s>KEILAR: It's huge. Dr. Saju Matthew, great to see you. Thank you so much.</s>MATTHEW: Thank you, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: The White House has refused to answer questions about when the president last tested negative for coronavirus before he tested positive. At issue is did he actually get tested before that first presidential debate. At last night's presidential town hall, here is what he claimed.</s>TRUMP: Before the debate, which I thought it was a very good debate and I felt fantastically, I was -- I had no problems before.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: I don't know. I don't even remember.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess, is the bottom line.</s>TRUMP: I probably did.</s>GUTHRIE: And you don't know if you took a test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: Possibly, I did. Possibly, I didn't.</s>KEILAR: Now, the president has claimed that he has one of the greatest memories of all time. Perhaps you recall that. And, of course, his doctors would know when he tested, they would know if he was tested leading up to the debate.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test though on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: If you ask the doctor, they'll give you a perfect answer.</s>KEILAR: Only if you think the perfect answer is not an answer, because reporters have pressed the doctors. They have pressed the president's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, on this. And his answer was far from perfect.</s>REPORTER: Do you remember when he had his last negative test?</s>DR. SEAN CONLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: I don't want to go backwards.</s>REPORTER: When was his last negative test and what was his viral load?</s>CONLEY: Everyone wants that.</s>REPORTER: Why is there hesitancy to say when the last negative test was?</s>CONLEY: Again, HIPPA kind of precludes me from going into too much depth to things that I'm not in liberty or doesn't wish to be discussed.</s>KEILAR: He won't say. As for next week's debate, former Vice President Joe Biden says he will demand that President Trump take a COVID test and receive negative results before he will share a stage with the president. With me now is CNN Political Director David Chalian. And let's talk about these town halls, David. Let's start with the president's, and it was full. It was full of disinformation that NBC's Savannah Guthrie had to repeatedly interrupt.</s>DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, there is no doubt about that. It was disinformation about coronavirus, of course, saying, we have rounded the corner. You just went through the numbers, Brianna. That clearly is not the case. But also this sort of touting the QAnon conspiracy theory that the president did where he said that he understood that they like to fight pedophilia but that he really doesn't know what it's about. Well, that doesn't really make sense either. He went on to say, you see there, that he did indeed owe money to somebody the way that The New York Times reported it after digging into his tax returns. And he also, when pressed on health care, offered again no plan to replace Obamacare. Though he has promised that for four years now as a presidential candidate and as president, he has not offered a specific plan, and he didn't last night either.</s>KEILAR: Okay. Let's talk now about the other town hall, Vice President Biden's town hall. It was a lot different. It was a mellower scene over there on ABC, but he still got some tough questions. How were his answers though?</s>CHALIAN: He did. And it was a totally different universe. You are absolutely right about that. On vaccines, he had suggested making vaccines mandatory, that he would look at a way for sort of a national standard on that, if that was possible. He did make some news and say that he was going to answer the question he's been dodging for weeks now about whether or not he supports the idea of court packing on the Supreme Court, changing the number of seats from 9 to a greater number to add more presumably Democratic- friendly justices to the court. He now says he's going to answer that question before the election because voters deserve to hear an answer. Though I will note, we have already had between 10 percent and 15 percent of the overall expected electorate in this election cast their ballots. But he did say he's going to answer that question that he's been dodging. He talked about sort of scenarios of what it would mean for the country if indeed he lost the election. And he was pressed on his authorship of the 1994 crime bill, criminal justice, race in America. He was pressed on some of those topics in a way that he had to grapple with the audience before him. But you're right, it was much more substantive, policy-focused and the former vice president stayed long after the town hall was off the air on ABC to take every participant's question there in the audience.</s>KEILAR: That's very interesting. All right, David Chalian, great to see you. Thank you so much. And there is a big question as the U.S. is getting deeper into this crisis. Where is the White House coronavirus task force? We're going to take a look at that. Plus, disturbing new reporting that the president was warned, Rudy Giuliani was being targeted by Russian agents. And I have an exclusive interview with the wife of retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who is flagging the president's phone call with Ukraine's president ultimately led to his impeachment.

Biden's Town Hall Beats Trump's in T.V. Ratings; Vindman's Wife Speaks Out for First Time Since Impeachment Trial.

KEILAR: Just in, the ratings from last night's dueling town halls, who did most Americans tune in to watch? Was it President Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden? Here with the numbers is CNN Chief Media Correspondent and the Anchor of Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter. Okay. We knew this was shaping up to be a ratings battle. So, the winner is who?</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey, Brianna. Yes, these numbers are just in from the Neilsen Company. And they are really surprised. Everybody in T.V. business assumed that Donald Trump would prevail in this ratings race. The Trump campaign predicted that he would out rate Biden's town hall. But, in fact, the Biden town hall just on one channel, ABC, averaged about 14 million viewers last night. The Trump town hall was on three different channels. So we'll break down the numbers you see on the screen there. Trump on NBC had about 10.6 million viewers. He was also on MSNBC, add a couple million viewers to that. And he was on CNBC. So, he was on three different channels. But all combined, Trump totaled 13 million viewers across those three different channels. So, notably, Biden prevailing in this head-to-head ratings matchup, a matchup that Trump seemed to want, right, because there was this expectation that today, Trump will be able to brag about being the ratings champion, beating Biden when, in fact, it is the Biden campaign that came out ahead.</s>KEILAR: That is fascinating. All right, Brian, thank you so much for that, Brian Stelter. In July of 2018, an army lieutenant colonel stationed at the White House was listening on a phone call in which President Trump threatened Ukraine's president withholding up U.S. military aid if Ukraine did not launch an investigation of Joe Biden, President Trump's political rival. That Army officer is Alexander Vindman, whose two decades of service garnered him a Purple Heart, a Ranger Tab and a Combat Infantryman badge and that prestigious post on the president's National Security Council. Vindman flagged Trump's phone call to a White House lawyer. And to hear his wife tell the story, Vindman believed that flagging the phone call would lead to a course correction in the president's interactions with Ukraine. He had no idea that it would set a motion a whistleblower complaint that led to President Trump's impeachment. I sat down with Rachel Vindman, retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman's wife, for her first interview about what her husband and their family have been through during these past two years that have just turned their lives upside down. And we began with a night in September of 2018 which was, it appeared, a regular night in the Vindman household.</s>KEILAR: Take us back to the moment that you realized your husband was embroiled in something very big.</s>RACHEL VINDMAN, WIFE OF LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN: I had been reading and he got in bed and he was like, so, here is a whistleblower complaint that's gone to Congress. And I was like, oh, yeah, I think I heard something about it but I haven't had a chance to read about it. And he said, well it was about a phone call to President Zelensky. And I said, you heard the phone call. Was it okay? And he just kind of stopped there and dropped off and asked me to check on his personal liability insurance the next day. Then he promptly fell asleep. And I stayed awake all night.</s>KEILAR: Did you have a real sense of how big this could be?</s>VINDMAN: No, not a real sense of how big it could be. No, I don't think anyone did. Well, maybe some people, but not me. You know, I didn't have the ability to put it in context. The following week, there was more information that came out. The more the president talked about it, the more I thought there was probably something to it, and then when the whistleblower complaint was made public. So I guess my concern was that even if he wasn't involved, that he would somehow be a fall guy or something, you know, I just was concerned about him being any part of it.</s>KEILAR: Because what's clear at this point is that the whistleblower complaint is about a phone call --</s>VINDMAN: Right.</s>KEILAR: -- that your husband was listening to.</s>VINDMAN: Absolutely.</s>KEILAR: Were you nervous reading the complaint?</s>VINDMAN: Yes, absolutely.</s>KEILAR: Was he nervous?</s>VINDMAN: Maybe a little, but he doesn't really get nervous or ruffled. So I know he was ready to see it and to read it with the rest of America. But if I would say there is one moment in all of this, it was maybe reading that complaint that -- you know, I could tell he was serious. And he's not someone who takes things seriously that don't deserve to be taken seriously, and I felt that.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The most damning testimony in the impeachment inquiry is expected to happen today, an active duty military officer currently working inside the White House. His name is Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman.</s>KEILAR: Was there ever a question of whether he would cooperate with the subpoena?</s>VINDMAN: Never. Never. He would say, it's the co-equal branch of government who subpoenaed him, and he would answer that subpoena.</s>KEILAR: You helped him write his personal statement. What was the objective to you in that statement that really introduced him to the country?</s>VINDMAN: I wanted to talk about his service, about what brought him here.

Biden Campaigns in Michigan and Trump in Florida, Georgia; Town Halls Reveal Sharp Differences Over Coronavirus; At Least Seven States Report Record High Number of Hospitalizations.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you so much for sharing a very busy Friday with us. A crowded campaign trail today, the Democratic nominee lands in battleground Michigan. The president campaigns in Florida and in Georgia. We are 18 days to Election Day. So, we talked battleground states and electoral maps. And this election, we have a new map. And it too factors into your choice. Red and blue are how we divvy up wins by Republicans and Democrats. Orange and red are how we show you new coronavirus trouble. Take a look. A lot of trouble. 32 states trending up in their count of new COVID infections right now. The candidates are back on the trail after primetime network town halls last night. Both answered tough questions and both evaded tough questions. Asked about court packing, Democrat Joe Biden says stay tuned.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I have not been a fan of court packing because I think it just generates, what will happen... Whoever wins, it just keeps moving in a way that is inconsistent with what is going to be manageable.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, MODERATOR OF ABC NEWS TOWN HALL: So, you're still not a fan?</s>BIDEN: Well, I'm not a fan. It didn't say - it depends on how this turns out, not how he wins, but how it's handled, how it's handled.</s>KING: That is a policy question mark. This is a question of decency. The president asked by NBC's Savannah Guthrie if he rejects the QAnon conspiracy theorists who support him. Remember, QAnon believers say the government is run by Satan worshipping pedophiles. Remember too that the president called the QAnon believer running for Congress, quote, "a real winner" and "a future Republican star." Last night tough the president of the United States pleading ignorance.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I denounce white supremacy, OK?</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, MODERATOR OF NBC NEWS TOWN HALL: You did, two days later.</s>TRUMP: I've denounced white supremacy, for years.</s>GUTHRIE: Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, "QAnon is nuts and real leaders call conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories."</s>TRUMP: He may be right.</s>GUTHRIE: Why not just say, it's crazy and not true?</s>TRUMP: Can I be honest? He may be right. I just don't know about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: You do know.</s>TRUMP: I don't know. No, I don't know. I don't know. You tell me all about it.</s>GUTHRIE: Let me ask you another thing.</s>KING: The coronavirus also a big town hall's topic. The president says he's been right from the beginning. Joe Biden says the incumbent was a disaster from day one and is to this very day. The numbers speak for themselves. Thursday 63,000 plus new cases. The United States topping that 60,000 mark for the first time since back in the middle of August. 26 states reported more than 1,000 new infections on Thursday. The president says we are on the way down. That is simply a lie. Listen here to a close ally who got infected at the Trump White House, a White House that ignores basic science and basic commonsense.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: I was doing it right for seven months and avoided the virus. I let my guard down for a couple of days inside the White House grounds and it cost me in a significant way.</s>KING: Let's take a closer look at the numbers right now. And you go through it. Again, I'll bring back up this map. Red and orange are bad. You see a lot of red and orange. One state, New Mexico, that means 50 percent more new infections now compared to last week. That's the deep red. The rest is orange, 31 states. So, 32 in all trending up. 31 of them reporting between 10 percent and 50 percent more new infections right now than a week ago. 32 states trending in the wrong direction. 15 states, the beige holding steady. Only three states currently reporting fewer new COVID infections right now compared to a week ago. There's a lot of states heading in the wrong direction. If you look at cases reported just yesterday, the deeper the color, the higher the number. So, you see out here, there's a big problem across the plains, smaller populations. The case numbers aren't as high but look again, deeper colors in Florida, in North Carolina. Out here, Wisconsin, and Illinois, Texas as well, California as well. States having an increasing problem as the weather gets colder. Nine states in fact setting records, new cases - nine records on Thursday. Nine new infection records on Thursday. We thought we were through this. We're going back up a hill. And you see, a lot of it concentrated here in the Midwest, out here in Prairie, Colorado and New Mexico as well. If you come back through now, this is what we have lived the last eight months. In April, up the summer surge, look at here, 77,000 the peak of the summer surge, 64,000 in August. Right back at that. Right near that number again yesterday. And again, came down from the summer surge, unmistakable. Look at the red line. You don't even have to know the number. You're going back up a hill. That's what the public health experts said we needed to try to avoid. With the case count going up, the death trend tends to follow. At the moment, you see the blue line is flat, but you also see a number of days with the red is above the blue line. That tells you it's starting to trickle back up. Let's hope it does not but that is the pattern as you watch it. A flat line now between 500 and 1,000, on a daily basis. We'll see the projections are that will go back up. Some say it will pass 1,000 and do it soon. Here is another trouble sign. You want the positivity rate, Americans take a coronavirus test, what's the percentage that comes back positive? 6.3 percent. You want it below five. Above 5 percent tells you, you have an outbreak in your community. 6.3 percent right now. It was below 5 just a couple of weeks back nationally. The national number though being shoved back up because of this. Look at this map. The deeper the colors, the higher the positivity, 36 percent in South Dakota right now. 36 percent, 22 percent in Idaho, 17 percent Wyoming, 23 percent Wisconsin, 20 percent Iowa, 16 percent Indiana, 15 percent Alabama, Florida back in double digits at 12 percent. If you have double digit positivity rates, that's more cases today, more people who can spread which gets you more cases tomorrow. This is obviously a giant public health crisis for the country. It's also the defining question in the presidential campaign. At the town halls last night, very different answers to the question, how are we doing?</s>TRUMP: And what we've done has been amazing. And we have done an amazing job. And it's rounding the corner and we have the vaccines coming, and we have the therapies coming.</s>BIDEN: He missed enormous opportunities and kept saying things that weren't true. It's going to go away by Easter, don't worry about it. It's going to all -- when the summer comes, it's all going to go away like a miracle. He's still saying those things.</s>KING: Joining our conversation, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, they're stubborn and they're stupid. And one of the things I don't understand about the president is he has to know the case map. He may not go to any coronavirus task force briefings. He may not even allow those meetings to happen anymore, but he has to know the numbers. And he says we're going down. He says we're rounding the corner. It's simply not true. How can he think that he can tell that to the American people at a time they're living this again going back up the hill?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Because the fact that he suffered from coronavirus, the fact that he was hospitalized, because he had the deadly virus has not changed the way that he approaches his life. And that is that he is convinced that he can convince people that they are looking at a blue sky, but that the blue sky is pink. I mean that is the way that he approaches everything, and it has been his whole adult life. It has worked for him in business. It worked for him certainly at the beginning of his political career. But it clearly does not work when you are telling people something that really does affect their everyday lives and unfortunately, it is affecting them in much more negative ways as you just showed with that really, frankly scary map and the fact that the numbers are going up. It's just not possible but it's impossible to convince him otherwise.</s>KING: It is stunning in the sense that you also heard Governor Christie - Chris Christie. He said you know, there who said, you know -- a gentlemen who's overweight, who has asthma, who says he was very careful back home for months, comes to the White House to help the president with debate prep, lets down his guard and ends up in the intensive care unit. And he says wear a mask. He's trying to tell people not wearing masks. He says he wishes both candidates in the last 18 days this election would agree on that. Everybody should wear a mask. Everybody should social distance, but the subject came up last night they don't agree.</s>TRUMP: I tell people, wear a mask. But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it. So, this is a very --</s>GUTHRIE: It didn't say that. I know that study.</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard, and that's what I saw.</s>BIDEN: You can't mandate a mask. But you can say, you can go to every governor and get them all in a room, all 50 of them as president and say, ask people to wear the mask. Everybody knows.</s>KING: Biden has been very consistent on this, saying you know leaders have to lead, hold up their own mask, tell people to wear a mask, get Republican and Democratic governors, the president there, again distorting completely the findings of a study about masks and he won't budge.</s>BASH: It's reprehensible that he's taking his own government's data and misrepresenting those data, particularly when it comes to something as simple as wearing a mask. And he is taking this issue and he is handing it on a silver platter to Joe Biden. He's just allowing Joe Biden to look and sound and feel like a leader in a way that President Trump just will not do it. It is mind boggling to people, even those who like him and help him. Chris Christie is a perfect example. He sat with him and helped him for days on his own time and his own dime to try to prepare him for the last debate and suffered the consequences. Even he is speaking out and saying, this makes no sense. Wear a mask. It is -- it's -- if he said wear a mask, I even think that just based on the data, the polling data, it actually could help him, not hurt him. But he won't go there.</s>KING: He did it once for a day or for a couple of days -</s>BASH: Right.</s>KING: -- where he was trying to at one time. And then as always, he goes back to his default. To your point, he thinks he can tell people up is down and west is east. You mentioned Governor Christie. Let's listen to him again because this is important. Because we know Trump supporters out there, the president tells them don't listen to us, don't listen to the scientists, don't listen to Dr. Fauci, don't listen to the data, don't listen, don't listen, don't listen. Well, here's a guy who, as Dana said, on his own time and his own dime tried to help the president with the first debate. Listen.</s>CHRISTIE: I was led to believe that, you know, all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested. And it gave you a false sense of security. And it was a mistake. You know I've been so careful for seven months because of my asthma, wearing masks, washing my hands, social distancing and for seven months I was able to avoid the virus in one of the worst hit states in the country, in New Jersey. But I let my guard down. And it was wrong. It was just a big mistake.</s>KING: There's a proud stubborn man, Chris Christie, it was wrong, it was a big mistake. We've never heard those words from the president of the United States about that superspreader event at the White House. About any decisions about not ramping up tests early on, and so on and so forth.</s>BASH: That's exactly right. He is trying to lead by example, he is signaling to a president who, even though he talks to Chris Christie on the phone, he consumes information and it sort of sinks in with him by television. So, that was a big reason that the former governor of New Jersey did that. But let me translate this to you even further. When the former governor said that he had a false sense of security, he thought everybody at the White House was being tested. You know who he was talking about. He was talking about the president of the United States. Everybody who came into that building or came into the White House campus, including Chris Christie they were told by the medical staff they needed to be tested and the assumption was that everybody was tested. But we now know based on lots of data points, including the president not answering last night, whether or not he was tested the night of the debate that he wasn't tested every day, and you know he could have been, we don't know but he could have been patient zero or at least part of the problem at the White House on that big Saturday event they had for the Supreme Court nominee and also in his debate prep room where everybody except two people came down with the coronavirus.</s>KING: Right. Chris Christie says the White House never contact traced him, his county board of health back home did. I'd like to see that list when they asked him, governor who did you come in contact to? Might have had the coronavirus. I'm guessing the president's name is at close to the top. Dana Bash appreciate your reporting and insights. Let's move on now to some important news, CNN reporting on what the president calls his coronavirus cure. It is no cure, but the antibody cocktail from a drug company called Regeneron was part of the president's aggressive coronavirus treatment. And he now promises all Americans will be able to get it free and soon. Experts though have a very different take. They warn there may only be limited access to this treatment and it likely will carry a steep price tag. CNN's Sara Murray has been doing this reporting. She is here to explain. Sarah?</s>SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, ever since the president got Regeneron's the antibody cocktail, he can't stop talking about it. I mean let's just take a look at him last night talking about it yet again.</s>TRUMP: When I got it, I had a choice. Do nothing or use some of the things that we're looking at, like in this case, Regeneron. and Eli Lilly makes something that's supposed to be incredible. And I think that maybe I wouldn't be doing this discussion with you right now. We have therapies now and cures, maybe you can use the word cure.</s>MURRAY: Now, he calls it a cure. He says every American is going to be able to get it. That is just not the case, John. Every American is not going to be able to get this kind of treatment. First of all, it's still experimental, it's promising, but it is not yesterday proven, the FDA has not issued an authorization yet, and if or when they do, it could be for a relatively small subset of coronavirus patients. If they did decide to issue a broader authorization for a lot of people to be able to access this treatment, it's not likely that the companies that make these kinds of treatments would be able to make enough to go around. They would have had to -- the Trump administration start ramping up manufacturing on these months and months ago and there was pressure from scientists inside and outside the administration to get them to do that. But within the Trump administration they were really focused on this pursuit of vaccines. And they knew that vaccines would help with coronavirus. They weren't sure if these antibody therapies would pan out and if the science would be there. The other issue, John, is the price. The government bought up a number of these doses in the hopes that they will work. And they are planning on providing them free of charge. But people are worried about what happens when these are commercially available and how expensive they could be and they're very worried that ultimately, it could be the most privileged Americans who benefit from these the most. HHS insists they're going to try to make sure that that doesn't happen, but we will see if these drugs are authorized. And then what happens when they go to market. John?</s>KING: Well, the president has some info on some of that. We'll keep an eye on a very important reporting. Sara Murray, grateful for that reporting and the context. Thank you so much. Up next for us with the rising coronavirus case count comes the domino effect. Seven states now recording record hospitalizations.

Don's Take On The Presidential Candidate's Town Hall; Sen. Perdue Willfully Mispronounces Sen. Kamala Harris' Name; Trump Campaign Is Always Trying To Make Black People Seem Foreign; Trump Takes His Superspreader Tour On The Road

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: All right. I got to end the show on an apology. CNN Tonight starts with D. Lemon right now and I am off my game, man. I've been doing you dirty with time all week long and I apologize. I don't mean to disrespect your show. It is my favorite show on the network.</s>DON LEMON, CNN HOST: It should be because it's the best one.</s>CUOMO: I agree.</s>LEMON: Other than you know 360 and Cuomo Primetime.</s>CUOMO: No. Yours is the best, Don. Yours is the best. You're the only one with a unicorn.</s>LEMON: So, interesting conversation with Cube, but there's a lot more to it than what happened, what you guys talked about.</s>CUOMO: How so?</s>LEMON: Well, there is a reason that African Americans are not drawn to, most African Americans are not drawn to or open to what this administration is doing or saying. One must be careful. Let's put it this way. I had a conversation the other day and I won't give it away with Oprah. And she talked about the power of a platform. Right? Just a phone conversation. Power of a platform. So, if you are someone like Ice Cube and you have the platform that you have and I don't want to disrespect him. You know, he is very accomplished. I've only met him a few times. Nice guy. But one needs to know what one is talking about. One needs to educate one's self on just what is, other than the basics about capital which is important, about voting, which is important, and so on and so forth. So, you have to be careful who you align yourself with. So, you have to educate yourself about that. What is happening with the Trump campaign and they had admitted it is that they need African American votes to win. This is just to win for them. So what they are doing is trying to pit African Americans against Hispanics or against immigrants by saying the immigrants are taking your jobs. They are trying to appeal to African American men I should say, men. They know that they cannot get the women, so they are not targeting African American women. They are targeting black men. Immigrants are taking your jobs. And don't you want the money because you need to build wealth and blah, blah, blah, blah. So there is sort of a too cute by half aspect of what they are doing. There is the money as you so rightly pointed out in the Trump plan does not -- it is not specifically earmarked for anything. It's not specific.</s>CUOMO: Certainly not for blacks.</s>LEMON: Certainly not for blacks. That black thing, that's another thing. I'll get to that. If you listened to the town hall last night what Joe Biden said, what he is talking about is he has specifics on how he is going to help the black community, where the money is going to go to, what kinds of coalitions he is trying to build. Trump, the Trump plan does not have that. So the black thing. Here's the problem with that. I understand what he is saying about black people and about the descendants of slaves. Again be careful who you align yourself with because this ADOS, African Descendants Of Slaves, a lot of Russian bots, a lot of bots online targeting, doing the dirty work of Russia for that.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>LEMON: And to discriminate I think -- it is OK to point out that you are a descendant of a slave, don't get me wrong. That's fine. And some people are not. And that doesn't make one person less or more black than another person. But to discriminate against someone to say, well, we just want this because we are black in this way, I think is discriminatory. Because people of color, there is power in numbers. It should be, there is nothing wrong with having a plan for black America and not just black Americans who are Descendants of Slaves, because this country, when someone sees me on the street or a black person is going for a job or for housing or for a loan they don't look at on your application it does not say if you are a Descendant of Slaves.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>LEMON: It just says you're African American or you're black.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>LEMON: So, that should be enough. So, you know, I just think that people need to be educated. You have to understand, be cognizant of how you may be used by certain people for a certain effect. And that's it. But there is a whole lot to, there's a read, there's a whole lot to why people are upset with Cube and it's not because he is talking about building capital. And quite frankly when I heard the name it reminded me of Newt Gingrich and the contract with America, it was like --</s>CUOMO: Well, I think -- I don't think that is a coincidence necessarily but that was a huge boost to the Republican Party both in terms of its determination and its structure.</s>LEMON: One more thing I forgot.</s>CUOMO: Go ahead.</s>LEMON: And also, because they can't get women, they are also trying to in some way pit African American men or black men against black women, right? And that's why I hear this talk, you know, in the barber shop all the time. You know, I live up town. I hear this kind of talk all the time especially from black men and I think that people need to know what they're talking about. And more importantly know what they're voting for.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>LEMON: OK? All right. Go on. Sorry.</s>CUOMO: I would only say. I agree with everything, obviously. I mean, you know, you've helped me greatly in understanding my education of a lot of the racial aspects of current issues. You and a lot of other friends of color that I have. And I think it's important because a lot of times perspective is a big place of where you start in terms of when you read the same document. But when you read the contract with Black America, there's a whole panoply of different things he has in it. I don't think that -- I can't say that Ice Cube has an obvious deficiency of perspective about anything. Everything that he lays out in the document is pretty solid in terms of the need. The only thing I will give him in his defense that I didn't understand until I talked to him is, I don't believe that he sees himself as affiliated with the Trump campaign.</s>LEMON: No. He said that many times. You said that --</s>CUOMO: That anybody wants to talk to me I'll talk to them. Biden said I'll do it after. They said they would do it now, so I gave it to him now.</s>LEMON: Yes. He said that, and that numerous conversation that are online.</s>CUOMO: But that makes a lot of the criticism unfair because a lot of the critics are saying you sided with Trump.</s>LEMON: No, but you didn't hear what I just said.</s>CUOMO: No, not you. I'm saying, but I'm saying -- he's getting hit with that a lot.</s>LEMON: There is nothing wrong with that. Again, I said, there is a reason why most black people don't align themselves with the Trump philosophy.</s>CUOMO: Right. Obvious reasons.</s>LEMON: And for obvious reasons. And I think that -- listen, quite frankly, Cube, you have to recognize that. I respect him and if he is listening or watching that he is trying to ultimately help people, but it is important in the way you do it as well. And with whom you do it. And, you know, I just think that you have to be careful about being used because if it's truly -- if it was truly just about helping people the person who tweeted it out and said, oh, thanks for helping or whatever, the Trump representative did, wanted black men to know, because Cube is a rapper. And he has a lot of black support especially from men. Wanted people to know that. And again, it is too cute by half philosophy. I think it is quite obvious with what is going on but there you have it. That's how I feel about it</s>CUOMO: I appreciate your take.</s>LEMON: Thank you, sir.</s>CUOMO: Especially when I owe you time.</s>LEMON: I'll see you later.</s>CUOMO: All right. I love you. Have a good weekend. Spent time with me.</s>LEMON: I love you more. I will see you this week and I promise. This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. 18 days to go until Election Day with more than 20 million ballots already cast. Side by side picture of the two campaigns well, tells you everything you need to know. Everything you need to know. One campaign lives in reality. The reality of COVID America. With socially distanced events and realistic policies to battle the pandemic. One lives in a super spreading unreality show with a president who never mentions more than 218,000 dead Americans. He never mentions that. But I want you to listen to Joe Biden making an impassioned plea today for the kind of health care Americans desperately need in these pandemic times. The kinds of health care his son Beau had.</s>JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He made it almost 16 months. Toward the end -- this is not about me. It's about all of you. I consciously thought to myself. What would it feel like if they were able to walk in and say, Mr. Biden, you've outrun your insurance coverage? Suffer the last two or three months in pain on your own. Lots of luck. Because that's happened before. Long term complications from COVID will become pre-existing conditions joining asthma, diabetes, even pregnancy is a pre-existing condition before. It allows insurers to jack up your premiums or deny coverage all together.</s>LEMON: OK. So, you heard -- listen, you heard that. Very calm. Very presidential. Compare that to the president tonight talking about the Biden campaign's social distancing and accidentally making their point for them.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The circles not only they are big, although I love the artistry because the guy really does a nice job. You know I'm into that stuff. It's very neat. Very round. Beautiful. Solid. I mean, it would be impossible to catch anything if you're in one of those circles because you are so far away.</s>LEMON: So, that's why they have those circles. So it's impossible to catch anything. And take a look at this. This is the president in remarks about protecting America's seniors. He puts them at risk with an indoor event. Those seniors cheering and clapping. Few masks in evidence here. Looking at that you'd almost forget that there is a pandemic raging in this country, which is exactly what the president wants. He wants you to forget all about the worst pandemic in a century. He just expects you to believe him when he says against all the evidence, we're rounding the turn. Rounding the turn to what? Another million cases by the end of the month? Another thousand dead Americans by the end of tomorrow? This is Chris Christie. I want you to listen closely here. Who trusted this White House to tell him the truth about the virus? And about the testing he thought would keep him safe.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: It was a mistake. You know, I was led to believe that all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested and it gave you a false sense of security. And it was a mistake.</s>LEMON: It was a mistake he says. It was a mistake. And he paid for that mistake with seven days in the ICU. And he's warning Americans to do what he didn't do and that's wear a mask.</s>CHRISTIE: We need to be telling people that there is no down side to wearing mask. And in fact, there can be a great deal of upside. And I think if we all do that, that's one of the things we can contribute as Americans.</s>LEMON: No down side to wearing a mask. It is a huge upside. Tremendous upside. Heard that? Chris Christie. He and the president. He is a supporter of the president. And that's what he is saying. That is a warning the president is ignoring tonight as he takes his super- spreader tour to Macon with another packed crowd, hardly any masks in evidence. And in a state where the virus has killed more than 7,500 people. He is acting like nothing is wrong. Just having fun. Like Trump supporter Georgia State Congressman Vernon Jones, look at that. Oh, my god. Crowd surfing before the president took the stage. And then there is Senator David Perdue. OK, everybody. Listen closely. Following the president's lead, woefully mispronouncing the name of his colleague who happens to be on the Senate Budget Committee with him. That is Senator Kamala Harris.</s>SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): Then tomorrow what Kamala or Kamala, Kamala mala mala, I don't know. Whatever. Then tomorrow what Kamala or Kamala, Kamala mala mala, I don't know. Whatever. Then tomorrow what Kamala or Kamala, Kamala mala mala, I don't know. Whatever.</s>LEMON: OK. So we played it a couple of times so you could hear. You just heard what I heard and saw what I saw, right. You did. So keep that in mind as I now tell you what Senator Perdue's office tells us tonight. They claim that he simply mispronounced her name, didn't mean anything by it. You heard him. He said her name four different ways and then tacked on a mala-mala-mala. I don't know whatever. That is what he said trying to be funny, scoring cheap laughs. It's disrespectful. And their statement insults your intelligence. So, even though Senator Perdue's office has clearly given us a bad faith explanation. I'm going to help a brother out here. OK? So what is this on your screen? Look at some punctuation marks. That is a question mark. OK? Now what is this? Next to the question mark? That is an exclamation mark. So what is this now next to the question mark and the exclamation mark? That is a comma. Kamala, add a la, Kama plus la is Kamala. So, think about a simple punctuation mark. A comma and then a la. Kama-la. So easy. There. I fixed it for you, Senator. You're welcome. But this is right in line with the president's mocking his perceived political enemies. This campaign is always trying to make black people seem different, foreign, un-American, suspicious. Just listen to the garbage the president is spewing tonight about Congressman Ilhan Omar.</s>TRUMP: If you look at the House with Pelosi and these people, it's like they hate Israel. And they believe in Omar who came in here maybe illegally.</s>LEMON: So Congresswoman Omar was born in Somalia, came to the U.S. on refugee status. When she was 12 years old after spending years in a refugee camp in Kenya. She did not come here illegally and is fully a fully naturalized U.S. citizen. You don't have to like her. But you definitely don't need to smear her. All that as the president is taking his super-spreader tour to Wisconsin tomorrow where they now have a positivity rate of more than 26 percent. Don't look for a whole lot of masks or social distancing there either. And if you're still not convinced the White House learned their lesson from their original super-spreader event, take a look at this photo. The White House. There it is. Incredibly is using this photo of the nomination event for Amy Coney Barrett to promote their fall garden tours. Yep. It's the very same event that we now know was a super- spreader that infected multiple people. Look at those names there on your screen. And that's where we are tonight. With more than 8 million cases of the coronavirus in this country. More than 218,000 Americans dead. And with 18 days to go until Election Day. That's where we are. The former president Barack Obama is hitting the campaign trail for Joe Biden. He is going to do that next week. The day before was scheduled to be the final presidential debate. CNN's Dana Bash and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang are here to break down the state of the race 18 days out. They are next.

Biden Makes An Impassioned Plea For Health Care; Trump Makes Biden Campaign's Point On Social Distancing; Obama To Campaign For Biden In Philadelphia On Wednesday.

LEMON: Well, there is only 18 days until the election Trump and Biden battling it out in key battleground states. The president holding a series of campaign rallies in Florida and Georgia. Rallies that could be potential super-spreader events. There was little social distancing and few people wore masks. Joe Biden holding two campaign events in Michigan slamming Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its dire impact on the economy and calling for unity in America.</s>BIDEN: Everybody knows who Donald Trump is. Let's show him who we are. We choose hope over fear. Unity over division. Science over fiction. And, yes, truth over lies. It's time to stand up. Take back our country. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Go get them. We can do this.</s>LEMON: I want to bring in now CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash and political commentator Andrew Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate who will be campaigning for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania this weekend. And by the way, every time we hear a sound bite with Joe Biden, when he's giving an event, that's because they are socially distanced, a lot of them drive-thru or drive-up events where people sit in their cars and when they like what he says they honk their horns. So, I just had to explain that. Because every time</s>I -- DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just like when you walk down the streets.</s>ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's true.</s>LEMON: People are like oh, get out of the way. You're ugly.</s>BASH: He has been mocking Joe Biden for following the guidelines of his own federal government for months now, Don, whether it's masks or social distancing. I mean, the whole set of moniker of him being in the basement. That's where that came from, it came from Joe Biden being socially distant and following the rules at the time it was the lockdown. And now it's just basic protocol that the rest of us follow on our everyday lives. And the president still thinks that that works for him but there is very little evidence in basic political data that he's right.</s>LEMON: Andrew, you're heading to Pennsylvania to campaign for Biden on Sunday. President Obama will be in Philadelphia next week. Biden town hall was in Philly last night. Big, big focus on Pennsylvania.</s>YANG: Pennsylvania is a key battleground, Don. And if it goes to Joe which I expect it will, it's going to be very hard for Trump to reach 270 electoral votes. You showed a clip of Trump in Georgia tonight. That is the last place that he wanted to be, because that means they had to spend precious candidate time and energy defending a state that you would think would be solidly red and uncontested. And that is the problem for Trump is his map just keeps spreading, where Joe is competitive in places that Trump would have liked to have put away weeks ago. It is one reason I think Joe is incredibly well positioned for election night. And this is more election month than election night. Because as you said we're already voting.</s>LEMON: Yes. And every day I'm surprised that the number of people I'm seeing in those lines voting early. I mean just out there socially distancing and voting, you know, before November 3rd. Dana, President Trump is taking notice that the former president is hitting the campaign trail. Watch this.</s>TRUMP: Oh, I got an emergency call today. They said sir I'm sorry to tell you President Obama is going to start campaigning for Sleepy Joe. I said, so what's the problem with that? I said, is that good or bad? Because I think it's a good thing. Because you know they did a lousy job. And I wouldn't be president of the United States if they did a good job. I wouldn't be -- I probably wouldn't have run. And if I did I probably wouldn't have won. You know? So it is one of those things.</s>LEMON: So great reporting. I watched your reports when you were in Pennsylvania. You were just in Pennsylvania. Can President Obama make a difference here?</s>BASH: Absolutely. I mean, Pennsylvania was blue twice when President Obama was running. In fact, it had been blue for almost three decades until Donald Trump's surprise win in 2016. President Obama is incredibly popular there as he is in other states. Obviously, you know, he is going to go and try to increase the margin of the Democratic vote but also independents and people who were Republicans, even Obama/Trump voters. They exist. They are out there and they are in places like Pennsylvania so absolutely he can help. That clip from the president was so classic, Don, because he is right. He wouldn't be president without President Obama because he wouldn't have run because he was obsessed with Obama and obviously it was his conspiracy theory about Obama that got him traction with a certain segment of the population and he never looked back.</s>LEMON: Yes. With the supporters, many of the supporters he has now. Listen, I want to put up some polling for you Andrew, to respond to. This is out of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Biden is up here. You also have the Biden campaign out spending, right, in these states. And so he is working to rebuild the blue wall that crumbled in 2016. Do you think it's working? What do you think?</s>YANG: I think it is working. We have to work our hearts out over these next 18 days. We can't leave anything to chance. But we are incredibly well positioned. Because if you look at the numbers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, even places like Iowa and Ohio that Trump won significantly in 2016 they are all either competitive or Joe has a steady lead. So the blue wall is going to grow. I mean, you're seeing Democrats competitive in places like Texas. Texas right now I saw a poll that said Texas is tied and that obviously would be a complete game changer in this cycle and for cycles to come if it became a purple state.</s>LEMON: Andrew, are you concerned though that this could have the opposite effect of what you want all of this early voting and talk on TV about Biden is ahead and this is great and the numbers and the people say well I don't need to go because he's winning?</s>YANG: Well, I am the math guy, Don. The numbers look great. Like again, that's why I said we have to keep working hard.</s>LEMON: But is that the message you want for people who haven't gone to the polls already that the numbers are great? Shouldn't Biden and you guys be saying or running as if he is behind 10 points?</s>YANG: We should be acting that way but the turnout levels are going to be -- they are saying the highest since 1908. I'm not concerned about Americans staying on the sidelines.</s>LEMON: That could be Trump supporters.</s>YANG: There are so many people that had been chomping at the bit to get their votes. You are even seeing those lines you're talking about, Don. People are waiting for hours to vote early.</s>LEMON: Yes, but those -- a lot of those people could be Trump supporters.</s>YANG: And turnout is a good thing in a democracy no matter what side it's on. But in this case I am going to suggest that a very high turnout level bodes very well for Joe and Kamala.</s>LEMON: Yes. Go ahead, Dana</s>BASH: I just want to say that I think you're making, the point you're making is right and valid given where Joe Biden was tonight. I mean, obviously, it's a bigger deal than Donald Trump felt that he had to go to the formerly red state of Georgia 18 days before an election. But Michigan the Democrats thought was pretty comfortably in Joe Biden's column, but the polls apparently internally and certainly externally show a different story that it is very competitive which is why Joe Biden is a very sort of aggressively trying to avoid the mistake that Hillary Clinton made four years ago which is not going back to Michigan and losing Michigan. So that's what Joe Biden did tonight exactly what you are suggesting, Don, campaigning there as if he could lose which is what a candidate is supposed to do.</s>LEMON: Yes. Thank you both. I appreciate it. Have a great weekend. See you soon.</s>BASH: Bye, Don.</s>LEMON: The president practically begging women to vote for him. Yet tonight he is attacking Savannah Guthrie for her looks. Savannah Guthrie, NBC. She did the town hall, moderated or questioned the president last night. So how is this going to fly with female voters?</s>TRUMP: And in Savannah it was like her face, the anger, the craziness. I mean, the craziness last night. And I said good-bye. I said, great job, Savannah. You did wonderfully. Good job.

Presidential Campaigns Battling for Key States; Georgia GOP Senator Perdue Willfully Mispronounces Senator Kamala Harris's Name at Trump Rally; President Trump to Hit Campaign Rally in Wisconsin; Schwarzenegger and Holder Talk About Voter Suppression; A CNN Hero's Mission Finds a New Need During the Pandemic.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: We got 18 days until the election. President Trump and Joe Biden are fighting it out in key battleground states. Trump is holding packed campaign rallies in Florida and Georgia, potential super-spreader events with little social distancing and few people wearing masks. Trump is falsely claiming that the U.S. is rounding the turn on the virus. That as the nation passes eight million confirmed cases, 68,000 new cases just today. Biden is campaigning in Michigan, slamming Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its severe impact on the economy. Let's discuss now with Kirsten Powers, CNN's senior political analyst, and Max Boot, global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Good evening to both of you. Good to see you. Kirsten, I want you to take a look, these are the closing arguments that we heard from Trump and Biden on the coronavirus pandemic.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: More than 250 -- I think now 217,000 dead Americans because of COVID-19. And experts say we will lose nearly 200,000 more lives in the next few months. All because this president cares more about his Park Avenue perspective on the world and the stock market than he does about you, because he refused to follow the science.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.</s>TRUMP: We are rounding the turn. Don't listen to the cynics and angry partisans and professional pessimists.</s>LEMON: So, Kirsten, polar opposites on a life or death issue. Is this what the election comes down to now?</s>KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think for a lot of people who -- that Biden is trying to reach and that Trump seems to be ignoring, it is what it comes down to. I mean, what I think is making a lot of -- certainly a lot of Republican, suburban women think about crossing over to Joe Biden, what is -- swinging a lot of seniors, you know, who were previously with Donald Trump over to the Biden's side, is the coronavirus epidemic, the pandemic. And so the president is still just talking to his base. He's obviously at a rally. He's talking to his base but his words carry farther than that. And people know what's happening. The people who are in his base, who are happy to follow him along with this short of fanciful story about we are turning a corner when everybody can see clearly that we are not, I think are going to pay attention to this closing argument and say this is not reality that the president is presenting, and what Biden is hitting on is exactly what people are worried about.</s>LEMON: Max, I want to talk about some of Jake Tapper's new reporting. He has this new reporting that friends of the president's former chief of staff, John Kelly, they say that Kelly has said this about Trump. He says, "The depth of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life." So, in any administration, it would be astounding to hear something like that from a former chief of staff but -- Max?</s>MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, yes. You know, it's something that we've gotten used to, Don, with this particular president, that so many people who love the administration have such a low opinion of him. Some of them are willing to express it out loud like John Bolton, his former national security adviser. Others like John Kelly are saying it off the record. I wish John Kelly would go on the record and make clear to the American public his very low assessment of President Trump's character. But it's pretty obvious that those who have seen President Trump up close are appalled and horrified by what they've seen. This is extremely unusual. We have never seen another administration like this where people have left the highest level post in the government to say that the president is flatly unfit and unqualified to serve. That has never happened before, Don. So, we should not get used to it. This is extremely unusual and it's because Trump is such an awful president.</s>LEMON: Yeah. Listen, we often -- not often, all the time pretty much, we hear this coming from people after they have left the administration. He worked very hard to help implement many of the policies, a number of the policies that are in place right now, and some that did not go in place, bans and all kinds of things like that.</s>LEMON: He doesn't get off scot-free though, does he?</s>BOOT: No, absolutely not. I mean, I think there's an element of complicity for anybody who is at a high level of this administration, although I think that's offset to a certain extent by whether they did something to block some of Trump's worst impulses. I suspect that John Kelly did that, as well as H.R. McMaster and others who served in the White House. I think Jim Mattis at the defense and so forth. So I think we do owe them a depth of gratitude. But yes, there is also a certain amount of complicity. I think they do have an obligation to come clean, and with so little time before the election, to tell the American people what they saw and heard so that Trump cannot dismissed this as fake news.</s>LEMON: Kirsten, there's going to be more, and I want to mention more of John Kelly's comments in Jake Tapper's special report. It airs on Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Make sure you tune in because Kelly made these comments to friends. Why won't he come out and tell the country what he thinks his former boss, that he thinks his former boss is unfit for office? Why won't he say anything, Kirsten?</s>POWERS: I don't know. I don't know why you would only tell your friends that when the ramifications obviously of people not hearing this information could be serious. But he also may have just drawn the conclusion that he thinks it is not going to make much of a difference. I don't actually think that's the right conclusion to draw, though. I think it is right that it won't make a difference with the hard-core Trump supporters, but I think it could make a difference for people who are thinking about crossing over, for example, a small number of people but could make a difference and who are looking for permission from somebody that they respect, you know, a leader that they look up to, somebody like John Kelly and somebody who has first-hand information. So, it's been a mystery to me all along, why so many people -- I mean, we've covered, you know, Senator Ben Sasse, the things that he said about the president on a conference call with supporters or voters, and why not say all this stuff out, you know, more broadly in the public where everybody can hear it and why not a long time ago. You know, so many people have just put their career ahead of what they obviously think is good for the country.</s>LEMON: Mm-hmm. Let me -- I want to get something to you. Let me see. So, the president is declaring next week, national character counts week, writing in a proclamation that every opportunity to show consideration for another person is also an opportunity to build habits of kindness. And throughout this week, we recommit to being more kind, loving, understanding, and virtuous.</s>POWERS: OK. I think that's the problem with the connection because --</s>POWERS: I mean the president is doing that?</s>LEMON: Yes. You know --</s>BOOT: The Trump's superpower is that he has no sense of self-awareness --</s>BOOT: -- with no idea how other people perceive him. I mean, it is stunning.</s>LEMON: Oh --</s>BOOT: I mean, the line between reality and --</s>POWERS: It's kind of taking gaslighting to a new level.</s>BOOT: The line between reality and --</s>LEMON: Is this happening?</s>BOOT: -- parity has been punctured. There's no difference anymore.</s>POWERS: I honestly thought I could --</s>LEMON: Wait a minute. Hold on. I got to -- seriously --</s>OK -- POWERS: Yeah.</s>LEMON: I just - I have to put my glasses on and make sure I read it. President Trump is making next week national character counts week --</s>LEMON: Every opportunity shows consideration for another person. Whew!</s>POWERS: I think this is a prank, honestly, like --</s>LEMON: Honestly, we need to check our sources on that.</s>POWERS: Yeah, I think we need to double check this.</s>LEMON: Thank you both.</s>LEMON: Oh, boy, thank you. Wow! OK, I want to turn to something that happened at one of the president's campaign rallies tonight that is not funny. Republican Senator David Perdue is wilfully mispronouncing the name of his colleague on the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Kamala Harris.</s>SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): Kamar -- Kamalar -- mala -- mala -- I don't know.</s>PERDUE: Whatever.</s>LEMON: Let's talk about it now. Jon Ossoff, he is a Democratic candidate running to replace Senator Perdue. Thank you, Jon. I appreciate you joining us.</s>JON OSSOFF, DEMOCRATIC GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: Thanks, Don.</s>LEMON: So, Perdue knows how to pronounce Senator Harris's name. They have served in the Senate together since 2017. Both sit on the budget committee. So why is he willfully mispronouncing it, trying to make it a joke, like, whatever, mala, mala, mala, whatever. Why is he doing that?</s>OSSOFF: This is what President Trump has done to Republicans in the Senate.</s>OSSOFF: I mean, this is a performative bigotry. My opponent, Senator Perdue, he doesn't want to talk about how tens of thousands of Americans have died due to the gross negligence of the Trump administration and Republicans in the Senate during this pandemic. He doesn't want to talk about how they are rushing right now to rip health insurance protections away from people in the middle of a pandemic. Instead what he wants to do is laugh at the first name of the Democratic nominee for vice president because it's an immigrant name. It's low, it's bigoted, it's wrong, and it's pathetic. He needs to apologize, not just to Senator Harris, but also to the Indian-American community in Georgia and across the country.</s>LEMON: There was an incident with you, like, drawing your nose or making your nose bigger, I don't know if it was a photo shop. Can you remind our viewers about that?</s>OSSOFF: Yeah. Well, Senator Perdue has really shown his true colors during this campaign. I mean, he was running an anti-Semitic Facebook ad against me that lengthened my nose, refused to take any responsibility for it, refused to apologize even after Jewish community leaders here in Georgia explained to him that he needed to apologize for using this age-old, anti-Semitic trope and attack ads. Now, he is out here mocking Kamala Harris's name. It is pathetic. It is disgusting. It debased what politics has become under Donald Trump's leadership. We need to heal this country and unite this country, to fight a virus that is the most significant threat to public health and to our prosperity in generations. Instead, it's these schoolyard insults. These racist jokes. It's just so out of touch, with what the overwhelming majority of Americans want and expect from leaders right now.</s>LEMON: So this is what the senator's press secretary, Sabrina Singh, called it. She said it is incredibly racist. The spokesman for the Perdue campaign is defending the senator's remarks tonight. Here's part of their statement. It said, "Senator Perdue simply mispronounced Senator Harris's name, and he didn't mean anything by it. He was making an argument against the radical socialist agenda that she and her endorsed candidate Jon Ossoff are pushing." Listen. It's obvious that Senator Perdue wasn't simply mispronouncing. That was kind of a Trumpy Fox News thing to do. What does that have to do with her on your policy agenda? That is my question.</s>OSSOFF: Well, this is all they have, racist jokes and these outlandish allegations, mischaracterizing the policy platform of the Biden-Harris ticket, and mischaracterizing my agenda to try to make people afraid. This is about fear and division. This is the stock in trade of the president of the United States and his acolytes. There's a reason that Senator Perdue is called Trump's favorite senator. And by the way, this whole yes sir, no sir, three bags full routine (ph) that David Perdue has ran with Donald Trump in the last four years, Georgia hasn't got anything for it. Our farmers still had to wait nearly two years for emergency hurricane relief. We are not even benefiting from the fact that every single favor that President Trump asks of Senator Perdue, every outrageous statement that the president makes Senator Perdue apologizes for, Senator Perdue was out there saying the same nonsense as the president in the early months of this pandemic, saying that COVID-19 was no deadlier than the flu, saying that the risks to our health was low, saying that the impact on our economy would be little. All the while, Senator Perdue was adjusting his stock portfolio, loading up on shares in manufacturers of vaccines and protective medical equipment. Now, his campaign is baseless allegations against his component and racist jokes at Trump rallies. Georgia deserves better and there is a young, progressive, diverse electorate that has grown here in Georgia over the last decade that is demanding change. We are seeing overwhelming turnout, but we are also facing voter suppression. And I need folks to help us fight back and defend the franchise here. They can visit the electjon.com to support this campaign, defeat David Perdue and his bigotry, and turn over a new leaf and open a new chapter in American history.</s>LEMON: I should say that the president also attacked Congresswoman Ilhan Omar today, and then earlier in the week, he called Senator Harris a monster, clearly odorizing women of color. Thank you very much, Jon. I appreciate you joining us. Thank you.</s>OSSOFF: Thanks for having me.</s>LEMON: Former Trump administration officials, including John Bolton, Olivia Troye, and Miles Taylor joined Jake Tapper with an urgent message for America. Make sure you watch "The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials," Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Make sure you join Jake for that. So the president hitting the campaign trail in Wisconsin tomorrow where the COVID positivity rate is more than 26 percent.</s>LEMON: Is this another super-spreader in the making? Plus, I am going to talk to the student who asked Joe Biden one of the toughest questions in the town hall last night.</s>CEDRIC HUMPHREY, STUDENT: Besides you ain't black, what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?

United States Passes Eight Million Coronavirus Cases with More Than 218,000 Deaths

LEMON: Today, the United States hit a grim milestone, passing eight million coronavirus cases, eight million, more cases than any other country, and cases continue to go up. You can see very little green on that map there. That as the president is taking to his campaign, taking his campaign to Wisconsin, a state where coronavirus cases are now at an all-time high. Here is what the U.S. surgeon general said today.</s>JEROME ADAMS, U.S. GENERAL SURGEON: I want you all to be aware that Wisconsin is currently one of our red states, meaning your positivity rates are over 10 percent and going in the wrong direction.</s>ADAMS: Cases are in the red, going in the wrong direction. It is critical that we actually understand where this virus is circulating so that we can get cases under control and reverse positivity.</s>LEMON: So let's discuss now. Kara Purviance is the chairwoman of the Wisconsin Rock County Board of Supervisors. Thank you for joining us. I really appreciate it. So --</s>KARA PURVIANCE, CHAIRWOMAN, ROCK COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: Thank you for having me.</s>LEMON: So, let's talk about Wisconsin's corona positivity rate, more than 26 percent tonight. So why is the president holding a rally with hundreds of people there tomorrow?</s>PURVIANCE: Well, I think what we have seen is definitely some hard work in the last week or so to sort of regain maybe some of the momentum here that was lost. And so I feel that he wants to continue that and come to Wisconsin, which we know is a battleground state. And so, you know, that definitely make sense as to why he would be coming here.</s>LEMON: The mayor of Milwaukee is warning the president's Wisconsin rally could be another super-spreader event like the White House Rose Garden. Do you think he's right?</s>PURVIANCE: Yeah. We are definitely concerned in Rock County, specifically, we have seen a record number of positive cases at this time, actually higher than they were at the former highest which was in May, 15 percent back in May, 20 percent now. You know, we're definitely concerned here with this having an impact on the numbers in the upcoming week. And as we've heard from the report, we are already heading in the wrong direction. We are concerned that this will be a super-spreader event. We don't want to go in that wrong direction.</s>LEMON: Well, we are going to have you back to discuss this more. Thank you so much, Kara. We really appreciate it. Best of luck to you.</s>PURVIANCE: Thank you.</s>LEMON: So, the super-spreader-in-chief is back on the campaign trail, claiming that we are turning a corner in the fight against the coronavirus.</s>TRUMP: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn. I say that all the time. Some of the media doesn't like hearing it. But I say it all the time. We are rounding the turn.</s>LEMON: Dr. Howard K. Koh joins us now. He is a former assistant secretary for health in the Obama administration and professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Thank you, doctor. I really appreciate you joining us this evening. You heard the president a moment ago. He keeps bragging that we are supposedly -- we have turned a corner in this pandemic. But nothing could be further from the truth if you actually look at the numbers.</s>HOWARD K. KOH, PROFESSOR, HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: That's right, Don. Unfortunately, all the trends are going in the wrong way right now. In Wisconsin where the president is going tomorrow, across the country, in the north, in the Midwest, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and places like that, we have seen rising cases lately with daily counts now over 60,000. That's as high as we have seen ever through this pandemic response in numbers that we had in mid-July. We are seeing rising hospitalizations and overwhelmed hospital staff in places like Wisconsin where a field hospital was set up. Test positivity rates are rising, as well. So all this reflects, Don, the fact that thousands and millions of Americans individually sacrificing over many months. We need to have a united national action to promote prevention and public health in the way we should to get this pandemic behind us.</s>LEMON: You know, the rallies that we are seeing with little to no mask wearing and people packed and close together, some even being held indoors, is setting a terrible example and it's very dangerous, especially going into winter when people are going to be, you know, Thanksgiving and the holidays. This is a bad example for what's coming in the colder temperatures.</s>KOH: It's so difficult to see those images right now. It is hard to reconcile those images with what we know is necessary to save lives. We need to follow the guidelines that we've heard about for months, to practice social distancing, to not be part of large crowds, to wear masks, from coast to coast here. We still have inconsistent mask requirements across the country. That's all leading to preventable transmission, infection, and death. One thing I have learned from my patients in caring for them over the years is that when a loved one dies, it's a tragedy. When a loved one dies and you know that death was preventable, that's a tragedy that haunts you forever. Unfortunately, thousands of families are going through that right now.</s>KOH: We don't need this to continue in the future. We need to double down on public health.</s>LEMON: The president keeps talking about cures. There is no cure. Today, CNN is reporting that the antibody cocktail that Trump credits for helping him recover is one that he has pitched directly by the company that made it last spring. I mean, too bad the president was quickly distracted by other unproven treatments like, you know, hydroxychloroquine. So many lives could have been saved if they had focused on the right treatment.</s>KOH: You are right, Don. We dot no have a cure. We have a lot of research going on and therapeutics. So that monoclonal antibody cocktail is promising approach but we should stress it is completely experimental and unproven. In fact, the president received that product outside of clinical trial. So that is not a cure. We don't have a cure yet. We need to continue the research. In the meantime, we have the public health at our disposal that we can maximize right now until a vaccine and a cure comes hopefully sooner rather than later.</s>LEMON: And even remdesivir, the study out now, saying that it has no effect on mortality.</s>KOH: Yes. That was a very important announcement by the WHO today. Previously, remdesivir has been carefully studied in -- that came out just last week. About a thousand patients showed that remdesivir decreased recovery time for about 15 to 10 days but did not show mortality benefit. So we thought there was a minor contribution to the care of people covered but an important one. But then today, the WHO study came out showing no decrease in recovery time, as well as no mortality benefit. Now, I should stress that WHO announcement came out through a paper that has not been reviewed and has not in the</s>LEMON: Mm-hmm.</s>KOH: So we need to critique that carefully. But these are all very important studies that we have to follow in order to develop a science and help people better in the future.</s>LEMON: Thank you very much, doctor. Have a great weekend. I appreciate you joining.</s>KOH: Thank you, Don.</s>LEMON: Ahead, the Big Ten is starting up this weekend, but the states they're playing are all surging with coronavirus cases. Next, did he get the answer he needed from Joe Biden at last night's town hall?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): He said great. Did you hear what you needed to hear?</s>BIDEN: I am sorry.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Did you hear what you needed to hear?</s>HUMPHREY: I think so.</s>BIDEN: There is a lot more if you want -- if you can hang around afterwards, I will tell you more.

A Young Voter Called Out 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden

LEMON: So, one of the questions at Joe Biden's town hall last night was Cedric Humphrey. Cedric Humphrey is a student from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who was, no doubt, speaking for a lot of concerned young African-American voters. Here is his question to Joe Biden.</s>HUMPHREY: Many people believe that the true swing demographic in this election will be black voters under the age of 30, not because they will be voting for Trump, but because they won't vote at all. I myself have had this exact same conflict. So my question for you then, is, besides you ain't black, what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?</s>BIDEN: As my buddy John Lewis said, it's a sacred opportunity, the right to vote, you can make a difference. If young black women and men vote, you can determine the outcome of this election. Not a joke. You can do that. In addition to dealing with the criminal justice system to make it fair and make it more decent, we have to be able to put Black Americans in positions to gain wealth, generate wealth.</s>LEMON: So, Cedric Humphrey joins me now. Hello, sir.</s>HUMPHREY: Hi, how are you doing?</s>LEMON: I'm doing great. Thank you so much for joining. Listen, even though Joe Biden's full answer was quite lengthy, you say that a large part of your question went unanswered. What do you feel he didn't address for you?</s>HUMPHREY: Well, he did answer a decent amount of it, but I think the main root of my question, which was, what do you say to young voters, young black voters, but young voters general, who feel that they are voting into a system that continually and continually doesn't promote change for them? And I don't think that was really addressed. So, I was kind of disappointed about that. But it is what it is.</s>LEMON: OK. Well --</s>LEMON: Well, listen, I thought that -- it took a lot of courage to get up there on national television and ask the person who could be the next president and a former vice president of the United States that question. I thought it was a very bold question, a good question. Again, it took a lot of courage to do that. You represent, Cedric, a particular kind of undecided voter. You knew you couldn't vote for Trump. But you weren't sure if you are on board with Biden either. So, what do you do as an undecided voter in that position? What happens now?</s>HUMPHREY: I think you need to have a hard conversation with yourself and reconcile your decision. I would not consider myself an undecided voter at this point. I would consider myself a Joe Biden voter. I will be voting for Joe Biden.</s>LEMON: OK. I was going to ask you, I mean, honestly, at this point, who is really undecided? I say that because it is surprising to me, considering that Donald Trump has been president for almost four years, he has a record, we know what he's done, Joe Biden has been in politics forever, we know that he was the former vice president for Barack Obama, we have seen him. So, frankly, I can't understand who is undecided at this point. Go on, sorry.</s>HUMPHREY: No, it's OK. Yeah, I am definitely voting for Joe Biden. I just wish that there was a candidate I was more excited to vote for. I really had like hoping for change. But at this point, you know, the mission is clear. We have to get Donald Trump out of office.</s>HUMPHREY: We can't allow a demagogue and a fascist to stay in office any longer than he has. I hope everyone does vote for Joe Biden because we have to get Trump out of office. That is the decision I had to make.</s>LEMON: Do you think -- this is -- don't get mad at me, OK, because I sound like -- I know because I tell my nieces who are young ladies, we talk about these things, they say I sound like, get off my lawn. You guys know you don't have to fall in love with someone. They don't have to say everything you want them to say in order to vote for them, right?</s>HUMPHREY: Oh, 100 percent.</s>LEMON: Yeah.</s>HUMPHREY: I think, you know, a lot of my frustration and I feel like a lot of young voters' frustration, Joe Biden takes the brunt of it publicly, but I think that frustration lies in deeper problems. I think a lot of it lies with the Democratic Party as a whole.</s>LEMON: Yeah.</s>HUMPHREY: And with Joe Biden being the newly-crowned head of the Democratic Party, I guess that is what criticism</s>LEMON: Yeah. Hey, quickly, I know you gonna get to talk to him tomorrow. Are you ready for that?</s>HUMPHREY: Yes. I spoke with the Biden campaign last night. They're going to reach out to me tomorrow. I am very excited to have a conversation with former Vice President Biden. That will be interesting.</s>LEMON: I want you to come back. Thank you. You're an incredible young man. Best of luck to you. Good luck in school and good luck tomorrow. Thank you. Well, next, games postponed. New concerns over travel. Why the NFL and college football are seeing coronavirus outbreaks that the NBA didn't have? Plus, Joe Biden is hauling in the cash right before the election, a lot of it, inside the strategy to win over battleground states.

Atlanta Falcons Become Latest NFL Team to Shut Down Facilities After Positive COVID Test

LEMON: So here is what University of Alabama is announcing tonight, that after initially testing positive on Wednesday, the head coach, Nick Saban, tested negative on Thursday. Players are tested positive on team throughout college football and many games have already been rescheduled or cancelled. The same is true in the NFL where at least eight teams have had players test positive since the season began, including 20 members of the Tennessee Titans, 10 players and 10 staffers. Joining me now is CNN contributor and Hall of Fame broadcaster Mr. Bob Costas. Bob, thank you so much.</s>BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Don.</s>LEMON: I'm looking forward to this conversation, especially because it is with you. So, COVID is hitting football much harder than it did basketball. The NBA completed their bubble season without a single positive test. So how much of trouble is football experiencing right now? How much is due to the nature of the sport itself? Does it come down to the choices that the NFL has made?</s>COSTAS: I think it is the nature of the sport, the size of the roster, the intermingling on the field itself, the size of all of the auxiliary personnel. NBA rosters are the smallest of any team sport that we avidly follow in North America. They were able to go into a bubble. For that matter, the NHL was similarly successful going into two bubbles and then one to finish up their playoffs. They did it in Canada, where the infection rate is low. It was not practical for baseball to do that. They hit a lot of speed bumps but apparently never drove into a ditch and they're going to be able to make it all the way through to World Series. Not without some problems, but they will make it all the way through. We know that with 32 teams, there is no way that football could have gone into a bubble, talking about the NFL. And the way they put it is this. We never expected elimination. We only hope for mitigation with the proper protocols. Now, every team has a buy week within their schedules, so they've been able to slide some games, and they hope to be able to make them all up. But pretty soon, they will run out of buy weeks. If they get into post- Thanksgiving into December and then you have similar numbers of positive tests and games had to be postponed, then they will have a little bit of a problem. My guess is that they will be hell-bent on getting to the finish line. And if some teams don't play 16 games, some teams won't play 16 games. That will just be the way it is because there is too much of a television bonanza week after week, then you get to the playoffs, then you get to the Super Bowl, and somehow or other, even if some players and some teams and some since fall by the way side, I don't mean deaths, but I mean being unable to continue to play or missing games, that will just be the cost of doing business.</s>LEMON: Yeah.</s>COSTAS: Talking about the NFL. College is an entirely different situation.</s>LEMON: That's what I want to ask you about when it comes to college football. The Big Ten is beginning their season this weekend. I want you to take a look at this map. Each of one of the highlighted states, it is where a Big Ten school is located. All but one is in the red and trending in the wrong direction. Do you think it is a bad idea for college football to even be happening right now?</s>COSTAS: I said this couple of months ago or more, it is unconscionable. Not so much because there will be fatalities, the likelihood of that is small, although there might be some long-term effects, especially when you're talking about elite athletes. If function of one kind or another, lung capacity, whatever it might be is reduced even by a small percentage, that is a price to pay for an elite athlete. But the whole idea of this shows how out of proportion and out of perspective big time college sports are. It exposes, it if it wasn't already, as a sham. On most of these campuses, kids are not going to class in normal fashion.</s>COSTAS: Some of them are not there at all. We are going to take these players, who unlike NFL players, are well compensated for the risk. They have a union that protects their interests. College players do not have a union. They are not paid. They are being asked to expose themselves to some measure of danger. Well, blowing apart, the whole sham that in most cases they're college athletes, this is big business, they are unpaid employees of a big business, some of them are, in fact, I don't want to cast too wide a net, some of them are in fact students, but that is really in many cases just incidental.</s>LEMON: Mm-hmm. Bob, you know, the president has been bragging that he is the responsible for the return of Big Ten. Watch this first.</s>TRUMP: I'm the one that brought back football. By the way, I brought that Big Ten football. It was me. I am very happy to do it. The people of Ohio are very proud of me.</s>LEMON: He surely got involved for political reasons, but these colleges made the decision --</s>COSTAS: Yeah.</s>LEMON: -- to play. That was their choice. Was it the right one?</s>COSTAS: Well, the Big Ten at first blocked at it and that seemed to me to be the responsible choice. But eventually, they were pressured into it by fans, by alumni, by financial considerations. You know, I think football in general and in this case college football has become in too many instances not a nice, pleasurable pastime --</s>LEMON: Amen.</s>COSTAS: -- or an interest of some kind, but a mindless obsession.</s>LEMON: Right.</s>COSTAS: And it plays itself out week after week in stadiums, in campuses around the country.</s>LEMON: Bob, that is why I love you. You tell it like it is. Thank you for saying that. Let's talk about major league baseball playoffs. They are underway right now.</s>COSTAS: Yeah.</s>LEMON: They've moved to a bubble atmosphere after a rough season. But they are still allowing some fans to attend. So, you said -- I think you said that they had some hiccups where they didn't completely go in the ditch. I forgot what you said just earlier. So, do you think they're going to be able to pull this off, making the playoffs with any -- without any more positive tests?</s>COSTAS: Yes. They are right at the tail end of the two league championship series, on to the World Series they go. It will be in the new ballpark, what would've been the Texas Rangers inaugural season in the new ballpark. They are allowing 11, 12,000 fans appropriately socially distanced. People can sit together if they come as a group and they are comfortable with that but social distancing and they seem to be comfortable with that. The players who have played in the Dodgers-Braves series, which is taking place in that ballpark in Arlington, Texas have said that even having less than a full house, hearing some fans, feeling the energy from the fans, has elevated that experience. The American League Championship Series has been going on at Petco Park in San Diego. There are no fans, just cardboard cut-outs of fans. When they get to the World Series, it will be, as you suggest, a limited number of fans in the new ballpark in Arlington.</s>LEMON: Bob, I love your fancy new background, but I miss your kitchen. That is all I will say. I got to run.</s>LEMON: Thank you, sir. Have a great weekend.</s>COSTAS: All right. Next time, we will feature the refrigerator for you.</s>LEMON: See you. We will be right back.</s>COSTAS: All right.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden's Dueling Town Hall; What Americans Should Look Forward to For Health Care System; Andy Slavitt, Former Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is Interviewed About Trump and Biden, and American's Health System; War Reporters as Peace-Makers; VII Foundation Publishes "Imagine: Reflections on Peace," Gary Knight, Director, VII Foundation, Editorial Director, "Imagine: Reflections on Peace, and Robin Wright, Journalist and Author, are Interviewed About War and Peace; National Guard Conducting Humanitarian Relief Efforts; Forging Peace.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Amanpour." Here's what's coming up.</s>DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have done an amazing job, and it's rounding the corner.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's he doing? Nothing. He's still not wearing masks.</s>AMANPOUR: After head-to-head town halls, who will voters trust to take care of America's health amid this pandemic? Andy Slavitt ran Medicare and Medicaid for President Barack Obama, and he'll join me. Then --</s>GARY KNIGHT, PHOTOGRAPHER: Peace cannot be imposed, the desire for peace needs to come from within.</s>AMANPOUR: Turning swords into plowshares. War reporters as peace-makers. Gary Knight and Robin Wright join me with an ambitious new project. Plus --</s>MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. HARRIS, JR. COMMANDER, OHIO NATIONAL GUARD: I will tell you, I fear that we may see worse before you we better.</s>AMANPOUR: The National Guard story you might not know. Major general, John C. Harris tells our Hari Sreenivasan how his forces are helping people keep food on the table. Welcome to the program, everyone. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. And we begin with a tale of those two town halls. President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidate, Vice President Joe Biden, both vying for voters on network television. And NBC giving Trump the primetime head to head slot even though he had refused to take part in the joint one organized by the Debate Commission. The elephant in both rooms was coronavirus with masks featuring prominently.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks of me like when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then, you know, people say, well, it mustn't be that important.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After contracting COVID-19 yourself, has your opinion changed on importance of mask-wearing?</s>DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: No, because I was okay with the masks. I was good with it, but I've heard many different stories on masks.</s>BIDEN: If you listen to the head of the CDC, he stood up and he said, you know, while we're waiting for a vaccine, he held up a mask, you wear this mask, you'll save more lives between now and the end of the year than if we had a vaccine.</s>AMANPOUR: Now, on the numbers and maybe on the issues, too, early figures show that Joe Biden won the night handily with over 2 million more viewers than the incumbent. Meantime, the former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, just out of hospital after COVID care says he was sorry that he hadn't worn his mask to the now infamous Rose Garden Event and during that first debate prep with the president. Right now, new cases of the virus here in Europe exceed those in the U.S., but in the U.S. the death toll is climbing and the crisis is a major stress test for the health care system and for access to it. Our first guest tonight says, this year's election will yet again be a referendum on health reform. Andy Slavitt ran Medicare and Medicaid services under President Barack Obama, and he's joining me now from Minnesota. Welcome to the program, Andy Slavitt. And I just wonder what your takeaway was from the dueling -- I mean, I don't even know how to describe it, but the head-to-head television reality show last night in which we see the early numbers giving it to Biden. Do you think that's because of the issues? Would you think it's because health care is so important?</s>ANDY SLAVITT, FORMER ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: Well, you know, given that President Trump is such a T.V. spectacle, it's a bit of a surprise and I think it may in fact say that these issues are important to people. I think what's very interesting, Christiane, is that if you look around the world, say in Africa, that the population of about 1.3 billion people, the death toll has been about 35,000, and compare that to the U.S. which is about a quarter of the size that has many, many more deaths, what you take away from that is that this is not a particularly high-tech complex solution uncertain, this is a very -- the mask is a very achievable dissolution to nations and continents that have been through many public health crises. So, the fact that President Trump can't bring himself to even say, you know what, wear a mark, in a very simple form is really troubling because this only works well if there's unified messaging, and he just continue to equivocate last night even after what he'd been through.</s>AMANPOUR: So, you've raised a really important issue with this comparison of population versus cases, infections and deaths, and I want to come to that in a moment. But first, I want to the ask can you what you have written about and that is that this election, like 2018, you have said yourself will be yet another referendum on access to health, the idea of health care, and I guess you would agree that this issue is now so much more front and center for Americans than it was even in 2018. So, do you believe that this case that's going to come up before the Supreme Court a few days after the election challenging Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, is really something that's got the country on a knife edge?</s>SLAVITT: So, I think there's two very related issues. The first, I would liken to the 2008 election with Obama versus McCain where the country was really looking to hire somebody to get us out of the global financial crisis, somebody that would demonstrate experience and competence, and I think as we look at the global pandemic, Americans look at two people, each of whom has had a chance to lead through a global pandemic, obviously Trump with COVID-19 and Joe Biden with Ebola. And so, I think in large part they are making a decision based on who can get us out of this the quickest and the best about. And I think very related to that, people know that with millions of people getting COVID, they become pre-existing conditions and the idea of the uncertainty that this would create and the near certainty of millions of people losing insurance, if the Supreme Court case went the other way, means that the only way to ensure against that, the uncertainty of the Supreme Court case, is to a -- is for a Democratic sweep. Without a Democratic Senate and Joe Biden as senator, there's no guarantee that whatever the court does can be turned around by the Congress. So, both of those things are very much on the ballot, and I think depending on who you are and where you sit, they affect you differently. If you're a senior, I think you're very much looking at the prescription drug component of the ACA. If you're uninsured, you're looking at another component. So, each of these dimensions, but they all point to health care.</s>AMANPOUR: Some legal scholars say that this particular case that's coming up is, in any event, kind of a weak case and that, you know, it probably won't be won, you know, those elements of the Obamacare won't be struck down. And, of course, even though they are hearing it now, the decision won't come up until the spring. Again, what do you think? Do you think the case is strong enough and, OK, now is one thing, but with an extra conservative judge, if that -- if Amy Barrett is confirmed, what do you think is the likelihood for that part of ACA to remain on books and for the people?</s>SLAVITT: You know, it's a really interesting question as to what motivates justices. If they are motivated by the law, then I think it's pretty -- the ACA stands a very good chance. And if you think about what's at issue here, this notion of severability, I can't imagine many of these young justices wanting to say that every -- any single word in any law would strike down an entirety of a law. So, you know, by right, this should be an 8-1 or 9-0 case. But, you know, these are political appointees, and they there's a lot less certainty, and, you know, I think it's entirely possible that we could see justices making decisions that are not comporting with what I think the law would suggest but instead what the political party that appointed them would say.</s>AMANPOUR: And so, take me through what it would look like then, health care in a Biden's America or a Trump's America in terms of the plans each one has laid out, and, of course, we know that President Trump has been saying, you know, repeal and replace and whatever, but there hasn't been a plan. So, what can Americans look forward to for health care in either such presidency?</s>SLAVITT: Well, so, I think, you know, one view of the world is that we each get a helicopter, Marine One, to take us to a wonderful hospital with 15 doctors who give us medication that's not yet approved. That's the health care -- that's the closest thing I understand to how Trump things health care works in this country. And, you know, unless he's promising that reality to the rest of the country, I think we're not -- you know, I think we're -- we should be very suspicious. Biden is saying, look, we've made progress. We haven't made enough progress. Everybody in this country should be able to go to bed at night like people and rest of the world and not have to worry that if someone in their family gets sick, they will be able to afford to take care of them. If Biden is to win, I think he will feel a mandate to push that forward, but what I suspect about Biden is that he will want to do it in a way, if he can, that brings along bipartisan support, because I think that is always his first choice. I think that's kind of his character. I think he would pass more stable legislation that way. And, of course, if he has to address what the Supreme Court has done, I think they will do that quite rapidly. I don't think Trump will be inclined -- all kidding aside, I don't think he'll be inclined to spend much time on health care in a second term. It's not a winning issue for him. It's caused him nothing but grief, and I think if the ACA were to get overturned, I think we would probably stand very much in the shambles of that law.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, let me just read the figures on that. During President Trump's first three years in of course, of course, this was pre-COVID, 2.3 million people became uninsured, that's according to the U.S. Census Data Analysis, 12 million more Americans may have lost health insurance since February, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, and a poll done in October by CNN found that 61 percent of Americans say they don't want the Supreme Court to overturn the ACA, Obamacare. We've talked just a little bit about the Supreme Court, but I just want to ask you one more time before going no this idea that President Trump has brought up of herd immunity. Are they ever sensitive to what is going on in the country?</s>SLAVITT: It's an important question and I believe that they are. I think there's evidence that -- and certainly, Chief Justice Roberts does not want to completely overturn things. And if you were going to be sensitive to the country, now would certainly be the time that we have millions and millions of people, we don't know how many that have contracted COVID. And Christiane, COVID is the ultimate pre-existing condition, if what's at stake here is that people with pre-existing conditions would not -- would be able to get discriminated against by insurance companies, can you imagine all of the places in the body that COVID impacts, the lungs, the heart, the kidney, the brain, the limbs, the blood, circulatory system, immune system. So, imagine a college student who gets COVID now and apparently, nothing is wrong, but 15 years from now they get heart arrhythmia or they have asthma, the insurance company will be able to deny that they have access to insurance simply because they had COVID a decade ago. So, this is something that if anybody is paying attention to would realize it's going to throw things into quite a tricky situation. I might also add, if I have a second, that, you know, when -- before the days of the ACA, people were very reluctant to disclose their illnesses because it would preclude them from getting coverage. Imagine going through a public health crisis where you can't test, you can't contact trace because people are too concerned about their illness being discovered.</s>AMANPOUR: I have to say, you know, for somebody like myself sitting over here in the U.K. and across Europe where health care is a basic right and that we get, you know -- we get health care from the national health system or whatever it might be, it really does seem just to be such a cruel situation. So, I can understand why it's such an important issue when it comes to elections. But I want to ask you on the health -- precise health issue of herd immunity. You've seen it was tried in Sweden, with actually negative results. They didn't achieve herd immunity despite not locking down. President Trump has again talked about it. He did in a previous town hall last month. I just want to play this.</s>TRUMP: It would go away without the vaccine, George, but it's going to go away a lot faster.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would go away without the vaccine?</s>TRUMP: Sure, over a period of time. Sure, with time. It goes away.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many deaths?</s>TRUMP: And you'll develop like a herd mentality. It's going to be herd developed and that's going to happen. That will all happen.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, you know, and, again, now, this week, the White House embraced what's being called the Great Barrington Declaration, which is a petition, as you know, signed by thousands and thousands of scientists around the world, and they are urging authorities to let coronavirus spread amongst population, the young, the healthy and try to protect the more vulnerable precisely to achieve not only herd immunity but to balance health and the economy, in other words lives and livelihoods. What do you think about that, and where has it been tried anywhere in any form or fashion that might give anybody, you know, optimism that it might work?</s>SLAVITT: Well, the people who say that don't understand herd and they don't understand immunity and I'm not quite sure they understand the economy either. Let start with immunity. We don't yet know how long immunity lasts. How effective it is. And so, by the time you get through a year from now, it maybe that all of the people in New York, when we estimate maybe it's been like 20 percent to 25 percent of people that had COVID, their immunity may not be there any longer. So, this is at best a wild gamble that they understand immunity, and we are starting to learn that immunity, in fact, doesn't prevent other strains and other cases or some very well-known cases there. The other is the impact on the herd, the idea that you can isolate people who are vulnerable, when here in the U.S. we've got about 40 percent of Americans that are identified as vulnerable in one form or another, you know, because of major health status. It will be nice and convenient to think that they all live in one congregate setting somewhere where you could just lock the door. But most of those people live in the community. There's only a couple of million people who live in senior settings. Most people live in a multi-generation household with people who go to work every day, and even if you lived in a congregate setting, the people who take care of you live in the community. So, there's yet to be any evidence that you can "protect people." What this is, in fact, I think is what you described, which is it is a justification to say, I don't want my life -- whether you think that's the economy or anything else, to be inconvenienced on behalf of other people. And that's not an understandable sentiment. I mean, this is a lot of inconvenience for people. Unfortunately, though, the economy doesn't just bounce back when people are dying every day and people are getting sick every day. People -- for people to do the things that will drive the economy back, buy cars, sign leases; take trips, hire people, they have to feel safe. They can't do that when there's tens of thousands of people getting sick every day.</s>AMANPOUR: And as we've seen and as we discussed on our program last night, the recovery, such as it is, has been so-called K-shape. We've seen the much more, you know, able and wealthy doing very well out of this and the poor, basically, and the middle and working class doing very, very badly. So, I think that's important to keep reminding people. But I want to ask you also about something that you have -- I think you have suggested, the idea of trying for elimination, to eliminate this virus. It's a technical term and I think you've written about it, and clearly, it would require very, very aggressive moves and methods. Do you think it's workable in some way like the United States, and how aggressive would it be?</s>SLAVITT: So, if 80 percent to 90 percent of the country wore a mask for a period of say two months, the virus would slowly die and then very, very quickly die. So, I don't think that the -- and it would not be eradicated. It would be down to very low levels and you'd be down to what I describe as fighting a rabid dog versus packs and packs of dogs, which are much more difficult to fight. The challenge isn't knowing what to do, the challenge isn't whether or not that would work, I don't believe. The challenge is really more of a psychological one. Americans -- like people all over the world, I assume, are fatigued. There is this great debate, this debate that people are having about their individual liberties and whether or not there is a responsibility to their community that comes along with it or it supersedes that responsibility, that is a cultural issue in the United States. And the president has made wearing a mask not only a question of freedom, but he's made it a bit of a sign of rebellion. Every time he rips a mask off or makes a subtle reference to not being sure that whether a mask -- or it sends a signal -- but sending a signal to his base, I talked to a Republican governor just a couple of days ago who said in the northern part of the U.S. and said that in rural communities, it's got almost no mask wearing despite a mask mandate. And in these urban settings, where COVID is very much under control because people are wearing masks. So, this cultural issue, this cultural divide is really, I think, the sensitive difficult issue now in the U.S., not even the virus, much more so than the virus.</s>AMANPOUR: Can I say, I have to say, sitting here, I'm just like gob smacked and shocked to hear you say that, it's something that relatively simple and low-tech could achieve the figures that you're talking about. And so, I want to ask you then why you think somewhere, as you've mentioned, Africa, the continent of Africa with more than a billion people, have got such a low death rate. And as we know, countries that are not as densely populated like New Zealand has almost practically eliminated, again, it's a specific word and a specific term, but they have pretty much got rid of it. They are able to control, as you say, one rabid dog and they don't have packs of them. So, what is it about these countries that are doing well?</s>SLAVITT: I bet if you and I, Christiane, were to sit in a room and we have two pieces of paper, one for countries that emphasize individualism, entrepreneurship, great wealth and another one, ones that -- and an impetus of society, community, equality, doing good for the communal spirit, and you put Japan at the top of one of the list and you put maybe Russia or the U.S. at the top of the other list, I bet you we would find that the countries that have that -- that are on that second list are doing far, far better because there's something about this virus which requires you to sacrifice, even if you don't personally feel at risk and if wearing a mask is a sacrifice, it's come a long way from my grandmother's age, when, you know, 10 years -- you know, two years without drinking coffee was a sacrifice. But be that as it may, that's where we are. And I do think there is something to this societal construct that hurts us here in the U.S. as opposed to places in the world that do a better job looking out for one another. I also think there's something to do with experience. I mean, we're -- this is a novel thing, and the U.S. I refer to this as our starter virus because, in some respects, when you've been through this a few times you know what to do. Hong Kong, of course, has the greatest amount of travel with Mainland China, has most people across the border. They didn't have their first death, I believe, until late in May because people instantly knew how to respond and knew how to react. And in the U.S., I think this is still very new. We still think of this as a new normal like we did after 9/11 when, in fact, this is a sort of a privileged nation that has had -- its defenses rarely get pierced, and when they do, we tend to think that we're in some very strange place. We're not. We will learn that this is something the rest of the world deals with, but we are going through it for the first time and I think that accounts for some of this, whereas in Africa, you know, there's public health crises around the calendar year in Africa, many of them.</s>AMANPOUR: It is extraordinary, honestly. It would be great for that message to really sink into people if what you're saying is that it could be controlled with just a little personal effort, and which is why we focus on the mask issue, to be frank. It's not just a titillating issue for us to play the opposing views of both candidates, but it's because of the kinds things that you're saying. Andy Slavitt, thank you so much for being with us tonight. Now, it is a truism that starting conflict is, of course, much easier than ending it and that the opposite of war is not necessarily peace. That is the driver behind "Imagine: Reflections on Peace," which is an extensive project by the VII Foundation, hoping to encourage dialogue around this subject in an important and fascinating book of essays and exhibition and two short films. World renowned journalist, jurist and diplomats look at how peace rises from the ashes from around the world. So, joining me now to discuss this is the project's editorial director, photographer, Gary Knight, with journalist and contributor, Robin Wright. Thank you both for joining me. Both my good friends from on the road and it's wonderful to see you guys back in this form doing this amazing be job. Gary, I want to ask you what made you come up with this. What -- after years and years, and we've been doing it together, covering wars, made you make this link towards peace?</s>GARY KNIGHT, DIRECTOR, VII FOUNDATION, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "IMAGINE: REFLECTIONS ON PEACE": Well, Christiane, I came back from the invasion of Iraq in 2003. I was looking through my pictures and started to imprint (ph)in how on earth could peace be made in the country, you know, with an occupying force, the beginning of a civil war growing. And from there, I thought, well, it would be really interesting to go back to many of the countries that we've all covered during wartime, and look at what peace really meant, what the result of peace processes were for the people who had to live with it. And from there, of course, the project grew.</s>AMANPOUR: You know, I want to just read the dedication. It says, this book is dedicated to those who are living in war while imagining peace and those who are brave enough to build it. So, let me just turn to you, Robin, because you are there in Beirut, which has obviously been through so many decades of war, and we've just seen this terrible explosion obviously. It's not war but it's just rocked the whole sort of situation there again, and you covered the war there. Tell me about the key ingredients and this notion that while at war, so many people actually did imagine peace.</s>ROBIN WRIGHT, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Well, going back 30 years after the end of the war, it was fascinating to look at what people had emerged from the conflict and tried imaginatively to engage society, whether it was in a new form of politics, a new form of bringing the 18 different religious sects in Lebanon together in talking about the costs of war. The tragedy in all of the war zones, I think, we've covered is that there's not enough people who are engaging in that imagination, that it takes much more bravery to engage in the process of enduring peace than it does to pick up an arm and shoot somebody. And you have to give credit to whether it's former fighters, a young techie that I met, I met a former hijacker, he holds the world record on hijackings, six, who talk about what the conflict meant to them and they resent, what they went through and wanted to live differently.</s>AMANPOUR: And we've just been seeing some beautiful pictures taken, some of the archival ones from the wars in the '70s in Beirut taken by the great Don McCullin and then we saw the more recent ones. I just want to read what you've just written here and I ask you both about this, this is from the book. In the Lebanon, everybody blames everyone else for the war. Everyone was a victim. Everyone was wrong. Facts were ignored. Truth was an illusion. So, the war defined politics long after it ended. In 2020, it still does. I mean, that's what you've written. Gary, do you see that across a lot of these countries and peace processes that you've examined here that sometimes it really takes a lot of time and banging a lot of heads together to -- you know, to understand the story of the other and to pull back from the warlord days?</s>KNIGHT: Absolutely. As Robin said, it takes a lot more courage to make peace than it does to make war. And one of the bravest things I think that people can do is sit down with somebody with whom they have violently opposing views, listen to each other's story and start that process of peace and reconciliation, actually, truth and reconciliation and dialogue is absolutely critical. And in countries where dialogue is limited, peace is less successful. And in countries which have made a very significant and sincere effort to create an environment where dialogue can exist, you know, peace has prospered.</s>AMANPOUR: You, yourself, started off in Cambodia, and obviously, that had gone through, I mean, just the most terrible genocide, Pol Pot of Khmer Rouge, and you went back and forth. What did you find from just like some anecdotes of, I guess, the commitment to the bloodshed then compared to commitment to peace now, Gary?</s>KNIGHT: That's a great question, Christiane, and I think sadly Cambodia is one of the least successful countries. I think if you measure it by the amount of violence since the end of the Khmer Rouge period, it has been a success, but that's a pretty low measure. Cambodia had an international tribunal but only a handful of people were convicted. I think four were convicted. Five were tried. And there was an awful lot of government interference there. The government is corrupt. It has enriched itself at the expense of the people, and progress has been very limited. So, there is certainly a condition of peace, but if you go into the villages and I returned to many of the villages that I went to when I was traveling through with soldiers in the late '80s and early '90s, the conditions were that they have improved somewhat are really, you know, not very successful. You I don't have access to education. You often have school buildings with no teachers. Access to health care is limited, and you do not have, by any measure, a free and fair political system. So, Cambodia is one of the more problematic countries that we went to.</s>AMANPOUR: And, Robin, talking about the Middle East, of course, I said you're in Beirut, but you're not. You're in Washington. But you've covered that whole region for so long. It strikes me also, and, Gary, you know, you wrote this in the forward, that the peace-makers are often so much less celebrate, so much less attention is put on to them than the warriors. And I just can't help but thinking of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin whose anniversary, the 25th year since he was assassinated for trying to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he was assassinated for that reason. Just -- I don't know whether you've talked or thought a lot about the peace-makers and the unbelievable pressure that they are under because they are often thought of betraying the cause by one set of extremists or the other.</s>WRIGHT: Absolutely. I also spent several years covering South Africa and the uprising. And South Africa engaged in a truth and reconciliation process that was the model for the rest of the world. But it's very, very rare. Desmond Tutu, I think, won the Nobel Peace Prize for launching that process and overseeing it. But doing it on ground, as one individual to another, is very, very hard. And it requires resources and political leverage. And, in many cases, one individual doesn't have it. So, that's why it creates -- it requires such incredible courage. In a place like Lebanon, one person set up a market where all -- once a week that all different sects, all the different religions would come and sell their wares and have little restaurants, street restaurants and so forth. But that's an enormous effort. There was another former fighter who was so, eventually, repulsed by the number of people he had killed that he launched a group of former fighters who started telling -- giving lectures to schoolchildren about the war, because it's not taught in schools, and that's true of wars all over the world. And -- but there were only 50 of them, and there were tens of thousands of people who fought in that war. So the peacemakers are often small, and they do it on their own initiative, often with little recognition, little financial compensation, but great bravery.</s>AMANPOUR: I want to go to Rwanda, because, as I said, some of this project involves some films. And there's a clip that we have that is Jack Picone. He is the photographer who goes back to Rwanda after the genocide. And what he's seeing is almost like a grassroots reconciliation process happening in front of his eyes. And it's been reported quite a lot over the years, but every time I see, it strikes me as just so amazing. So we will play a little clip</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translator): My baby was taken from me and killed. They chopped my hand off and I was cut here as well. Twenty five years later I still have the scar. I was stabbed with a spear here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm the one who did it. I was haunted by the images of people I had killed. Then, one day, I went to Alice. I kneeled down in front of her, raised my hands like this and confessed. Alice fainted. I went home that day not knowing if she would forgive me.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, Alice did forgive him, incredibly, and they apparently remain friends. You do have an amazing sort of essay by Judge Richard Goldstone, who was the first judge at the international criminal tribunal, first for Yugoslavia, and then it went on to hold Rwanda's genocidal maniacs accountable. Justice is a huge part of this process, isn't it?</s>GARY KNIGHT, PHOTOGRAPHER: Justice is critical, absolutely, both at sort of a tribunal level, at a sort of very top-down level, but also as you -- as the film illustrates, at a grassroots level. And without justice, it's very -- and without truth and reconciliation, as Robin discussed earlier, it's incredibly difficult for people to move on. It's very hard to forgive. It's very hard for people to rebuild their lives. And accountability is absolutely critical. And it's certainly something we have found. Where you -- in countries where you don't have a successful justice system, tribunal, peace really, really struggles.</s>AMANPOUR: And I want to now, obviously, bring up Bosnia, which was, for me, was the defining war I covered. We met in Bosnia. And Ron Haviv, the great photographer who took those pictures of the militia -- well, the Arkan, and his group of people who were just slaughtering Muslims. He was a Serb, and he was on the side of the ethnic slaughter and the genocide there. The pictures that Ron took were really daring, really important and created a story that was part of the proof eventually in the court system. But you and I remember how much courage it took, not just to take those pictures, but also to own them, to put your name to them, because it could have, and it did, come back to -- the killers came back to try to find who was telling their story.</s>KNIGHT: Oh, yes. I think those pictures are some of the bravest pictures that anyone has ever taken. And Ron for years would -- had to be very, very careful. Arkan and his men were looking for Ron for many, many years all over the country. In fact, there was another photographer in -- working in Bosnia, a young French photographer who looked a little like Ron, and he was constantly being arrested and threatened, But, yes, Ron did an incredible job there, actually. They are one of the most important photographs taken in the war.</s>AMANPOUR: I want to ask you -- well, I want to ask Robin first, because you devote a whole chapter to women and women peacemakers. And one of the early instances of that was in Northern Ireland. Famously, two women, a Protestant and a Catholic, they got the joint Nobel Prize back in the '70s for trying to start a grassroots peace initiative. We have got these amazing pictures by Gilles Peress of some of the really amazing photography taken in the midst of the so-called Troubles. Talk to me a little bit, Robin, whether it's Northern Ireland, South Africa, the Middle East, of women's roles, and not to mention Liberia and elsewhere, in bringing and trying to forge peace.</s>WRIGHT: I think this is one of the most important developments when it comes to politics generally, that what we find all over the world is that, through education, the education of girls, that has produced a generation who are now of age to play a role in trying to push for peace, in bringing societies together. One of the instrumental groups in Lebanon was a group of wives, of fighters, who came together from different sects. And they were trying to bring their husbands into a dialogue. We saw during the Arab uprising how many women were on the front lines. This is no longer an environment anywhere in the world where women are staying at home and letting the men fight it out. It's one of the great phenomenon of the 21st century. I wanted to add one thing. We keep talking about this book as if it's conflicts in the past and conflicts in remote parts of the world, when, in fact, the challenge of peace is most evident today in two of America's most difficult wars, trying to broker a peace in Afghanistan after America's longest war, trying to create a peaceful environment in Iraq. This is a challenge that's not just remote societies, but is everywhere in the world.</s>AMANPOUR: In our final 30 seconds, Gary, what do you hope this project, the book, the films, the exhibition, what is it that you hope it will do?</s>KNIGHT: Well, I think Ambassador Samantha Power puts it really well, actually, in her afterword, where she says you want to avoid ever getting to this situation where you even have to make peace. And investing in diplomacy and investing heavily into preventing wars is absolutely critical, and celebrating people who make peace, rather than warriors, I think, would be a really great start.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, it's an amazing book. It's really powerful. And you have got such an incredible group of people together, including diplomats who have actually negotiated peace. And it's a really amazing how-to. Gary Knight, Robin Wright, thank you so much for being with us. Now, it seems during this year of anti-racist uprisings, the National Guard has been synonymous in America with law and order and crushing peaceful protests sometimes. So it might be a surprise to know that they also have humanitarian duties right now. In fact, across all 50 states, these troops are supporting COVID testing sites and also food banks. Major General John C. Harris Jr. is the commander of the Ohio National Guard, where food insecurity has nearly doubled since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. And, here, he's talking to our Hari Sreenivasan from the state's largest operation, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective.</s>HARI SREENIVASAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been an incredibly busy year for the National Guard. Give us an idea of the range of things that your men and women have had to respond to in 2020.</s>MAJ. GEN. JOHN C. HARRIS JR., COMMANDER, OHIO NATIONAL GUARD: Range is the right word. We originally started this response, believe it or not, working with the Corps of Engineers, thinking that we were going to have to build alternate care sites, alternate facilities for hospitals and other health care organizations that might exceed their capacity. And that's in the rearview mirror now. We don't even think about that, because they have dealt with that on their own. But we have put soldiers and airmen in food banks, as you well know, in response to the food insecurity that's occurred as a result of this coronavirus. We have had to put medical staff into nursing homes as a result of surges there, losing staffing due to positive coronavirus tests. We have put medical staff into our prison systems when they have lost medical staff. We have put soldiers and airmen into our prison systems when they have experienced corrections -- loss of corrections officers due to positive coronavirus, civil disturbance response in the wake of the George Floyd killings. And the list just goes on and on and on. We have met just about every kind of staffing surge mission that you could possibly imagine, particularly to our state institutions, but also, in the case of nursing homes, private institutions, if it's a result of coronavirus.</s>SREENIVASAN: A lot of people have, in their minds, shifted to thinking about COVID in terms of the fatalities, the infection rates. But we're literally sitting in a food bank right now. There's been this steady food insecurity that's been happening for the whole seven months. And we forget that.</s>HARRIS: It certainly has. And, in fact, this was one of the first missions to which we responded, because the volunteer support for the food banks dropped off to zero almost immediately. When we really learned about what this disease was and who it affected, we realized that they realized that their volunteer base, many of those people who are older, or who had underlying conditions, it just was not safe for them to come to work and volunteer here. So, this is where the Guard came in. And, early on, we put almost 600 people in the food banks to backfill for those volunteers that they lost.</s>SREENIVASAN: And you combine that with a surge in demand.</s>HARRIS: That's right. That's right. I was on a call the other day with CEOs of Ohio's food banks. And I was staggered to learn, for example, the Cleveland call center, their volume, their call volume increased by seven-fold people calling trying to find how they go about getting food, seven-fold increase in people looking to get food for their families. That's staggering.</s>SREENIVASAN: And it's not something that makes the headlines. It's sort of this -- there's a certain quiet to it. Perhaps it's the shame of needing help in this way. Perhaps it's -- it's not the same as saying, you know what, I have got COVID, and here, socially, we're all talking about quarantining, and here are the steps that you should take. But it's a different conversation to say, I can't figure out how to feed my family.</s>HARRIS: That's right. That's right. And one of the one of the underlying requirements for our soldiers and airmen doing this mission is that they treat everyone with dignity and respect. When someone leaves one of our distribution centers, when they come into contact with a Guardsman, we want them to leave feeling better than they did when they got there. They shouldn't feel shame. This is no different than any other impact of this coronavirus. And we want them to leave there with their dignity and with their respect. And our soldiers and airmen has done a fantastic job with that. I'm reminded of a story that one of our soldiers down in Southeastern Ohio told us, a small community. And so the people who are coming through that food bank are people he know. There are people from his community. Keep in mind, our soldiers and airmen live in the communities with the people they're supporting. And he just talked about the intrinsic strength and value that he got from serving those neighbors and those relatives that were coming through that food bank, and doing it in a way that let them leave there with their dignity and with their respect, and knowing that this is going to be better when this is all over.</s>SREENIVASAN: Tell me just a little bit about the scale of the food bank operation here. How many people are you deploying to this? How many people are coming through here?</s>HARRIS: The scale is just incredible. It's almost comprehensible. These soldiers and airmen, between the 14 food banks around the state of Ohio, they have packaged over 65 million pounds of food. I can't even comprehend 65 million pounds of food. But that's what's been moving through the hands of our soldiers and airmen.</s>SREENIVASAN: Are you surprised that the need is as acute?</s>HARRIS: I knew that there would be an increase in the need. I had no idea how much it would be. I had no idea how much it would be. Our soldiers and airmen tell us about people who've worked as volunteers at the food bank who are now coming through the food banks to get food for their families. So that's 180-degree social change, so to speak. And it's profound. And it is -- it's prevalent in our rural areas. It's prevalent in our urban areas. This is not just an Ohio issue. This is a U.S. issue. This is a global issue.</s>SREENIVASAN: You're going to be here in this active mission of supporting the food banks until the end of the year. Do you think the problem is going to stop then?</s>HARRIS: I don't. I don't. I think we're going to be in this for a while. I think, even when we have a vaccine, it's going to take a while for that vaccine to be developed and distributed and put into enough arms that it makes a difference for this disease. In the meantime, we have to keep doing what we're doing. We have to keep the measures in place to protect ourselves, the social distancing, the masks. I will tell you, I fear that we may see worse before we see better. Here in Ohio, we know that we're starting to see some fatigue with coronavirus. That's causing a bit of a letdown in the discipline. We're coming indoors because it's getting cold. And we're approaching the holidays. That's kind of a perfect storm for seeing an increase in the numbers for coronavirus. So, I think that we may see some greater challenges before we see our way out of this. So, do I think there will be a demand here at the food banks for additional help? I don't see the volunteers coming back anytime, anytime soon, because the conditions haven't changed. And I don't see the food insecurity going away anytime soon. So, when you have that increase on the demand side and the challenges on the supply chain side, yes, I think it creates a need for the National Guard long after December.</s>SREENIVASAN: I want to ask also just a little bit about the Facebook video.</s>HARRIS: Racism divides us, and it destroys the trust between leader and led, between soldiers, between airmen and with the American people. It's reprehensible, and it will not be tolerated in our ranks.</s>SREENIVASAN: Why did you feel the need to speak out in this way against racism?</s>HARRIS: I feel the need to reinforce to our soldiers and airmen, at times like this, particularly in the wake of the George Floyd death, where emotions, emotions become so strong, to refocus our folks and make sure that they understand that it's OK if their opinions are divided over the issues, but we have to be united for the mission. This is essential. The readiness of the armed forces does not go away, despite whatever's happening in this country. And our job, my job is to make sure that we're not only prepared for the national defense and the goal -- the away game, but for domestic response right here. And that means that, if I call you today, you have to be ready to go today. And I don't have time, I don't have time to get you ready or to have philosophical discussions. When we call you for a civil disturbance in a city, I need you on the street that night. And I need you to come with your A-game, disciplined and fair and impartial. And if you can't park that, you can't participate in this organization.</s>SREENIVASAN: So, the civil unrest that you have had to respond to this year, what do you tell your soldiers and your airmen when they get an assignment like this, when the governor calls them up, and they're required to show up at a moment's notice in a city that they might not be familiar with, they might have their own opinions about what's going on, on the street around them, but they're called in to do a job?</s>HARRIS: Well, we tell them to do what they know to do, what they have been trained to do. And that's to be fair and impartial and unbiased. Our soldiers and airmen and every officer and noncommissioned officer leader along the way knows that we are an apolitical organization. So, when you put on this uniform, you're not a Republican or a Democrat. You're not a liberal or conservative. You are an American soldier, an American airman. And our job is -- our oath is to the Constitution, and our job is to enforce everyone's right. We support local law enforcement as they support everyone's right, in that case, to express their First Amendment rights. It doesn't matter if you like what they're saying or dislike what they're saying. Your opinion in this case is irrelevant. Your mission is what's important. And it's because of doing that such a disciplined way that we're able to maintain the trust with the public that we have. Also, when the public sees us doing missions like these, when they see us in the food banks, when they see us out there doing testing for coronavirus all over the state, they get to know the Guard, they learn to trust the Guard, and, again, they know that it's their friends and their neighbors. So, when we have to show up for those tough missions, like civil disturbance, that trust comes with us. And they know that our people are going to conduct their mission as fairly and as impartially as they can. And to the person, whether that was the Tamir Rice verdict, whether that was the Republican National Committee -- convention that we had here a few years ago, whether it was the most recent debate, or whether it's civil disturbance, when we put our people out there with the public, invariably, they do that job just in a fantastic manner, because that's what they have learned to do.</s>SREENIVASAN: This is a time of increased polarity and political tension in the country. And it's hard for people to remember that there's human beings inside the uniform, that they are our neighbors and our relatives and our family, right? So, how do you get through that message to your soldiers and your airmen that you are a part of this community that you're helping serve; even if someone is irate and in your face, and you might agree with them, but you got this uniform on, this is your duty right now?</s>HARRIS: Well as in anything that we try to inculcate into our service members, you can't just say it once, and it really has to become a part of the DNA of the organization. So, it starts long before we put those soldiers and airmen on the street for missions like these. It goes down to everything from their social media posts. You can't be a soldier on your social media and have these strong political opinions. It's counter to what we're trying to accomplish. So, we're constantly watching, not only individual sites, but -- not monitoring for their opinion, but just ensuring that they're not mixing their military duty with their political or social agenda. Can't do that. So, it's perfectly fine to have a site where you're expressing your opinion. We want you to have your opinion. Perfectly fine to be a soldier. But if you're mixing being a soldier with some kind of political activism, you can't do that. So, we ingrain that in our folks from the very beginning. You are apolitical when you put this on. Now, when you're having dinner with your family, we want you to have those debates. We want you to be who you are. We want you to express yourself. But understand, when you convert from citizen to soldier, you're expected to be 100 percent soldier.</s>SREENIVASAN: You had an unfortunate incident recently that the governor was talking about, when one of the members that you deployed to Washington, D.C., had made a sign toward white supremacy. When you saw that -- the evidence from that, when you heard that this happened, what went through your mind?</s>HARRIS: Well, it's very disturbing. It's very disturbing, because we know that there are organizations that are infiltrating the military ranks to get the military training, and in some cases to try to influence other military members. And that erodes the very trust that's the foundation of everything we do. So, when I say it's disturbing, it's disturbing because we certainly don't want that image, we don't want that brand for our military. It certainly disrupts what we're trying to accomplish as an impartial, apolitical organization. So, we have to eliminate it very quickly. And that soldier, once the FBI brought that to our attention, because they were -- he was operating -- he was operating undercover. He certainly wasn't being overt, using his real identity, of course. He was operating as part of these organizations out there in social media space as someone else. But when the FBI brought this to our attention, we dealt with it very quickly and very abruptly. And it just shows the value of the partnerships that we have as the Guard also, those longstanding relationships with other agencies. They brought it to our attention. We dealt with it very swiftly and very quickly, because it is the foundation of what we do that that soldier was eroding.</s>SREENIVASAN: So, how do you root that out? How do you make sure you're finding where these conversations are existing, either silently in a person, or under pseudonyms online?</s>HARRIS: We, as the military, are prohibited and we should never collect information, store information or distribute information about U.S. persons. That's not what we do. So, other agencies help us with that quite a bit, as they watch these organizations. But it gets tougher every day. These organizations are very good about how they use social media now. Used to be easy. They were very open in social media. They have gotten smarter about the techniques that our partners use. So, they have become very covert in how they operate out there in social media space, how they organize, how they distribute their propaganda. So it becomes harder for those organizations. But we count on those organizations. In addition to the background checks that we do when we assess a person, we count on those organizations to help us monitor the folks in our ranks who may be outside of what's appropriate for us.</s>SREENIVASAN: We have got three weeks or less -- less than three weeks until the election. How is the National Guard going to support the days leading up to the election, the day of the election, and possibly the days after?</s>HARRIS: Well, we have several initiatives under way right now. Most are simply augmenting things that we already do. For example, we have -- cybersecurity is something that's very important to us. And we have had ongoing relationships with our secretary of state's office for quite some time, working with them to assure that we can -- we assess the vulnerability of their systems and do the best we can to make sure that they have the best assessment of their systems that we can possibly provide to them. Moreover, we look at -- we look at the seven metropolitan areas in Ohio. We have seven major metropolitan areas. And if we were to respond to civil disturbance in multiple metropolitan areas at once, what would that look like? We conduct tabletop exercises with local leaders, local law enforcement, with our own state Highway Patrol, to ensure that, if we did have to respond to something, that we would.</s>SREENIVASAN: You feel prepared?</s>HARRIS: I do feel prepared. But I think it's important to note that, on Election Day, don't expect to see uniformed service folks around the polling places. That's something that we're very sensitive to. We don't want the perception that we're in any way influencing voting, either for or against. And we certainly don't want our soldiers or airmen actually working the polling places. We know that, here in Ohio -- I shouldn't say that, not in uniform, not in a duty status. If they're in their citizen status, want to go -- they feel a civic responsibility to volunteer to work the polls, we want them to do that. But you won't see any military -- uniformed military Ohio National Guard soldiers working the polls, because that's counter to the message that we want to send to the voters of Ohio.</s>SREENIVASAN: Major General Harris, thanks so much.</s>HARRIS: Thank you so much, sir.</s>AMANPOUR: Commander Harris made a very important point just then. And, finally, is working from home leaving you feeling isolated, disconnected or even uninspired at times? Well, a theme park in Tokyo in Japan has a solution for you. Yomiuriland is offering teleworkers an amusement workstation package, which comes with a ride on the ferris wheel, which is equipped with portable Wi- Fi routers and, of course, also some productive leisure time by the pool. That's our thank God it's Friday fuel. Thank you for watching, and goodbye from London. END

W.H.O. Projects Dramatic Increase in Europe COVID Deaths

HANS KLUGE, W.H.O. REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE: Relaxing policies could propel by January 2021 daily mortality at levels four to five times higher than what we recorded in April.</s>BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI ANCHOR: This hour, the WHO's regional director for Europe giving a very stark prediction on Europe coronavirus deaths. We ask him this hour, what can be done? Then --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The voters did not get a lot of straight answers from President Trump.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you take a test on the day of the debate, the bottom line?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I probably did.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's just decency.</s>ANDERSON: America's great divide in full blare last night. The debate was not, ahead. We are on the ground in Bangkok where Thailand police are dispersing protesters with water cannons.</s>ANDERSON: Tonight, more people are getting sick with the coronavirus in Europe than anywhere else on earth. Anyway that you look at it, we are connecting you across that story. I'm Becky Anderson. This hour, the WHO warning that if Europe takes its foot off the pedal on its COVID policies, deaths could rocket to five times higher than at their April peak. Let me take you through what is going on right now both on sickness and on deaths. In cases, in absolute numbers, Europe adding a million cases in just the last ten days and as you can see in red here that's way more than other badly hit regions based on their populations. We'll get more on the number of people dying in a moment, but first I want to connect you across the region to Europe's tentative and clearly largely ineffective attempts at getting this virus under control.</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Phil Black in London where the coronavirus is now spreading rapidly according to the city's mayor. With all key indicators trending in the wrong direction, the 9 million or so people who live here must now endure significant restrictions on their personal lives. From tomorrow, people who don't live together won't spend time together indoors. So, no more quality time with friends, wider family in homes, cafes, bars or restaurants. Similar restrictions will apply in other regions but in northern England, the situation is even more serious and politically controversial. Selma?</s>SELMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Phil, here in Manchester, the mayor outright rejected calls by the government to raise the alarm level of the city to very high risk. That would come with tougher new restriction that would essentially shut down the nightlife of this city and ban any households from mixing together. The mayor said he doesn't want to risk the economy of his city for an experiment that the government's own scientists say might not work. He's not the only critic of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's strategy. There's a growing chorus of opposition voices calling for a nationwide lockdown rather than limited regional responses to deal with the surge in cases.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann in Paris, where the coronavirus numbers are all going in a wrong direction. More than 30,000 new cases of COVID in the last 24 hours, a new record. As a consequence, the government will impose starting tonight at midnight a curfew that's going to run for at least four weeks, a curfew that will run from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. each day, something that's going to put a real crimp in a country that's known for its social life.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Scott McLean in Berlin, where Germany has just recorded a record new amount of coronavirus cases. For the second straight day, the number of people in the intensive care unit has also jumped by more than a third over the past week. Now, these numbers come just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced new coronavirus restrictions in virus hotspots. Now, this current was exporting ventilators and taking in foreign patients during the first wave of the virus but this week, Merkel warned that Germany does not have unlimited resources and how people act over the coming days and weeks will ultimately determine how this country gets through the pandemic.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. As Russia has recorded another record increase in new coronavirus infections for a single day. The Russian authorities recorded more than 15,000 new cases for the first time and the epicenter continues to be right here in the Russian capital in Moscow, with more than 5,000 new infections in a single day. Now, despite already having approved two vaccines against the novel coronavirus, both of those vaccines were approved without going through the main tests for safety and efficacy and the Russian authorities are now acknowledging those vaccines will not be available for the broader public any time soon.</s>ANDERSON: Well, as we have seen more people surviving than before because of better treatment and diagnosis, the number of new infections so high that from Russia to Berlin, many countries breaking their records for coronavirus deaths day after day, incredibly though, this may be the calm before the storm. Have a listen to the man who looks after Europe for the World Health Organization.</s>HANS KLUGE, W.H.O. REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE: Predictions from reliable epidemiological models are not so optimistic. These models indicate that prolonged relaxing policies could propel by January 2021 daily mortality at levels four to five times higher than what we recorded in April.</s>ANDERSON: The W.H.O.'s Hans Kluge joins me now live from Copenhagen. And, sir, put a figure on the number of deaths that are you are projecting should governments not get things right. How many people do you think could die and over what sort of period of time?</s>KLUGE: Well, Becky, a lot depends on how we are managing and taking forward the measures. So the projections but the mantra is it's better to do too little too early than too much too late, because what we know from the first wave is that wherever the policies prompt and decisive it was effective. And that is why governments are to step up really together with their people. The key is empathy because people we know are tired of the measures, empathy and social dialogue.</s>ANDERSON: You are calling for nationwide national lockdowns, correct?</s>KLUGE: Absolutely not, Becky. I want to make this crystal clear. My -- I look at from where this goes (ph), this has been from the beginning, the national lockdown is absolutely the last resort because this is different with March. In March, the lockdown was a default option because everyone was caught off guard. Now we know much better. And in that sense, what I am calling for is for the, quote, targeted, proportionate measures escalating, engaging the communities where we have to look both at the die impact of COVID, and in March, we only look at the die impact of COVID. Now we get wise, we have to look at what I call the collateral damage, the social tissue and economically.</s>ANDERSON: Sir, I have to say that with respect the W.H.O. advice is very contradictory when it comes to what governments should be doing now. I heard what you say. You said absolutely no to nationwide national lockdowns. You say what you described as targeted proportionate measures. But have a listen to the W.H.O.'s chief scientist told me.</s>SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: It's a question that I think all governments are really struggling with and it is really -- it shouldn't be health versus the economy. You know, w have to maintain health, we have to keep COVID under check, and we still need to let people earn a living and go about their normal lives.</s>ANDERSON: So, if lockdowns are not the solution, you're suggesting that what you have just laid out is the answer to these restrictions.</s>SWAMINATHAN: No one thing is going to work, but a lockdown is a temporary measure. It is done when things are out of control and it's done to buy time for health systems to put in place the systems.</s>ANDERSON: And this -- this is a real dilemma, sir, isn't there? You talk about targeted proportionate measures. Governments across Europe are struggling with what to do next. They're certainly not progressively opening up. At present, they are progressively restricting. But are you, for example -- I mean, we call these things -- we hear these things called different things, so-called circuit breakers, for example, which are sort of national lockdowns but for a short period of time. You don't even buy that? That's not the answer?</s>KLUGE: First, Becky, nothing have I heard from Dr. Soumya, whom I'm talking and learning, was contradictory. Basically we say is a lockdown is a really last resort. Now on the circuit breaker, the European region are 53 countries. And we have to have a response which is driven by the epidemiology. So you cannot compare the three top countries with the three at the bottom, right? So, it has to be context specific. Now, on the mention of the circuit breaker, in certain circumstances, again, if this is decided by the country, the key issue is two things. Number one, let's take the lessons into account -- mental health, domestic violence, the inequalities, the micro (ph) economic impact and to keep the health open for no COVID diseases -- this is the first one. And the second thing to taken to account is by then, the time, those two, three, or whatever weeks to use it, to have a robust track, trace and isolate system.</s>ANDERSON: OK. Hans, you have said that a lockdown, a national lockdown should be an absolute last resort.</s>KLUGE: Yes, yes.</s>ANDERSON: How bad do things have to get before you believe that we are at that last resort point?</s>KLUGE: Right. This has to be -- that's now the challenge, Becky. It's a good point, because we see in several places that the science and the politics are a little bit contradictory. So the key issue, and that's a main role of the office here, is to foster what I call coherence, policy coherence among the member state, because no one is safe until everyone is safe. So we have a dashboard and we are updating it, that looks at that one -- for corona figures, your hospital surge capacity, your ICU capacity, and then, on the indirect impacts. And then if a country ultimately has to decide itself, but it has to be cycling a little bit forward, a little bit backward because it has to be livable. And we have learned a lot how to manage the virus transmitting in the society and at the same time to have an economy up and running, and that's what Soumya referred to. It's a false debate -- life or livelihood, we have to do both.</s>ANDERSON: Let's just take what's going on in England at present as an example because this might be easier for our viewers to sort of get their heads around as we -- as we talk about sort of targeted, proportion at measures, as opposed to a national -- national lockdown. So, in certain parts of the north, the U.K. government has said you are in Tier 3 measures which mean quite a lot of restrictions, not a total lockdown, but quite a lot of restrictions. In London, for example, they are in Tier 2 measures which means not as many. The mayor of Manchester is arguing the task (ph) with the U.K. government, and saying it's not fair that his city should lockdown or be these, sort of, Tier 3 restrictions when other cities are not. And this effectively means that the entire argument is becoming politicized at this point because it is about how much a lockdown is going to cost the city and its residents, isn't it? What would your advice be to, for example, that mayor of Manchester today?</s>KLUGE: Well, Becky, I'm advising Europe. I'm not going into one mayor or one government, but let me tell on the U.K. because you invite me to comment. I find this a very smart way to have these three levels. Why? Because the onus is put on implementation and on predictability that if you implement this and that measure, you go to that phase and I think that's very important, very smart, that is predictability. What I call also proportionate and that the people know with a straight (ph) and clear communication where they are in the spectrum. So, on the system, I think that's -- I would say -- I would support this.</s>ANDERSON: Just how worried are you at this stage? I mean, the numbers that we came into this interview on suggesting there could be four or five times as many deaths by January as there were at the peak should governments not get that right is really concerning, sir, because governments are struggling to get things right. They don't know what right is, at present.</s>KLUGE: Right.</s>ANDERSON: How worried are you?</s>KLUGE: So, is there a reason for panic, Becky? No. Am I worried? Yes, I'm very worried. I mean, if you look at the pictures, having said that when we spoke in the summer, that's what we were mentioned because the virus has not changed. Not worse, not better. And we put off the lid, the virus becomes again more merciless. But it's good news, also. I was mentioning this in the press statement yesterday. There are some simple measures, systematic, generalized mask wearing, together with a strict control on social gatherings could save in this region about 281,000 lives in six months and that's something that any government is and should be able to implement.</s>ANDERSON: I just want you to listen to a family from Liverpool that I interviewed yesterday. We were talking about whether people would be prepared to go through these, quote, circuit breaker lockdowns. This is what I was told.</s>GEOFF BROADHEAD, LIVERPOOL RESIDENT: If Liverpool is going Tier 3, which is the highest level, it's still quite open. You can go to a pub or a bar or a restaurant. It means, we're going to go</s>ANDERSON: So I just want to press you on this point. I have a couple other questions I want to go on to, but you talk about targeted, proportionate measures. The U.K. government, for example, wondering it should go through these sort of circuit breaker lockdowns at present. I wonder whether it wouldn't be better for the W.H.O. to say, in standard, this is what you should do for the next three weeks, Europe? Why the hesitation from the W.H.O? Why not just say, this would make sense?</s>KLUGE: Well, I don't think there's hesitation, Becky. I'm talking regularly with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer of the U.K., for which I have a tremendous respect, with Professor Martin McKee, and other people of the Schengen (ph) group. But our role is not to point out countries, it's to work with countries upon their request but the U.K. and some other countries are one spectrum, which absolutely need more strict measures. There is not any doubt about. About the interview, Becky, let me kindly listen to, let me say that I have a lot of empathy with the people, and in that sense, what is very important to show the empathy and have the social dialogue and inform the communities and co-create the solutions. And there are many, many good examples of that one.</s>ANDERSON: OK. Thank you for explaining your position. It is so important that people understand what it is that the W.H.O. believes should be done next and how your advice fits into the kind of wider story of governmental policy at this point. A new W.H.O. study finding that the drug remdesivir has, quote, little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients and it doesn't help people get better faster either. This drug, of course, is being made famous, Hans, by the American president who promoted it heavily. How big a blow is this to hopes of an effective treatment? And just walk us through where we are at when it comes to therapeutics.</s>KLUGE: Right. So I always like to look, Becky, at what is known and what is not known. So let's take on what is known here. Two things are known about the drug you mentioned. The first one is that the trial as of today is inconclusive. So it's still ongoing. No, it has not stopped. It's ongoing, but inconclusive, number one. Number two is that it is a very expensive drug. So, that obviously also carries the question then, is it worthwhile to pay for it? But the bigger point is that this arguably is longitudinal surveys, right? You go forward. So, you have nine months in the pandemic. Now we see the results. And good science need this time. So in that sense, these are the -- where we are and we are moving forward the same. For vaccines, it's moving forward. This was an unprecedented speed, but we cannot force the time. This is good science.</s>ANDERSON: Hans, I'm going to take a very short break because having you on this show at this hour during what is this enormous crisis across Europe now and its second wave, and such a -- such a mess across the world, it's invaluable that we are having this discussion. So let me take a very short break. I'm going to get you to stay with us. Back after this.

Trump & Biden's Dueling Town Halls; Thai Police Disperse Protesters with Water Cannons.

ANDERSON: All right. Before the break and now we will be speaking to the WHO's regional director for Europe, who has already told us that strict controls in the European region could save 281,000 lives over the next 6 months. But that is still not calling for national lockdowns. Hans Kluge is with us now. And you've put a figure on the number of lives that could be lost should governments not get things right. What is your appeal to the people of Europe at present?</s>KLUGE: That's a great question, Becky. I would like to appeal, first and foremost, I want to send the people of Europe for behaving and adhering to the measures, because we often speak about the small proportion of the population but the people of Europe have really been great. But it's time limited. There will be an end. So, we have to stick together and go through it with the same pace. It is true that no transmission in elderly people is less, more in the younger age cohort. And that's why we see five times less deaths than in April, because also, let's not forget that positive view, that cases are much higher but the slope is slower because what we have to do together is to avoid that the transmission again will spill over to our vulnerable groups. So, we have a small window of opportunity, so let's stick together and co- create ways to be happy, to be socially active like I see from my teenage daughters, it's possible, but not spread the virus.</s>ANDERSON: And I have to assume that the reason that you make this point is that you have seen people acting irresponsibly, many of those youngsters around the region and they have ended up being spreaders of this virus, haven't they, quite frankly?</s>KLUGE: Yes. But I wouldn't -- you know, Becky, I know the quote, the tweet from President Macron yesterday. President Macron, he was announcing tighter measures in a number of cities. He told, it is hard to be 20 in 2020. I mean, youngsters don't want to lose a year of their life, so let's not point the finger but do what we are doing, we are working now with anthropologists, socialists, to de-medicalize (ph) their approach a little bit, and we're trying to understand the service, what is going on in the communities, what is it that bothers the people? And based on that one, work together. Like in Copenhagen here, in Denmark, the students are being asked to design together ways how to keep universities open and the works, because the schools has an open message -- we have to do everything possible to keep the schools and the universities open.</s>ANDERSON: We are well aware that there a significant cases in a number of universities, not least those in England and in other parts of Europe. You're absolutely right. I mean, the appeal is there. It is an act of responsibility that people must try and sort of help stop spread this. This is the second wave in Europe, worse than the first. When Europe tames this, how can it stop a third wave? Until we get a vaccine, is there any hope of normalcy at this point?</s>KLUGE: You know, Becky, I always say hope tries (ph) the lost. So, absolutely yes. Where we will find a treatment or a vaccine or the virus for a time being has not changed, it has not become stronger or weaker. Will it become weaker and it will become endemic instead of epidemic because it is part, remember, of this so-called coronavirus and it becomes, that season of flu? We don't know. It can go different directions. But let's remember today, it is coronavirus. Tomorrow, in a couple of decades, it can be another one of the globalization. I mean, by 2040, 75 percent of the people in the world will live in mega cities. So the preparedness is very important. I think if you look to certain countries, that the people understand now better why a mask is important, why the hand washing, the basic respiratory -- so I think we're learning. We try to live with it. But, of course, I definitely would like to come to the day that we can hug each other and we can kiss each other again, and we don't have to have that one. But I'm hopeful. Yes, I'm hopeful.</s>ANDERSON: With that, we're going to leave it there, sir. It's a good point to end. It is good to end on a note of optimism. It's a pleasure having you on, as I've said --</s>KLUGE: Thanks.</s>ANDERSON: -- so important that we hear from you. Hans Kluge for you, the W.H. man -- W.H.O.'s man on Europe. Well, here in the UAE, and most specifically here in Abu Dhabi, they have taken a strict approach to wearing masks and social distancing, unlike some places in Europe. So, we spent the first half of this show discussing and by all accounts it has worked. Let me tell you, while debates go on about vaccines elsewhere, look at this, the Emirati foreign affairs minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, getting his shot of a vaccine today. Another senior foreign official, Hend Al Otaba, also got a shot of the vaccine. Advanced clinical trials have been going on here for months and now two advanced clinical trials of both Russia and from China. Ahead on the show, rebellion is gripping the Thai capital and police are trying to get protesters to go home. More on this live from Bangkok. Plus, the warring sides in Yemen's conflict conduct their largest prisoner swap. In the next hour, we'll talk about whether that could lead to peace. (COMMERCIAL BREAK0</s>ANDERSON: Well, from the outside in, if you ever wanted a clearer picture of American politics last night pretty much summed it up on the night they were supposed to debate, Joe Biden and Donald Trump instead came into American living rooms by a pair of dueling town halls. Same time, different networks, same questions, different answers.</s>TRUMP: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks. I'm okay with masks. I tell people wear masks. But just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it. So --</s>GUTHRIE: Well, they didn't say that. I know that study.</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard and that's what I saw.</s>BIDEN: The words of a president matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.</s>BIDEN: No matter whether they're good, bad or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then, you know, people say, well, it mustn't be that important.</s>ANDERSON: Well, their personalities on full display. Joe Biden relaxed and full of facts, speaking in depth about the issues, apparently, not very exciting to be honest. And Donald Trump combative and refusing to give an inch as he openly sparred with the moderator. It was truly the careful career politician versus the bombastic reality TV star. Should we have expected anything less? Probably not. And in a campaign that has been dominated by domestic issues, there was at least one moment where the conversation turned to America's role on the world stage. Have a listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peace is breaking out all over the world. Our troops are coming home. Serbia is talking to Kosovo and the Arabs and Israelis are talking peace which I believe is a modern-day miracle what's going on. Does President Trump's foreign policy deserve some credit?</s>BIDEN: A little but not a whole lot. We find ourselves in a position where we are more isolated in the world than we have ever been. Our allies, our go it alone, our -- you know, America first has made America alone. I do compliment the president on the deal with Israel recently. But you know, if you take a look, we're not very well-trusted around the world.</s>ANDERSON: Joe Biden referring of course to the normalization deal between the Israelis and the Emiratis and Bahrainis. Well, all of this comes just 18 days from the U.S. election day, but with millions of Americans casting early votes every day, almost 18 million have already voted, including 2 million in what is known as a battleground state of Florida. We'll leave that for the time being and get you halfway across the world to Thailand where w are seeing unprecedented revolt. It is the people against the king. As you can see, police using water cannon to disperse protesters who are defying an emergency decree. These protests have roiled the country, for over three months now, the prime minister being asked to step down. He says he will not quit. This week, protesters surrounded the royal motorcade. Following that incident, two people could face life in prison. Jonathan Miller is there. He's in amongst it in the Thai capital with more for you -- Jonathan.</s>JONATHAN MILLER, CHANNEL 4 NEWS: Hi, Becky. Yeah, dramatic scenes on the streets of Bangkok this evening. As they do every few years. There's violent spasms that engulf this city, the last time 2014. Tonight, well yeah, three months as you say of protests. It was inevitable. Absolutely inevitable that they would some point come to a head and tonight it kind of feels like the genie's out of the bottle a bit. We have turned a page, opened a new chapter because what happened today was, you know, hasn't been seen in this movement so far, been mostly peaceful. What did actually happen reminded me of what went on in Hong Kong. I don't know if you remember there, but, you know, there were protests and then the police arrive and the protesters pop up somewhere else. And today, exactly that happened here. The protest was meant to have taken place at exactly the spot where that big protest went on yesterday. When tens of thousands of people defied an emergency decree brought in by the government which said that those that violate it would be met with a full force of the law. And today, the police sealed off the entire commercial heart of Bangkok. There were riot cops everywhere but just down the road the protest recalled. Word went out and within a few minutes, thousands of people had once again converged. Now, I was sitting there at that time watching this going on, people hurling insults at the prime minister who just spoken and refused again to resign and then suddenly something happened, rumors went around. There was a bit of a stampede and people rushing around the place, and I went down into the heart of the demonstration at that point, and this is what I saw.</s>MILLER: The police continue to move in, causing panic in the crowd. There is real anger here now. Listen to that. One of the chants they're chanting is slaves, slaves. They call the police slaves of the dictatorship. The police are just there. They have come down from police headquarters just up the road. But these people are rushing back to the scene here having fled all back.</s>MILLER: Those cops have been standing up the road with nothing going on and then suddenly a wall of riot police with three water cannon trucks and that's where the dramatic scenes played out because there's some tear gas used and there was colored dye put in the water cannon and a number of protesters, a small number, but a substantial group attacking that front line of police with the riot shields. It really did have echoes of Hong Kong there. They were throwing barricades at the police over their heads. There were missiles being thrown in each direction. The cops just carried on slowly pushing up the road to the point that eventually after an hour or two, they reached the intersection and they now occupy that particular intersection. By then, virtually, all the protesters had left and they retreated down the road to Chulalongkorn University nearby. I think they have gone home. You might be able to hear the pouring rain here. It's not a time to protest outside but they came back today and they did exactly that.</s>ANDERSON: Jonathan Miller on the story for you, thank you, Jonathan. Coming up, instead of talking about the big matches this weekend in Italian football, the focus shifted to the wave of new COVID-19 cases affecting the league. More on that after this.

Trump Says Only Lincoln Has Done More For Black People; Poll Shows African-Americans Largely Reject Trump's Leadership; W.H.O. Speaks With CNN As Europe Hit By Second Wave

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.</s>BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Different candidates, different channels, different planets, it seems. Welcome to American politics. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are already moving back into campaigning at light speed today with packed schedules on what is the morning after the night before in the United States. Last night their personalities on full display in a pair of dueling town halls broadcast to America and, of course, now to the rest of us around the world. Joe Biden spoke in depth about the issues, not exactly exciting but full of facts and ideas and Donald Trump, you could argue, keeping it more entertaining as he openly sparred with the moderator and dodged some of her questions.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When did you last remember having a negative test?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I test quite a bit, and I can tell you that before the debate, which I thought it was a very good debate and I felt fantastically. I was - I had no problem before.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: I don't know. I don't even remember.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you take a test on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: If you ask the doctor, they will give you a perfect answer. They take a test and they leave and I go about my business.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, did you take a test on the day of the debate I guess it is the bottom line?</s>TRUMP: I probably did and took a test the day before and the day before.</s>ANDERSON: While Coronavirus was the main focus of the two events, there were also questions about America's role on the world stage that, of course, affects the billions of us not living in the United States.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peace is breaking out all over the world, our troops are coming home, Serbia is talking to Kosovo and the Arabs and Israelis are talking peace which I believe is a modern day miracle what's going on. Does President Trump's foreign policy deserve some credit?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: A little but not a whole lot. We find ourselves in a position where we're more isolated in the world than we ever have been. Our allies, our go it alone, America First has made American alone. I do compliment the president on the deal with Israel recently, but, you know, if you take a look, we're not very well trusted around the world.</s>ANDERSON: Joe Biden 18 days out from Election Day, so where is we in what is this final trust? Well, in one recent Quinnipiac Poll African Americans have a dismal view of Donald Trump more than 80 percent reject his leadership, but the president sees a very different relationship here is more from last night's town hall.</s>TRUMP: Prison reform, historically black colleges and universities, I got them funded. They were on a year-to-year basis. They could have been put out of business as soon as our country had a little bad year. They could have said I'm sorry, not going to fund you. I got 10 years. And some people don't like it when I say it but a lot of people agree. I've done more for the African American community than any president with exception Abraham Lincoln, criminal justice reform, prison reform, historically black colleges and universities. I got them funded. They were on a year-to-year basis. They could be put out of business. As soon as the country had a bad year they could have said I'm sorry we're not going to fund you. I got them ten year.</s>ANDERSON: That's Donald Trump in response to one of the viewer question or audience question. Let's bring in longtime Georgia Lawmaker then Vernon Jones. Vernon, you have a storied history in the state after a career as an active Democrat spanning decades and you are now part of what is a small sliver of a can American supporters of Donald Trump. That is quite a small sliver at this point. I wanted to bring you on to dig into your views and just, firstly, I can't help but notice the language there in the background. And was that sent to you by the Trump campaign?</s>VERNON JONES, 2020 BLACK VOICES FOR TRUMP ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: No more than backgrounds were sent to Democrats by the Biden Campaign. That is the narrative that the liberal media including CNN International and CNN here in America, and you all do not want to hear what every black American has to say unless he's attacking Donald Trump. You don't want to hear from African-Americans like me who want to call out Joe Biden, the bigotry, his history with being segregationists and the nerve to have say that if you don't vote for him you isn't black and ironically--</s>ANDERSON: Sir, hold on a minute. Hang on a minute. - to the show this is CNN International. I brought you on to this show because our viewers around the world really genuinely need to hear from you and get your views, so please, with respect. Let's keep this honest and non-partisan. I mean, I am here to conduct an interview with you. Let me ask you a question. Do you genuinely believe that Donald Trump has done more for the African American community than any other president in history barring Abraham Lincoln? It's a very simple question.</s>JONES: So, I want you to stop and I want you to be honest. There's more African American support for this president than a sliver, which you just told your viewers. You said that Donald Trump dodged questions. No, Joe Biden dodged questions. Why can't you tell the American people is he going to stack the court or not? Why haven't you told your viewers that Donald Trump has done more. Clearly, he has more for African Americans in 47 months than Joe Biden has in 47 years. Joe Biden wrote a crime bill that incarcerated masses of black men and women. Joe Biden called those same black men predators, sexual predators as well, like Hillary Clinton, and so Donald Trump, as an African American, Donald Trump supports historical black colleges and increased the funding from where it was cut from the previous administration by 14 percent and wrote it into law. I went to one of those historical black colleges North Carolina Central University is 48 of them which had been the incubator for blacks going to college where they couldn't go to majority schools.</s>ANDERSON: OK.</s>JONES: And as a matter of fact, Kamala Harris herself attacked Joe Biden on his bigot record about how he hung around with segregationists? Senators including Robert Byrd who was a card-carrying chapter president of the Ku Klux Klan. She also said and told that sob story how Joe Biden was against busing and the impact it could have on her. So if you want to let's be honest, let's be honest and not mislead your listeners or your viewers, I should say.</s>ANDERSON: I asked you a question and I've allowed you to answer it. My question was simple has he done more than? Hang on, sir. This is my interview that I'm conducting with you. Sorry, you've come on with an attitude, and so let's get really just very basic about what's going on here? I asked you a question, and I've allowed you to answer it. Please have the respect, sir, if that's the case and you believe that Donald Trump has done more than anyone other president bar Abraham Lincoln, then why is it that Joe Biden is leading black voters by 81 percentage points according to surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center? It's a very simple question.</s>JONES: Well, with all due respect I didn't come on your show being upset. As a matter of fact, you invited me. I didn't call you. So let's be clear about that, and you asked me just like white liberals, like Joe Biden an insult did Donald Trump send me background they said Democrats failed back. Hell no. Donald Trump didn't send this to me. I haven't been paid by his organization or I haven't paid by him or anyone.</s>ANDERSON: Fair enough, fair enough. I asked you a question. Fair enough.</s>JONES: --why do you not think that African Americans can't I think independently and make a decision based on policy and his record? I'll ask you. What has Joe Biden done for African Americans other than put them in jail, absolutely nothing --?</s>ANDERSON: That wasn't the question,</s>JONES: Zero. And get on to say that African Americans are not as diverse in their thinking as other groups. That's bigotry. That is racism, but nobody wants to ask Donald Trump I mean ask Joe Biden to elaborate on that and talk about his racist background, but you want to talk about it with Donald Trump.</s>ANDERSON: He was asked by Kamala Harris. He was asked by Kamala Harris who has now picked. He has been asked the same question, sir. Come on. Listen let's talk about last night's town hall.</s>JONES: He wasn't asked that question at the town hall last night about saying African Americans isn't black.</s>ANDERSON: He was asked a series of questions about policy, a number of questions last night that the moderator wasn't able to get to.</s>JONES: But they did not ask him - he admitted that he made a mistake on the prison - on the crime bill that he wrote, but he had eight years as vice president working with African Americans to fix it. Did he want to fix it, no, and the reason why many blacks are still supporting Joe Biden, which is decreasing, that's why for the first time Joe Biden was afraid - he's spending more time in the African American community with commercials now than he has in the past 47 years. Why, because Donald Trump has a growing number of a can Americans supporting him.</s>ANDERSON: OK.</s>JONES: As well as Donald Trump has gotten more black votes than any Republican in the past 50 years and it's growing.</s>JONES: Let me tell you. African Americans--</s>ANDERSON: Let me put this to you. Joe Biden addressed black voters last night sir, have a listen. Just have a listen to what Joe Biden said last night.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Besides you aren't black, what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?</s>BIDEN: Well, I say, first of all, as my buddy John Lewis said, it's a sacred opportunity to right to vote you can make a difference. If young black women and men vote you can determine the outcome of the election. Not a joke, you can do that. And the next question is am I worthy of your vote? Can I earn your vote? And the answer is there are two things that I think that care and I've demonstrated I care about my whole career. One is in addition to dealing with criminal justice system to make it fair and make it more decent. We have to be able to put black Americans and be able to gain wealth, generate wealth.</s>ANDERSON: And so he also held himself accountable for writing the crime bill of 1994.</s>JONES: He did not--</s>ANDERSON: Hang on. Please, hang on.</s>JONES: Let me respond.</s>ANDERSON: And said it was a mistake your thoughts?</s>JONES: A mistake he said where he had eight years as vice president to fix it. He did not fix it, and now after 47 years now for the crime bill he has a dream about what he's going to do if we elect him this time? And then again, the - the person was asking the question, didn't ask him, Joe Biden, what do you mean that a black person isn't black if he doesn't vote for you? But first of all, isn't, he was trying to talk jive talk. I don't talk jive talk. That's pandering to blacks like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer put on a Kinta cloth and get down on one knee and still don't do anything to help the black community. He's talking about what he's doing for businesses. Well, guess what Donald Trump has the platinum plan to invest half a billion dollars in businesses, black businesses. As a matter of fact, now, let's be clear. More black people were employed prior to the pandemic than at any time in this history of this country going back to slavery. So you or nobody else can tell me that anything Joe Biden has done for black people other than incarcerate them but now - see, that's the difference between he and Donald Trump. Joe Biden has a dream after 47 years black people I'll help you, if you elect me this time. But Donald Trump has been there 47 months. Look at historical black colleges, look at opportunity zone districts. Look what he's done for prison reform. Look what he's done with the platinum plan and look how many blacks that he's helped get their businesses going. So it's an insult to say that Donald Trump has to send me a banner. It's an insult that says Donald Trump has a slither of black people. That's like the polls in 2016. They said that Donald Trump had no pathway to the presidency. Well, the silent majority and a large number of blacks came out.</s>ANDERSON: So, you are refuting the polls, sir. You're refuting the polls. Let me ask you this. With 18 days to go what does Donald Trump need to do to increase his potential with the African American community to clearly underscore what you are saying today in that he has provided support for the black community, and what does he need to do to convince people at these polls just don't reflect the community?</s>JONES: Well, first of all, the polls in 2016 did not reflect the community. Polls are push polls. They are only as good as the person who is presenting these polls. You can shape a poll to get a person to say anything they want to say like your network and others shape a narrative to get people to believe something that's fake news. And so, when I look at this president, he can continue to do what he's doing. He's earned the black - he's done more to earn the black vote clearly than any Republican or Democrat going back to Abraham Lincoln. What needs to happen is Joe Biden and Democratic Party needs to stop taking the black vote for granted like ice cube just came out. They didn't think ice cube would support President Trump. He was a part of shaping the platinum plan and a lot more of us are coming out and you're going to see it reflected at the polls. Joe Biden and the Democrat Party is a party of bigotry. They say they want diversity. They do in terms of color and in terms of shapes and sizes but not when it comes to independent thinking, conservative-leaning blacks, and that's traditionally blacks have been far more conservative than whites but they have hijacked us. They care more about illegals. They care more about these other communities than the black communities. They want our vote and then they throw us off.</s>JONES: And so I'm - many of us blacks have left the plantation. We have turned the light off. We've given them the key to the suite. We don't want to be a part of being taken advantage of and being used. Treat us like you treat the - the illegals. Put us first. Treat us like you treat the LBGTQ Community. Put us first. Treat us like you treat many of the others and school choice. This president is pushing for school choice that helps black families whose kids have been trapped in failing schools by Democratic policies. This president supports law and order when Black Lives Matter, all black lives don't matter to them with ANTIFA. They have killed more black people since they started Black Lives Matter, and Black Lives Matter is the direct attack on what, the black family, the straight black male, the father of the family but nobody asks Joe Biden to denounce black lives matter. Why?</s>ANDERSON: OK.</s>JONES: Because you're trying to help Joe Biden wins?</s>ANDERSON: Listen, this is a show that puts every side of every argument and pleases don't accuse me of trying to help Joe Biden winning. This is an International show broadcast from the Middle East. We're interested in what is going on in U.S. politics. Thank you for spending the time with us, the ten minutes of time with us which is a long time by anybody's standards on this show. I appreciate--</s>JONES: How many times - people like me have you interviewed though?</s>ANDERSON: And I appreciate you accepting my invitation and I appreciate you putting your views across tonight and I respect you for that. Thank you. Well, even by the standards of the pandemic this year, there's one of the most extraordinary standoffs in English modern history going on right now. London urging the City of Manchester to accept its highest COVID-19 alert level tier 3 to help curb a new wave of infections. The city officials rejecting the plan for new restrictions and a stimulus package they say doesn't do enough. Well, now Britain's Foreign Secretary, that's the man London, relies on to negotiate with foreign governments urging Manchester's Mayor Andy Burnham to "Do the right thing and comply". Let's bring you to both cities. Phil Black is in London and Salma Abdulaziz is in Manchester. Phil, let's start with you. Just what is going on here?</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the British government, Becky, wants to avoid a national lockdown at all costs for all the negative consequences, notably the economic impact but also political ones as well. It would upset a lot of members of the prime minister's own conservative party. So they have come up with this tiered regional response, dividing up the country into different areas of concern but to work it needs local leaders to cooperate. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, isn't really doing that, not by the government's standards, so whatever Andy Burnham says about the plan being flawed or wanting more money to help those that are going to hurt the hardest, the government is interpreting that very differently. The Foreign Secretary Dominic Robb today suggested that Burnham is blackmailing the government for money and politics. The prime minister went even further implying that lives are being put at risk by Burnham's position. Take a look.</s>BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Local leaders who have come forward and joined in the tier system showing the kind of leadership that I think is necessary, and this is about saving lives. This is about us joining together locally and nationally to get the R down and to make these regional restrictions these tier systems to work and to save lives. And I think, you know, everyone in greater Manchester and all the areas which are still finding difficult should think about it.</s>ANDERSON: That's Boris Johnson. Salma, how are they reacting in Manchester both on the streets and from government officials?</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for now Becky the Mayor of Manchester is being essentially being openly defiant. He's in a standoff with 10 Downing Street and he is refusing to back down and the people of Manchester, many who we spoke to today, feel that this Mayor is advocating for them. Take a listen to what he said in a press conference.</s>ANDY BURNHAM, MAYOR OF GREATER MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: They are willing to sacrifice jobs and businesses here to try and save them elsewhere. Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City region and Lancashire are being set up as the canaries in the coal mine for an experimental regional lockdown strategy as an attempt to prevent the expense of what is truly needed.</s>ABDELAZIZ: The Mayor's argument is essentially this. The government wants us to increase our level to tier 3 that would come with additional restrictions. You're not giving me enough of an economic package to provide to businesses here that will have to shut their doors.</s>ABDELAZIZ: And the second part of his argument is the scientific advisers that consult the government, they themselves have argued for what is called a circuit breaker. That's a short sharp but nationwide lockdown so the Mayor's argument is why single us out. If the scientific advisers say the entire country shut down, if there's an open sense of defiance in the north of the country against significant singling out these individual cities and towns, then what should happen is a national unity and a national effort? And then also if you don't want a national unity or a national effort provide the economic means for businesses to survive another shutdown that we do not know how long it will last. Becky?</s>ANDERSON: Salam is in Manchester and Phil is in London. Thank you both. You're watching "Connect the World" - and what is a critical part of the world is the Middle East. Up next, a prisoner exchange in Yemen brings new hope for peace. I'll talk to someone who helped negotiate this prisoner swap. Plus, the Coronavirus and the candidates, a look at Joe Biden and Donald Trump's, very different responses to questions about COVID-19. Stay with us.

Largest Prisoner Swap In Yemen's War

ANDERSON: Former prisoners of war in Yemen now on their way home. You are looking at the largest prisoner swap in the conflict so far, and that swap is still under way. It began on Thursday using planes flying from three different airports. By the time that it's finished the Red Cross says that about 1,000 prisoners will be free again. This swap is not only about freedom for prisoners, it's also about hope but after years of a horrific war, that maybe peace could be somewhere down the line. This conflict is devastated Yemen which was one of the world's poorest countries to start with. About 8 to 10 people there now depend on aid, and according to estimates tens of thousands of lives have been lost. Well, I'm now joined by a man who helped broker the exchange that you've been looking at, Fabrizio Carboni he is the International Red Cross Regional Director for the Middle East. He just flew from Sanaa where the exchange took place to Aiden where he's now joining us live. Just explain how this operation took place? I've always wondered about the sort of complicated logistical challenges feats like this face? And this one particularly how challenging was it?</s>FABRIZIO CARBONI, ICRC REGIONAL DIRECTOR, NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST: It was very challenging, but I think it's not just the logistic challenge, because - operation you know we're not a taxi organization. So for us it's about you know, knowing whether people are willing to go back? We interview all detainees wherever they are. We make sure that they are in good health, that they can move, that when they are back home they are not afraid to go back home.</s>CARBONI: There is obviously there just big - you need to find planes and you need to plan planes and also there's really one specificity to disagreeing which is quite neutral is that the first day all the planes had to take off at the same time at three different locations. Saudi Arabia, Salah and Sayun on the other side of the front line so I would say complex, difficult, but very positive because today when I'm talking to you we have 1,000 people released and we have 1,000 families who I believe they are celebrating this great news.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, and it's not over yet. Just how significant is this exchange? Does it really represent that moment of hope that we have all been looking for and hoping for in what has been this bloody conflict?</s>CARBONI: I mean, to some extent that's what we want to believe. You know, the situation is so bleak that at one stage you need to believe that this is the beginning of something. And to be honest I was in the - agreement, I was in the field when it happened. And I think we need to take it as a very positive sign because you need a lot of political courage to agree on releasing detainees while the conflict is still active. So I would not overestimate the impact of this release on the situation in Yemen. But I would not underestimate the fact that finally I want to say, point is to this conflict showed a form of political courage, because at the end of the day all conflict, especially the one in Yemen, will be solved by political courage.</s>ANDERSON: The U.N. Yemen Envoy, who I speak to quite regularly, Martin Griffith, described this as an airlift of hope but said that that is not enough. Have a listen.</s>MARTIN GRIFFITH, U.N. ENVOY TO YEMEN: The Prisoners Agreement does not include many thousands more of Yemenis detained during the course of this conflict, and it is, therefore, our obligation and the obligation of the parties to convene very soon to discuss further releases.</s>ANDERSON: Just how many more prisoners are currently detained, and what can we expect in terms of more exchanges any time soon?</s>CARBONI: I mean, many thousands of people are detained, and I think what Martin says is totally right. I think today we need to celebrate because it's not that we have many opportunities in Yemen to celebrate the good news, so let's celebrate this. But tomorrow morning we should go back to work and today we focus on the release of detainees, really great. But there is a conflict and what matters is to find a solution, a way out of this conflict because if we continue releasing detainees, and the conflict continues, I mean, we're back to square one. So today what we want and what is needed it's to move into the political discussion. It's to move and talk about the difficult issue. I mean, we always say we need more assistance and support. Yes, for sure we need more, but that's not going to solve the problem, you know. What it's going to solve of the problem is to stop needing action, and this is political solution, and today it's - it's an agreement of hope that is possible.</s>ANDERSON: Well, I interviewed Martin back in February. Here is what he told me about a peace process.</s>GRIFFITH: I think there are two things that need to happen probably simultaneously. First of all, recovering the calm that we've talked about in the war and secondly, perhaps even more urgently is the beginning of preparations for a launch of the political process. And in that regard, we're waiting for the creation by the government of Yemen under the Riyadh Agreement, as you know. One mediates by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of a new negotiating team on back of a new cabinet. So we are - we're - we're very interested to see progress towards that happen, and if that happens over the next month or two, we will be ready to call the parties, to sit down together, to talk and finally to negotiate, and finally to launch that political process.</s>ANDERSON: Do you believe that a peaceful political agreement is viable at this point?</s>CARBONI: I mean this is quite a difficult question. As humanitarian I can tell you why it's needed.</s>CARBONI: I can give you - you know, I was in the plane today with these 70 detainees going back home very intense. You know the flight of their life, something that few people experience and if you can touch with your finger why peace is necessary? You know, so I leave to Martin, I leave to the political actors the way to find a peace deal. What we don't fund is to be use as an excuse. We shouldn't focus on the intense situation not to address the political issues. And so my voice and the voice of - actors are to say that Yemeni people can't take it anymore. They really can't take it anymore so it's about time to this political courage.</s>ANDERSON: With that we'll leave it there, but we thank you very much indeed for your time and do applaud your efforts. Thank you.</s>CARBONI: Thank you.</s>ANDERSON: Well, coming up next on "Connect the World", Robert Garcia Mayor of Long Beach, California, tragically lost both of his parents to COVID-19. He calls the U.S. President's response to what called them infuriating. He'll join us on "Connect the World" up next.

U.S. Reports Highest Daily Number Of Cases In Two Months; Gaza In The Time Of COVID-19.

ANDERSON: Welcome back. Last night millions of Americans tuned in to view dueling town halls featuring Joe Biden and Donald Trump and one topic dominating that events and for that matter the whole of to 2020 election is the American government's response to this pandemic. Can you see here the U.S. approaching its third peek in Coronavirus infections, reporting more than 63,000 new infections on Thursday alone that's the highest daily count since August, according to the data provided by Johns Hopkins University. At least 32 states reporting more daily cases this week than last with only three green states on the map that we have here and the surge is right across the U.S. at least 26 state more than half, are reporting more than 1,000 new daily cases. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus has more.</s>ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An un-seizing surge of new Coronavirus cases. On Thursday more than 63 new Coronavirus cases reported in the U.S., the highest daily figure in more than two months.</s>DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CDC: Each region of the nation is also seeing an increase in the number of hospitalizations and that's what you see before you, seeing an increase in the number of deaths.</s>BROADDUS: New record numbers of patients admitted to the hospital in at least seven states, the Midwest leading this concerning new trend.</s>BROADDUS: Wisconsin on Thursday saw more than 3,700 cases, a new record for the state the test positivity rate standing at over 21 percent Kentucky also seeing a spike in hospitalizations reporting 738 patients in hospitals Thursday.</s>ANDY BESHEAR, KENTUCKY GOVERNOR: Everybody ought to be doing the right thing, and those that are out there that try to confront you for wearing a mask or being a jerk, they are putting your health at risk.</s>BROADDUS: And in Missouri more than 1,400 hospitalizations reported for the third day in a row. Meanwhile, a new study released by the World Health Organization concluded that the antiviral drug Remdesivir had little or no effect on mortality on patients in the hospital with COVID. The W.H.O. described the conclusions as conclusive and disappointing. Remdesivir has Emergency Use Authorization for Coronavirus in the United States, and President Trump received it while he was treated at Walter Reed Medical Center. And rising outrage from many medical experts on White House's view of herd immunity, the idea that letting the virus spread throughout the country with the goal of infecting a large percentage of the population in hopes of gaining immunity will end the pandemic.</s>DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: We eliminated measles from this country by vaccination by the year 2000. Small Pox was only eliminated by vaccination even though that too is a much more highly contagious disease and that too induces lifelong immunity. So the notion of community immunity by natural infection is made up. It never happened.</s>ANDERSON: Adrienne Broaddus reporting there. Joining me to discuss this third peak is the Mayor of Long Beach, California, Robert Garcia. I know sir that you lost both your parents to COVID-19, and I'm so sorry for that. You have said that listening to our president or your president downplay this pandemic which killed both of your parents is infuriating. I'm sure it is. Have a listen to what he had to say last night.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our deaths per capita is among the highest--</s>TRUMP: --excess mortality, we're a winner. Well, excess mortality and what we've done has been amazing, and we have done an amazing job, and it's rounding the corner, and we have the vaccines coming and we have the therapies coming.</s>ANDERSON: Your thoughts, sir?</s>ROBERT GARCIA, LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: Well, everything that he said was a lie. Donald Trump has had no plan in the United States to take on COVID-19. We're nearing 220,000 deaths. We have a vaccine that is really not in place yet. He keeps making up stories about how ready the vaccines actually are, and most importantly there's no national plan around a mask mandate. And to him to call you know the progress amazing or to downplay COVID-19 is really shameful and a slap in the face over single family that has lost someone to this pandemic. Losing two parents was incredibly difficult, and every time that I or others have that lost them and hear him talk it's really angering because he just continues to lie and downplay something that's very serious.</s>ANDERSON: If you look at a recent AXIOS IPSOS Poll only 21 percent of Americans said that they are more likely to wear a mask following the president's COVID-19 diagnosis. I just wonder what you think that tells you about the American people and how they feel about this pandemic.</s>GARCIA: Well, we have a large population of the American people that unfortunately, do not listen to science and don't listen to reason. And I put a lot of that blame on our president. When you have a president who continuously chooses not to wear a mask and that goes just a week after infection into huge rallies not wearing a mask. And invites people in to not be protected, that's just the highest level of irresponsibility. He is doing the opposite of taking care of this country. He's killing people in our country by choose not to be responsible, and I think that's something you've got to be held accountable for. He continues to this day to downplay COVID-19 for his own political purposes, and quite frankly against the advice of his own medical team and scientists. It's completely shameful and quite frankly one of probably the worst moments in American history in any president.</s>ANDERSON: This is Joe Biden last night on a Coronavirus vaccine. Have a listen.</s>BIDEN: If the body of scientists say that this is what is ready to be done and it's been tested, it's gone through the three phases yes; I would take it and encourage people to take it. We should be talking about, depending on the continuation of the spread of the virus, we should be thinking about making amends.</s>ANDERSON: We know that something like just over 50 percent of people in the states are concerned about taking a vaccine if not outright will reject one. Do you think there should be a mandate, whether or not that is even possible? And I just do wonder whether you've heard enough from Joe Biden that were he to be elected as the U.S. President post-November the 3rd that you are confident that he does in fact have a COVID-19 plan? We've been reporting today on what is this awful, awful second wave across Europe. The governments are really struggling with. There is the possibility that the same thing could happen again post-November in the United States.</s>GARCIA: Well, we're very worried. The numbers that are coming out now across the states is very frightening. I think that one of the things that are important is a display of leadership, and I think what Joe Biden did last night was display leadership and he continues to do so by wearing a mask, by having contact tracing even within his own staff and by listening to the science. And I think as it relates to vaccines he's absolutely right. We need to make sure that a vaccine is not rushed. The vaccination process is complex, so we have to listen to the CDC, the scientists, Dr. Fauci here in the United States and just to make sure that the plan is actually in place. Right now I have no trust in the current government that they are actually going to do this the right way and not rush it for political purposes. And so I trust a President Biden to do the right thing, and I think most of the country is going to as well.</s>ANDERSON: We're going to leave it there, sir. Thank you. We appreciate your thoughts.</s>GARCIA: Thank you.</s>ANDERSON: Ahead on the show, an idyllic Austrian Town now on lockdown trying to get ahead of what is this exponential increase in cases that Europe is seeing? We'll speak to a family directly impacted by the new COVID-19 rules.

Breaking Down Dueling Biden, Trump Town Halls; White House Was Warned Giuliani Target of Russian Op to Feed Misinformation to Trump.

CUOMO: All right. We're going to get back to assessing the town halls and their impact in a moment. But there is a big story unfolding. "The Washington Post" is reporting that U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House, last year, that Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence. Greg Miller is among the reporters at "The Washington Post" who broke this story. Thank you for being with us, especially at this hour. Take us through the high points.</s>GREG MILLER, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": So, we know that, and we've reported this evening, that U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House, in the December timeframe last year, that Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, was in frequent contact with individuals with direct ties to Russian intelligence. And that White House officials were worried enough about this that the national security adviser privately spoke with the president in the Oval Office, to try to caution him against believing anything that Rudy told him after returning from Ukraine. And the president basically dismissed these warnings, and said, He's my lawyer. That's Rudy.</s>CUOMO: Now, this is where it gets bizarre. Not only did, I guess, the president dismiss that, but he embraced it, because Rudy Giuliani was on this show, again, not long ago. And I told him what U.S. intelligence agencies said about what's the guy's name? Alexei [SIC], the guy that he's in the picture?</s>MILLER: Derkach.</s>CUOMO: Derkach.</s>MILLER: Derkach, yes.</s>CUOMO: I said -- that, you know, they say this guy's a Russian intel guy and that he was working you. And Rudy says, Yes, they can say that. He isn't. And he admits and then is parroting things that the intelligence agencies say the Russians wanted to disseminate about Biden. And that's exactly what Rudy is pushing after meeting with this guy, who he says is a good guy. What better confirmation do you need of a concern than that?</s>MILLER: And to go, take it one step farther, Chris, I think it's also just remarkable that we're talking about a president who, for the first three years of his first term in office, was facing allegations and investigations of collusion with Russia in the 2016 election. He's warned, in December, that his own lawyer appears to be a conduit of Russian disinformation. And instead of running as far away from that as he can, he runs toward it, right? He is -- he is inviting it, encouraging it, and continues -- continues to point to information that Giuliani surfaces of dubious origin.</s>CUOMO: Greg Miller, thank you, very much, for this story that, in any other decade, would literally be all we were talking about, 24/7. And, here, it may be a shrug for about half the country and a "I thought so" for the other half. But the reporting matters, all the same. Maybe, more than ever. So thank you for doing it, and thank you for doing it here. All right. Let's get back to the town halls. Fact checking. You got to do it. Not easy, especially when you have to flip channels. But that's the job, tonight. And Daniel Dale and his team, they are the ones to help us sort it out. Hey, my brother. Thank you for being back with me, again. I already know from your reporting, tonight, that, once again, Trump won the untruthfulness game. What stands out to you in his winning effort of telling the truth less?</s>DANIEL DALE, CNN FACT CHECKER: Yes. So, this was just hugely lopsided, Chris, as usual. No comparison. Trump made more false claims in an hour-long town hall than Biden made in an hour and a half town hall. I'll get to some of those. But what stood out to me most was that the president didn't only make his own false claims, as always. He also gave airtime, Chris, to two truly bonkers conspiracy theories. He said QAnon is, Oh, it's about fighting pedophilia. In fact, it's about making absolutely ridiculous, absurd, outlandish, dangerous accusations of pedophilia, baselessly. And he said it's just up to people to decide whether this crazy conspiracy he retweeted about Obama killing SEAL Team 6, and SEAL Team 6 killing a bin Laden body double. He said it's just opinion. People can make up their own mind. It's not opinion. It's a lie. It's an offensive lie. And as I said, he also said a lot of flat wrong stuff. And a lot of it was stuff we've heard before. He argued there's widespread voter fraud with vote by mail. There isn't. He portrayed himself as a steadfast defender of people with pre-existing conditions. Chris, he's in court, as you know, right now trying to kill those protections in Obamacare with no replacement plan. He suggested it's another up and down kind of thing. That he's a defender of DACA. He said, I'm working hard on DACA. This is the program he's tried to terminate. He said Obama and Biden didn't even try to get criminal justice reform. They did. They backed a bipartisan bill that was killed by Republican McConnell in 2016. He said, again, We're rounding the turn on the pandemic. That's a vague phrase, hard to fact check. But cases and hospitalizations are surging. He boasted, as usual, about adding a record 11.4 million jobs in the past five months. He always declines to mention that that follows a loss of 22.2 million jobs over the previous two months. We're not even close to back, and he said they, referring to the CDC, found that 85 percent of people who wear masks get the virus. That's just not at all what the CDC has said. They weren't even looking for that in the -- in the --</s>CUOMO: The 85 percent number was about something else, right?</s>DALE: It was about -- it was about something else. It was not about the percentage of mask wearers who get the virus. Now, I have to add, we did also have false or misleading claims from Joe Biden, though fewer. He said that, when the first round of enhanced unemployment benefits finished, he said Trump didn't do anything. Well, you can say Trump didn't do enough, but he did do something. He took executive action. He used $44 billion in federal disaster aid to give 300 bucks a week to the jobless. Biden also suggested or said that the number of troops in Afghanistan is now up from when he left office. It's now down, well below the final Obama-era level. He said that Trump has, quote, "eliminated funding for community policing." No, that's not what happened. Trump did make budget proposals to cut that federal funding, never to eliminate it. But they cut it. And even those cuts weren't enacted by Congress. And as I told you earlier tonight, he suggested or didn't quite explicitly say that George Stephanopoulos, the host, was wrong for saying that the Biden website says the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for environmental action. His website does say that, so that was misleading, at best, Chris.</s>CUOMO: Good. Got to keep it straight, Daniel. Thank you very much. Now, those are some of the facts. Now, let's talk about the politics and the political reality, especially, when we're seeing early voting numbers that are off the charts. Seventeen million of you have voted, already. Let's bring back Ron Brownstein, Karen Finney, and Scott Jennings. Told you I'd have you back. So, Professor Brownstein, with the voting going on the way it is --</s>BROWNSTEIN: Yes.</s>CUOMO: -- how does that change the calculus of how to spend the next two-plus weeks on these campaigns?</s>BROWNSTEIN: That's really a great question, Chris.</s>CUOMO: Thank you.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Because we don't have election day anymore, you know, we have election month. And we are seeing extraordinary turnout. Now, you can't jump to the assumption that high turnout automatically benefits Democrats, because the president has shown the capacity to expand the electorate, himself, and to bring in a lot of blue-collar and non-urban whites who don't usually vote. But so far, the pattern is clear that we are seeing the turnout concentrated in the big metro, urban centers that have been moving away from the president and the Republican Party since he emerged as kind of the face of the party. To me, the one I'm watching the most closely is Harris County, Texas, which is Houston. 2012, Obama won Harris County by a thousand votes, and that was a big deal, you know, because it was a big urban center in Texas. In 2018, Beto O'Rourke won the same county by 201,000 votes. It's kind of a microcosm of the way the president is exiling the GOP from the big dynamic, economically-vibrant metros that are driving the economy. They've had four, roughly 400,000 votes this week. It was 1.3 million, in 2016. Could be, they're saying, 1.7 or so. It is possible that Biden will win that county by twice as much as Hillary Clinton did. And it is emblematic to me of the challenge the president is creating for himself. Because he lost, as we talked about before, 87 of the hundred largest counties in America by a combined 15 million votes. I think the turnout is going to be higher. His deficit is going to be bigger. He's going to need an even bigger turnout. And as a final point, he is back -- interested in what Scott thinks about this. He has back loaded his vote to where he is dependent on huge numbers of people coming out on election day. And by then, how many cases a day are he we going to be looking at? Are we going to be back in the 70, 75,000 range? I mean, he's putting all of his eggs in an election-day basket at a time when the virus is surging again?</s>CUOMO: So, Scott, this just occurred to me as a question. Given that the president has been telling people not to vail [SIC] by mail-in and he's basically scaring them away from doing that, even his own base, except in places like Florida and North Carolina. But he just started giving that message, and the stay away message, he's been giving for weeks. He's really betting that they're all going to come out on election day. And the pandemic could have a much bigger caseload there, because you're going to have the flu and other things and complicating factors and more kids in school, and there's lag time with cases. Isn't he kind of betting on that one day, where everybody's going to come out? It may be the worst time and, yes, that is what Brownstein just told me to ask you.</s>JENNINGS: Yes. I mean, it -- the -- it's absolutely true. Republicans -- and this bears out in all the polling, public and private, that I've seen from all the states. You've got 70 to 80 percent of Biden voters want to vote early or by mail. And 70 or 80 percent of Trump -- Republican voters want to vote on election day. And so by putting all of your people out there on one day, you do, you know, increase the possibility that they -- they don't make it. What if it snows? What if there's bad weather? What if something happens? And so, that's absolutely true. I will just say this is not a phenomenon that's unique to Trump. For as long as I've been in Republican politics, Republicans culturally strongly feel they want to vote on election day. I've been thrown off porches, knocking on doors during the early period trying to get folks to vote early, because they think election day is sacred. So it's not unique to Trump but he has, certainly, I think, exacerbated it by talking down the voting by mail options that do exist.</s>CUOMO: Well, we've had them since the Civil War, so they should start coming around, at some point. Karen, I want to play some sound from the town hall tonight with the president, where he made a gaffe that, in olden times, might have been fatal. I'm thinking it's a shrug, though, but you may disagree. Let's listen.</s>FINNEY: OK.</s>TRUMP: I'm very under-levered, fortunately. But I'm very under- levered. I have a very, very small percentage of debt compared -- in fact, some of it, I did as favors to institutions that wanted to loan me money. Four hundred million compared to the assets that I have, all of these great properties all over the world. And frankly, the Bank of America building in San Francisco. I don't love what's happening to San Francisco.</s>GUTHRIE: Did I hear you right? It sounds like you're saying $400 million isn't that much.</s>TRUMP: One of the biggest office buildings.</s>GUTHRIE: But are you -- are you confirming that, yes, you do owe some $400 million?</s>TRUMP: What I'm saying is that it's a tiny percentage of my net worth.</s>CUOMO: Now, he admitted something that he said wasn't true.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Yes.</s>CUOMO: His basis for why it doesn't matter is never going to resonate with anybody. You get way too in the weeds. I guarantee you, his net worth is not what he will suggest it is. It's not close. I spent over a year on it with Tim O'Brien and a whole other team 15 years ago. But he admitted something he said wasn't true. Will it matter?</s>FINNEY: No. And here's why. Right? It is such a complicated story. What we learned in that exchange and what matters is that he was lying. And that was the tap dance that we've seen him do, over and over and over again. And really, the thing that this comes down to, if you -- if you at all spend any time switching between channels, is it comes down to character. It comes down to what kind of a person do you want running this country? And, you know, that, what you just saw with Donald Trump, is what we have seen for, you know, snake oil salesman that we have seen for the last four years. It was more of the same. It was more of the -- the lies and the obfuscation and the -- you know, trying to just use words without really saying anything. And I think, again, I go back to people are exhausted of that. And I think they look at that, and they say, I mean, we know he's a liar. We know he lies about his finances. You know, we know he's a crook. We know he doesn't like to play by the same rules as the rest of us. So that's not, frankly, new information.</s>CUOMO: Let me carry Scott's water here for a second. To you, Ron, before I run out of time. So I'll do it in one step, instead of two. Yes, they're tired of it. You know what they're tired of? Seeing him run down. You'll never see Biden flags the way you'll see Trump flags. You'll never see intensity and interest, in his voters, the way you see with Trump's. What they're tired of is seeing a president who's against what they're against, getting beat down by the left and by a media that favors it, on a regular basis. And that's why their resolve, when it comes to Trump, is rock-solid.</s>BROWNSTEIN: It is.</s>CUOMO: How big a factor is that in measuring the intensity factor, going into election day?</s>BROWNSTEIN: He has never tried to govern as the president of all of America. He's been the president of red America and, in many ways, he's viewed himself as a wartime president against blue America. He demonizes cities, rather than trying to court them. You know, he does much the same with other Democratic constituencies. So, yes, what you get out of that is enormous intensity. But it's enormous intensity, among something between 42 and 44 percent of the electorate. Now, can he generate enough turnout from them to overcome the deficits that he's facing? You know, roughly, 60 percent, for example, of college-educated whites voted against him, the highest number of Republican nominee has ever faced. It's awful tough when everybody is voting, right, Chris? I mean, it's tough to have your turnout surge be decisive when turnout is going up for every group. I mean, African-American turnout is going to be higher. College white turnout is going to be the highest it's ever been. And again, if you look what's happening in these big metros that he is driving away from the party, he is leaving himself in a real -- it is possible that in Texas, for example, he may come out of metro Texas -- not California, not New Jersey, metro Texas -- down a million votes. Might still be able to overcome it by turning out enough rural votes, but he is creating a long-term trajectory where the party is being exiled from the places that are driving population and economic growth. And it's hard to see how that is a sustainable, long-term strategy.</s>CUOMO: Two things. One, this could be historic, in that you could have the most votes we've seen since, let's say, 1908 in terms of the percentage of eligible voters. Somewhere in the mid to high 60 percent. And have Trump win by the slimmest margin through the electoral process of the Electoral College that we have ever seen. Both of those could happen at the same time. It's all going to be in terms of how galvanized one base is, versus the rest of America. And, admit it, Scott, I did a good job laying out that argument about the intensity, didn't I? Come on. Give it to me.</s>JENNINGS: Yes, for the first time, I endorse everything you said.</s>CUOMO: I'll take it. I'll take it. I'm going to end the segment. Scott, Karen, Ron.</s>FINNEY: You know --</s>CUOMO: I've got to go, Karen. I'll give you back time, next time. Thanks, all of you.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Good night, all.</s>CUOMO: Especially, for this time tonight. Appreciate you. Thank you. Trump now says, Yes, I do want a peaceful transfer of power. There's a comma that comes after it, really quick. And that's why we've got to think, can you take him at his word about this? Because this matters. Let's pick it up, on the other side, with somebody who knows him very well; understands the people around him even better. What did we see, tonight, in terms of what they think wins for this president? Anthony Scaramucci. Next.

Biden Makes His Case On Coronavirus Response

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: I am Chris Cuomo. Welcome to PRIME TIME. We need to pay very close attention to what's happening with the Coronavirus, OK? We have very concerning data. I don't have a single source, and there aren't many who are better- connected to what's going on with this situation, I don't have a single source that's not worried that didn't think we are in a worse place faster than they could have expected. Now, last night, we heard Vice President Biden saying that he would chart a different course.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You can open businesses and schools if in fact you provide them the guidance that they need as well as the money to be able to do it. You don't have large crowds. You reduce the size of the number of people you can have in the restaurant. You make sure there's testing. That's a really critical piece that he didn't do, testing and tracing. And you make sure that people are equipped.</s>CUOMO: Look, they are not equipped. They do need more resources and more guidance, on where to test, how to test, and to have the tests and the staff to contact trace and different protection strategies for different communities. So, look, clearly, Biden has got to provide more details. But, directionally, that's - those are the right boxes he's checking. Compare that to the President. His plan, he said last night, is to smash the virus and go back to how things were. Eight-plus months into this, and that's all, he's got? And then today, he told an elderly group this, in Florida.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn. I say that all the time. Some of the media doesn't like hearing it.</s>TRUMP: But I say it all the time. We are rounding that turn.</s>CUOMO: I don't like it because it's BS, and you are lying to one of the most vulnerable groups in a state like Florida, with its case growth, you have no shame when you know better. This president oversees the agency that just released the data that's suggesting that we are climbing a new peak. The same people want to do more, OK? The White House won't let them do more, even though we topped 8 million cases in America today. The rate of spread is increasing. Hospitalizations are increasing. Trump says he sees a "Light at the end of the tunnel?" He's right. The problem is that light, Mr. President, is the pain train. Look at this. Just yesterday, we topped 60,000 new single-day cases in this country. Hasn't been this bad since August. 218,000 dead, plus estimates that have that toll accelerating. 300,000 by February, and for what, why? Because we didn't do it right this summer. Now, people are heading indoors. There are more gatherings, social gatherings, family gatherings, the holidays are coming. Masks are nowhere near being used in compliance, especially in Trump Country, which makes sense, seeing how the President keeps failing to tell people to wear them. Seems worse since he got Coronavirus. He said he learned something, he knows about the suffering. He knows what, to mock it? Schools don't have the money or time to get proper ventilation. They are getting cases that they can't count or trace quickly enough in communities with spread. People are reopening the wrong way. All of it begs for leadership. A lot of these cases, people don't know the right way. They don't understand the data. They're not getting it quickly enough. They can't respond quickly enough. And how quickly does our President respond? What's his reaction to the latest alarm? He welcomed a crowded, mostly mask less mass of the faithful, this afternoon, two weeks to the day that he had to be air- lifted to Walter Reed because of his own symptoms. Got him spooked, and he needed two experimental treatments. And he got sick, most likely, from events just like this. Our daily average now tops 53,000. That's a 14 percent jump, just from last week. We're not even into the really cold weather yet. People are still outside a lot. Schools, a lot of them, are still hybrid, or kids are home still. Nine states broke records, yesterday, for new cases in a day. We're not in April or summer or winter. This is fall. And we are falling apart. We must have a better plan from the federal government. Listen to Dr. Fauci.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures, and again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>CUOMO: We are our own solution. It's always been that way. Wearing masks, avoiding crowds, keeping your distance, it sounds simple, but we're not doing it. And, by the way, we do need more than that. That's what we can do. Federal government can do more. Mr. President, please do something. It could win you the election. Pretend - do this. Pretend you are putting up a wall, all around the country, that COVID can't get over, and why? COVID, Coronavirus, Corona, Mexican beer, all right? Now, I'd laugh, if it weren't so damn sad. We need more and better tests that fit different situations. Schools aren't football games, aren't pubs, aren't grocery stores. Different situations and populations demand different testing and parameters and protection strategies. We know all this. We're just not doing anything about it. Yes, states are trying. But they need help. They don't have the data nor the dollars, to get it done, as the federal government can, and the federal government knows it. This president just doesn't think it works for him, even though it is killing others. Instead, Trump is spending money on promoting Rose Garden tours restarting. The image that they used to promote that, look familiar? That's the supreme super-spreader of the virus, in all likelihood, in Trump World. But, hey, at least now they are asking most visitors to wear masks. We had those dueling Town Halls last night, very controversial. But I think maybe they wound up being a little convincing. Maybe they are proof that outside of Trump's beloved base, people are getting sick of being sick, under this president. Look, TV ratings, they don't tell you who is going to win the Electoral College. But we have never seen Trump get whooped in ratings. And remember, he had the advantage. He was on multiple NBC-owned channels last night, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, and he was having a slugfest with the Moderator. So, it was like a train wreck. And still, more than 14 million watched sober Biden giving answers that just sound presidential, and a million more than Trump. The sad reality is that this president is probably more upset about the ratings than the new COVID numbers. But he's not saying a word about either. You know why? Because he wants you to pretend they don't exist. But we cannot ignore a crisis. There are too many families. There is our kids' future. There's our economy. There are businesses. Ignoring something is not a plan. Just like the "Rush" song says, even "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Let's get inside what's going wrong, and what it means for Joe Biden and the President in this election. Dr. Leana Wen and Van Jones are here. So, Leana, you have good contacts as well, public policy background in Baltimore. I can't get a single source that isn't telling me to basically panic. We thought we'd be in a better position during the summer. The compliance is nowhere near where we thought it had to be. We thought that we would have evolved in our testing strategy, that there'd be more resources that community spread would be at a different rate, hospitalizations would be different. It's all going the wrong way. Do you know anything that can mitigate that level of concern?</s>DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, FORMER BALTIMORE HEALTH COMMISSIONER, ER PHYSICIAN, PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, yes and no. So, there is no metric that is indicating that we're headed in the right direction in this country. We're to the point where hospitalizations are rising. We are at the highest rate of cases, new cases, since July, and we still have more than a dozen states where the test positivity rate is in the double- digits, which means that we're not doing nearly enough testing. And if we did, we actually would have far more cases than we're currently reporting. So, the numbers look really bad. And, at this rate, we could be facing 200,000 more deaths by the end of the winter in the U.S. alone. But all that said the future here is not inevitable. And, I think, this is key, that the future is in our hands. And so, I think that's the tragedy of it all. But it also gives us room for hope because there are things that we can do today. And these are the things that you and I, and all the public health experts, have been talking about, for many months now, like mask wearing, social distancing, avoiding crowds. That's what we can do. And these are actions that each of us, as individuals, can take, even with the failure of our federal government.</s>CUOMO: All right, one other bounce, and then Van, I'm coming to you. So, another thing that was really bothering me was this determination that it's not right to have mandatory testing in schools, this ruling that came down. I thought it was crazy, but then I got - I got pushed off it by my sources, who said "Doesn't matter about whether they're testing everybody. They are not going to be able to do it anyway." And even in Florida, this former public health official just put out a report that we tried to get to you to review before now. But the headline is that age is really important, and that the cases with elementary kids, is nowhere near what they are seeing with the high schoolers, and that the high schoolers, the connection between their cases is a coefficient of community spread. So, the good/bad news is if you have community spread, and you don't do schooling the right way, meaning letting vulnerable people stay at home, and figuring out the right options, it explodes community spread. So, schooling can be a problem. You will see it reflected in the community, doesn't matter how much testing you're going to do because the community spread aspect is as important as that community's kids being back in school. So, what does that mean for how we get our kids back in school, if testing isn't the answer?</s>WEN: Well, testing is not the single answer. But I think it has to be part of a multi-prong strategy. Surveillance testing, for example, is going to be really important because we know that children, in particular younger children, tend to be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. And so, you could well have an outbreak, on your hands, before anyone even knows that it's occurring. So, having regular spot-checks and having also enough testing, so that students who do have symptoms or do have exposure can get tested. It's actually really hard for kids, across the country, to find any practice that can give them tests. And so, having sufficient testing is going to be really important. But I think you make a really good point. It's really hard to keep a school free from Coronavirus, if the entire community around it is a hot bed of infection.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>WEN: And that's why suppressing community spread is so important.</s>CUOMO: But I've just - I've never heard people as upset as they are right now. You know what I mean? In the beginning, it was shock. I'm saying, since the shock, like "Oh, my god, how real this is," I haven't heard them the way they are right now, about this. So Van, the political implications, there is no questioning that messaging is a part of the madness here, that this President is going to own this pandemic. How big a factor do you think it is in this election? And how did you think that was reflected by Biden's disposition and detail of what he would do about it, last night, and in general?</s>VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: (OFF-MIKE). CUOMO: Uh-oh!</s>JONES: Biden--</s>CUOMO: What? You're trying to give me a heart attack? The COVID's not enough?</s>JONES: No.</s>CUOMO: Coronary now?</s>JONES: You're up - you are upset enough tonight, brother. No heart attack for you. What I was saying is that Biden is at his best on this issue. He's at his most presidential. His leadership, his steadiness, his empathy, it all shows through on this issue. And part of it is because what needs to be done is so clear, and he's so committed to it. But I think that how this is going to play out for the electorate. As long as we are talking about numbers, people get numb. People are numb to the numbers. It's about the people. Now, you think about the people who are literally - they have their loved ones, they are dying, they can't hold their hand, they can't touch them. The funeral that you're having, Zoom funerals, drive-by funerals. Kristin Urquiza, remember her from the Democratic Convention?</s>CUOMO: Oh, yes.</s>JONES: Came out, talked about her father. She said the only pre- existing condition he had is that he believed in Donald Trump--</s>CUOMO: Voted Trump.</s>JONES: --when Donald Trump said "Don't worry about it." Those human stories of hers, and others, the more that breaks through, the more, I think, people will realize "We've got to have a different approach. You got to have different leadership." These numbers are so overwhelming, and we're literally having like a 9/11 every other day that we almost are getting numb to it. But those human stories, like Kristin Urquiza, that's going to break through.</s>CUOMO: Does this break through what happened in terms of what Trump's warm-up act is? Senator Will (ph) Perdue, despite serving with Senator Kamala Harris, for three years, thought this was something the crowd would like.</s>SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): But the most insidious thing that Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden are trying to perpetrate, and Bernie, and Elizabeth, and Ka-MAL-a (sic) or what - Ka-MAL-a or Kamala, Ka-mala, - mala, -mala, I don't know, whatever!</s>CUOMO: "Ka-mala, -mala, -mala," you think he doesn't know how to say the name, or "You know, they got funny names, Van. They got funny names. They!"</s>JONES: No, it's disgusting. It's disgusting. I have two African- American boys. They have funny names, too. But those names mean something to my family, and they mean something to those boys. And the idea that grown people are making fun of people's names is disgusting. And this is where we've arrived. And this is why even people who might be to Biden's left want to see a change.</s>CUOMO: Van, Dr. Leana Wen, thank you very much. Both of you have a happy and healthy weekend, and thank you. God bless. Appreciate you. So, the President played--</s>WEN: Thank you.</s>CUOMO: --dumb, yet again, about the conspiracy theory group he's banking on to help him stay in office. In fact, he still found room to praise them. These are bad people, OK? Now there is more evidence the GOP isn't just tolerating these sick and dangerous lies, but they are playing the games themselves. You will be remembered! One of the country's top investigative reporters, and a former Senior White House insider, are here to tell us the truth of what we are learning just now, next.</s>TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

TX Judge Strikes Down Governor's Order Limiting Ballot Drop Boxes

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.</s>CUOMO: All right, let's bring in the Wizard of Odds here to talk about a very important demographic of women, good to see you, my brother, Harry Enten. So, you say that the President's biggest risk of losing demographically comes down to women. Prove it.</s>HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Well I'll prove it to you right now. Just take a look at the national polls, the national aggregate among men and women compared to the 2016 final polls. What do you see? You see Biden is doing better among both men and women than Hillary Clinton did. But he is doing 12 points better among women than Hillary Clinton did in the final 2016 polls. Among men, he is only doing 5 points better, and Trump is still leading among women - among men, at this point.</s>CUOMO: Why is Biden doing better than Clinton among women?</s>ENTEN: I think it's two reasons why, two particular groups, I think, give you a good understanding. It's White women and it's suburban women. Take a look here. I think this is so important. White women, at this particular time, are favoring Biden by 12 points. They actually favored Trump in the final pre-election polls, in 2016, by 5 points. That's a 17-point swing. And among suburban women, who you teased at the beginning of this, look, Hillary Clinton won them by 12 percentage points in the final pre-election polls, in 2016, but Joe Biden is leading among them by 21 points.</s>CUOMO: So, I have to assume it's not so much what Biden is doing as what Trump is doing to lose them, right?</s>ENTEN: I mean, sure. I think that's part of it. But I do think that Joe Biden--</s>CUOMO: I guess that's not really fair. What is Trump doing that might be losing them? Let's put it that way.</s>ENTEN: Well I think it's a number of things. First off, I think it's his attitude that's a big problem. Another thing we know is that women tend to be pocketbook voters. And obviously, he turned out to be a little bit more conservative than, I think, a lot of voters thought he was going to be, especially when it comes to Obamacare, and when it comes to tax reform. And women seem to want to favor a more liberal pathway on that particular issue as well. So, I think it's pocketbook issues. But one other slide that I think we really should get to, here, that really gets at it, you know, Donald Trump has said over and over again, "Oh, I'm going to protect the suburban woman. Why don't you vote for me? I am protecting you." Take a look at this Fox News poll, the "Way the candidate talks about racial talks and police leads to an increase in violence," only 29 percent of suburban women likely voters say "Yes, that is the case with Joe Biden." For Donald Trump, it's 61 percent. The clear majority do - they do not like the way he is handling the issues of racial inequality and police.</s>CUOMO: That's shocking! Suburban moms and other women don't like hearing that a Black hoard is coming with their kooky White friends, led by Cory Booker, to destroy your suburban communities, how odd!</s>ENTEN: It's quite shocking. And I think just generally gets the point that Donald Trump, he may have won in 2016. But over and over again, during his presidency, he's been unpopular. And he, simply put, has not been speaking to the concerns of the American people, specifically women, and suburban women, on top of that.</s>CUOMO: Well I have to believe those demographics are also going to be sensitive to watching people in their communities get sick, and their schools being subpar because of a lack of response--</s>ENTEN: 100 percent</s>CUOMO: --to the pandemic. Harry Enten, I love you. Have a good weekend.</s>ENTEN: You too, my friend.</s>CUOMO: All right, so, let's look at a legal aspect of securing the election. It's very important and kind in flux, confusion and uncertainty over mail-in voting is kind of growing, in Texas, why? Well you had the federal judge say "Yes, the Governor, what he's doing, it's not suppressive. It's OK. One place is good. It will keep it safe." Now, a state court said, "No. During COVID, you can't have one ballot drop per county. It creates too much risk." We have Judge Lina Hidalgo, who heads Harris County's governing body. We checked in with you before. I said I'd come back as we got a move in the case. And sure enough, here it is. Let's not get in the weeds. Not everybody is a lawyer. They don't have to be for this. The state court is going to matter because election law is state law. So, the finding of the Judge was, "No, Mr. Governor, you can't have just one box," even though that's usually the rule, one box was enough before, "Not during COVID." What is the implication of potential impact of this decision? And do you think it will hold?</s>JUDGE LINA HIDALGO, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: Right. Chris, I mean - so we had 12 drop boxes in Harris County, and the Governor shut down 11 of them. That was upheld. And now, there is this suit going on in state court. The Judge issued that that order that those be open, but then the Court of Appeals already issued an injunction. As you said, not everybody is a lawyer. The takeaway here is that it's - it's in litigation. We have to make it clear for voters. Their intention is litigation and it's confusion. And so, to the extent that we opened drop boxes for a few hours, and we have to shut them down. Right now, we can't open them. We don't expect probably that much is going to change on that front. But we have so many other investments, three times the number of early vote locations, drive-through voting, which has been amazing. We have blown past all the most optimistic projections on turnout. And what that's showing us is despite this confusion, this litigation that the Republican Party and the State are trying to push, that voters are showing up and just doing an incredibly amazing job at participating.</s>CUOMO: But you don't think, at this rate that you will have multiple drop boxes despite the size of the County, and the need, according to the State Judge, to keep people away from one another, so have more places they can go to drop them off?</s>HIDALGO: Obviously, we always hope for the best. But if we are being realistic, I don't see, I think, even if that moves past the Court of Appeals, the State Supreme Court has not been friendly to these issues. Now, one point that is important is actually the Republican areas of this massive County are the ones that tend to vote by mail. And so, these drop boxes were so that folks could more conveniently drop off their mail-in ballots. And so, I do ask, you know, these folks are just limiting the voting options for everybody. For me, voting is a civic duty, right? We shouldn't be looking at it from a political lens, when we are administering these elections. And I think it does shoot you in the foot is what the Republican Party is seeing here, what the State leadership is seeing here, is we have these drop boxes, all over the country, particularly in Republican areas that tend to vote by mail disproportionately, and now, those folks are having to drive 30 miles to the one location because this County is the size of Rhode Island.</s>CUOMO: Well I think it's notable for the audience that you're still fighting to have more drop boxes even though you could argue that your Party might benefit from this, because there are a lot of them, in Republican areas too. You want all the boxes there. And I think that that's notable as well. Anything else we need to know?</s>HIDALGO: Look, in Harris County, 2016, we had a record of--</s>CUOMO: Yes.</s>HIDALGO: --a 100,000 votes the last day of early vote. We've broken that record now, four times, four days in a row. We still have two weeks left. We have invested record amounts in election. And that's what folks should do. We hope for continued good news. But I hope this is, in some ways, a model of what county government should invest in, because participation is important. And we need to continue doing that.</s>CUOMO: Long way to go. And again, Judge, you've got the platform. As there are changes in the situation, if you don't hear from me, come get me. The opportunity stands.</s>HIDALGO: Will do. Thank you.</s>CUOMO: All right, be well, Judge, Judge Lina Hidalgo. You're going to see these kinds of things in pockets all over the country. We will track them. All we want is participation. Everybody has got to get out that wants to get out. Special guest here tonight, certainly for me, I am a fan, but I'll keep it straight, Ice Cube, legend in hip-hop. We're not going to talk about his pioneering career in rap. We'll do that another time, because he's about something much more serious now. He took the time to walk the walk. He didn't just talk the talk. He said "I am going to come up with ideas," what's called the "Platinum Plan," things that he thinks would help the African-American community. Now he's decided that working with President Trump is the best way to get something done, better than with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, why? Ice Cube's been taking flak. He's here to set it straight, next.</s>TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

Ice Cube: "Black People Have No Capital".

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.</s>CUOMO: Our next guest is Ice Cube. If you know anything about him, and you probably do, you know he started his career, rapping in defiance about police presence, and the realities of inner city life. And he got political with his songs as well, recently, during the Trump administration, most recently in 2018. Here's a taste.</s>CUOMO: Now, we see a shift. Now he wants to work with President Trump, whose warm-up act, at his rally tonight, treats the first Black woman to run for Vice President like this.</s>PERDUE: But the most insidious thing that Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden are trying to perpetrate, and Bernie, and Elizabeth, and Ka-MAL-a (sic) or what - Ka-MAL-a or Kamala, Ka-mala, -mala, -mala, I don't know, whatever!</s>CUOMO: Now, that's Senator David Perdue. I actually called him Will Perdue earlier. That was the guy who played for the Bulls. He served with Harris for three years. He doesn't know how to say her name, or he thinks there is something to be gained by messing with her name, all right? Now, here's what the President had to say most recently about Black Lives Matter.</s>TRUMP: The first time I ever heard of Black Lives Matter, I said, 'that's such a terrible term,' because it's such a racist term. It's a term that sows division between Blacks and Whites and everybody else. And it's a very bad term, for Blacks. But, there they were very angry, it's a Marxist organization.</s>CUOMO: With all that going on, and how the President continues to speak about there being no systemic inequality, it's no shock that Ice Cube got some heat for deciding to work with the Trump administration. He wants to deal with it. I want to understand it. So should you.</s>TEXT: ONE ON ONE.</s>CUOMO: So, here is Ice Cube on PRIME TIME. Thank you for taking the opportunity, brother, I appreciate it.</s>ICE CUBE, RAPPER/ACTOR, WORKING WITH TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ON "CONTRACT WITH BLACK AMERICA": Thanks for having me, Chris. Your lead-ins are a little misleading.</s>CUOMO: How so?</s>CUBE: Well, the Platinum Plan is not my plan. I came up with the "Contract With Black America." And I didn't run to go work with any campaign. Both campaigns contacted me. Both campaigns wanted to talk to me about the "Contract With Black America." One campaign said, "We love what you have, but let's really dig into it after the election." And one campaign said, "We love what you have. Do you mind talking to us about it?" And that's what I did. So, I didn't run to nobody. And so that was real misleading to me.</s>CUOMO: Well I didn't say you ran to anybody.</s>CUBE: You know--</s>CUOMO: I said that you had taken a pivot.</s>CUBE: Well you said I ran over to the Trump team instead of the Biden team. That's just not true.</s>CUOMO: Well but you are working with the Trump team, instead of the Biden team.</s>CUBE: They both contacted me.</s>CUOMO: And people are giving you heat for it. What do you say to them?</s>CUBE: Well I am willing to work with both teams. But I'm just working with whoever is willing to work with me. So, the Trump campaign came to me, and asked me to explain to them some of the "Contract With Black America." That's what I did. I am not playing no more of these games, these political games. We're not part of a team. We have very broad problems, especially the wealth gap in this country, when it comes to Black Americans. So, I am going to whoever is in power, and I am going to speak to them about our problems, specifically. I am not going there talking about minorities. I am not going there talking about people of color, or diversity, or none of that stuff. I am going there for Black Americans, the ones who are the descendants of slaves. And that's what I am going to talk to, anybody who is in power with that. So, if anybody got a problem with that, it seems like a personal problem.</s>CUOMO: Well here's the problem and it is very personable - personal, as you know, for a lot of people of color, because they'll say, "Well why would you pick Trump when he says there's no such thing as systemic inequality?"</s>CUBE: I'm not picking nobody.</s>CUOMO: Say again.</s>CUBE: I'm not picking nobody. He's the President.</s>CUOMO: But why do you think--</s>CUBE: He's the President.</s>CUOMO: --he'd want to do something for the community when he says there is no such thing as systemic inequality?</s>CUBE: I don't know what he want to do. I just know what the man said. I know what he said to the country. I've never met Donald Trump. And so, I don't know what he's going to do. I just know what he said he was going to do. So, both of them have a plan. Both of them say they're going to do something. And who knows what's really going to happen after November 3rd? Nobody knows, from each side. We're all hoping that candidates keep their campaign promises. So, that's just it.</s>CUOMO: So, let's look at it this way. I think that you're right to be skeptical. Let's start with the Democrats because even though there is a traditional connection between Black voters and the Democrats, you could also say you've been let down or forgotten by Democrats, in a lot of situations that would have mattered. Then you said "All right. So, then what's one - what makes one side better than the other?" That's where you get in trouble, which is do you really think that Donald Trump could be trusted as much as you could trust Joe Biden?</s>CUBE: I don't think - I'm not trusting any of them. I'm just going by action. That's all I'm going by. I'm not going by words. I'm not going by rhetoric, not going by media spin, not going by none of that. I'm not - I'm not on nobody's team.</s>CUOMO: All right.</s>CUBE: I'm not on Team Blue not on Team Red.</s>CUOMO: So then, I have that wrong.</s>CUBE: I'm an independent person.</s>CUOMO: So--</s>CUBE: Hold on, I'm an independent person, and I believe that's what Black people need to do, is become independent, and we need to get something for our vote. That may not happen but it's going to happen.</s>CUOMO: It's got to happen. It's got to happen. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Look, if I had brought you here, to fight with you, you would have known it. What I'm saying is I think I did get it wrong, and I want to make sure I get it right. So, saying you are working with the Trump team is wrong. What you did was when they asked to talk to you about it, you said "Yes." If Biden had asked to talk to you about it now, you would have gone to them the same way. It's not about you choosing anything. It's you working with everybody who's got a chance of doing anything. Is that right?</s>CUBE: I'm working with whoever is in power. Yes, I'll work with both - whoever is in power, I'm going to work with. So, whoever wins, they'll hear from me.</s>CUOMO: OK. So, I'm glad you came--</s>CUBE: Frequently.</s>CUOMO: --to clear it up. So, Ice Cube is not with the Trump campaign. He's just giving his ideas, and anybody who wants to do something with them, fine. Do you believe they are doing anything with your ideas?</s>CUBE: I believe, you know, they looked at the "Contract With Black America" and they updated their plan. But it's their plan. And I have my plan. My plan is broad. It goes beyond the public sector. It goes into the private sector, banks, even the movie industry. So, we got to deal with a lot of different, I think, companies, corporations, and even government, when it comes to solving this problem. I believe this is a non-bipartisan problem - I believe this is a bipartisan problem, when it comes to the issues, when it comes to Blacks in America, and what's going on. It's not a Democrat problem, it's not for them to solve. It's not for the Republicans to solve. It's for both of them to solve. They do it when it comes to debt ceiling. They do it when it comes to getting us on wars. They seem to come together, when it's something that really affects America. And I don't think nothing affects America more than the situation that Black Americans find ourselves in. This country is coming apart at the seams, and it's not going to come together, after January 3rd, no matter who is the President, unless we deal with this wealth gap.</s>CUOMO: You have the economics. All of it extends from poverty, which is an extension of opportunity, which is an extension of a system that doesn't give equal opportunity, and you see it everywhere, hiring, education, finance, all of it. So acutely, we've been looking at what happens, when policing goes wrong, in communities. It doesn't give you concern that the President has handled police violence, the way he has, in terms of his commitment to work on any of the issues that you think are important?</s>CUBE: We've been dealing with police violence in this country from day one. So, police violence is just part of our life here. So, the thing is this. Once we get some capital, we'll be treated better. This is a capitalistic society.</s>CUOMO: True.</s>CUBE: And if you ain't got no money, you see how people get treated on the streets when they ain't got no money.</s>CUOMO: Not just money, wealth.</s>CUBE: Some of the - some--</s>CUOMO: Wealth. You got to be able to build up wealth--</s>CUBE: Well--</s>CUOMO: --within the community.</s>CUBE: Yes, you know, to put it in greater terms. But the bottom line is dollars bring dignity. And so, everybody in America knows that. When you got a little more money, they treat you a little better. So, we need to close this wealth gap. You got people making a - families making $120,000 or worth $120,000, and you got Black families worth $200. That - this just is - is just an enormous wealth gap that keeps growing. It's not getting smaller. Do the research, and you'll see this is the problem in America. It's because Black people have no capital. We own half of a point, when it comes to all the wealth in America, half of a point. 13.5 percent people living off half of a point. We cannot survive in America another 100 years living like this.</s>CUOMO: The issue is real. The problem is properly identified. They do have access of capital - access to capital of about $500 billion, but it doesn't say that it would be earmarked, within the Trump plan, for communities of color. But we'll see what you can get done. And I make you this promise, not just because I'm a fan, but the issue matters. As you learn, and as you see, action and reaction, or inaction, you have a place on this show to discuss it. That's a guarantee.</s>CUBE: I appreciate it, Chris. And I'll be back to discuss and let you know what I know, what I find out. But I'm going to give you - I'm going to give it to you straight up. I'm not playing side.</s>CUOMO: It's the only way I take it. It doesn't go well any other way on this show. Ice Cube, I wish you the best.</s>CUBE: All right.</s>CUOMO: Stay healthy, be well.</s>CUBE: All right, man, take it easy.</s>CUOMO: All right. We'll be right back.</s>TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

Trump & Biden Talk Past Each Other in Dueling Town Halls

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Two stages, two realities. President Trump and Joe Biden make a pitch in dueling town halls as coronavirus worsens and millions cast their votes across the country. We have reports this morning from Miami, Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christine Romans.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Laura Jarrett. It is Friday, October 16th, 5:00 a.m. in New York. Happy Friday, Christine.</s>ROMANS: Yes, you too. Nice to have you here this week. It's been a busy week. And there are 18 more days now to the election, and as of this morning, voting is officially underway all across the country. Absentee ballots are now available in Hawaii and Washington, the final states to send those out. Washington state and Louisiana start early, in-person voting today among 30 states nationwide. President Trump and Joe Biden speaking directly to those voters last night. The viewers had to pick one, between dueling town halls on separate television networks. Defying the universal view among health experts, the president claimed the science is still not decided on wearing masks to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. He said that the same day the U.S. spread almost 64,000 cases, the most since July and the 15th highest count for the entire pandemic.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks, I'm okay with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day they came out with a statement that the 85 percent of the people who wear masks catch it.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: I know that study.</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard, and that's what I saw.</s>SANCHEZ: For the record, the president was misrepresenting a CDC study. Trump's night was also marked by what he could not or would not say even when he was asked about a conspiracy that Democrats are running a satanic pedophile ring, QAnon. The president has repeatedly elevated their claims on Twitter coming from a group known to be a domestic terror threat by the FBI. The president, though, refusing to give a coherent answer. CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is on the ground in Miami.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christina and Boris, the voters did not get a lot of straight answers from President Trump during the town hall that took place during a presidential debate with Joe Biden, given opportunities to denounce the false conspiracy theory QAnon, the president evaded the question and would not say what he thought about the group. Here's more of what he had to say.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia, they fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to study the subject --</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it's a satanic cult run by the deep states.</s>TRUMP: -- I'll tell you what I know about, I know about Antifa and I know about the radical left, and I know how violent they are, and how vicious they are, and I know how they're burning down cities run by Democrats, not run by Republicans.</s>GUTHRIE: Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, QAnon is nuts, and real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories. Why not just say it's crazy and not true?</s>TRUMP: He may be right. Can I be honest? He may be right. I just don't know about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: You do know.</s>TRUMP: I don't know. No, I don't know.</s>ACOSTA: The president gave evasive answers on health care, abortion, even his own personal income taxes. But perhaps the biggest missed opportunity for the night for the voters was when the president would not say when his last coronavirus test was.</s>GUTHRIE: The debate commission rules, it was the honor system --</s>TRUMP: Yeah.</s>GUTHRIE: -- would be that you would come with a negative test. You say you don't know if you got a test on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: I have no problem. Again, the doctors do it, I don't ask them, I test all the time, and --</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test, though, on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: You know, if you ask the doctor, they'll give you a perfect answer. But they take a test, I leave and go about my business.</s>GUTHRIE: So, did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess is the bottom line?</s>TRUMP: I probably did.</s>ACOSTA: Leaving the possibility that he walked into the last presidential debate with Joe Biden potentially symptomatic with COVID- 19 -- Boris and Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta for us, thank you, Jim. At Joe Biden's town hall in Philadelphia, the former vice president offered voters a starkly different vision for America, and he laid out a requirement that he expects President Trump to follow before the two men square off in their second and final debate next week.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Will you demand that President Trump take a test that day and that it be negative before you debate?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Yeah, by the way, before I came up here, I took another test. I have been taking them every day, the deep test, you know, the one they go in both, and because I wanted to be able -- if I had not passed that test, I didn't want to come here, and not, you know, expose anybody. I'm less concerned about me than the people -- the guys with the cameras, the people working, you know -- the Secret Service guys you drive up with, all those people.</s>ROMANS: Biden tried to keep the focus on policy, offering voters a calm presence in the face of President Trump's bombast. CNN's Arlette Saenz has more.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christine, over the course of this 90-minute town hall, Joe Biden faced a range of questions from how to handle the coronavirus pandemic, to the economy, and to even his support of the 1994 crime bill. This was a very policy focused discussion as Biden faced questions from a mix of undecided voters and people who have already decided if they're voting for Trump or Biden. And one of the more noteworthy exchanges came around the issue of court packing. That is a question that Joe Biden has deflected on for weeks now, as he has not given a cheer answer of whether he would add more justices to the Supreme Court, simply saying he's not a fan of it right now, but not entirely ruling it out in his answer on Thursday night. Take a listen to more of what he had to say.</s>BIDEN: I'm not a fan. It depends on how this turns out. I'm open to considering what happens from that point on.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, you said so many times during the campaign, all through the course of your career, it's important to level.</s>BIDEN: It is, but, George, if I -- if I say -- no matter what answer I gave you, if I say it, that's the headline tomorrow. It won't be about what's going on now, the improper way they're proceeding.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: But don't voters have a right to know where you stand?</s>BIDEN: They'll have a right to know where I stand. They have a right to know where I stand before they vote.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: So you'll come out with a clear position before election day?</s>BIDEN: Yes.</s>SAENZ: So Biden saying he will make his position known before Election Day, but his decision will depend on how the confirmation process plays out for Amy Coney Barrett. Now, Biden was once again critical of President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and when he was asked about the possibility of a vaccine, and making it mandatory, Biden said there should be a discussion about possibly mandating it. But he did acknowledge that it would be difficult to enforce legally. Now, Biden, over the course of his town hall really tried to stay focused on the policy. He didn't spend the entire night criticizing President Trump, instead trying to offer his agenda for what a Biden administration would look like, presenting a contrast to the president who wasn't on the stage on Thursday night. Now, later today, Joe Biden is traveling to the battleground state to Michigan, making two stops there as early voting is underway as he's encouraging his supporters to get out and vote in these final weeks before the election -- Boris and Christine.</s>SANCHEZ: Arlette, thank you for that. The town hall is putting a fine point on the split screen era for the United States. Look at the difference, a member of the aviation company that charters Joe Biden's plane tested positive for the coronavirus. And Biden alerted people hours later. Contrast that with President Trump. Remember, he went to a fundraiser after the White House knew a close aide tested positive for COVID-19 and reportedly tried to keep her illness secret. Senator Kamala Harris was pulled off the campaign trail after two people in her orbit tested positive and it came the same day that Hope Hicks, the aide that was sick, was seen back on the road with the president still not wearing a mask. And though the president mocks him for it, Joe Biden has been holding smaller campaign events while Trump hosts potential super spreader where dozens of COVID cases have been connected across several cities.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: His approach to this issue is something the American public are suffering from. For example, what we did is we have been -- we have had, and he mocked Joe Biden in their debate about wearing masks and protocols that say we understand, love thy neighbor, wear your mask.</s>ROMANS: All week, we saw President Trump defying his own White House task force guidance, no social distancing and few masks at his rallies in Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and North Carolina, where a record number of new cases were recorded while the president was there. And some people do learn their lesson apparently. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spent seven days in the ICU, and now says he was wrong for not wearing a mask at the White House a few weeks ago. He says, quote, I hope my experience shows my fellow citizens that you should follow CDC guidelines in public, no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others. The president still going to Wisconsin tomorrow. The state reported a new record number of virus cases and record number of hospitalizations yesterday, Boris.</s>SANCHEZ: Well, last night, they were on separate stages but next week, Joe Biden and Donald Trump face off one final time, the final presidential debate. Special live coverage starts Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

New Hampshire Pauses Ice Activities For Two Weeks Amid Outbreaks

SANCHEZ: New Hampshire is putting all indoor ice activities on hold for two weeks. Most years, ice hockey is like religion in New England in the fall and winter, but new concerns from the CDC explain the tighter restrictions. CNN has the pandemic covered from coast to coast.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen. Reports coming out about how a hockey match was a super spreader event in Florida in June. At an ice hockey rink, there were 22 players, 14 of them caught COVID. The original case was a man who felt just fine the day he played. He developed symptoms the next day. It goes to show how quickly this virus can spread indoors at a sports activity.</s>ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik. It's getting colder outside and families are preparing to spend holiday gatherings outside due to the coronavirus. That's causing a run on propane, wood, and outdoor patio heaters. In fact, patio heaters are such a hot commodity that sales at one Ace Hardware store in Illinois are at least ten times what they are in a normal season. Many of New York City's restaurants that have outdoor seating are also looking to keep customers warm by using electric and natural gas heaters as well as portable heaters fueled by propane.</s>AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta. Thirteen employees of a Fulton County election warehouse have tested positive for the coronavirus but county health officials say that these positive tests will have no impact on early voting in the state. Now, all 60 staff members of the election preparation center were tested after two cases had emerged earlier in the week. Now, county officials say that all employees upon reporting to work will get a daily rapid test and that precautions have been implemented.</s>ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Athena Jones in New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city will know by Sunday whether restrictions should remain in place. De Blasio says he's deeply concerned about a second wave of coronavirus in the city, and his job is to stop it from happening. City officials are flooding the zone with testing in the cluster areas of Brooklyn and Queens, and the city is seeing a leveling off of positive COVID test results. But the mayor said there's more to do to fend off a wave of infections and avoid widespread shut downs.</s>ROMANS: All right. In dueling town halls, President Trump and Joe Biden each made false claims about the economy. President Trump took aim at Biden's tax plan.</s>TRUMP: Our economy is going to be next year, if we don't have somebody that raises taxes and quadruples taxes which they want to do and kills everything, our economy is going to be phenomenal next year.</s>ROMANS: All right. Fact check, here's the truth on the Biden tax plan. He wants to raise taxes on rich people, people making more than $400,000 a year. He has promised not to directly raise taxes for anyone making less than that. He would give tax breaks for companies moving facilities back to the U.S. from overseas, and he would raise some taxes on big corporations. Now, Biden slammed Trump for not helping the jobless on unemployment.</s>BIDEN: The first tranche of -- the first round of money for unemployment -- enhanced unemployment went by, he didn't do anything. He didn't do anything.</s>ROMANS: Well, that's false, too. Over the summer, Trump signed an executive measure to give Americans $300 a week in emergency benefits, the Loss Wages Assistance Program provided states with funds for up to six weeks. The program ran out of money just about as soon as it started and the unemployment crisis, by the way, is far from over. Another 898,000 Americans filed for first time jobless benefits last week. Overall, more than 25 million Americans right now are receiving some sort of help from the government.</s>SANCHEZ: Well, you only have about 40 minutes left to fill out the census online. The Supreme Court granting a White House request this week to stop the process early as an appeal plays out. The government relies on the data to distribute roughly $1.5 trillion in funds infrastructure, Medicare and more than 300 other programs. Experts are concerned that ending the count early might increase the chances of missing Americans, especially immigrants, people of color and low income Americans. The next census, of course, won't come for another ten years. Something we could all use, a little playoff drama in Major League Baseball. Houston's own Andy Scholes is ecstatic. The "Bleacher Report" after a quick break.

Astros Win in Dramatic Fashion.

ROMANS: The Houston Astros staying alive in the American League Championship Series with a dramatic win over the Rays in game five. Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report". Hi, Andy.</s>ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Christine. You know, things were not looking good for the Astros a couple of days ago,</s>CARLOS CORREA, HIT WALK-OFF HR WITH TEAM FACING ELIMINATION: I knew off the bat, the ball is carrying well today during the daytime, so once I hit it, I knew it was going. I thought I was going to end it. So you know, to be able to do it is a whole different story.</s>DUSTY BAKER, HOUSTON ASTROS MANAGER: He told me that he was going to walk off, and I was like, yeah. And he just said I told you. I was like hey, man, keep telling me.</s>SCHOLES: All right. The Atlanta Braves meanwhile are just one win away for their first trip to the World Series since 1999. The Braves blowing this open against the Dodgers in the 6th inning, scored 6 runs, taking 8th place, and Kershaw, they would go on to win it 10-2. The Braves can wrap up the series in game five tonight. Game six between the Rays and Astros, it begins after 6:00 Eastern on our sister network, TBS. All right. The NFL meanwhile is now following a policy where six players, even if they tested negative for COVID-19 will need to isolate from the team. That's according to the league's chief medical officer Allen Sills. This could lead to many more players missing practices and games as we approach cold and flu season. Meantime, Alabama coach Nick Saban telling listeners on his weekly radio show he's feeling great. And he continues to have no symptoms after testing positive for coronavirus. Saban said he would hate not to be at the big game Saturday against Georgia. NCAA rules prohibit coaching virtually from home. If Saban has three negative tests, he could potentially return in time to coach Saturday night. Finally, one couple in California have a pretty cool engagement story, thanks to an NBA legend. Ryan Bass (ph), he's proposing to his now fiancee Katie Ryan (ph), and there was some pretty cool images, Boris, of Dwyane Wade walking in the background, and Dwyane Wade saw it, and just goes. Pretty cool. Check it out online. A moment that couple is not going to forget.</s>SANCHEZ: It reflects what a romantic Dwayne Wade when you see the picture, like he's holding his heart like he's touched. Sounds like they invited him to the wedding. What a great story. Andy Scholes, thanks so much for that.</s>SCHOLES: All right.</s>SANCHEZ: Dueling town halls crystallizing stark differences between President Trump and Joe Biden with all 50 states now able to vote. EARLY START returns after a quick break. Stay with us.

Trump Town Hall Misses A Chance To Give Straight Answers; Biden Lays Out Vision For America In Stark Contrast To Trump; Washington Post: White House Was Warned Giuliani Was Target Of Misinformation.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Two stages, two realities. President Trump and Joe Biden make a pitch at dueling town halls as coronavirus worsens and voting ramps up across the country. We have reports this morning from Miami, Philadelphia, London, France, and Rome. Good Friday morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Laura Jarrett. We are 30 minutes past the hour. And the weekend is almost upon us, Christine.</s>ROMANS: And so is the election, Boris. Eighteen days to that election and as of this morning, voting officially underway all across the U.S. Absentee ballots are now available in Hawaii and Washington, the final states to send them out. Washington State and Louisiana start early in-person voting today, among 30 states nationwide. President Trump and Joe Biden speaking directly to those voters last night, but viewers had to pick one between these dueling town halls on separate networks. Now, defying the universal view among health experts, the president claimed the science is not settled on wearing masks to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and that's just false. He said that the same day the U.S. reported almost 64,000 new cases, the most since July and the 15th-highest count for the entire pandemic.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks -- I'm OK with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it. So, you know, this is a very tricky one.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR, "TODAY": Well, they didn't say that. I know that study. That's --</s>TRUMP: Well, that's what I heard and that's what I saw.</s>SANCHEZ: For the record, the president was misrepresenting a CDC study. Trump's night was almost marked by what he could not or would not say, specifically when asked about a conspiracy theory that Democrats are running a satanic pedophile ring. That's a QAnon claim that the president has repeatedly elevated on Twitter from a group that the FBI calls a domestic terror threat. Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is on the ground in Miami.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Boris, the voters did not get a lot of straight answers from President Trump during that town hall that took the place of a presidential debate with Joe Biden. Given multiple opportunities to denounce the false conspiracy theory QAnon, the president evaded the question and simply would not say what he thought about the group. Here's more of what he had to say.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to study the subject --</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it is a satanic cult run by the deep state.</s>TRUMP: I'll tell you what I do know about, I know about Antifa and I know about the radical left. And I know how violent they are and how vicious they are. And I know how they're burning down cities run by Democrats, not run by Republicans.</s>GUTHRIE: Republican Sen. Ben Sasse said, quote, "QAnon is nuts and real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories."</s>TRUMP: He may be right.</s>GUTHRIE: Why not just say it's crazy and not true?</s>TRUMP: Can I be honest? He may be right. I just don't know about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: You do know.</s>TRUMP: I don't know. No, I don't know.</s>ACOSTA: The president also gave a base of answers on health care, abortion, and even his own personal income taxes. But perhaps the biggest missed opportunity of the night for the voters was when the president would not say when his last negative coronavirus test was.</s>GUTHRIE: The debate commission's rule -- it was the honor system --</s>TRUMP: Yes.</s>GUTHRIE: -- would be that you would come with a negative test. You say you don't know if you got a test on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: I had no problem. Again, the doctors do it. I don't ask them. I test all the time and they --</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test, though, on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: You know, if you ask the doctor they'll give you a perfect answer. But --</s>GUTHRIE: Yes.</s>TRUMP: -- they take a test and I leave and I go about my business.</s>GUTHRIE: So did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess is the bottom line.</s>TRUMP: I probably did.</s>ACOSTA: Leaving open the possibility that he walked into that last presidential debate with Joe Biden potentially symptomatic for COVID- 19 -- Boris and Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right, Jim Acosta for us. Thanks, Jim. At Joe Biden's town hall, the former vice president laid out a requirement for President Trump before the two men square off in their final debate next week.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC ANCHOR, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Will you demand that President Trump take a test that day and that it be negative before you debate?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Yes. By the way, before I came up here I took another test. I've been taking them every day -- the deep test. You know, the one they go in both. And -- because I wanted to be able to -- if I had not passed that test I did not want to come here and not -- you know, expose anybody. I'm less concerned about me than the people -- the guys at the cameras, the people working on the -- you know, the Secret Service guys you drive up with. All those people.</s>ROMANS: Biden tried to keep the focus on policy at his event last night, offering voters a calm presence in the face of President Trump's bombast. CNN's Arlette Saenz has more for us this morning from Philadelphia.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christine, over the course of this 90-minute town hall, Joe Biden faced a range of questions from how to handle the coronavirus pandemic to the economy and even his support of the 1994 crime bill. This was a very policy- focused discussion as Biden faced questions from a mix of undecided voters and people who have already decided if they're voting for Trump or Biden. And one of the more noteworthy exchanges came around the issue of court packing. That is a question that Joe Biden has deflected on for weeks now as he has not given a clear answer of whether he would add more justices to the Supreme Court, simply saying that he's not a fan of it right now but not entirely ruling it out in his answer on Thursday night. Take a listen to more of what he had to say.</s>BIDEN: I'm not a fan. I didn't say -- it depends on how this turns out. I'm open to considering what happens from that point on.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, you've said so many times during the campaign and all through the course of your career it's important to level with the American people.</s>BIDEN: It is. But, George, if I -- if I say -- no matter what answer I gave you, if I say it, that's the headline tomorrow. It won't be about what's going on now -- the improper way they're proceeding.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: But don't voters have a right to know where you stand?</s>BIDEN: They do have a right to know where I stand and they'll have a right to know where I stand before they vote.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: So you'll come out with a clear position before Election Day?</s>BIDEN: Yes.</s>SAENZ: So, Biden saying he will make his position known before Election Day but that his decision will depend on how the confirmation process plays out for Amy Coney Barrett. Now, Biden was, once again, critical of President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. And when he was asked about the possibility of a vaccine and making it mandatory, Biden said there should be a discussion about possibly mandating it. But he did acknowledge that it would be difficult to enforce legally. Now, Biden, over the course of his town hall, really tried to stay focused on the policy. He didn't spend the entire night criticizing President Trump. Instead, trying to offer his agenda for what a Biden administration would look like, presenting a clear contrast to the president who wasn't on that stage on Thursday night. Now, later today, Joe Biden is traveling to the battleground state of Michigan, making two stops there as early voting is underway, as he is encouraging his supporters to get out and vote in these final weeks before the election -- Boris and Christine.</s>SANCHEZ: Arlette Saenz, thank you. An influential model used by the White House predicts nearly 395,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by February first, and that's actually down 6,000 from the last forecast because the pandemic is moving into younger populations. But that decline is most likely temporary. Health experts say deaths will begin to increase over the next week or two. We all remember the chaotic scenes in hospitals that played out at the start of the pandemic in the spring and we could be seeing a repeat soon. More Americans are in the hospital than any time in the last seven weeks. Colorado, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Illinois, Arkansas, and New Mexico all hitting record case counts just yesterday. Today, President Trump travels to Georgia where Gov. Brian Kemp just signed an executive order extending most coronavirus restrictions throughout the month of October.</s>ROMANS: All right. So, 18 days to the election. It's time for three questions in three minutes. Today, let's bring in CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. Nice to see you, Mark. Look --</s>SANCHEZ: Good morning, Mark.</s>ROMANS: -- let's begin on Trump here.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.</s>ROMANS: He admitted he may not have taken a coronavirus test before the first debate. Bizarrely, he seems to be advocating against masks. I mean, his whole mangling of this 85 percent statistic really just shows you kind of how he -- how he synthesizes information, right? He refused to denounce, and in some cases, defended a dangerous conspiracy group. I could go on and on and on. Eighteen days to save his job. Did he do himself any favors?</s>PRESTON: No, of course, not. What he did last night was he came out and he showed the state of the race -- and just by the tone of each of those two events we saw last night. He was very combative and he literally came out last night swinging, even before Savannah Guthrie could even get a question out of her mouth. At the beginning, she came out -- he came out directly at her. Now, what I do find interesting, Christine, is that the most interesting thing that I think Donald Trump said last night was a response to the coronavirus question when he said that's not what I heard -- when he heard about the -- when he was discussing the study. That's not what I heard. Well, it's not necessarily what you heard, Mr. President, it's what your health officials are telling you that you need to parrot, and he's just refusing to do so.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, and who he's listening to, right?</s>ROMANS: Right.</s>SANCHEZ: On the other side --</s>PRESTON: Right.</s>SANCHEZ: -- we have to talk about Joe Biden. He's just naturally more measured and not as bombastic as the president. He also didn't have to play that interruption power game with President Trump sharing the stage with him --</s>PRESTON: Right.</s>SANCHEZ: -- so he got a chance to really speak his mind. Things have been trending his way lately -- polls in swing states, fundraising. Was there anything you saw last night that might shift that in the other direction -- that might move the momentum?</s>PRESTON: I don't think so, Boris. You know, really, the state of the race right now is Donald Trump is hurting financially. He's also hurting in support in these key battleground states that he won -- was able to take away from Hillary Clinton four years ago. I do think what we saw last night is grasping attempts by Donald Trump to try to just have anybody support him. To the point what Christine said too -- you know, what Christine said about QAnon. I mean, the fact of the matter is that he supported QAnon last night and said that they're against pedophilia. I mean, that's insane. It was just an insane response by Donald Trump.</s>ROMANS: He said he doesn't know anything about QAnon, except he does know for sure that they're strongly against pedophilia. I mean, it's just --</s>PRESTON: Yes.</s>SANCHEZ: It's just a -- we have to point out the obvious. The FBI has labeled them a domestic terror threat.</s>PRESTON: Right.</s>SANCHEZ: And yet, the President of the United States and many of his aides claim they know nothing about them.</s>ROMANS: Even though they retweet stuff about it.</s>SANCHEZ: Right.</s>ROMANS: Right. It's just so bizarre. OK. We were speaking earlier about that -- I guess that split-screen that the country faces right now, Mark. The president's general irresponsibility or disinterest in the virus. Joe Biden taking it more seriously. Bottom line, 18 days to the election, wherever you live in America you can now vote. What's the first thing on your mind this morning?</s>PRESTON: Get up early and get in line because these lines that we are seeing are outrageous right now all across the country. The fact that people have to spend hours in line to cast their vote is absolutely ridiculous. And I think when we get past this election there's a lot of things we have to fix. That is one that really needs to be at the top of the list.</s>ROMANS: All right, Mark Preston, CNN senior political analyst. I would agree. I think we all agree.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes.</s>ROMANS: I'm so glad so many people are going out there to cast their votes. It's -- I don't -- I don't like to see those lines.</s>PRESTON: Yes.</s>ROMANS: All right. President Trump lags far behind Joe Biden in the final fundraising tally before Election Day. The Trump campaign says the president raised $248 million in September compared to the former vice president's fundraising haul of $383 million. Biden's total broke a record his campaign had just set in August. The Biden campaign also has significantly more money to spend during the final month of the race. They have $432 million on hand. The Trump campaign, about $251 million.</s>SANCHEZ: It's rare to see any Republican publicly criticize President Trump, so some new comments from Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse may stun you. Sasse has criticized the president before but he's sort of drifted back in the president's direction multiple times. In a telephone town hall with constituents this week, though, he let Trump have it -- listen.</s>SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): The way he kisses dictators' butts. I mean, the way he ignores that the Uighurs are in literal concentration camps in Xinjiang right now. He hasn't lifted a finger on behalf of the Hong-Kongers. I mean, he and I have a very different foreign policy. It isn't just that he fails to lead our allies, it's that we -- the United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership. The way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor. The ways I criticized President Obama for that kind of spending, I've criticized President Trump for as well. He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He's flirted with white supremacists.</s>SANCHEZ: The Senator's office says that while the Beltway is obsessing over the presidential race, Sasse is focused on keeping the Senate in Republican hands. And that concern may be valid. Democratic challengers have raised tens of millions of dollars, breaking records in the bid to win back the Senate, especially in Arizona, Montana, Kentucky, and South Carolina as well.</s>ROMANS: Yes. Those South Carolina numbers are just amazing how much money they've raised there -- $57 million. All right, a startling revelation this morning. "The Washington Post" reports the White House was warned last year that the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence to feed misinformation to Mr. Trump. Former officials say the warnings were based on multiple sources, including intercepted communications. Mr. Giuliani was not the target but surveillance on suspected Russian assets captured Giuliani while he was on a trip to Ukraine.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, his trip came last December. You might recall it coincided with the House Democrats' vote to impeach the president. The warnings led the national security adviser Robert O'Brien to caution Trump that any information brought to him from Giuliani back from Ukraine should be considered contaminated. Now, the "Post" reports that Trump just shrugged his shoulders. There is no comment, so far, coming from the parties involved.</s>ROMANS: All right. Congress' swift response to the pandemic in March spared millions from falling into poverty after losing their jobs. Now that stimulus is gone -- it has ended -- and the poverty rate has climbed. Without more help from Congress, more people -- particularly, black Americans, children, and people with a high school education or less -- they fell into poverty over the summer. One study shows the poverty rate rose to 11 percent in September. Another study found the stimulus checks and enhanced jobless benefits lifted more than 18 million out of poverty in April. We'll be right back.

NIH Director: Deaths Likely to Rise as Hospitalizations Jump; Pres. Trump: "Light at the End of the Tunnel is Here"; Trump Holds Multiple Events Today as U.S. Cases Top 8 Million; Christie Says He had "A False Sense of Security" at WH: "A Mistake"

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'll be back for a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM tomorrow 6 pm Eastern. Until then, thanks for watching. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, the Director of the National Institutes of Health with a dire warning tonight, as President Trump claims the U.S. is rounding the corner on the pandemic yet again. The same day the number of cases in the United States crosses 8 million. Plus, Biden promising voters he will accomplish what Trump has failed to over the last four years, unite the country, and tonight he is beating the President where it hurts the President the most. And Trump promoting a baseless QAnon conspiracy theory that Osama bin Laden was not killed. A member of the SEAL Team Six killed Osama bin Laden is my guest. Let's go OUTFRONT. And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT on this Friday, 8 million. More than 8 million Americans have tested positive for coronavirus. A grim milestone as the U.S. enters a new peak, no end to the virus spread. The President of the National Institutes of Health just telling CNN that deaths are going to go up.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: That indicates people are really severely sick and they need to be in the hospital. And that curve has also started up again, which is really troubling. And that probably means, unfortunately, that we may start now to see also an increase in the number of deaths each day.</s>BURNETT: Increase in the number of deaths each day. The President though with a completely different story.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn. I say that all the time. Some of the media doesn't like hearing it. But I say it all the time, we're rounding that turn.</s>BURNETT: Well, he does say that all the time. In fact, he's been saying we're rounding the term for months and months and months and it hasn't been true yet. More than 800 new deaths recorded yesterday, that steady count of lives lost for months and months and months that now you heard the NIH Director say is going to keep going up, multiple states are now in fact reporting record hospitalizations. And yet these are the images of the President's events today. On the left, seniors packed inside a room, two in-door rallies this afternoon and one happening right now. By the way tied to his Minnesota rally now, two people tied to that, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, are now in the hospital. But the White House at a time when the nation needs clear direction on how to stop the spread of the disease is still spreading very mixed messages. Let me show you a different image. This is Ivanka Trump's rally today, socially distanced temperature checks. The audience told that they had to wear masks and keep them on. Which is kind of funny because it's something Ivanka Trump did not do as you see in that first debate between her father and Joe Biden. Something she usually does not do in his presence. We can assume the reason no one close to Trump causes him publicly even on this crucial issue of masks even as he doubles down on a false claim that 85 percent of people who wear masks actually get coronavirus, which is blatantly and factually incorrect. The problem is his overall message about masks is resonating with his supporters as we found out tonight.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So do you think that he is providing accurate information, particularly when it comes to masks?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, (inaudible) ...</s>NOBLES: Do you believe the President to what he says about masks (inaudible) believe the CDC?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe the President has done a good job combating the COVID-19 virus.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot people take everything as I say verbatim.</s>BURNETT: Which is why one of his top allies, Chris Christie, is sounding the alarm. Begging the President to be honest with the American people.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: I think we need to be honest with the American people and just say directly to them that we don't know everything we need to know about this disease at this point, George, but what we do know is that masks can certainly help.</s>BURNETT: We do know that. Instead, the President paints this picture of rounding the corner even as we're hitting another coronavirus peak and hospitalizations are rising and deaths are going up. This is the same way that he has misled Americans, every other time the U.S. has hit another devastating peak in infection.</s>TRUMP: I said it's going away and it is going away. Well, the virus will disappear. It will disappear. We will soon be ending this pandemic.</s>BURNETT: Now, we're rounding the corner. That's what he says every time it peaks and it comes back. The case numbers continue to rise and that confusing message that is detached from reality is causing some of Trump's supporters now to actually turn.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's still dishonest about it. He keeps saying it's getting better and it never is. It's getting worse.</s>BURNETT: She voted for Trump last time. She's voting for Biden this time. Ryan Nobles is OUTFRONT live in Macon, Georgia. And Ryan, you spoke to some of Trumps supporters at that rally behind you. As we now find out in Minnesota, they're now saying two people hospitalized related to the President's events in that state. It's clear though that his message on the pandemic is resonating with the people behind you.</s>NOBLES: Erin, there's no doubt about that. Basically, everything the President says on any topic, but especially the coronavirus pandemic resonates in a big way with all of his supporters. They literally believe every single thing he says and in many cases when you're having conversations with the folks that attend these rallies, it's almost like you're living in an alternative reality. Yes, they believe the coronavirus exists, but they don't believe it's that big of a threat. They compare it to the flu. Of course, way more people died of coronavirus than have ever died of the flu in a given year. They also believe that some of these medications that the President has touted like hydroxychloroquine is completely safe and is something that is effective for treating coronavirus, which we know is not to be true. And then this latest statistic that the President has been touting that 85 percent of people who wear masks are still at risk for contracting Coronavirus. We also know that that is just not true. And it's not just that they believe it, they're also practicing this message that the President is sending out. As this evidence behind me, as it is evidence in every single one of these rallies that we've covered in event to, the lion's share of people here are not wearing masks. They're not getting the message. And Erin, is we are finding out there are real world consequences to those actions. Erin.</s>BURNETT: Yes, there are. Thank you very much, Ryan. And tonight, as you heard the director of the National Institutes of Health say the hospitalization curve is going up. You're seeing an increase and he says that you will see an increase in deaths following. Nick Watt is OUTFRONT.</s>NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's a MAGA rally in Wisconsin tomorrow night. Will the President mentioned the state is now seeing all-time record high new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, unlikely?</s>MAYOR TOM BARRETT, (D) MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: We saw it in the Rose Garden just a couple of weeks ago and we could see another super spreader event in Janesville tomorrow.</s>WATT (voice-over): Hotspots are popping up again in Connecticut, 12 now dead in a nursing home outbreak in California. New Mexico's average daily case count more than doubled over the past two weeks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pay attention to the facts. It is a deadly, highly contagious virus. The virus is now winning.</s>WATT (voice-over): Nine states just set a record, most new cases in a day. Latest national numbers, yesterday, we topped 60,000 for the first time since mid-August, second wave, third wave, ominous either way.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures. And again, I emphasize without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>WATT (voice-over): Disappointing news on remdesivir used on the President the only drug explicitly authorized to treat COVID-19 in the U.S., it has little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients, according to the WHO. Better news on vaccines, assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November. So after the election and note the word assuming is doing a little work there. The data would be reviewed not only by the FDA own scientists, but also by an external panel of independent experts at a publicly held meeting convened by the agency. To ensure public trust, some say the President has eroded that trust.</s>WATT: Now, among the first people to see that vaccine data will be Dr. Anthony Fauci. President Trump repeatedly baselessly tries to somehow malign Fauci by saying he's a Democrat. Dr. Fauci is staunchly apolitical and working to protect any and all Americans, Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Nick, thank you very much. And to Nick's point, not that it matters but Fauci is not registered to any political party. OUTFRONT now, Dr. Jonathan Reiner who advised the White House medical team under President George W. Bush and Dr. Aileen Marty, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Florida International University. So Dr. Reiner, 31 states now with an increase in case counts, hospitalizations going up. And by the way, those 31 states, as you can see, across this country, cases in New Mexico more than doubling in the past two weeks, the entire Midwest, obviously seeing a spike. When the President says - now, obviously, I showed him saying this month after month after month, but this time when he says we're rounding the turn, is there anything which backs that up?</s>JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: No. He also says that there's light at the end of the tunnel, which is clearly an oncoming train. We had 68,000 new cases today, that's the highest total since July 30th. Sometime tomorrow, we'll pass the 1 million case mark for October. So in 17 days we will have added another million cases. Just to give you some perspective, it took a hundred days for us to get to the first million positive cases and now every 17 days. So we are clearly not rounding the corner. And when you tell your followers that masks aren't important or that we're just about there and everything is over, and you bring together the super spread or events, you prolonged the agony for the country. And the responsible thing to do is to tell the country what they need to do to get through this safely until we have a vaccine. The good news is that I'm pretty sure we're going to have a vaccine in the near term and then we're going to start giving good news when we start talking about nightly counts of new patients vaccinated. Yes. But until that point, we have to get there.</s>BURNETT: So Dr. Marty, foreign policy magazine released its latest ranking of the countries that have best handled the pandemic and the U.S. comes in number 33 out of 36. The countries behind us include Turkey, Russia and Iran. I should note, seven months in Russia situation is record cases daily, Iran situation is record deaths daily. Those are the countries that are the only ones doing worse than the U.S. Do you think that that's a fair analysis?</s>DR. AILEEN MARTY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Absolutely, leadership matters. Leadership has always mattered. leadership has to bring the right message to the population, making sure that we know the truth and how to protect ourselves from whatever's going on, that we understand the risk. One of the things that's going on right now is there is a declaration of falsehood that is spreading the idea that we should allow this virus to spread wildly among us. That is exceedingly dangerous and very bad science. So we're countering that with the John-Snow declaration which says just the opposite that we need to wear masks, that we need to have the physical distancing, that hygiene, et cetera, and that we need to protect everyone in our population and wait for this vaccines. There are many vaccines that are coming and showing fruition and we should hang on and continue in that mode.</s>BURNETT: So Dr. Reiner, today Ivanka Trump held an event that looks very different than those held by her father. And I should note when she's been with him at the last debate she didn't mask, but this when she held an event it was different, social distancing, temperature checks, people were told to keep their masks on, the opposite of what we get at a Trump rally. She's clearly trying to appeal to a different audience, a different voter than her father, but he desperately needs those voters, reasonable Republicans. Is it going to work?</s>REINER: No. She's just creating photos for her Twitter and Instagram feeds. That's what she's doing. These are all photo ops. If she was doing something meaningful as a senior policy advisor to the President of the United States, she would have prevented him from hosting that giant unmasked event in the Rose Garden, she would have prevented him from holding rally after rally this summer. She would have urged him to urge the country to wear a mask. I'm totally unimpressed with her made for social media photo ops. Work on some policy, you're supposed to be a policy advisor.</s>BURNETT: Dr. Marty, a lot of people are wondering what all this means for the holidays. The CDC is now saying pull back from those holiday gatherings with your family. In fact they are now saying small household gatherings are helping drive the rise in cases, the surge that we're seeing. Do Americans really realize this? How significant those small decisions are?</s>MARTY: We're still seeing from contact tracing data that a great percentage of the cases are exactly from those instances of small family and friend gatherings where people do not realize that that is a excellent mechanism for transmitting this. We need to get that message across to our population that they have to be careful even amongst people that they know and love.</s>BURNETT: And Dr. Reiner, a quick final question, we're just getting the Minnesota Department of Health that two people who attended one of the President's rallies there are hospitalized among the 20 who are known to have contracted coronavirus. Your reaction to that too in the hospital.</s>REINER: Predictable. Every event will have casualties.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you both. I appreciate your time. As we see those images out of Macon tonight. OUTFRONT next, Biden going all-in on Michigan.</s>JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll work as hard for those who don't support me as those who do.</s>BURNETT: As the ratings are in, so who did more Americans watch and those dueling town halls last night and does it mean anything? One person thinks it does? Plus, Trump defending his retweet of a baseless conspiracy theory that Osama bin Laden is not really dead. The former Navy SEAL on that team killed Osama bin Laden response live. And us investigators are now looking into whether Russians are using Rudy Giuliani to interfere in the 2020 election.

Biden Says Trump "Still Living in a Dream World" on Coronavirus as He Fights to Flip Key Swing State of MI

BURNETT: New tonight, Joe Biden telling voters and the key swing State of Michigan that he will do something that President Trump has not done in almost four years, bring the country together. Here's how Biden is making his pitch.</s>BIDEN: I'll work as hard for those who don't support me, as those who do. I do not see America in terms of red and blue. Bringing the country together, that's the job of a president. It's a duty to care, to care for everybody. We can be so much better than what we see. We can be what we are at our best when we're the United States of America.</s>BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, the host of CNN SMERCONISH, Michael Smerconish and our Senior Political Analyst, Kirsten Powers. So Michael with two and a half weeks from the election, is this the message that's going to drive turnout for Biden?</s>MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, SMERCONISH: It's a closing argument. I mean, to me there's a trial analogy here. It's as if the evidence is in and you want to provide the jury with some kind of a unifying theme before you send them off to deliberate. I think it's the message that someone who believes that he's comfortably ahead delivers, do no harm, spark no controversy, ride this thing out because you think you're in a very secure position.</s>BURNETT: Kirsten, he also went after Trump on coronavirus, wrapping that into the concept of leadership. Here's what Biden said there.</s>BIDEN: President Trump rebels in division and chaos. He'll do anything to distract us from focusing on his failures to deal with this virus and to protect the nation. He's still living in a dream world.</s>BURNETT: So Kirsten, just some stats here, you've got this spike of cases in the Midwest, Michigan is as tight as the state comes. Trump won it by two-tenths of a percent, which was less than 11,000 votes, all right? So this is the bet Biden is making on Michigan.</s>POWERS: Yes. But I think the messaging that he has right now is really targeted at people who are sort of on the fence, those people that he's trying to pull over, maybe people who have voted for Trump last time that he's trying to get to come back to the Democratic Party or Republican women, in particular suburban women, who typically don't vote Democratic, but are thinking about abandoning the President for Joe Biden and he's trying to speak directly to them. He's not speaking necessarily to people. The people who have strong opinions about COVID already know who they're voting for on both sides. The people who have strong opinions about the state of the country in terms of being united already know who they're voting for. But for somebody who is thinking maybe I'm a Republican and I'm going to vote for Joe Biden, these are two messages that are really going to resonate with them.</s>BURNETT: And Michael, Biden also argued that, obviously, picking on Trump's coronavirus response, but saying that Americans on Obamacare will lose their insurance if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed as a Supreme Court nominee, which polls have come out. That is not popular, people don't want that to happen. Here's the argument.</s>BIDEN: Mishandling the pandemic isn't enough for Trump. On top of that, he's still trying to take away your health care. Getting rid of Obamacare is why they're racing to get this nominee through the Supreme Court. He wants to get rid of Obamacare in its entirety and with this nominee he's made that incredibly clear as well.</s>BURNETT: So Michael, look, the polls do show that getting rid of Obamacare is not popular. Is it actually going to translate into votes for Biden?</s>SMERCONISH: I think that it could. I've always believed that this is one of the strongest arrows that he has in his quiver and it's to make the argument that the only way that the insurance models can take care of those with pre existing conditions is if everybody buys into the insurance pool. And that castigated individual mandate, that's what it's all about. It's about personal responsibility and the idea that we all buy in so that the young invincibles are the ones who are making up that gap which pays for the people with pre existing conditions, but they just don't articulate it that way and I'm never sure why, but I expect they probably will. The Biden ticket will probably do that for the next two weeks.</s>BURNETT: So Kirsten, everyone's wondering how those town halls did last night and it was sort of - whether you are a Trump supporter or you wanted to see the theater, there was sort of this build up that people were going to watch Trump. However, when you look at the actual ratings, Joe Biden outrated Donald Trump. His town hall on ABC, just aired on ABC 14.1 million viewers. Trump's townhall aired on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC on television 13.1 1 million. So Trump beat by a million with (inaudible).</s>POWERS: Yes.</s>BURNETT: So, look, I just want to say Trump views TV ratings as crucial. He has said multiple times over the years, "The Nielsen ratings are much more important than the polls." OK, that it was ratings, not polls, that matter. This time, obviously, it's a totally different outcome, if you take Trump's word for it.</s>POWERS: Yes. I mean live by the ratings die by the ratings, I guess, if you're Donald Trump. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this not for any partisan reasons, but just for the fact that if you look at the two different styles of these men, they're just substantively very, very different and I honestly thought if you were to ask me, I would have said people would watch the Trump show over the Biden show. Because basically my feeling was Trump had kind of broken our brains, like people now will get bored with somebody speaking at length and in depth the way that Joe Biden does. I mean, you had the Trump campaign comparing him. They thought unfavorably, I guess, to Mr. Rogers (ph), who is beloved. But I think that that was a welcome surprise and people wanted to hear that.</s>BURNETT: I agree. I think it definitely was a surprise and I'm sure it's one that took the President's breath away, given again, that as I say, He is the one who has said this so many times, the ultimate poll ratings. The ultimate poll. I mean, I'm just reading off quotes of things he said. All you have to do is look at your ratings to know who will win. Michael, I want to ask you about something you know about personally here, C-SPAN Steve Scully, if anyone doesn't know his name, you should, he was going to be moderating the second debate before it was cancelled. But he has now been suspended indefinitely by C-SPAN over a tweet to Trump's former communications director turned aggressively strong critic, Anthony Scaramucci. In the tweet, Scully asked, should I respond to Trump after Trump attacked him and said he would not be a fair moderator. So to go to Anthony Scaramucci about that if your debate moderator would be totally inappropriate. Scully claimed it was the result of a hack, that he didn't actually do it, but now he admits that that was not true. So Michael, I know this is hard for you because you're friends with him, what happened here?</s>SMERCONISH: Well, it's not hard at all. I mean, to quote Lloyd Bentsen, I know Steve Scully and as you say Steve Scully is a friend of mine, he made a mistake. He knows he made a mistake, the mistake that he made, I think sort of dwarf the underlying conduct. If he had simply said, yes, I reached out for Scaramucci because I was panicked and I wasn't sure how to handle the wrath that I was incurring from the President of the United States. I don't think we would be discussing this. I'm not for professional death sentences, especially in this case, because Steve Scully has a 30-year record of being very measured, very down the middle, anyone who has watched him on C-SPAN, anyone who, as I have, has also appeared multiple times on his program, know exactly the way that he runs his professional life. And I would rather judge him by that standard than just an error direct message that he thought was being sent to one individual. He would be the first to tell you he made a mistake, but he should be back at some point in the future.</s>BURNETT: Right. The issue as you're saying is more that he lied about the hack. That's the initial thing. He didn't know what to do and he did that and that was the mistake.</s>SMERCONISH: Big mistake.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>SMERCONISH: Yes. Didn't know how to handle it and probably thought he was responding only to Scaramucci. Erin, I've made the same mistake albeit not with the stakes where I send a message to someone who follows me on twitter thinking I'm responding only to them and then I later am embarrassed to find out it's gone out to the ethernet.</s>BURNETT: Yes. Yes. That's the thing about Twitter. All right. Thank you both very much. And next, Trump defends retweeting a baseless conspiracy theory that claims Osama bin Laden is alive.</s>TRUMP: It was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody and that was a retweet. I'll put it out there.</s>BURNETT: I'll put it out there that Osama bin Laden is alive. A former member of SEAL Team Six, the team that killed bin Laden is OUTFRONT to respond. And a stunning attack from the President's former Chief of Staff, John Kelly. Why he is calling Trump the most flawed person he's ever met.

U.S. Officials Investigating if Recently Published Emails Are Tied to Russian Disinformation Effort Targeting Biden.

BURNETT: Tonight, U.S. investigators are looking into whether emails that purport to show business dealings of Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, are connected to a Russian disinformation campaign. So, "The New York Post" has claimed in a series of articles this week a claimed, quote, smoking gun emails about Hunter Biden, and his dealings in Ukraine. CNN's not determine the authenticity of the emails which is at the heart of this. "The Post", though, has said it obtained the emails to two Trump confidants, his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. Evan Perez is OUTFRONT. So, Evan, what more are you learning here?</s>EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we are learning the FBI is leading this investigation, which is looking into whether this Russian disinformation campaign that has been targeting Joe Biden's campaign, spreading this idea that he was part of some corrupt business ties of his son, who was serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma, that somehow, that this involved corruption of Joe Biden. That's what the Russians have been trying to spread. And whether that is now connected to this set of emails, alleged emails, that have been published by "The New York Post". Now, these are emails that allegedly show Hunter Biden trying to monetize, and trying to use his ties, his father's position, obviously, in the Obama ministration, to make money. And so, that is what the FBI is taking a look at, to see whether all of these things are connected. "The Washington Post" is now reporting, Erin, that the president himself, and the White House were warned that Rudy Giuliani was, essentially, being used by the Russians, and by people connected to the Russians in Ukraine, to try and traffic in some of these conspiracy theories that the Russians are trying to use. And all along, someone was expecting that some of this information will come in October, and right on schedule, it has arrived.</s>BURNETT: It has, and there is a bit clump of stuff they talk about, right? Everything from the sordid sort of, whatever porn stuff is on the computer, all the way to these sort of emails, right? A giant haystack, is the point I'm making. And within it, some needles. And one of the "New York Post" articles claims that there is an email that alleges that there was a 2015 email, 2015 meeting, I'm sorry, between Joe Biden and an executive for Burisma, right, where Hunter Biden was on the board. So, the Biden campaign it said it went through the former vice presidents meeting at the time, and found no official meeting. Biden last year said he was clear, he's never spoken to his son about his overseas business dealings, but an email like this, if it is real, could be more significant. So, how do they know whether these emails are significant, or whether these are -- the Russian disinformation put into the haystack?</s>PEREZ: Right, exactly, and this is classic. This is very classic Russian disinformation tactic which is to mix and things that look legitimate, and maybe even are legitimate, with things that are fake. And so, what we will see over the next few days is more releases from "The New York Post", and from other outlets, I suppose. We do know that the trajectory of this is that in April of 2019, this laptop is dropped off at a computer repair store in Delaware. In December, somehow, the FBI takes control of it. We are not very clear from the computer store owner, exactly how the FBI knew about the existence of this. And then, fast forward to this summer, suddenly, this comes into the hands of Rudy Giuliani, and Steve Bannon is also involved. That is one of the things that is raising all of the red flags as to whether or not any of this is real, and exactly how it came to be in the hands of the president's attorney.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Evan. I want to go to James Clapper, former director of national intelligence under President Obama. So, Director, a bunch of questions from this, let me just start with this. How much does the source matter? Right, so to hear the story of this laptop, we don't know a lot. We do know that the way this information is getting out is through Steve Bannon, and Rudy Giuliani. How much does the source matter here?</s>JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, source matters a lot. And the timing matters a lot I think. And to me, this is -- this is a classic, textbook, Soviet, Russian trade craft at work. Russians of analyze the target, they understand that the president, and his enablers crave dirt on Vice President Biden, whether it is real, or contrived, it doesn't matter to them. So, all of a sudden, 2 and a half weeks before the election, this laptop appears, somehow, without -- and emails on, it without any metadata. It's all very curious. So, here you have a willing target, and the Russians who are very sophisticated about how to exploit a willing target. And to me, that is what is at work here.</s>BURNETT: And so, you know, when you trying to figure out the specifics of whether that meeting email, for example, is real in the midst of this. Do you think stuff like that could have just been planted in here and been completely fake?</s>CLAPPER: I do. I think the emails could be contrived as well, particularly since, as I understand from what I've read, they appear without any metadata, that is from, to, or any technical data, at least anything immediately evident. Now, if this computer is in the hands of the FBI, they have, obviously, excellent, sophisticated technical and forensic analytical capabilities, and I think they will be able to sort it out, whether this is genuine or not. But it's all pretty curious, again, two and a half weeks out from the election.</s>BURNETT: Yeah, to come out via Bannon, and Giuliani, I mean, it does -- it does all smell funny. I want to ask you something else, Director. Jake Tapper tonight is reporting tonight that the president's former chief of staff, General John Kelly, has told friends of Trump, and I quote: The depths of his dishonesty is astonishing to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it is more pathetic than anything else, he is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life. Now, General Kelly, he stood by the president for a while, right? He took that job, he took it was seriousness, and he endeavor to fulfill it. But this is what he really thinks. How do you react to that? This is a four-star general, former chief of staff, of the president of the United States.</s>CLAPPER: Well, General Kelly, obviously, a distinguished, accomplished Marine, 4 star general, so, he's got a lot in terms of character, integrity, and all that. I think the entered the administration, like many others, such as his colleague Jim Mattis, who serve with the best of intentions, knowing, probably, what they were getting into. And I drew lot from General Kelly's silence after the reporting of the president characterizing fallen soldiers and marines as suckers, and losers, and he didn't come out and deny that. I thought his silence spoke volumes. So, not only this is true, but it certainly comports with what I know, I don't know him well, but from what I know of him. And again, it just -- he joins a long litany of people who have served in the administration, with the best of intentions, and it turned bad for them.</s>BURNETT: Right. Certainly, Jim Mattis among them, Rex Tillerson, we can go through the list. Pretty credible, the depth of his dishonesty is more pathetic than anything else. Director Clapper, I always appreciate your time and I thank you.</s>CLAPPER: Thanks, Erin.</s>BURNETT: I want everyone to know, that reporting I mentioned on General Kelly's comments from Jake, is from a new CNN special report, airing this weekend, where Jake will talk to former Trump officials, including John Bolton, about their urgent message for Americans. "</s>THE INSIDERS: A WARNING FROM FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS" air Sunday night at 9:00. And, OUTFRONT next tonight, Biden, and Trump, back to back rallies now, in a crucial swing state. It could decide more than just the White House. So, who has the momentum tonight?

Trump and Biden Spar in Dueling, Distant Town Halls; U.S. Reports Nearly 64,000 New Cases, Highest Level in Two Months; GOP Senator Unloads on President Trump in Campaign Trail.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: All right. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day. And this is the day when President Trump is speaking fawningly of a group that the FBI warns likely motivates domestic terror. That's what jumped through the screen in these two town halls, is that millions of Americans watched with a little more than two weeks left to vote. But with a pandemic that is clearly in a new, dire phase, it's what he said about that that is probably even more important. Overnight, nearly 64,000 new cases were reported in the United States. That's the highest total in two months. Nine states are reporting more new cases in one day than ever. Seven states are seeing record hospitalizations. This is the new wave, second wave, third wave. It is the new bad wave. Estimates are that masks could save more than 100,000 lives in the next few months, one of the most important weapons in our disposal. Yet, the president is misstating facts about them and throwing shade.</s>DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks. I'm okay with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it. So --</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, MSNBC HOST: They didn't say that. I know that study --</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard and that's what I saw.</s>BERMAN: The president is wrong there. Not true, not even close. This is what Joe Biden said about masks.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The words of a president matter. No matter whether they're good, bad or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then people say, well, it mustn't be that important.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: President Trump also admitted last night that he may not have taken coronavirus test before his debate with Joe Biden, though his campaign had vowed that he had. President Trump also seems to like what he says he knows of QAnon, that's a fringe conspiracy network, that the FBI labels a domestic terror threat. Joining us now, CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins and CNN Political Analyst, Maggie Haberman, she is a White House Correspondent for The New York Times. Great to have both of you and your analysis about everything that we saw last night. Let's start with the mask stuff. Maggie, because this is where President Trump's lack of reading, as we know, he doesn't really like to read his briefing books and stuff from his advisers and his lack of being a detail person becomes dangerous. So he cherry-picks something from a study and then he runs with it in a way that is misleading.</s>MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Alisyn, he runs with it in a way that is misleading because it supports what he wants people to believe. And I want to be clear, it's not that he doesn't read these studies closely, if at all, it's not that he is not paying attention to briefing books. Many of his advisers have told him that masks are overwhelmingly popular with the public and there is no -- including his senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and that there is no reason for him to be ignoring this the way he is, and yet he persists, as we have seen. He took a study, completely misrepresented it. He pretended that he was fine with wearing masks, then he wasn't. He took apart Anthony Fauci for having initially not supporting mask-wearing. Fauci has said it for a very long time that people should. He acts as if this is his usual game that he's playing with words. But this is very serious what he's saying in terms of masks. Studies have shown over and over, including the one that you just mentioned, that masks can help save lives, masks can help prevent the spread of this disease, and his desire to treat it like it's some kind of a political statement or cultural statement about himself remains very troubling.</s>BERMAN: Yes. And he chose this forum, one of his last biggest forums, speaking to the American people before Election Day, to question masks, more than question masks. Honestly, to suggest that they're not as effective as Dr. Fauci and everyone else says they were. And that really, really was notable. Kaitlan, there was more too when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. The president didn't just dodge questions, but really refuses to answers what is a really important question, which is, when was the last time he received a negative test before he ended up getting coronavirus? How much before the debate, where he did appear on stage with Joe Biden, was he tested? I want you to listen to this exchange.</s>GUTHRIE: When did you last remember having a negative test?</s>TRUMP: Well, I test quite a bit. And I can tell you that before the debate, which I thought it was a very good debate, and I felt fantastically, I was -- I had no problems before.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: I don't know. I don't even remember.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test though on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: If you ask the doctor, they'll give you a perfect answer. But they take a test and I leave and I go about my business.</s>GUTHRIE: So did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess, is the bottom line?</s>TRUMP: I probably did and I took a test the day before and the day before.</s>BERMAN: Let me be crystal clear, Kaitlan, they know when the last time was that he took a negative test. This is not some mystery. This is a known fact and the president refusing to answer that, what does it tell us?</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they could also easily look up when the president's last test was. And he said there, you know, if you ask the doctor, you'll get a perfect answer. We've asked the doctor and we have not got an answer. And we've asked the president's political aides, who have also refused to say when that last test was. But I think what the president admitted last night and something he had said earlier in the day is he is conceding he was not tested on a daily basis, like his staff has insisted to us for the last several months. When we pressed on things like, why are they not socially distancing and why is the president not wearing a mask? They said it was because he is tested every day, and that's a lie. The president said he is not tested every day and, clearly, he's not, because they do not know, according to the president, if he was tested the day of that debate. And so you see how that changes things when you look at how the president has been interacting with people, not wearing a mask, not social distancing, coming over to reporters, asking reporters to remove their masks when they're asking him questions. And now we know he wasn't even being tested on a daily basis. And just the egregious nature of that and the fact that they said for months that he was not only tested every day, but at one point in July, the press secretary told us he was tested multiple times a day, really just flies in the face of everything that I have said, their entire argument for why the president himself wasn't wearing a mask. Nevertheless, you know, the broader argument he was making against masks, as aides have insisted, no, he's always been consistent with the messaging on mask and that people should wear them, he hasn't, and, obviously, that was clear last night as he was completely misrepresenting the CDC study, but also the fact that he is not tested every day like they have told us for months.</s>BERMAN: Let me just tell you one thing. On the idea of when the last test was, the only reasonable conclusion at this point is that he was not tested the day of the debate. And the Trump campaign had to certify to the Cleveland Clinic and others that he was. So if, in fact, they said he wasn't, now it appears they're lying. If he was tested that day, they would have told us at this point. If doctors would have told us, the president would have told us. The only reasonable conclusion at this point is he wasn't tested that day.</s>CAMEROTA: Hey, Maggie, how about QAnon? The president last night seemed -- well, he did suggest he likes what he knows of their, you know, so-called mission. This is the craziest conspiracy theory that, by the way, a North Carolina man fell for years ago, showed up at a pizza parlor with a gun. He got four years in prison, because he fell for the same part of the conspiracy that last night President Trump said he likes that one.</s>HABERMAN: Yes, appealing to conspiracy theorists, Alisyn, and being one himself, and seeing a hidden hand in things all around the world and all around him is something that this president has done for a very long time. We saw him doing it during the campaign, when he went on Alex Jones' radio show and thanked him for what he does. We have seen him repeatedly insist he doesn't really know what QAnon is. Well, if that is true, he probably has had time to learn, but it's much likelier that he does know what it is and he doesn't want to reject it. He did it on a massive stage last night in the final three weeks of a campaign when people are paying attention and those are dangerous words. This is dangerous stuff. People have taken dangerous actions in part because they believe in this conspiracy theory. But the president is so concerned about turning off some of his potential supporters that he just leaves it open.</s>BERMAN: Let's play this moment here. Again, he was given an opportunity just to say, this group is crazy. He didn't. And not only did he not say that, he went a step further. Listen.</s>GUTHRIE: While we're denouncing, let me ask you about QAnon. It is this theory that Democrats are a satanic pedophile ring and that you are the savior of that. Now, can you just once and for all state that that is completely not true and disavow QAnon in its entirety?</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact, I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it is a satanic cult run by the Democratic states.</s>TRUMP: I tell you what I do know about. I know about Antifa and I know about the radical left and I know how violent they are and how vicious they are. And I know how they are burning down cities run by Democrats, not run by Republicans.</s>GUTHRIE: Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, QAnon is nuts and real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories. Why not just say it's crazy and not true?</s>TRUMP: He may be right. I just don't know about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: You do know.</s>BERMAN: He clearly knows something. Just to be clear, the FBI says that QAnon very likely motivates some domestic extremists to commit criminal, sometimes violent activity, Kaitlan. What about overall the contrasts in these two town halls? What does the White House feel that it got out of this, Kaitlan?</s>COLLINS: Well -- and it's not just QAnon, it's also what the president said about S.E.A.L. Team 6 and the death of Osama bin Laden, when he was asked, why is he re-tweeting these insane conspiracy theories, trying to say basically that Osama bin Laden's death was a hoax and that then Biden and Obama ordered S.E.A.L. Team 6 killed. Yes, something that crazy that the president has re-tweeted multiple times. And last time, he was saying that he just puts it out there to let other people to decide for themselves. Though, of course, it's the president of the United States amplifying a conspiracy to his over 80 million followers on Twitter and, of course, he knows what he's doing, just like he knows what he's doing when he's not disavowing QAnon and says he doesn't know what they are, but identifying something about them being against pedophilia. But I do think if you were changing the channels last night and looking at these two town halls, of course, the candidates were not on the same stage, but you really could see such a difference in the way that they conducted themselves. And going from watching the president talking about QAnon to turning to the Joe Biden town hall, just stark differences in the way that the two of those town halls, just even their bare premise, how that was functioning. And so you really could see the difference that has been playing out on the campaign trail. You know, whether or not it changed voters' minds to be looking back and forth between these town halls, I don't think that that's certainly the case here. But, I mean, it was -- Donald Trump was being Donald Trump and I don't think people expected anything different than that combative, defensive nature that you saw from him on stage for 60 minutes.</s>CAMEROTA: Maggie, before we let you go, we do want to ask about Chris Christie's change of heart. And I don't know if it's a change of heart, but he certainly is explicitly now saying how he feels about masks and regret that he has after spending days in the ICU. I don't know if we knew that he was as sick as he was in the hospital. So you have reporting and he said, quote, I believe that I went entered -- I believe that when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong. I was wrong to not wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the president and the rest of the team. What's your impression of how he's feeling and what he is speaking out?</s>HABERMAN: Well, among other things, Alisyn, look, he's clearly on the mend, he's feeling better, he said that he still has some fatigue, but it's nothing like what he had had when he was at his sickest in the ICU at a hospital in New Jersey. Look, I think that this goes back to two things, the conversation that we were talking about the president creating this sense in his age, creating a sense that he was being tested every day, creating this false sense of safety in a bubble that they were all in. Christie was in that bubble for a number of days when he was doing debate prep. But there's a big difference, Alisyn. He is saying something we don't hear very often in politics anymore, certainly not from anybody connected to this White House and certainly not from anybody who was part of this coronavirus outbreak, which is, I was wrong. I should have been wearing a mask. He urged people to follow CDC guidelines. He did say he thinks that there is a balance between, you know, full- scale shutdowns and, you know, reopening everything. He suggested there is a way to move toward more gradual reopenings, if people are following those guidelines. But he was very specific, Alisyn, in saying this is a deadly, serious illness. It's so in contrast to what we've seen with the president, who toyed with the idea of wearing a Superman T-shirt under his dress clothes when he was let out of Walter Reed far earlier than I think most people expected him to be. And I think you will hear Christie continue to say things about this going forward.</s>BERMAN: Maggie Haberman and Kaitlan Collins, thank you both for being with us this morning.</s>HABERMAN: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: Coronavirus case hospitalizations surging in the United States this morning. It has entered a new phase. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us next.

Nearly 64,000 New Coronavirus Cases

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, nearly 64,000 new coronavirus cases were reported. That's the highest total in two months. At least nine states are reporting the most new cases in a single day ever. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live in Wisconsin with more. What's the situation on the ground, Adrienne?</s>ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning. The numbers in Wisconsin are high and rapidly increasing. And experts say the fall wave they were dreading is already here.</s>BROADDUS (voice over): n unseizing (ph) surge of new coronavirus cases. On Thursday, more than 63,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the U.S., the highest daily figure in more than two months.</s>DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CDC: Each region of the nation is also seeing an increase in the number of hospitalizations. And that is what you see before you see an increase in the number of deaths.</s>BROADDUS: New record numbers of patients admitted to the hospital in at least seven states, the Midwest leading this concerning new trend. Wisconsin, on Thursday, saw more than 3,700 cases, a new record for the state. The test positivity rate standing at over 21 percent. Kentucky also seeing a spike in hospitalizations, reporting 738 patients in hospitals Thursday.</s>GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Everybody ought to be doing the right thing. And those that are out there that try to confront you for wearing a mask or being a jerk, they're putting your health at risk.</s>BROADDUS: And in Missouri, more than 1,400 hospitalizations reported for the third day in a row. Meanwhile, a new study released by the World Health Organization concluded that the antiviral drug Remdesivir had little or no effect on mortality and patients in the hospital with COVID. The WHO described the conclusions as conclusive and disappointing. Remdesivir has Emergency Use Authorization for coronavirus in the United States and President Trump received it while he was treated at Walter Reed Medical Center. And rising outrage from many medical experts on the White House's view of herd immunity. The idea that letting the virus spread throughout the country with the goal of infecting a large percentage of the population in hopes of gaining immunity will end the pandemic.</s>DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: We eliminated measles from this country by vaccination by the year 2000. Small pox was only eliminated by vaccination, even though that, too, is a much more highly contagious disease, and that, too, induces lifelong immunity. So the notion of community immunity by natural infection is made up. It's never happened.</s>BROADDUS: And despite the concern about the number of cases here in Wisconsin, President Trump is expected to come to Janesville, Wisconsin, for a rally on Saturday. This as his task force is recommending people stick to measures like wearing a mask, social distancing, or risk preventable deaths. Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: Adrienne, thank you very much for all of that reporting. So if you've been wondering what Rudy Giuliani has been up to for the past year or so, well, "The Washington Post" has new reporting on how Giuliani was targeted by Russian intelligence to give President Trump disinformation. We have the details, next.

Trump Warned of Disinformation; Fact-Checking the Town Halls

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight, "The New York Times" and "Washington Post" report that the White House was warned last year that Rudy Giuliani was targeted by Russian intelligence to convey disinformation to President Trump. Rudy Giuliani used by Russian intelligence. The White House warned about it. So "The Post" first broke this story. This is what they report. "National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien cautioned Trump in a private conversation that any information Giuliani brought back from Ukraine should be considered contaminated by Russia. Trump had shrugged his shoulders at O'Brien's warning, the former official said, and dismissed concern about his lawyer's activity by saying, quote, that's Rudy." Joining me now, CNN political and national security analyst, David Sanger. He is a national security correspondent for "The New York Times" and the author of "The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in The Cyber Age." That book is the basis of a new HBO documentary, which airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. And, David, we're going to get to this fantastic documentary in just a second. But, first, this news first reported by "The Post," matched by "The Times." Rudy Giuliani, the White House warned that Giuliani is being used by Russian intelligence to convey misinformation to the president. The president literally, in this piece, shrugs. How is this not an associate of the president colluding with Russian intelligence?</s>DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it is. And thanks, John, for having me on. And great reporting by our colleagues and competitors at "The Washington Post." You know, what's interesting about this whole story, John, is that in some ways it's the opposite of what happened in 2016, when the Russians were trying to hide what they were doing, right, you know, sending those messages through the Internet research agency, the FaceBook, and then through leaking documents through WikiLeaks. Here, Rudy Giuliani was going to Ukraine. He was making no secret about it. In fact, the White House, at one point, had to ask him not to go around the time of impeachment. And he made clear why he was going. It was to get information about Burisma and about Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. So he was sort of advertising himself to the Russians. Hey, whatever you can hack and get, I'm open for business.</s>BERMAN: It really is stunning to see the level of detail and the fact that the White House was more clearly -- the intelligence community is deeply concerned about this. And Giuliani is running around making no secret of it. I mean the phrase "useful idiot" is something that appears frequently all over dealings with Russia over time, and this is an example when Giuliani is a willing useful idiot. David, I need to get to your book and the documentary, which deals with many of these same types of subjects, this background war that's happening. The Russians are part of it, but there are other countries, too. I want to play a long clip now from "The Perfect Weapon."</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Sixteen hours since the Iowa caucuses began. We're still waiting for the results.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The app didn't work. No one knew if it would.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is so far not so good.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iowa was exactly my worst fear.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The biggest concern was that voters would not be able to trust the system.</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: What about the confidence in the vote?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Especially with -- against the backdrop of the Russian interference in 2016.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Iowa is demonstrating to adversaries in the United States is, all they have to do is create that appearance, and they probably don't even have to create their own disinformation, American partisans will do it for them.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The president's son was saying it's rigged. The president's campaign manager.</s>TAPPER: The Biden campaign is out there openly say they don't trust what the results will be.</s>DAVID SANGER, AUTHOR, "THE PERFECT WEAPON": They've created what's called a perception hack. Our mind immediately goes to the question, are the Russians messing with our election? It doesn't matter whether they are or they aren't.</s>CHRISTOPHER KREBS, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: This is one of the confusing aspects of election security. It's not just about trying to hack into computers, there's another aspect of election interference that's about trying to hack into your brain. They're ultimately trying to get the American people to lose confidence in the system, that the system is beyond repair, that the system is broken and their vote doesn't matter.</s>BLITZER: U.S. officials have now told Senator Bernie Sanders that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did he even get</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, I'll let you guess. Well, one day before the Nevada caucus. Why do you think it came out? It's "The Washington Post"? Good friends.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe, what do you say to the Russians?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They're coming. They're continuing to meddle. They're involved in this race and in my primary. They're involved going after me on FaceBook. They've already been taken down because Putin knows me and I know him and he doesn't want me to be president.</s>TAPPER: The Russians want everyone in this country to mistrust everything. Whether or not the Russians are involved, these next few months are going to be tense.</s>BERMAN: Yikes. The perception hack, David, that really is chilling. What do you want people to know most as we are, you know, two weeks from Election Day?</s>SANGER: Well, you know, I think, John, the big message out of this documentary is, we're in an escalating world of cyber conflict in which that hacking of the infrastructure and the hacking of the minds goes together, right? So for the infrastructure, we're worried about the voting machines, less so than the registration systems. If you could get into just a few districts in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania or any other battleground state and make it look as if something has gone wrong, then people will think that the ballots in the entire state are bad. Or the president or others could leap on it and say, see, I told you this was fixed. And then, you know, that Biden line, that was taken back during the primaries, but pretty chilling at a moment that we're seeing a leak come out that we think was directed right at him and may have had Russian origins. We're still trying to figure that out. So this is escalating on both fronts.</s>BERMAN: And we're seeing it play out before our eyes in a very overt way, as well. David Sanger, thank you for being with us. Congratulations, not just on the book, but, again, the HBO documentary which airs tonight. Thanks so much for being with us.</s>SANGER: Thank you, John. Great to be with you.</s>BERMAN: All right, the town halls. What a unique perspective on two candidates, two styles. A lot of things, a lot of statements made, a lot of facts and non-facts. Our special weapon, Daniel Dale, fact checker in chief, national treasure, smokes out the spin and lies, next.

New Poll Numbers on Voting.

BERMAN: Some staggering numbers in early voting. People are voting in droves. More than 17 million ballots cast already. That's nearly 15 percent of the total vote in 2016. We're seeing huge, huge lines in these states where the voting is underway. So what does it tell us? Joining us now, CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten. And we should note that some of the information we're going to get now comes from Catalyst, which is a data company that provides data analytics and other services to Democrats, academics, and nonprofit issue advocacy organizations. Harry, the numbers we are seeing, how big? Put it in context?</s>HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, they're huge, right? You've said it best, more than 17 million folks have already cast their ballots in this election. And if you take a look at this map, look at this, you're seeing people voting throughout the nation in very large numbers, from California down to Florida, all the way up even to Maine at this particular point. So people are already getting involved in the process. And if you compare that to where we were back in 2016, 18 days out, look at this, we are seeing massive changes throughout the country, more people voting early than basically ever have before. Again, all the way from California to Maine, down to Florida. So people are very enthused. They're very much involved. They want to get their votes counted and cast early.</s>BERMAN: Is this consistent with what you've seen in the polling on enthusiasm in general?</s>ENTEN: Yes, I think this is rather important, right, John? The idea that we're just getting these early vote numbers and it's somehow surprising that people are so enthusiastic, and that's the first sign of it, it's just not true, right? I like that we can see it in the polling data, as well. And we saw that in our last CNN poll whereby what we saw was, on the certain to vote measure, the percentage of registered voters who say that they're certain to vote in this election, in early October in 2020, 88 percent. You compare that back in 2016, it was just 83 percent. And we've seen this throughout the election, whereby the polling is demonstrating that more voters say they're enthusiastic, certain to vote, than they were at certain points in the 2016 cycle.</s>BERMAN: Harry, I have to confess, those first two maps you showed, I couldn't see the difference in the numbers. So let's see if we can dive in a little bit deeper and maybe focus on one state so people can really see what we're talking about here. Take a look at Florida. Explain to us the difference in Florida now versus where we were at this point four years ago.</s>ENTEN: Right. I love the state of Florida as an example, right, because the rules have been changing in a number of states whereby they've made it easier to vote by mail or vote early. But Florida, in fact, the rules are pretty much the same. And yet even there, with 18 days to go, look at this, already over 2 million people have cast their ballots in the state of Florida. It was just over 1 million folks back in 2016. And I should note that 2020 number today is likely to get updated and it will likely rise even higher throughout the day. So we're getting double the turnout in Florida, already a state that had the same rules than four years ago.</s>BERMAN: What do we know about who is voting, Harry, in terms of which party is getting more voters out there?</s>ENTEN: Yes, I love this sort of number because, obviously, the president has had a lot of rhetoric, right, basically saying that he doesn't necessarily trust mail voting, even though in Florida he has basically said the system's OK. But, look, four years ago at this point, in Florida, if you were to look at the party registration of people who have already cast their ballots, Republicans were actually outvoting Democrats, 43 percent to 40 percent by party affiliation. Look at the numbers now in 2020. Democrats are making up 50 percent of the voters who have already cast their ballot in the state of Florida, Republicans just 30 percent. So part of that probably is the Democratic enthusiasm, right? But part of it is also the president's rhetoric on early voting, seems to have deterred Republicans from voting early, at least compared to four years ago.</s>BERMAN: Can we put that slide back up again because I want people to see this, because this is one of the big questions, what's different now versus four years ago. The bottom line is four years ago this shows us in Florida, more Republicans have voted by this point early by 3 percent in this time. That's just a big, big change, Harry.</s>ENTEN: Yes, it's a huge change. And we're seeing that throughout the country, right, whereby Democrats are the ones who are voting earlier. They are much more enthusiastic than Republicans seem to be in terms of voting early. And, obviously, Florida is such a key state. And you'd rather get those votes sort of bucketed early, right, just in case there's some late thing that occurs in the country, something that changes the race. So right now Democrats, though, seem to be the ones who are voting early and in big numbers.</s>BERMAN: There does need to be caution, though, Harry, when you're talking about extrapolating, right? One of the terms that I like the most is the idea that -- that votes are cannibalized in early voting. We do need to be careful about projecting what this might mean overall.</s>ENTEN: Yes, I -- this is something that's very important, right? And, basically, you know, as I was mentioning, Republicans seem to be really wanting to vote on Election Day more so than cast their votes early. And you can see this in an ABC News/"Washington Post" poll that came out last month, which essentially -- the top line was that Trump was at 51 percent, Biden was at 47 percent. Even so, in that particular poll, Biden was crushing Trump among early and mail voters by nearly 30 points. The reason Trump was ahead in that poll, or at least slightly more -- had a slightly higher percentage of the vote than Biden, still within the margin of error, was the Election Day vote. Trump was crushing it, leading it by 55 points. Now, that doesn't mean that Trump is actually up by four right now in the overall aggregate in Florida, but the picture that we're seeing right now in the early vote is not necessarily inconsistent with the idea that Trump could still win on Election Day.</s>BERMAN: All right, early votes are votes that are in the bank. That is what campaigns generally love. Isn't necessarily divisive, Harry, but it tells us a lot. Thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.</s>ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.</s>BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No second presidential debate. Instead, dueling town halls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These twin town halls were a poor substitute for an actual presidential debate.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I denounce white supremacy, OK?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The words of a president matter. Good, bad, or indifferent, they matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New warnings that this pandemic is taking a devastate toll on rural America.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there was a major.

Trump & Biden Spar in Dueling, Distant Town Halls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No second presidential debate. Instead, dueling town halls.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The voters did not get a lot of straight answers from President Trump.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, HOST, NBC'S "TODAY": Did you take a test on the day of the debate, bottom line?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I probably did.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's just decency to be able to determine whether or not you are clear.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nearly 60,000 new COVID-19 infections across America yesterday. UNIDENTIFIED MALE; As we enter the cooler season of the fall, you don't want to be in that compromised position.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is now unconscionable this late into the outbreak.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday, October 16, 6 a.m. here in New York. The stark differences between Joe Biden and President Trump were on display last night in dueling town halls. If viewers could switch back and forth, they saw the contrast in tone and substance on key issues like the pandemic. Biden did more of a deep dive into issues like taxes and criminal justice reform. President Trump sparred more with the moderator, refusing to denounce this fringe conspiracy that the FBI calls a domestic terror threat, and passing on the opportunity to reject their offensive claims about the killing of Osama bin Laden. The president also admits that he may not have taken a coronavirus test before the first debate. And he claimed the science is still out on masks, despite the near-universal view that it is one of the best weapons we have to get the pandemic under control.</s>BERMAN: Yes. You know, it's quite a thing when the president goes on national TV and praises the group the FBI says is likely to motivate domestic extremists. It's quite a thing when the president goes on TV to specifically spread misinformation about masks, when wearing masks could save 100,000 lives by February. Quite a thing when the U.S. is clearly, clearly now facing this new phase of the coronavirus crisis. You can argue whether it's a second wave or a third wave. Either one, the very danger we have all been warned about for fall and winter, it is here. Nearly 64,000 new coronavirus cases were reported overnight. That's the highest total in two months. Look at the curve. At least nine states are reporting the most new cases in one day ever. Right now, seven states are seeing record hospitalizations, and if there's one thing we know, more hospitalizations leads to more deaths. So that is the backdrop, as we go to the White House right now. Joe Johns is there. Two town halls, Joe, but one message from one president, a message that could cost Americans their lives.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John, that's true. These dueling town halls really summed up the state of the race. We had that dangerous misinformation from the president about wearing masks. We had news about his own experience with coronavirus. And then there were the conspiracy theories. All of this raising questions about whether the president did himself any favors at all by backing out of that debate with Joe Biden.</s>JOHNS (voice-over): President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off in dueling town halls, scheduled after Trump refused to participate in a virtual debate following his coronavirus diagnosis, a topic he tried to avoid, like when asked whether he was tested the day of the first debate.</s>TRUMP: If you ask the doctor, they'll give you a perfect answer.</s>GUTHRIE: Yes.</s>TRUMP: But you take a test, and I leave and go about your business.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess, is the bottom line?</s>TRUMP: I probably did, and I took a test the day before and the day before.</s>JOHNS: Trump in Miami also downplaying the Rose Garden event that may have infected him, White House staff members and others.</s>TRUMP: Well, they do a lot of testing in the White House. They test everybody, including me. But they test everybody. I tell people wear masks, but just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it.</s>JOHNS: Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Biden slammed Trump's handling of the pandemic.</s>BIDEN: He missed enormous opportunities and kept saying things that weren't true. It's all going to go away like a miracle. He's still saying those things.</s>JOHNS: The Democratic nominee also criticized Trump's messaging as harmful to the coronavirus response.</s>BIDEN: The words of a president matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.</s>BIDEN: No matter whether they're good, bad, or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then you know, people say, Well, it mustn't be that important.</s>JOHNS: For most of the night, Trump was combative, including when pressed on his refusal to condemn white supremacy in the first debate.</s>TRUMP: I denounced white supremacy, OK?</s>GUTHRIE: You did, two days later.</s>TRUMP: I denounced white supremacy for years. But you always do it. You always start off with a question.</s>GUTHRIE: Well --</s>TRUMP: You didn't ask Joe Biden whether or not he denounces Antifa.</s>JOHNS: This time around, the president declined to condemn QAnon conspiracy theories.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it is a satanic cult run by the</s>DNC. TRUMP: If you'd like me to study the subject. I'll tell you what I know about. I know about Antifa, and I know about the radical left, and I know how violent they are.</s>JOHNS: Biden mostly provided long answers, laying out his policy plans and said this about his involvement in a crime bill as a senator.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Was it a mistake to support it?</s>BIDEN: Yes, it was. But here's where the mistake came. The mistake came in terms of what the states did locally.</s>JOHNS: The former VP dodged a question about whether he's looking to expand the Supreme Court in the wake of Senate Republicans' move to rush the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: But don't voters have a right to know where you stand?</s>BIDEN: They do have a right to know where I stand. And they'll have a right to know where I stand before I vote.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: So you'll come out with a clear position before election day?</s>BIDEN: Yes, depending on how they handle this.</s>JOHNS: Trump did little to deny "The New York Times" reporting about his tax returns.</s>GUTHRIE: Are you confirming that, yes, you do owe some $400 million?</s>TRUMP: What I'm saying is that it's a tiny percentage of my net worth. When you look at vast properties like I have. And they're big, and they're beautiful, and they're well-located. When you look at that, the amount of money -- $400 million is a peanut.</s>JOHNS: When asked what a Biden loss would mean for the country, the former vice president said this.</s>BIDEN: Well, it could say that I'm a lousy candidate and I didn't do a good job, but I think, I hope that it doesn't say that we are as racially, ethnically, and religiously at odds with one another as it appears the president wants us to be.</s>JOHNS: The president wakes up today at his Doral resort outside Miami. He's got a couple more campaign stops in Florida. Then it's on to Macon, Georgia, for another rally. The president late in the race continuing to try to shore up support at a time when millions of Americans have already voted -- John.</s>BERMAN: All right. Joe Johns at the White House. Joe, thank you very much for that. Joining us now, CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston. And CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. He's the political anchor of Spectrum News. Friends, look, when a president of the United States praises a group that the FBI says can motivate domestic terror; when a president of the United States throws shade on masks, which all kinds of people say could save 100,000 lives by February, it's hard to step back and take a bigger view than that. It's hard to say there are other headlines. But Maeve, I want you to try. I mean, you -- you wrote an in-depth analysis of these two events last night. And if you were an alien and teleported to earth last night and were able to watch both events at the same time and process what the biggest takeaway was, what would you say?</s>MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it showed voters exactly what they were choosing between in this November election. I mean, you had serious whiplash if you were going back and forth between the two events, but that was largely because, you know, President Trump, every time he gets into one of these settings, it's immediately contentious, because he interrupts. He interjects. He threads his answers with inaccuracies and mistruths. And so it created this really contentious dynamic with Savannah Guthrie, who did a great job of cutting him off, fact checking him in the moment. And -- and so it felt like this high-speed, rapid-fire back and forth in that event, which is the kind of volcanic energy that Trump creates that many voters are so tired of. They're exhausted by those kinds of tactics that he takes. Whereas if you switched over to the Biden event, it really showed you, you know, since in this moment, he wasn't having to deal with, like, the Trump effect of cutting him off, he would pause. He would give, you know, a long and sometimes winding answer. But showed that he was trying to be thoughtful and connect with the questioner. And I think that, you know, some people tuning into that, particularly independents who have been turned off by Trump's style, might say, OK, maybe I'd rather have the next four years look like this than continue listening to, you know, what Trump does on a daily basis, John.</s>CAMEROTA: And Errol, before we get to the medical implications of all of this, if you were an alien just getting out of your spaceship, would you understand what QAnon was and why the president seems to buy their conspiracy theories?</s>ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, if I were an alien, I'd look at both town halls and see them pretty much the way I saw them last night, which -- which is that there's one person who seems to be desperate, kind of throwing these "hail Mary" passes, desperately trying to change the conversation and refusing to answer very direct questions, including around QAnon. The notion that this -- this conspiracy theory, which has been written about, which has been identified as a domestic terrorist threat, that the president of the United States doesn't know anything about it. I mean, this is -- it is shocking. Just as John said. Any other day you'd say, how is it that the president doesn't know about something that his own FBI has identified as a terrorist threat? And so, you know, you've got somebody in the form of President Trump, who doesn't appear to act like an incumbent. He's running, in many ways, against his own government. He's misusing health statistics. He's kind of denouncing or distancing himself from the FBI's findings. He's running against reality to a great extent, because plain facts that are put before him such as, You owe $400 million to somebody, who is that somebody? And he kind of talks all around it. I mean, you know, this -- this is not something that lends a sense of comfort. It was one thing to run as a chaos candidate four years ago, around issues that, frankly, were either not that important, like Hillary's e-mails, or were kind of off in the distance, like, are you going to build a wall? Now we're running against reality. And these are hard realities that are affecting lots of people's lives, like mass unemployment and like mass death. And chaos doesn't appear to work. I mean, it's very jarring to see it on a small screen like that.</s>BERMAN: Playing against mass death. On that note, also with us, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He's a professor of medicine at George Washington University and the cardiologist for former Vice President Dick Cheney. Dr. Reiner, it looks like we caught you, you know, on the way to the O.R. There are models that project that, if all of us wore masks, it could save 100,000 lives by the winter. That's a lot. That's a lot of lives saved. Dr. Fauci's practically begging us to wear masks all the time. Yet the president goes on TV, did it at a rally yesterday -- and I just couldn't believe that he did it in this town hall setting, in this town hall forum, and threw shade at the idea of wearing masks. I actually don't want to play the sound, because it's misleading. It will mislead the American people. Misrepresenting a study, the president did last night. What was your takeaway?</s>DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Disgraceful. You know, the president misrepresented a study to try and suggest that somehow masks don't work or that most of the people who got the virus were wearing masks. He completely misrepresented it. We've known since very early on in this pandemic that this is an airborne virus; that it's incredibly contagious; and that it's lethal. And we've had a recommendation since April 3 that all Americans should wear masks. Yet, this president has consistently undercut it. He -- he told the public that he would not wear a mask in the office. He told the public that he didn't need to wear a mask to protect other people, because he was tested every day. That turns out to be a lie. He prevented the U.S. Postal Service from sending masks to every American, which would have saved, again, tens of thousands of lives. There was a recent story that suggested that the CDC wanted to require masks on all modes of public transit in the United States. The White House blocked -- blocked that. I have no idea why they took the 180-degree wrong side of this issue, but the net result is probably the deaths -- the unneeded death now of maybe 150,000 people and 100,000 people going forward before the end of the year.</s>CAMEROTA: And Dr. Reiner, I just want to stick with you, because we're luckily keeping Maeve and Errol for our next segment, but Chris Christie has had a come-to-Jesus about masks because of his scare with COVID. You know, he was sicker than we knew. We didn't know much about it, other than that he was in the hospital. It turns out he was in the ICU. And now when he came out, here's what he said: "I believe that, when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong. I was wrong to not wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement, and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the president and the rest of the team." I mean, he just couldn't say it any more clearly.</s>REINER: Right. I think he was both humbled by his illness, and a lot of patients are humbled by being in the ICU for seven days. Just being in the ICU for one day -- he was there for seven days, and I'm sure at some point, he wasn't sure which way it was going to go. And he sounded angry also. He sounded angry that he sort of had been deceived about the safety of being at the White House and their -- and their protocol for protecting people there. But I was glad to see his statement. I thought it was -- he did a public service by urging the public to wear masks and to do the right thing. And this is the statement that all of us had hoped the president would have made at any time this year, particularly after his recent illness. Imagine if the president had made that similar statement live, you know, from Walter Reed, urging America to mask up. We'd be on our way to a different place right now. But he's not -- he's not the person to do that. So I was glad to see Governor Christie do that. I think it was the right thing to do.</s>BERMAN: Dr. Reiner, we appreciate you being with us. And I just want to tell people, again, this is happening in the context of more new cases reported in one day than we have seen in two months. It is just crystal-clear. I don't know whether it's a second wave or a third wave, but we are in this new wave of the pandemic right now, where things are getting worse by the day. And this is what you and other doctors have warned us about for so long. So Dr. Reiner, we'll let you get back to work saving lives, and we'll see you again very soon. Errol, Maeve, stick around. We have a lot more to discuss. The high points, the low points, the major news from these town halls, next.</s>CAMEROTA: If you had a hard time switching back and forth last night, flipping channels between both town halls, don't worry. We've got all of the highlights covered for you. And we're back with Maeve Reston and Errol Louis, whose job it was to flip back and forth and analyze. So Maeve, let's talk about the Biden town hall. He's really struggling with this court-packing question, which seems like it should be an easier question than he's making it. He's building in this tease that nobody can quite figure out what the strategy is, but here's this moment.</s>BIDEN: I'm not a fan. I didn't say -- it depends on how this turns out. I'm open to considering what happens from that point on.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, you've said so many times during the campaign, all through the course of your career, it's important to level with the American people.</s>BIDEN: It is. But George, if I -- if I say, no matter what answer I gave you, if I say it, that's the headline tomorrow. It won't be about what's going on now, the improper way they're proceeding.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: But don't voters have a right to know where you stand?</s>BIDEN: They do have a right to know where I stand, and they'll have a right to know where I stand when I they vote.</s>STEPHANOPOULOS: So you'll come out with a clear answer before election day?</s>BIDEN: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: Maeve, I'm so confused. His non-answer is a headline, it turns out.</s>RESTON: Totally.</s>CAMEROTA: So -- so what do we take from that?</s>RESTON: Well, I think it was funny how he -- he actually kind of, like, said his strategy out loud or why he couldn't say it right now, is because he didn't want to basically distract from the other headlines of the night, which would be Trump's response to the pandemic or, you know, wild conspiracy theories. You know, whatever Joe Biden was expecting Trump to do in that. But it was such a dodge. And one that he keeps making, even though in the past, during his career, he said, you know, at various points that he doesn't think that court packing is -- is a good thing to do. But he can't, right now, alienate those voters, you know, on the far left, who are so angry about the Barrett nomination and the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the way this has all been handled. And so he keeps making this dodge. And so I guess it gives him, like, another week or so before he actually has to answer the question. And as we know, you know, some 17 million people have cast their ballots already. So -- but it just came off as dodgy, Alisyn.</s>BERMAN: You know, actually, if he had been giving this answer for the last three weeks, it wouldn't be the predicament it is for the Biden campaign. I think he gave more of an answer last night, which is, it depends on what we see out of the Republicans in the Senate. The new thing last night that complicates things for him is he told the American people that he will give a definitive answer --</s>RESTON: Right.</s>BERMAN: -- before election day. But it was interesting. You're right. It was interesting to see the sort of mental evolution of it all right there. Errol -- and I don't know if we have this sound. Joe Johns played it at the end of his piece. It has to do -- both candidates were asked about what happens if you don't win the election. President Trump gave the same kind of mealy-mouthed answer about the peaceful transfer of power. Ultimately, he sort of half said he would accept it, even though he didn't really. And Joe Biden had a different approach to the idea of what it would mean and how he would handle it if he lost. Listen.</s>BIDEN: Well, you could say that I'm a lousy candidate, and I didn't do a good job. But I think, I hope that it doesn't say that we are as racially, ethnically, and religiously at odds with one another as it appears the president wants us to be.</s>BERMAN: One of the things that was interesting there is that was humility, which is something that we don't see that much in politics, it seems.</s>LOUIS: Well, it's been absent from -- from the White House for the last four years, for sure. Joe Biden often tells little self-deprecating jokes, and he did it in last night's town hall meeting, and he did it a little bit, really, even in that answer. But that larger question, that goes directly to his brand. It also helps explain, by the way, why Joe Biden doesn't necessarily want to throw any kind of radical proposals into the mix when it comes to changing U.S. institutions like the Supreme Court. The Joe Biden brand, his value proposition, his argument to the voters in these closing weeks, is that he wants to bring the country together. That he wants to give us some relief from some of the chaos we've seen over the last four years. And it cuts against that argument to -- to sort of jump out there and say, We're going to do this and we're going to do that. And there was also, by the way, John, a little bit of sadness there, I think. This notion, as he thought about it and tried to process the question, you know, what if this is what the country wants? What if what the country wants is a lot of strange and wrong information coming from their commander in chief, vague and disturbing answers about conspiracy theories and terrorist threats? Unanswered questions about foreign influence in our democracy? I mean, you know, there is something that I think that, you know, you talk to your Democratic friends. A lot of them, I think, in the end, are a little bit scared that, you know what? Maybe this is where we're going. Maybe this is where the country ends up. That's what I heard Joe Biden saying, and of course, he's offering himself as an answer. And if the polls are right, it seems like a lot of Americans do agree with him.</s>BERMAN: You know, it's interesting, though. You had the Biden campaign manager stressing -- stressing yesterday that they think this race is a lot closer than the polls may be showing.</s>CAMEROTA: I look forward to asking Symone Sanders about that later in the program. But I also think that, to Errol's point, that Joe Biden's style, because it can sound halting, and because we're not used to sort of a thoughtful beat, you know, taking a thoughtful few beats of, like, what would that mean for the country. It -- it's -- it was just -- it was interesting on many levels, to hear him -- to hear how he answered that. Errol, Maeve, thank both very much.</s>RESTON: Thank you.</s>LOUIS: Thank you.</s>CAMEROTA: There's nearly 64,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the U.S. overnight. The governor of New Mexico says it's the most serious emergency the state has ever faced. We have an update on the crisis, next.</s>CAMEROTA: Overnight, nearly 64,000 new coronavirus cases were reported. That's the highest total in two months. At least nine states are reporting the most.

President Trump and Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Hold Simultaneously Town Halls; Senior Adviser to Biden Campaign Symone Sanders Interviewed on Joe Biden's Statements on Packing Supreme Court During Town Hall; Chris Christie Promotes Mask Wearing While Recovering from COVID-19; U.S. Reports Nearly 64,000 New Cases, Highest Level in 2 Months.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump sparring in dueling and distant town halls last night. The contrast in tone and substance on key issues like the pandemic was clear if you could switch back and forth and toggle with your remove fast enough. President Trump again spread misleading information, though, about masks.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the mask is on concerned, I'm good with masks. I'm OK with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC HOST: What? They didn't say. I know that study --</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard and that's what I saw.</s>CAMEROTA: That's not accurate. Then Joe Biden offered up what sounded like a rebuttal from 1,000 miles away.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The words of a president matter. No matter whether they are good, bad, or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then people say well, it mustn't be that important.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, it's quite a thing when a president goes on TV and specifically spreads misinformation about masks when wearing masks could save 100,000 lives by February. It's quite a thing when the U.S. is clearly facing this new phase in the coronavirus crisis. You can argue whether it's a second wave or third wave. Either one, it is very danger we've been warning about for a long time. Nearly 64,000 new cases were reported overnight. That's the highest total in two months. At least nine states are reporting the most new cases in one day ever. Seven states are seeing record hospitalizations at this point.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, but let's begin with the presidential town halls last night. And joining us now is Symone Sanders. She's a senior advisor on the Biden campaign. Simone, great to see you.</s>SYMONE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISER TO BIDEN CAMPAIGN: Good to see you. Thank you for having me this morning.</s>CAMEROTA: I literally have written down 15 questions, so forgive me if I try to move to you along, because I have a lot of question about this town hall and the future debate. How do you think your candidate did, one through 10, last night?</s>SANDERS: An 11. He was an 11 last night. I will tell you all, I was watching the ABC town hall because I believe Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States. But I did toggle back and forth on commercial break to President Trump's town hall. And what I saw from President Trump was him being combative, with him deflecting, more lies. You talked about in an opening package to this segment about his misleading and straight up lie about masks. And what I saw from Joe Biden was the polar opposite. He answered every single person's question. And after every question he answered -- did I answer your question OK? And then when the town hall ended, Joe Biden stayed for another 30 minutes answering questions from folks in the audience.</s>CAMEROTA: I did hear that. I just want to get to that in a second --</s>SANDERS: This is the kind of president that the American people deserve.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, but in terms of answering questions in a fulsome and straightforward way, there was still the confusion around whether or not he would support adding justices to the Supreme Court. And what he said last night was different than what we have heard before. He basically said, it depends on what happens with the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett. So if she's confirmed, as it appears she will be, then is he for adding justices?</s>SANDERS: Well Alisyn, I actually didn't hear anything new from Joe Biden last night. Let me tell you why. From the onset of Republicans deciding they were going to rush the nomination of this justice, even though we are in the middle of people voting, Joe Biden has been very clear that the American people deserve to be heard that, that the American people, frankly, believe that we should fill that seat in the White House before we fill the seat on the Supreme Court and so --</s>CAMEROTA: What does that mean about adding justices.</s>SANDERS: Well, I'll tell you. This process is under way, as he noted. And he is a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That is the committee of which this nominating process happens through. Senator Harris also sits on that committee. And she said on CNN last night with Don lemon that she's seen this process up close and personal. She knows that you want to talk about packing the court. It is the Republicans that have packed the court the --</s>CAMEROTA: Again --</s>SANDERS: It's very clear that it's a distraction to answer this question.</s>CAMEROTA: I know you all think it's a distraction, but, first of all, he said he is going to answer it before Election Day. So last night he said he will answer it before Election Day. So when? And what is his answer?</s>SANDERS: Well, again, I want folks to be clear at home. It's not as though Joe Biden has made up his mind and he's holding his answer for the American people. He is watching this nominating process play out like millions of people across this country. He's looking at what Republicans not just have done during these last couple of weeks, but the pattern that they have engaged in over the last couple of years. Out of the 50 lifetime appointments on the federal bench that they have appointed, not one was African-American. And so there is -- and Senator Harris has said this so clearly, that Republicans have packed this court. That this system is broken --</s>CAMEROTA: I know, and I hear you, Symone. I know that you guys have been saying the same thing, but I just thought that last night he sounded like he was going to give a definitive answer at certain date. I was just wondering if just in a couple of words, if you can tell us when that would be.</s>SANDERS: Well, I have no new news to break for you, Alisyn. But I can tell you that from our perspective and a number of the people that I know were watching, they didn't hear anything new from Joe Biden. What they did hear is his recommitment that people of country should be heard. That people are voting right now, 20 million people have cast their ballots already in this election, and those are the folks we're focused on.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, I want to ask you about another moment in the debate last night where this young black man stood up to basically ask former Vice President Biden how he plans to protect young black voters. And we have condensed some of his answer for time because his answer was six minutes and 30 seconds. So here is a truncated portion.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beside "you ain't black," what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Am I worthy of you vote, can I earn your vote? And the answer is there's two things I think that I care and I've demonstrated I care about my whole career. One is in addition to dealing with the criminal justice system to make it fair and make it more decent, we have to be able to put black Americans in a position to be able to gain wealth, generate wealth.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear what you needed to hear?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so.</s>BIDEN: Well there is a lot more if you are going hang around afterwards, I'll tell you more.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.</s>CAMEROTA: That wasn't a rousing yes, I got the answer. Were you personally satisfied with how Joe Biden answered that last night?</s>SANDERS: I was. And you noted that his answer was more than six minutes. And I think that that is a stark contrast from what folks saw from Donald Trump last night. Look, Joe Biden cares about the issues that are most pressing for the American people. And the answer that he gave to that young black man was, went in depth about his plans to close the racial wealth gap and to build wealth and economic equity, racial economic equity, if you will, in the African-American community. And to be clear, Joe Biden has long since said that that if we are only talking and addressing criminal justice reform, police reform in this country, we're only addressing part of the issue, because the economic situation of black and brown people in this country, people of color in this country, is key to really getting to the root of these systemic issues in this country. And so Joe Biden understands that. He spoke at length about it last night. And maybe -- I'm pretty sure that in the 30 minutes that Joe Biden stayed extra at the town hall, he really went to that young man and tried to answer any other questions that he had.</s>CAMEROTA: That is thorough. Symone, I want to ask you about concerns other Vice President Biden's health given the coronavirus outbreak. And so now, Kamala Harris is off the campaign trail this weekend because there have been people in her orbit that have tested positive, and there was somebody on Vice President Biden's plane, a staff member for the charter company, that has tested positive, but Biden says he didn't come within 50 feet of that person. So are you making adjustments in order to keep him safe?</s>SANDERS: Well Alisyn, I'm so glad you asked about this, because from the onset of this pandemic, we have been taking real precautions, and frankly, we've been taking this virus seriously. President Trump has mocked, his campaign how mocked Vice President Biden for not only wearing a mask, but the makeup of his events, the social distancing, the fact that we are not holding rallies. Why? Because we not just want to keep Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris safe, we want to keep the American people, the voters, the technicians who will be doing the events, safe. And so we were very transparent very quickly yesterday about what was happening in our campaign because that means the system that we've set up is working. We have been exceedingly cautious, and because we have been exceedingly cautious, because we have taken this very seriously and have set up systems within our campaign, we can quickly come forward to the American people and let everyone know what's going on. I'm here to tell you that Joe Biden is healthy. Senator Harris is healthy. She is only off the campaign trail out of an abundance of caution. Neither of them have a positive test, and we are we releasing their tests regularly at this point.</s>CAMEROTA: Symone, I only have three seconds left. I just want to, what are the odds that an actual in-person debate is happening next week with the two candidates?</s>SANDERS: I think they are high. Look, we're going to -- Joe Biden intends to show up to the debate if there will be one. It is up to the Cleveland Clinic and the Commission on Presidential Debates to let us know what is going on. We're going to abide to the guidelines to the guidelines that they set out. And it is on the Cleveland Clinic, Alisyn, to ensure that the safety precautions are being adhered to. So we expect them to do their jobs, and Joe Biden is going to do his.</s>CAMEROTA: Symone Sanders, thank you. Great to see you this morning.</s>SANDERS: Thank you.</s>CAMEROTA: We'll talk soon. John?</s>BERMAN: All right, the other town hall from the president of the United States. Let's go right to the White House. CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins is there. Actually, before we get to the president exactly himself, we have a bit of new information coming in this morning. Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, who spent a week in the ICU fighting COVID-19 speaking for the first time this morning with a message that is just such a stark difference than that of the president of the United States. Chris Christie was at the super spreader event for Amy Coney Barrett. He was in the debate prep sessions where many people, we now know, have become sick. This is what Chris Christie says this morning, Kaitlan.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: We need to be telling people that there is no downside to you wearing masks. Leaders all across the politics, sports, the media should be saying to people, put your masks on and be safe until we get a vaccination. I let my guard down. I made a mistake. I was wrong, and I'm fortunate to be sitting here this morning in good health.</s>BERMAN: We need to be telling people there is no downside to wearing masks. Put your masks on. Kaitlan, such a start difference, before I get to you, than what we heard from the president of the United States, who is spreading misinformation in his town hall. Listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the mask is concerned, I'm good with masks. I'm OK with masks. I tell people wear masks. But just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC HOST: What? They didn't say that. I know that study.</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard, and that's what I saw.</s>BERMAN: What the president said is not true, it is not even close to true. It is incredibly misleading and dangerous. And Kaitlan, such a stark difference than what we heard from Chris Christie as he emerged from the</s>ICU. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Just to be clear, the CDC never said that 85 percent of people who wear a mask get coronavirus. That study was about how people who dine in restaurants actually were more likely to get coronavirus. But putting that aside, it is so stark of a contrast to see the difference in the president's response and Chris Christie's response to getting coronavirus. And not just even the two of them, but Chris Christie, I believe, is the only person to have come out of the debate prep sessions and that Rose Garden ceremony where so many people are now linked to have gotten COVID-19 to come out and say, you know what, that was messed up, and what should have happened did not happen there. And Chris Christie talks about being lulled into this false sense of security by believing everybody in the front three rows of that event was tested, that he was OK. And we saw in the aftermath of that even how everyone was shaking hand, hugging, speaking freely with no masks on. And now he's coming out and saying how wrong that was. And that is not something you have heard from the president. He has not struck an apologetic tone about hosting these events, about having people around, about the president himself being part of the reason a lot of people in the West Wing were not wearing masks because people said they felt uncomfortable going into a meeting being the only person there wearing a mask. And so you just see how different their tones are coming out of this. And Chris Christie -- yes.</s>BERMAN: I'm just going say Kaitlan, we're in closing argument stage. We have about two weeks left to vote, and the president is choosing his closing argument to be, to throw shade on masks, which scientists say could save 100,000 lives. Again, we're in the closing argument stage. Another aspect of that is this in this town hall last night. The FBI says QAnon is a group that, quote, very likely motivates some domestic extremists to commit criminal, sometimes violent activity. That's a bad thing when the FBI says that about you. If the president of the United States went out of his way to misrepresent some kind of thing in his head which thinks that QAnon is a good thing. Listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What they're doing --</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC HOST: While we're denouncing, let me ask you about QAnon. It is this theory that Democrats are a satanic pedophile ring and that you are the savior of that. Now, can you just once and for all state that that is completely not true and disavow QAnon in its entirety?</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>GUTHRIE: They believe it is a satanic cult run by the --</s>TRUMP: I'll tell you what I do know about. I do know about Antifa, and I know about the radical left, and I know how violent they are and how vicious they are. And I know how they're burning down cities run by Democrats, not run Republicans.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, QAnon is nuts, and real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories. Why not just say it's crazy and not true?</s>TRUMP: He may be right. Can I be honest? He may be right. I just don't know about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: You do know.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- White House insiders about why the president chooses to find things to like about QAnon?</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president traffics in conspiracies, and he always as. It is how he got his start as the politician by pushing the false birther conspiracy about Barack Obama. He's continued to do it throughout his entire presidency. It's not a shock to anyone inside the White House. And it's not just QAnon. It's not just these other things he's talking about. He's also pushing conspiracy theory about to be death of Osama bin Laden, and, you know, the people, marines who served this country, and there -- excuse me, Navy SEALs. And just the president talking about this, pushing conspiracy theories, when confronted and told they are not correct and yet he tries to pretend like he doesn't know about them but he says one core tenet of it. It is just who the president is. It's who he's been. And aides don't -- they are not surprised by this. They don't think it is going to change because this is something the president has pushed since he got his political start.</s>BERMAN: The FBI says very likely motivated some domestic extremist to commit criminal, sometimes violent activity. Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thank you. More than 63,000 new coronavirus cases reported yesterday. More patients filling the hospital. What's coming next?

Trump to Campaign in Wisconsin; Mother and Daughter Share Political Views.

CAMEROTA: President Trump took questions from voters at a town hall in Miami last night, including questions from a mother and daughter who have very different feelings about the president. Here's the mom asking about the economy.</s>DR. BARBARA PENA, QUESTIONED PRESIDENT TRUMP AT TOWN HALL: How are you going to get the United States back on track, both in terms of the economy and the pandemic?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So it's happening. We just set a record, 11.4 million jobs. We are going to have a phenomenal third quarter, which will be announced on November 1st, just prior to the big November 3rd day, where I think you're going to see a red wave.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, so that was Dr. Barbara Pena. She voted for President Trump in 2016 and plans, I believe, to vote for him again, and her daughter, Isabelle Pena, who plans to vote for Joe Biden. And they join us now. Ladies, great to see you.</s>DR. BARBARA PENA, QUESTIONED PRESIDENT TRUMP AT TOWN HALL: Hi. Nice to see you.</s>ISA PENA, QUESTIONED PRESIDENT TRUMP AT TOWN HALL: Hi, thanks so much for having us.</s>CAMEROTA: Thanks for being here. OK, so, Dr. Pena, first to you, did he answer -- did -- what did you think of President Trump's answer to your question about the economy?</s>B. PENA: I think he answered it pretty well. He, you know, he said what he was going to do if he was re-elected for the next four years, and he spoke about different options that he would have for the future. So I was happy with his answer.</s>CAMEROTA: It sounded like he was telling you that come November 1st, which is in, you know, less than two weeks, that everything's going to be phenomenal. Do you believe that?</s>B. PENA: Um, every day has a potential to be phenomenal, but, I mean, I don't know if you can really put a date to when something is going to be phenomenal.</s>CAMEROTA: I mean, I hear you. Obviously I like your optimism, any day is possible to be phenomenal. But you were asking is it going to -- you know, when are things going to get better and he had a shorter timeline than I've heard economists say.</s>B. PENA: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: So where were you on that answer?</s>B. PENA: I mean I think once we're able to -- once both sides of the aisle are able to agree on a stimulus package, I think that will start help -- start helping the economy 100 percent. So I think that's what needs to be focused on right now, personally, but we'll see. We'll see what the future holds. Do I think, you know, we need to say November 1st? No. But I think hopefully sometime in the near future we can have this stimulus package passed.</s>CAMEROTA: OK. Isa, let's watch your question to President Trump and his answer.</s>ISA PENA, QUESTIONED PRESIDENT TRUMP AT TOWN HALL: After contracting COVID-19 yourself, has your opinion changed on the importance of mask wearing?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, because I was OK with the mask. I was good with it. But I've heard many different stories on masks. I mean I had -- you know, being president, you have people -- they bring meals, they bring this, they -- and I had an instance recently where a very wonderful person is bringing me a meal and he's playing with his mask and he's touching his mask all over the place.</s>CAMEROTA: Isa, what did you think of his answer?</s>I. PENA: Well, OK, if you're asking me if he answered my question, I guess he did. It's not the answer I wanted to hear. You know, I think science has really proven that masks do help slow the spread of COVID and I think, you know, if every American was wearing a mask, we would save some lives. And saving some lives to me is more important than just, you know, not wearing a mask. I don't think it's detrimental to anyone to wear a mask, you know? Like I just think I would like a president to tell us that, oh, wearing masks can help save American lives. Like, I just -- it's such a simple thing in my head that just him endorsing them would mean a lot.</s>CAMEROTA: Dr. Pena, you're a doctor. Do you like President Trump's policy or what he's modeling in terms of mask?</s>B. PENA: Look, I believe in science. I'm a research director as well, so I believe in data and science. I know masks work. I think he -- his policy on masks should be, wear a mask. And he even said, he goes I -- you know, wear a mask if you want to wear a mask, but maybe he should just say wear a mask without the ending part.</s>CAMEROTA: So that leads me to, did -- did what you hear -- anything you heard, any answer that he gave, change your mind or change your vote, Dr. Pena?</s>B. PENA: I'm a registered independent, so I, you know, I voted for Obama two elections ago. I voted for Trump last time. I -- you know, I make up my mind when I go into the voting booth, honestly. So I look at the -- I look at the people, not the party. And so far I am leaning towards Trump. You know, there's one more debate. There's -- things can change between now and November. So we'll see.</s>CAMEROTA: Things change every day as far as I can tell in this -- in this election cycle, or things happen I guess I should say every day. But, I mean, I just want to drill down on that for one more second with you, Dr. Pena, because you're a doctor, because you're research- based and science-based, you know, are you comfortable with the fact that he rarely wears a mask and that he seems so all over the map in terms of being able to say just what you said, it would have been better to say, wear a mask, but he can't do that?</s>B. PENA: Right. I mean, you know, he's -- he's, you know, weighing personal liberties. I -- I get that. I get the fact that, you know, the states are the ones that have to mandate and it can't be coming from the federal government. Yes, I -- again, I would be more comfortable -- I think the spread could have been stopped earlier if everybody, one, were told to wear a mask state by state.</s>CAMEROTA: Isa, did you hear anything last night that changed your feelings?</s>I. PENA: I don't think they changed any feelings. They definitely just strengthened my pre-existing feelings. A lot of answers were very deflective. Trump was kind of blaming the Democrats, blaming Pelosi, blaming the radical left and all of that whenever he was faced with, you know, a question that he didn't want to answer. And I'm looking for someone, as president, who will reunify the American people because I'm seeing a lot of, you know, polarization, and I think -- I think that just further showed me, being at the town hall further just like showed me how much, you know, division he's creating.</s>CAMEROTA: Well, Dr. Pena, Isa, it looks like you two are unified, I mean, physically, and we appreciate that you guys went to the debate together, the town hall together, and that you're here with us. Thank you very much. We really appreciate getting your thoughts.</s>B. PENA: Thank you.</s>I. PENA: Thank you.</s>B. PENA: Thank you so much.</s>I. PENA: Thanks.</s>CAMEROTA: CNN's coverage continues right after this.

GOP Senator Ben Sasse Unloads on President Trump in Campaign Call; CNN: More Than 17 Million Americans have Already Voted.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, this is sort of remarkable. We are hearing it out loud. We've heard whispers about this, you hear people say these are the types of discussions that are happening. This was out loud from a Republican Senator Ben Sasse, blasting President Trump. It was in a phone call that was leaked with a lot of constituents.</s>SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): The way he kisses dictators' butts. I mean, the way he ignores that the Uyghurs are in literal concentration camps in Xinjiang right now. He hasn't lifted a finger on behalf of the Hong Kongers. The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership. The way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor, the ways I criticized President Obama for that kind of spending, I criticized President Trump for as well. He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He's flirted with white supremacists.</s>BERMAN: And that wasn't even all of it. Joining us now, CNN political commentators, Bakari Sellers and Scott Jennings. Scott, this was Senator Ben Sasse, who's up for re-election, by the way, of Nebraska. This was not a phone call to three people that I think he never wanted to go public. Allegedly, the campaign says there were some 17,000 people on this call. So, clearly, he's OK with a lot of people knowing these feelings. And the gist of what he was saying, Scott, was, he was warning Republicans that he thinks they are in danger of losing the Senate largely because of President Trump. How common now is this feeling as we're nearly, you know, two weeks left to go in voting. How common is this feeling among Republicans connected to the Senate?</s>SCOTT JENNINGS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, I think that there is a view that in a lot of these close Senate races where you've got an extremely tight race for the U.S. Senate, if Trump is not winning that state that, yes, I mean, he's making it difficult to communicate with certain kinds of voters. And those are the kinds of voters that Ben Sasse, I think really closely identifies with, right? It's the kinds of suburban, you know, upper income, college-educated moderate to center-right-moderate-type voters, that's a Ben Sasse kind of a voter, and those are the ones who went away from the Republicans in the mid-term, and that Republicans are trying to get back, but they don't -- they don't have a lot of love for Donald Trump. So I think for Ben Sasse, I mean, it couldn't be two more different kinds of Republicans than Ben Sasse and Donald Trump. And they do agree on some issues. But he pretty concisely laid out the push-and- pull and the tension within the party, between the people who prefer the more pugilistic style of Donald Trump and people who prefer, you know, sort of the more classical conservatism of a Ben Sasse.</s>BERMAN: It was pretty remarkable to hear that said out loud, to hear that tape, you've got to admit, Scott, yes?</s>JENNINGS: It is remarkable. By the way, it's not uncommon for U.S. senators. A lot of politicians use these things called tele-town halls, so they dial out to tens of thousands of people, and then it's really remarkable, you can get thousands of people on the telephone. In fact, you could speak to more people on one of these kinds of calls, and you'd speak it if you threw a campaign rally in the middle of your hometown. So, these are some of the largest audiences that politicians get. It's really on these tele-town halls. So, it does make it pretty remarkable that he said those things to that many folks because that's probably the biggest crowd he's going to talk to during the election.</s>BERMAN: Let me put -- especially Nebraska, right? Let me play a little bit more, Bakari.</s>SASSE: If young people become permanent Democrats because they've just been repulsed by the obsessive nature of our politics, or if women who were willing to still vote with the Republican Party on 2016 decide that they need to turn away from this party permanently in the future, the debate is not going to be -- you know, Ben Sasse, why were you so mean to Donald Trump? It's going to be, what the heck were any of us thinking that selling a TV-obsessed narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea? It is not a good idea.</s>BERMAN: Just to be clear, Bakari, this guy is not in your party, right? This guy is in the other party. But he sounds not unlike what former President Barack Obama was saying the other day to "Pod Save America", that the Republican Party might have a reckoning in about two and a half weeks. Your major takeaway, Bakari?</s>BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, I agree with Ben Sasse. I know that's not a stretch and I'm going to push back on your framing that this was leaked. I mean, anytime you speak to 17,000 people, that's not -- it doesn't get leaked. I mean, you want people to hear this, more so to Scott's point. But look, this is Ben Sasse having a moment of honesty. And this is what many of us have been trying to get our friends on the right to recognize, or even if they recognize it, to have the audacity and the fortitude to say it aloud. Ben Sasse finally said aloud what everyone outside of probably Tom Cotton has been thinking. I mean, you have people who parade around as if Donald Trump is the best thing since manna for the Republican Party or this country. And he simply is not -- you take away the policy prescriptions which are truly anti-conservative, there's nothing really Republican about Donald Trump's policy prescriptions outside of the conservative jurists that he appoints to the court. But his spending, the debt, those type of things are out of control. And then we -- Donald Trump has done something in 2020, which, you know, is pretty remarkable. Character no longer matters in elected officials. I mean, you can't have someone who was grabbing women by the you-know-what and, you know, and speaks with that tone and debases the White House and then want to run on character. That is -- you know where that's playing out most in a Senate race? In North Carolina. Cal Cunningham(ph) would be losing any other race but in Donald Trump's America. So, Republicans are going to have a reckoning. They made their bed, and so now they have to sleep in it.</s>BERMAN: Can I -- I want to play one bit of sound from last night's town hall. This is Joe Biden who answered a pretty tough question from an African-American voter, and I want both of yours, like ten seconds take on it. So listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Besides you ain't black, what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?</s>JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2020: Well, I'd say, first of all, as my buddy John Lewis said, it's a sacred opportunity, the right to vote, you can make a difference. If young black women and men vote, you can determine the outcome of this election. Not a joke. You can do that. And the next question is, am I worthy of your vote? Can I earn your vote? And the answer is there are two things that I think I care, and I've demonstrated that I care about my whole career. One is in addition to dealing with the criminal justice system to make it fair and make it more decent, we have to be able to put black Americans in a position they'll be able to gain wealth, generate wealth.</s>BERMAN: And the vice president went on for five minutes after that in that answer. Again, we don't have much time left, so Bakari, in 15 seconds or less, just focusing on former Vice President Joe Biden, how do you think he performed last night?</s>SELLERS: Very well. And let me tell you why that answer was good. The answer was brilliant because for a long period of time, my colleagues, peers, young black Americans are sick and tired of people saying, oh, my God, we have a plan for African-Americans and it only stems around criminal justice reform. You know, wealth and accumulating wealth, things that African- Americans have not been able to attain in this country for a very long period of time is something we've been trying to get Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and anybody who will listen to focus on. So, that's why I'm glad he started with that. And actually, let me just complement on national TV that young man for having the audacity to frame a question and ask a question that was so heartfelt and framed correctly. So the president was challenged, forced to answer, and he rose to the occasion.</s>BERMAN: Scott, ten seconds.</s>JENNINGS: Yes, I think a lot of Republicans would argue that Joe Biden has been taking African-American voters for granted for years. He's got a terrible record, and if you're looking for a better economy, Donald Trump built an economy that works for African- Americans and Hispanics and other minority groups, and Joe Biden never did that in his 47 years in office, that would be the retort.</s>BERMAN: OK, Scott, Bakari, thank you both for being with us, appreciate it.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, John, more than 17 million Americans have already cast their ballots. We saw long lines yesterday in North Carolina for the first day of early voting there. State election officials say more than 272,000 votes were cast in North Carolina yesterday. That is the -- you know, just the first day of early voting. That far surpasses what we saw in 2016. Two more states begin early voting today. And CNN's Kristen Holmes is live with more -- wow. I mean, we just continue to see this flood of voters to the polls.</s>KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alisyn. I mean, these numbers are extraordinary. And I'm talking to election officials across the country who say they've never seen anything like this. So, let's get right into the numbers, particularly in these battleground states. Take a look at Georgia here. More than 918 ballots have already been cast. Not a huge surprise. We saw those enormous lines, and in fact, in some areas, they're now posting the wait time online so that people can check before they show up. In Wisconsin, you see it's been more than 592,000. Michigan, more than 1.1 million ballots. And then North Carolina, as you mentioned, more than 826,000 ballots cast total, and Florida, already over 2 million ballots cast. Now, in the last two states, the Democrats are leading in pre-election voting, but as we know, this is not indicative of who is going to win. Republicans are more likely to show up on election day. And Alisyn and John, I want to show you these videos of the lines in North Carolina. We have reporters on the ground in every state, with early voting, who are talking to these voters, asking, why are you waiting for hours? And part of it is certainly enthusiasm. But the other part of it is that they don't trust the postal system. They don't trust mail-in voting. So, it gives you an idea that some of this rhetoric against mail-in voting is actually been successful. So let's take a look at what is next. You mentioned that Louisiana and Washington will begin their early voting today. We also have Massachusetts and Nevada, obviously a key swing state beginning tomorrow. But one thing that's not on this calendar, we cannot stress this enough to our viewers, is that next week, for millions of Americans, in multiple states, will be the deadline to request an absentee or mail-in ballot. They need to be paying attention. If that is how they want to vote, that is exactly what they need to do to meet that deadline.</s>CAMEROTA: Kristen, thank you very much. OK, so are you actually immune after being sick with coronavirus? And why do doctors think the strategy of herd immunity is so dangerous? Dr. Sanjay Gupta sorts out facts from fiction, next.

Trump and Biden Spar in Dueling Distant Town Halls

CAMEROTA: Two networks. Two presidential town halls. "</s>NBC" -- BERMAN: Like cabaret. Like two ladies, just one man. That's one of the great songs in cabaret. Is that where you're going? Where you're going with this?</s>CAMEROTA: Yes, that's where I'm going with this --</s>BERMAN: OK, sorry --</s>CAMEROTA: Exactly. You read my mind. You finished my sentences. "NBC" was taking heat for scheduling the one with President Trump at the very same time as "ABC's" town hall with Joe Biden. But then, the president faced a lot of tough questions from Savannah Guthrie, so did that vindicate them? Joining us now is CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES". Brian, Savannah Guthrie did what no moderator as far as we can tell to this point or host has been able to do with President Trump, and that is get him to answer some questions. Stick wit. Be as persistent as it takes until he answers some questions. Your thoughts?</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's why -- it's because he rarely ventures off the "Fox" reservation. He frequently just stays within those safe spaces, calls into his friends radio shows and TV shows. It's rare to see him on a network like "NBC" which he constantly deride. Think about the last four years. This president has never given an interview to CNN. That is astonishing. That is outrageous. Trump rarely goes on "NBC". So this opportunity for a town hall did double as an opportunity for an interview by Savannah Guthrie. And I think it will probably be the last real substantive interview that this president does before election day. Because when he is questioned, he doesn't have very straight answers. We -- you were talking earlier about his answers or lack of answers about his lack of -- his testing of coronavirus, his outrageous answers about QAnon, downright dangerous. You know, he struggles in these environments where he actually is questioned, but kudos to Savannah Guthrie for asking those quick questions, those quick follow- up she poked, she prodded, she did her job as a journalist. And you know, in some ways she did what every journalist in this country has been wanting to do with Trump for a long time.</s>BERMAN: Look, we don't have the ratings yet, so we don't know which town hall got more viewers, and I'm not even sure that will tell us overly much because it isn't totally clear that if you watched one, it made you more likely to vote for a certain candidate --</s>STELTER: Right --</s>BERMAN: But really, the important question here, Brian, is what do the viewers get from this? What did the viewers take away from this hour and a half of television last night? And perhaps what would have been different had there been a debate.</s>STELTER: I think it was a very visible reminder that Trump walked away from the debate. And that really is a shame. And I'm glad it's not getting lost in all the coverage this morning. You know, this was a poor substitute for having a real debate. But part of the blame for a lack of a debate is on the Debate Commission. And part of the blame is on Trump of course for walking away last week. But part of the blame is on the commission for having botched this entire season of presidential debates. Now, there is one more, next Thursday, hopefully, it will go off without a hitch. But it's been a really rough season for the commission. And I think this dueling town hall format, this split-screen, all of this attention about the candidates talking past each other, it remind us about why we actually do need real debates in this country.</s>CAMEROTA: But why? Brian, I mean, the first one is not like people got substantive answers. There was -- you know, as you know, President Trump interrupted a lot, Joe Biden called President Trump names. I mean, why do you think this was -- why do you think a town hall is a poor substitute for that.</s>STELTER: Well, certainly there were some helpful answers. There are useful exchanges at these town halls. I don't mean to totally diminish them. I thought "ABC's" town hall with Trump last month was also useful, and Biden's town hall on "NBC" last week, these are useful. But you know, there is a reason why -- there is a tradition in this country of having real debates in the Fall for the last 40, 50-plus years. And in fact, that Trump walked away and the commission made it so easy for him to walk away. I just think it speaks to what's broken about this debate model. This commission also chose Steve Scully of "C-Span" who yesterday admitted to lying, and now he's been suspended by "C-Span". Now, you can look at that and say, hey, it's great to see someone being held accountable for fessing up to wrongdoing. We don't see that often in politics, at least, in the media, we do. Scully had tweeted Anthony Scaramucci, then he lied and said he was hacked, and finally, a week later, Scully admitted, actually no, it was his tweet all along and he's apologizing now. But you know, that was going to be the moderator for this debate. I just think it points to the structural problems with the Debate Commission and perhaps in 2024, it's time for a redo, it's time for a make-over of this process to get the candidates involved, to make sure they're willing to debate and then actually talk to each other and not pass each other on separate channels.</s>BERMAN: Yes, just to be assertive. The Debate Commission just needs to step up and be assertive about things and make decisions. That would be I think a big change. Brian Stelter, thanks so much for being with us --</s>STELTER: Thanks.</s>BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No second presidential debate, instead dueling town halls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The voters did not get a lot of straight answers from President Trump.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS: Did you take a test on the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: Probably did.</s>BIDEN: It's just decency to be able to determine whether or not you are clear.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nearly 60,000 new COVID-19 infections across America yesterday --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we enter the cooler season of the Fall, you don't want to be in that compromised position.

European Stocks Bounce Back to End Week on Strong Note; Man Found Decapitated in Parisian Suburb, Police Kill Attacker; French Anti-Terror Officials Investigating Decapitation

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS HOST: It is Friday, the end of the week and the last trading day. Sixty minutes of trading still to go and the market is ebullient and strong. It has been up all day. Interestingly, think about the COVID crisis. Think about the two debates last night or the two Town Halls last night. What are investors seeing there? We'll talk about it over the course of this hour. The day has been busy. This is what's happened. A gruesome attack in Paris hours before coronavirus curfew comes in. We will be in the French capital very shortly. The W.H.O. - World Health Organization says national lockdowns are a last resort as European cases explode. And Vice President -- former Vice President Joe Biden scores an upset victory over Donald Trump in the U.S. TV ratings. Live from New York. It is Friday. It's October the 16th. I'm Richard Quest and of course, I mean business. Good evening. We begin tonight with a historic event taking place in Paris where the coronavirus curfew is about to kick in. Now, it starts at midnight, but of course from tomorrow, that curfew will begin even earlier. Ten French cities in France at the moment are all imposing nighttime lockdowns. It comes amid unprecedented surges. France has recorded more than 30,000 daily cases for the first time since the pandemic began. The World Health Organization is warning of an exponential rise across the continent. France, U.K. and Russia are amongst the hardest hit. And by January, the European death toll could be five times its April peaks as the W.H.O. The Europe Director is very worried and says national lockdowns are a last resort.</s>DR. HANS KLUGE, W.H.O. REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE: In March, the lockdown was a default option because everyone was caught off guard. Now, we know much better, and in that sense, what I am calling for is for what they call targeted proportionate measures, escalating, engaging the communities where we have to look both at the direct impact of COVID. And in March, we only looked at the direct impact of COVID. Now, we get wiser. We have to look at what they call the collateral damage, the social issue and economically.</s>QUEST: The issue of COVID, the wide and then narrow effects. Well, the markets have had their own frolic of their own. If you look at how markets have traded in Europe, all things considered, a strong performance by one and a half, one and three quarters, two percent. The bouncing back from Thursday lows, the auto stocks were performing the best for what to do in terms of the livelihoods. The former E.C.B. President John-Claude Trichet says and warns governments not to waste money as they are pouring billions if not trillions into economies in a wide variety of different plans. The former president of the E.C.B. is warning that one major risk is that the money being spent won't be targeted. It will be propping up jobs that no longer should exist. It will be trying to get back to where we were when the entire economic situation is completely different.</s>JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE E.C.B.: This is really a health problem, and we have to solve the health problem as soon as possible for all, and this is of course a global issue of first magnitude. How to have the vaccine in all countries that are all badly need of getting out of this terrible mess.</s>QUEST: Handling the economic side, obviously the Central Bank seems to be particularly, has put out a plethora, I mean, an entire smorgasbord of various plans, programs, essentially buying anything and almost everything, but governments have done a lot, but the argument is they still need to do more. Where do you think? What do you think?</s>TRICHET: I think that if you take government's whole taken into account, they have been extraordinarily bold and extraordinarily sweet in their response. So I would -- I would say that we have to congratulate her. But then also knowing that in any case, of course, and this money, which is gigantic, should not be wasted. And that's one of the problem. When you are opening up all the coffers to that extent, you have a risk of wasting money. So my message would be not waste the money which is appropriate, which is necessary. But again, don't take advantage of the fact that it looks like there is no limit to the spending.</s>QUEST: When you say wasting money, do you see signs of wastage?</s>TRICHET: I think it's a big risk, because it looks like neither in the U.S. nor in Europe, nor in all advanced economies, there is an image for public spending, we know that there are limits, we know that at the time, we'll have to pay for that. So it is appropriate to be up to the challenge today, but let's be very cautious not having to our children or grandchildren to pay for, I would say unnecessary measures that would be spent, we will have to reallocate resources when time comes. And if we concentrate only on maintaining entities, enterprises, entities, and activities that will not be needed after the pandemic, then we are probably doing a bad job because we will have to facilitate the transition to facilitate the reallocation of resources.</s>QUEST: At what point does reality strike the markets do you think in the sense that, you know, earnings are going to suffer because it may be a partially V-shape, but it looks more like a K or a U, at some point, the reality is going to dawn that Central Banks can't continue to offer this free money, all of this cheap money, and that companies aren't going to do as well or maybe I'm wrong.</s>TRICHET: No, you're right. Of course, this is a transitory period. It cannot go forever. If it went forever, it would only mean that the situation is dramatic forever, and that is unthinkable. So at the time, things will go better. I mean, go better in the real economy, progressively. Of course, all the way and progressively. And of course, that will not call for the Central Banks to continue to be as extraordinarily accommodating as they are today. So I am expecting, you know, progressive, more orderly situation in the heat economy side, and of course, we saw that already. We said that already. The health issue is absolutely key and commands everything, and then at the very moment where the situation goes better, the Central Bank will not be called to continue to be as extraordinarily accommodating. Of course, at a time or a reality, we come in the market and is the reason why, if I have a message, it would be continue to be very cautious and prudent on the market because we knew that the present situation is largely artificial.</s>QUEST: CNN Breaking News to bring to your attention. An attack Paris a couple of hours ago that left -- that has left one person decapitated and the police shooting dead the assailant. Our correspondent, Jim Bittermann is in Paris. We spoke an hour or so ago when facts was sort of rather few and far between. But we now know quite a bit more about the person who was attacked and the circumstances or at least the assailant. What do we know?</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, we're getting details very slowly, and one of the reasons I believe is because the President of France, Emmanuel Macron is on his way to the scene right now. I suspect that once he gets there, there'll be more a release of information. But in any case, it has now been confirmed that the victim was a teacher at a secondary school, which is very nearby the border of these two towns, about 45 minutes or so to the northwest of Paris, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and Eragny-sur-Oise. These two towns are kind of sister counties. In any case, the teacher was a teacher in a school in one town. The assailant was shot dead by police when they refuse to give up a knife, just a short distance away in the neighboring town of Eragny. In any case, the President is on his way. They are along with force other Ministers and the Prime Minister. We understand one of the ministers with him is the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, and just a few minutes ago, he tweeted this, he said, "Tonight, the Republic is attacked with a despicable assassination of one of its servants, a professor. I think of him and his family. Our unity and steadfastness are the only answers to the monstrosity of Islamic terrorism." So he has identified this specifically as Islamic terrorism, the Education Minister -- Richard.</s>QUEST: Right, and this is from other accounts that I'm seeing and correct me if I'm wrong or if it is not confirmed. This might have to do with the Charlie Hebdo, the various the drawings and the cartoons of "The Prophet," and which some say -- I mean, do we know that there is a linkage between that and this attack?</s>BITTERMANN: We don't know. It hasn't been confirmed. But that's a great suspicion here. It was just last month that there was a very similar kind of attack outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo here in Paris. Two people were critically injured in that attack and two other slightly injured, and it was a knife attack something like this. And this is about the fifth time this year that we have had similar kinds of attacks with knives, some of them deadly, some of them not. But in any case, this attack tonight, proved to be deadly for the professor at that secondary school. His assailant was also killed in when he failed to give up his arm to police -- Richard.</s>QUEST: We can see -- we are seeing some people arrive. But we can't see if that was the President, although it is a very large group of people. It does look like Macron. My producer says, you're seeing it on a much larger screen. And certainly, the large numbers of people involved would suggest senior officials. Anyway, they've gone inside and we can't see them anymore. But here's a -- look, why would Macron go to the scene? I know it's sort of part of the tradition here in France at the first whiff of something like this, the President or the senior ministers head off to it, but I wonder whether it's called for?</s>BITTERMANN: Well there's a lot going on here, Richard and in a lot of different ways, the President may have wanted to emphasize the fact that he was engaged at all levels. He's just been on the air this week talking about the curfew that's been put in place in France. This is, I guess, a chance for him to show that he doesn't -- he hasn't taken his eye off the ball off terrorism. He's gone out there, you know, almost immediately. He left the Elysee Palace in that motorcade, rather large motorcade with other ministers and the Prime Minister. So there's a great group of politicians out there, even though this attack compared to some of the other attacks that have struck France in the last five years. This attack, not as severe, but still, it's the kind of thing that's happening on Macron's watch. And perhaps he feels the obligation to emphasize the importance of it by its own presence on the scene. The Elysee immediately activated the crisis cell -- the anti-terrorism crisis cell, and the anti-terrorism prosecutor is involved. So there's no question, I think that they are branding this as an act of terrorism and perhaps the President wanted to show that he in fact, is on duty at all fronts this week -- Richard.</s>QUEST: Jim Bittermann in Paris. Jim, thank you. When there is more to report, please do come back. As we continue on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight, it was an evening of dueling Town Halls between Joe Biden and President Trump. But who won the ratings battle, never mind, the presidential battle. We will tell you after the break along with Armando Iannucci. Now the creator of "Veep" says even he couldn't make up what's been happening with the U.S. President. In a moment you'll hear from him.

Viewer Whiplash Between Trump and Biden Town Halls

QUEST: Early viewing numbers from last night's dueling Town Halls between Biden and Trump was sure a surprise. According to the preliminary numbers and they are not final, Joe Biden on ABC attracted around 12 million viewers. However, Donald Trump on NBC got 10.4 million viewers. Now Donald Trump of course is famous for being ratings obsessed, and arguably, some said the only reason he did that Town Hall at 8:00 p.m. was again so he could prove he got greater numbers than Joe Biden. However, for viewers, perhaps like me, who spent most of the evening switching between the two in breaks, the difference could not have been greater. One was a very detailed, some would say wonkish arguably boring account of policy. The other was a lot of noise and light, but arguably very little substance. Have a watch.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just the other day they came out with a statement that 85 percent of the people that wear masks catch it. So I mean, this is a very --</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: They didn't say that. I know that study.</s>TRUMP: That's what I heard and that's what I saw.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The words of a President matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.</s>BIDEN: No matter whether they are good, bad or indifferent, they matter. And when a President doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then as you know, people say, well, it mustn't be that important.</s>TRUMP: Why aren't you asking Joe Biden questions about why doesn't he condemn Antifa? Why does he say it doesn't exist?</s>GUTHRIE: Because you're here --</s>TRUMP: Antifa -- that's so cute. Antifa exists. They're vicious. They're violent. They kill people and they are burning down our cities. And they happen to be radical left.</s>BIDEN: If I'm elected President, the first thing -- and not a joke -- and you can ask if they tell you your dad's old friend is in the Republican side, I'm going to pick up the phone and call him and say, let's get together. We've got to figure out how we're going to move forward here because there's so many things we really do agree on.</s>QUEST: David Chalian is our political director. He joins me now. The best quote I saw during the event was one of the commentators who was doing live update said that Joe Biden was boring, dull, detailed, and thank God for that, that's what we need.</s>DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I certainly think that was Joe Biden's strategic mission, Richard. When you're the front runner in a race, the principle rule you want to follow is do no harm. So Joe Biden went into his Town Hall last night with that in mind. He was not looking to mix things up or grab the headlines, he wanted to do no harm and he did. He went in there, and as you noted, he did so with substance, right? I mean, he talked in detail about his tax policy. He talked in detail about Criminal Justice Reform, and of course, kept up his criticism of the President's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.</s>QUEST: The numbers are now pretty heavily in Joe Biden's favor, have we reached the point where it's too late for the President to pull it back.</s>CHALIAN: No, I don't think we have. I mean, we've seen races turn in closing days of a campaign and you can't count for anything sort of unexpected. You also can't account for the success -- potential success of foreign interference or voter suppression efforts, so I'm not sure that we can say this race is over.</s>CHALIAN: You are right. The numbers are in Joe Biden's favor. He is the clear front runner in this race. And as you know, I mean, we've seen now so much early voting here in the United States that, I would say between 10 and 15 percent of the expected overall electorate when all the votes are counted 10 to 15 percent of those votes have already been cast. So the time is dwindling for the President to be able to turn around his fortunes.</s>QUEST: When I watched the President last night, particularly on this QAnon and the Antifa and all of this white supremacy. I mean, he's already got his base who are hardly likely to desert him at this late stage. Why does he feel the need to continually alienate that middle ground that could be brought into the fold? Or more likely from now from 2016 back into the fold?</s>CHALIAN: Yes. Well, Richard, this is the million-dollar question. I mean, you have just posed it. I have asked every day of the Trump presidency, as I observed for three and a half years, nearly four years of what he has done. What is the President doing today, to add to his coalition of support? And on almost every day of the Trump presidency, he wasn't. You're asking now why at the end. He is still playing to his base. Because he has shunned the middle and didn't try to broaden his appeal throughout his presidency. His only strategy for re-election at this point is to mine deeper into his base and find Trump-minded voters out there who didn't show up in 2016 or 2018 in the midterms and get them to join the effort. That's his only path to re-election now.</s>QUEST: David Chalian joining us. Thank you.</s>CHALIAN: Sure.</s>QUEST: Now, the performance that we saw from the President of the United States last night, to some extent was a vintage performance and fits the pattern of his recent behaviors. Let's remember, just what he has done so far and it makes sense in a moment. We had the motorcade -- the motorcade when he had COVID, arguably, putting his Secret Service detail at great risk. Then, the "Evita" balcony moment later in that same day. Off comes the mask, as you can see. And only today, he tweeted a satirical story as if it were real. This is the way the President did it. The creator of "Veep" says he couldn't make this up if he tried and he knows a thing or two about satire.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my god. It's like she's walking on a carpet of mice.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus Christ, Gary, are those real shoes? Those are dog toys.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like that theme from "Psycho."</s>QUEST: "Veep" airs on HBO, which of course -- "Veep" airs on HBO, which shares the parent company with CNN. Armando Iannucci is with me, the man behind "Veep." He joins me now. I read your article in "New York" Magazine, and it fits with what we've talked about on this program before that just when you think it can't get more wild, it does. You couldn't have written this.</s>ARMANDO IANNUCCI, CREATOR, "VEEP": No, all for the days when the President is having squeaky shoes was the main headline. Yes, I think it goes back to the point you were making with David. He is an entertainer, Donald Trump. You know, he is a ratings fanatic. You know, and it all started with him exaggerating the inauguration crowd. He tweets regularly about the size of the audience that he gets at rallies. He finds any opinion poll that has him ahead. He is obsessed with numbers, and I think that's why he can't change because actually, he courts people who will applaud him. That's what he's used to and that's what he will keep on doing.</s>QUEST: Armando, does he make your job easier or harder? Because in the one sense, he is providing more -- a good example, if you had said that before the election, firstly, right at the last minute the President will get COVID and B, there would be a Supreme Court Justice, the most famous and loved, Ruth Bader Ginsburg would die weeks before, thus, setting off the biggest challenge there. I would have said, you are mad. This would never occur in a book or a film.</s>IANNUCCI: That would be reality, jumping the shark, really. Well, the thing that has changed is that when we did shows like "Veep," there were a set of agreed norms and rules by how -- by which politics was conducted. And what we did in every episode was show how those rules were sometimes bent and occasionally broken.</s>IANNUCCI: But when a President says, you know, literally, I can shoot someone in the face in the middle of Fifth Avenue and still get elected, there are no rules. That's the point that -- politics is governed. And therefore, it's very difficult to show that lack of rules being broken. And therefore we're in this sort of strange fantasy land where something more bizarre than the day before it happens, and yet, it is happening in the real world.</s>QUEST: Was this inevitable? I am old enough to remember the election of Jimmy Carter and everybody got terribly excited that a peanut farmer had got elected, even though being a Governor that was ignored. But then we had the rest of the world scoffing at Ronald Reagan. Trust those Americans to elect an actor. Therefore, if we follow that line, and under to its logical conclusion, do we end up with the reality show?</s>IANNUCCI: Yes, I think part of the problem is, with the expansion of social media, anything seems as equally valid as anything else. You know, when you go on these websites, they all look roughly the same. So you can have something, you know, an article from "The Washington Post," but when it's put up, something that's been put up on Breitbart, or wherever, the look of it is the same. And therefore, it is very difficult to judge what is true and what's real. And once that blurring of what is real and what is false happens, then we're in a kind of strange new "Through the Looking Glass," you know, we talked about QAnon, the QAnon and the contact with the Republican movement means that you know, this is going to continue, irrespective of whether Trump wins the next election.</s>QUEST: And for you, as you sit down to write the next, bearing in mind, that whatever you write, frankly, much as I love your work, sir, but whatever you write, it will be eclipsed by the reality of the last four years. So which way will you write in future?</s>IANNUCCI: Well, I am writing -- I'm currently writing Avenue 5 on HBO, which is set 40 years in the future and in space. I think my solution to what's happening now is get as far away from the present day as possible and as far away from the planet as possible, and hopefully, in that kind of sense of detachment, be able to make some kind of observation about what the heck is going on.</s>QUEST: Armando, having you on the program set the entire office a Twitter, so to speak this morning and I can see why and we're very grateful that you joined us. Thank you very much indeed. I appreciate it.</s>IANNUCCI: My pleasure. Thank you very much.</s>QUEST: It is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS at the end of the week. The numbers in Europe on COVID are truly alarming. National lockdowns can't be far away say some; others believe that that would be a grave mistake. We'll talk about it after the break. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS at the end of the week.

Cases In Europe Surging Much Faster Than In U.S.; Europe Introducing New Measures to Curb Second Wave.

QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. Of course, there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. We have another half hour or so to go together. And when we do, we'll tell you about the worsening situation in Europe and half of medical experts about what they basically are we looking at more national lockdowns if these regional shutdowns don't work. And the CEO of Safaricom from Africa will be with us. The shift to mobile payments has picked up the pace in a continent that was already well ahead of everybody else. We'll discuss that. This is CNN. And we'll do it all after you've had the news headlines because on this network, the news always comes first. In France, counter terror prosecutors investigating the beheading of a school teacher in a suburb in Paris. He shot and killed the alleged attacker. France's Education Minister is calling the teachers death a despicable assassination. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain should prepare for no deal -- no trade deal Brexit and accuses of the European Union refusing to negotiate seriously. Prime Minister is floating the idea of an Australia style relationship instead, based on global trading principles. E.U. negotiators say they're ready to resume talks next week. The U.S. has now surpassed eight million coronavirus cases, and that figure still leads the world. Although India is close behind and Brazil as a distant third. Then there's a steep drop off Russia is the only other country with more than a million cases. This time tomorrow, Paris will be in lockdown and curfew. There will be difficulties meeting people in London and across the European continent. New restrictions are starting to bite ever tighter. It has been a record week for the number of COVID cases, looking at the seven-day moving average and comparing it to the beginning of the pandemic. And you see what a worsening situation it is. The Europe, by the way, far exceeds the United States, the E.U. has about twice the number of population per day the whole continent of Europe. So, as we've done and looking at it as a sort of as the forecast and the forecast is not good. It is gloomy to say the very least. Locked down clouds are gathering some cases, mandatory national lockdowns, there are mandatory curfews in France and in Italy. There's no indoor gatherings with other families that aren't in your bubble or above the rule of six in the U.K. In Catalonia recording the restaurants are being shut. And Germany has some very detailed but possibly the most restrictive limiting travel within regions. Dr. Ashish Jha is the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and joins me now. Doctor, good to see you as always. So very grateful for you. And I guess these countries, they're all doing the same thing, but in different ways, restricting the ability of people to meet. Do we know the circumstances which gives rise to most cases? Is it meeting in houses, meeting in pubs, is it so? What -- where do people catch it?</s>DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, THE BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yes, great. Thanks for having me on and it's a great question. And we know a lot more now than we did back in March. What we know now is that this virus spreads when large numbers of people gather indoors and are not wearing masks. That can happen in bars where it's very hard to wear masks, because you're drinking often happens in indoor dining restaurants. And it happens in people's homes when you have five or 10 friends over one person can be an asymptomatic spreader have no symptoms at all, and can spread it to everybody. This is happening across Europe; it's starting to happen across --</s>QUEST: So, let's talk about the U.S. The U.S. has traditionally been about up to a month behind the rest of the world in this. It was at the beginning. And that seems to have followed through. Is it your feeling the U.S. will get a sizable second wave similar? I mean, we hope it doesn't. But do you deal in facts not hopes, a large second wave, similar third wave in the U.S. case, similar to what you're seeing?</s>JHA: Yes, so what we saw in Europe, the reason things look so bad now and are likely to get much worse across the European continent is because cases started rising in early to mid-August and people largely ignored it, policymakers ignored it. And now they're at a point where they can't ignore it anymore. This is what happens over and over again. And that's starting to happen in the U.S. Cases have started rising about a month later than the increases in Europe. And we're ignoring, we're acting like there's no new wave coming here. And the problem with this virus is that by the time you see hospitalizations, and deaths, you've got two to four weeks of infections already built in. This is a virus that punishes you if you're slow to respond.</s>QUEST: So, yesterday, we had one of the former head of Public Health England on the program, who chastised me when I suggested that maybe this is just all too difficult. He points out New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, whole variety of other countries have managed to contain. But I think that in somewhat so generous, is it possible for these large countries like the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, to maintain the necessary restrictions to beat this?</s>JHA: So, I think it is and let me say why. So first of all, Japan is a pretty large country, I mean, obviously homogeneous, but still, it's a large country, and they've done a good job. Germany, relative to other European countries has done a fabulous job. And it isn't like we have no idea what to do. We do know what to do. And the key things everybody knows avoiding indoor -- large indoor gatherings, wearing masks, having a good testing program. If we do those things, and if we act early, when we start seeing increases in cases, closing our eyes for two months and hoping it goes away is not a strategy. But if we act early, we can stem these kind of outbreaks off. What has happened in Europe is that they've waited two months, six weeks to two months. And now things are really bad. And now people are acting. They're just being way too slow. So, I think yes, proactive action can make a huge difference. And I think absolutely larger European countries and the United States can manage this disease without having to lock down.</s>QUEST: Ashish, we know you're very busy man. I'm grateful that you're taking time to speak to us. Thank you, doctor. It's appreciated. After the break, World Food hung up, it was inevitable that as the situation got worse, and poverty rose and people lost their jobs, but now the levels of which hunger has reached and has gone deep into societies. It means that with this World Food Day takes on a completely different scale. After the break.

Trump in Florida, Biden in Michigan.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Go to CNNHeroes.com right now for that. Our special coverage continues now with Jake Tapper.</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. And we begin this Friday with the 2020 lead. Minutes ago, President Trump wrapped up remarks in Fort Myers, Florida, making a pitch to seniors during this final 18-day stretch of the presidential race. President Trump making this last-ditch appeal to this key electoral group, claiming he will soon be ending the pandemic. Soon, he will crush coronavirus, he says. The president is coming off a contentious town hall last night, in lieu of a debate with Joe Biden, a town hall in which he, in the words of Republican Senator Mitt Romney, displayed an -- quote -- "unwillingness to denounce an absurd and dangerous conspiracy theory" -- unquote -- and expressed no position a different deranged conspiracy theory that he has been spreading about whether the bin Laden raid was staged. President Trump also claimed that the nation is rounding a corner when it comes to the pandemic. But, to be clear, according to health officials, the U.S. is not rounding any corner. In fact, that trajectory is not round at all. It's up. The United States just past eight million confirmed cases of coronavirus. That's the highest in the world. And on the same day the president said, the U.S. topped 60,000 new cases for the first time in two months, 60,000, with nine states reporting their highest single day of new cases ever. Yet, next hour, President Trump will continue to hold these large rallies, potential super-spreader events, as previous rallies have proven to be, with two today in Florida and Georgia. We're going to get to President Trump in a moment. Actually, we're going to go to Jeremy Diamond right now, who is in Florida with President Trump -- Jeremy.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jake, to arrive at this Trump rally is really to enter an alternate universe of sorts. You have thousands of people here, the same amount of crowds that you would see for the president back in the 2016 campaign, here in the state of Florida. What is so remarkable, Jake, is that, of course, we are in the middle of this pandemic. You have people who are tightly packed together. Very, very few people here are wearing masks, Jake, and this is as cases in the United States are surging across the country. The majority of states are seeing increases. And we know that the president, as recently as last night, continued to cast out on this issue of masks. While he talked about the fact that masks are a good thing, that he's OK with masks, he also sought to cast some doubt on the effectiveness of masks by incorrectly citing a CDC study that didn't say what the president said it was. And what's also remarkable, Jake, is that while the president is trying to make inroads with the demographic of seniors here in the state of Florida he's been losing over his handling of the pandemic, while the president addressed them earlier today and touted his handling of the pandemic, he's continuing to hold events like this one, where a lot of senior citizens are attending, putting themselves and others in the community, of course, at risk -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: And, Jeremy, yes, he's calling it Protect -- he's calling these events Protecting America's Seniors, and yet the events themselves are the opposite of protecting America's seniors. Jeremy, last night, the president was asked about whether he had been tested on the day of his first and only debate so far, tested for coronavirus, which he had been required to do. His White House communications team had said that he was tested not just every day, but multiple times every day. He dodged the question. He refused to answer. I assume that that means the answer is likely no?</s>DIAMOND: Yes, the nonanswer was telling, in and of itself, right, because if he had been tested on the day of the debate, you would expect the president to remember that, especially after the weeks of speculation, and to be able to say that quite clearly. Instead, this is what the president said:</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was afterwards.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS: Did you test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: I don't know, I don't even remember.</s>GUTHRIE: Did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess is the bottom line?</s>TRUMP: I probably did.</s>GUTHRIE: And you don't know if you took a test the day of the debate?</s>TRUMP: Possibly, I did. Possibly, I didn't.</s>DIAMOND: And, Jake, not only is this critical for the questions of contact tracing, but also because the president, not only during the debate, but then after that, he continued to travel across the country. He went to a rally and some fund-raisers in Minnesota the next day and then to a fund-raiser in Bedminster, New Jersey, the day after his close aide Hope Hicks started experiencing symptoms of the virus -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: Yes, just continues to dodge and refuse to answer a very straight question. Jeremy Diamond with the president in Florida, thanks so much. Joe Biden is also back on the campaign trail today, after striking a -- I think it's fair to say, a drastically different tone in his town hall last night. Biden said that a decades-old crime bill he helped lead the way to pass was a mistake. He said President Trump deserved a little credit for an accord between Israel and some Arab countries. He did not clarify his position on whether or not he would add justices to the Supreme Court or be willing to sign a bill that would do so. He said he would announce a position on that before the election. CNN's M.J. Lee joins us live now. M.J., Biden is in Michigan right now. What is his closing message to Michiganders? It's a vital state. He has to win Michigan in 18 days.</s>M.J. LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It is vital state. You cannot overstate how much the Biden campaign and the Biden candidacy right now is so centered around the issue of the coronavirus pandemic. He did just arrive in Michigan, where he is going to be giving a speech in a little while on the issue of health care. But the overarching dynamic is going to be the pandemic and just pointing out the reality that, more than ever before, Americans are going to be needing affordable health care across the country. And when you talk to the Biden campaign, what they will say is that, yes, this issue, health care, is going to be central to their closing message. And they see this issue as basically being sort of at the nexus of several key things that they want Biden to be talking about right now. That, of course, includes the pandemic, as I just said, but also President Trump's conduct, as you're seeing him holding this rally right now, and, obviously, the SCOTUS confirmation hearings that are going on, with Amy Coney Barrett having been nominated, and what that potentially means for the future of the Affordable Care Act. I will just quickly note as well, in this final stage, we are going to be seeing some high-profile surrogates out on the campaign trail for Joe Biden. Former President Barack Obama is going to be campaigning in Philadelphia next week. And we are told that this is going to be one of several stops that he makes in this final stretch before Election Day.</s>TAPPER: All right, M.J., thanks so much. Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Abby Phillip and "The Washington Post"'s Seung Min Kim. Abby, let me start with you. The ratings are in from last night's town halls. Let me just also state the ratings are irrelevant to who's going to win the election one way or the other. But it is just a fact that, according to these ratings, more people watched the Biden town hall than the Trump town hall. We know ratings are all-important to the president. I'm wondering how you think he's going to react?</s>ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think he's going to be certainly disappointed. I mean, I think the president thinks of himself as a ratings bonanza, both because he thinks that is his value to the media ecosystem, but also because he believes that that is a measure of how interested the American public is in him. And, in that respect, I think he's correct. What the ratings, for whatever they're worth, might show us is that perhaps Americans really actually do want to hear what Joe Biden has to say. That shouldn't be too surprising. He is the challenger here. They have had four years of President Trump. And I think that there seems to have been some interest in really kind of getting that one-on-one experience with Joe Biden, understanding what he's campaigning on and what he's for. On the other hand, President Trump really took that opportunity to sort of give them more of the same, which I think is probably reflected as well in the ratings.</s>TAPPER: Seung Min, a more important number, the U.S. has surpassed eight million coronavirus cases, nine states reporting their highest single day of new cases ever. More than 218,000 people in the U.S. have died. And yet President Trump is still out there traveling the country. Listen to this.</s>TRUMP: What we've done has been amazing. And we have done an amazing job. And it's rounding the corner, and we have the vaccines coming, and we have the therapies coming.</s>TAPPER: We're not rounding the corner, according to health officials. How do you think this alternative, alternate universe plays for the undecided voters out there?</s>SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the undecided voters can actually see the facts, that, no, of course not, we have not turned the corner in this pandemic. The cases are still rising. The number of deaths are still rising. We don't -- we hope a vaccine is available soon, but we don't have a precise timeline on that yet. And health experts are telling us we could be kind of in this situation, in this quarantine, isolated, working remotely situation for at least another year, if not more. And I think undecided voters do see that. But you do see the president repeatedly kind of creating this alternate universe, where things will be just fine. And if there was any inkling that the president's own coronavirus diagnosis would provide more of a reality check for the president to kind of, for example, promote better public health practices, such as wearing masks, it certainly did not happen. And you saw that at his events earlier today in Florida. You were talking about not only a crowded event with seniors, who are the most -- age-wise, the most vulnerable population to the virus, but it was an indoor event. I mean, we have -- you have seen the president at least try to have some of these events outside. We expect his events later in Florida and in Georgia today to be just as crowded. And this is an administration, this is a president that has continuously flouted and not practiced these vital public health guidelines that health officials have tried -- implored us to follow.</s>TAPPER: It's not just theory. I mean, we know for a fact of Trump events in Tulsa, in Minnesota, at the White House that led to a spread of the coronavirus. Abby, when it comes to a broader health care plan, we know that Trump is against keeping the Affordable Care Act. He has yet to propose a detailed alternative. He was asked about this last night by Savannah Guthrie. Take a listen.</s>GUTHRIE: You Have repealed, but you haven't replaced.</s>TRUMP: No, no.</s>GUTHRIE: Now, you've been in office almost four years.</s>TRUMP: What we have done--</s>GUTHRIE: You have both houses of Congress, Senate and House, in Republican hands, and there is not a replacement yet.</s>TRUMP: That's right. I'm sorry, but, if you look, we had both houses. And what did we do? We got rid of the individual mandate. That went through the legislature.</s>GUTHRIE: But the promise was repeal and replace.</s>TRUMP: Look, look, we should be on the same side. I want it very simple. I'm going to put it very simple. We would like to terminate it, and we would like to replace it with something that's much less expensive and much better.</s>TAPPER: I mean, at this point, it's a joke. I mean, they have not introduced any legislation. I mean, they could. And he's been promising one coming for two weeks now for at least a year. Does this affect Trump supporters? Are they bothered at all by this, do you think?</s>PHILLIP: I don't think that Trump supporters care about this now, because, if they had cared about it, they might have cared about it two years ago, when the Republican House and Senate and White House failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. There's a reason that there's no -- there's there's no attempt to put pen to paper on an actual bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act. And that's because they know that this is basically a political mine field for Republicans. They have been campaigning on it, but the details of replacing a health care plan, politically, very, very difficult. This is just a talking point at this point. It's not going to happen between now and November. And I have questions about whether it would even happen after that. And I know Seung Min knows about this more than probably anyone. This is a tough thing to do. And Republicans learned that the hard way. But President Trump knows that, for independent voters and for moderate voters, health care is so important. So he has to give the appearance that this is something that he has a plan for, even though the evidence shows that he does not.</s>TAPPER: And, Seung Min, President Trump last night also had a bizarre answer when asked to condemn this group of conspiracy theorists QAnon, which has been labeled a potential domestic terror threat by the FBI. Take a listen.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.</s>GUTHRIE: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to--</s>GUTHRIE: They believe that it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.</s>TAPPER: It's crazy. This is not a group that fights pedophilia. This is a group that believes that Democrats in Hollywood have a secret Satanic pedophilia, cannibalistic cabal. People have been hurt. At least one person has been killed. The FBI is warning about it. Why? Why will he not denounce this group?</s>KIM: And it's also surprising why the president keeps saying he does not know much details about this group, because, like I said, like you pointed out, federal officials have pointed out the danger of this group, but also he has been asked about this before by reporters. But what the president knows is that some of these QAnon supporters are his supporters.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>KIM: And he's loath to kind of denounce that. But you do see the QAnon influence spread, if slowly, through the Republican Party. You have Kelly Loeffler, the appointed senator in Georgia, who is trying to win reelection outright. She is very proudly touting the endorsement of a QAnon candidate in Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene. And that's why you hear voices like Mitt Romney trying to spread this before it goes too much further within the</s>GOP. TAPPER: All right, Abby Phillip, Seung Min, thank you both. Nine states just set a record for the most coronavirus cases in a single day, and President Trump will soon be on the way to another one of them to pack people into a rally. And a bitterly fought race in a battleground state that could decide the direction of this country. And I'm not talking Trump v. Biden. Stay with us.

U.S. Surpasses 8 Million Coronavirus Cases

TAPPER: In our national lead today, today, the United States surpassed eight million diagnosed coronavirus cases, eight million, and there are more warning signs that the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction. The U.S. topped 60,000 new cases in a single day yesterday. That's the first time that's happened in more than two months. And 820 Americans died from the virus yesterday, 820. Nine states just set a record for most new cases in a day throughout this pandemic. And, as CNN's Nick Watt reports for us now, there are new concerns that the president's visit to one of those states will become another super-spreader event.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's a MAGA rally in Wisconsin tomorrow night. Will the president mentioned the state is now seeing all-time record high new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths? Unlikely.</s>TOM BARRETT (D), MAYOR OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: We saw it at the Rose Garden just a couple of weeks ago. And we could see another super- spreader event in Janesville tomorrow.</s>WATT: Hot spots are popping up again in Connecticut, 12 now dead in a nursing home outbreak in California. New Mexico's average daily case count more than doubled over the past two weeks.</s>GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): Pay attention to the facts. It is a deadly, highly contagious virus. The virus is now winning.</s>WATT: Nine states just set a record, most new cases in a day. Latest national numbers, yesterday, we topped 60,000 for the first time since mid-August. Second wave, third wave, ominous either way.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures and, again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>WATT: Disappointing news on remdesivir, used on the president, the only drug explicitly authorized to treat COVID-19 in the</s>U.S.: It has little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients, according to the WHO. Better news on vaccines. Assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November, so after the election, and note the word "assuming" is doing a little work there. The data would be reviewed, not only by the FDA's own scientists, but also by an external panel of independent experts at a publicly held meeting convened by the agency to ensure public trust. Some say the president has eroded that trust.</s>WATT: And, Jake, you mentioned eight million confirmed cases now in the U.S. We are world leaders. Only three other countries have even passed the one million case mark. Now, our latest one million, we added them in just 22 days. Now, are we going to pick up the pace, or are we going to slow the spread? That is still largely down to all of us and these -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Nick Watt in Los Angeles, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Joining us now to discuss, Dr. Austin Baeth. He's a physician at UnityPoint Health in Des Moines, Iowa. Doctor, thanks so much for joining us. So, Iowa, sadly, one of the states that appears on our coronavirus tracking maps in red, not just for averaging new cases, but also for new deaths. How bad is it on the ground in Iowa right now? And what is driving it?</s>DR. AUSTIN BAETH, UNITYPOINT HEALTH DES MOINES: The virus is absolutely winning right now. We are on defense. What's driving it, I believe, is probably the lack of our personal safety measures to try to prevent ourselves from getting this disease. And that's mostly wearing masks in public and keeping our distance, avoiding mass gatherings. Unfortunately, the adherence of Iowans to these recommendations is spotty, at best. We see probably better adherence, it appears, in the urban areas, but lackluster adherence in the rural areas.</s>TAPPER: Iowa also has the fourth highest positivity rate in the country over the past week, 20.17 percent. That means, of every 100 people who come in for a test, 20 of them, more than 20, have a virus -- have the virus. The state also had a record number of new hospitalizations on Wednesday. Graphs show a pretty clear increase in the number of patients who need to be hospitalized. It seems to me -- and I hope I'm wrong, but it seems to me that these signs suggest things are going to keep getting worse in Iowa.</s>BAETH: Absolutely. The fact that our test positivity rate is so high means that we are missing a lot of cases. There are a lot of people out there who aren't even being diagnosed yet. The WHO and the CDC says that we should have a case positivity -- a test positivity rate of 5 percent or less to be able to have a handle on what's going on with the pandemic. So it's probably really worse than what we actually see right now in terms of number of cases. The rising hospitalization rate is a more robust data set that we are now looking at that is really causing us concern. All parts of the state are rising in hospitalizations, especially the corners of the state.</s>TAPPER: I know you have treated coronavirus patients. Without disclosing any personal patient information, of course, can you walk us through what treatments you have actually seen some success with?</s>BAETH: Sure. And, anecdotally -- that's why we have large trials to really tell what treatments actually made somebody better vs. a placebo effect. We have two main treatments right now that have decent evidence behind them. Dexamethasone is something that we are using now that appears to be effective for people who are requiring oxygen. And then, well, as you just heard prior to my interview, remdesivir, which we had been using pretty broadly, just now we have this study coming out that now questions whether it improves mortality. We had prior studies that show that it might help people recover faster. And so we're going to have to hash out whether this actually has a benefit for patients. It's a helpless feeling taking care of patients with coronavirus, because we don't really have that many evidence-based tools in our tool set. We give them oxygen. We support them. We try those drugs. And then we hope for the best.</s>TAPPER: You're a big proponent of mask-wearing, obviously, as is every reputable health official. You have criticized the governor Iowa for not imposing a mask mandate. I have seen pictures of her hosting events, participating in events indoors, no masks, crowds in the room. Yesterday, President Trump questioned whether face -- whether masks are effective. It really seems like the leadership of this country, specific leaders, your governor, President Trump, are sending the exact wrong message.</s>BAETH: We know that behavioral change is critical to controlling pandemics. We all need to take our part in making some sacrifice to protect ourselves and, in turn, protect others, especially the more vulnerable people around us. And that requires leadership. I'm going to tell you the truth. We doctors are feeling frustrated and we're feeling helpless. They refer to health care workers as being on the front lines. We're actually more in the back, taking care of the casualties. The people on the front lines are everyday people trying to get by in their daily lives in the midst of a terrible health crisis. And they need to be guided by leaders to figure out how to navigate this crisis. And those who are showing neglect we are seeing in the back, trying to help them. And we're also taking care of other people's neglect.</s>TAPPER: Yes. Dr. Austin Baeth, thank you so much, and thanks for what you do. President Trump compared to someone's crazy uncle to his face on national TV, as he gives himself a pass for retweeting the disgusting lie about President Obama, Vice President Biden, and SEAL Team Six. Stay with us.

Joe Biden Delivers Campaign Address in Michigan.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: We are waiting for Joe Biden to speak any moment in Michigan, as President Trump is on a rally spree in the final 18-stretch of the presidential race, with more than 20 million ballots already cast in this election. President Trump today making a last-ditch appeal to seniors in Fort Myers, Florida. In minutes, the president will kick off another rally in central Florida, before heading to a second rally in Georgia. On the day that the United States surpassed a million cases, confirmed, of coronavirus, the president is attempting to paint his handling of the pandemic as a success, saying he will crush coronavirus and end the pandemic, comments not rooted in the reality of the pandemic, the United States hitting all the wrong records. Nine states just recording their highest number of new cases in a single day ever. But, right now, Vice President Biden is speaking in Southfield, Michigan. Let's listen in.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And, Gary, we badly need you back in the United States Senate, pal. We badly need you back in the United States Senate.</s>BIDEN: And my sister...</s>BIDEN: ... Debbie Stabenow. God love you, Debbie. We worked so closely together for so long, and as vice president as well. Folks, look, we need to send Gary back for another term, standing up for Michigan. Michigan families, small businesses. He was our main congressional partner back in 2010, when we passed the critical legislation supporting small businesses. I remember. I remember the president giving me the responsibility to go out and round up support. The person I -- my go-to guy to get it done -- I mean it sincerely -- was Gary. He was the go-to guy. And he always shows up and he always shows up for Michigan. Like all of you, Jill and I are so grateful that the governor and her family are safe. And it's an unusual year. Governor, you have been through a lot, but, my lord, you are leader. You stand up straight and tall, and you don't bend. And, Governor, it's not easy to lead in moments of crisis, but that is a determination of whether you have a real leader, when you stepped up to the crisis. And you have stepped up. You have done it and you keep doing it.</s>BIDEN: And, as I said a moment ago, you're pretty much doing it better than anybody else in the whole United States of America. You have shown this whole nation just how tough and thoughtful you are, tough just like Michigan. I got to believe this state has to be so proud of you. I know, personally, I am, as I have gotten to know you, and proud to call you friend, Gov. We are grateful to the FBI and law enforcement who discovered these diagram terrorists and stopped them. And make no mistake, that's who they are, domestic terrorists, flat terrorists.</s>BIDEN: Planning to blow up a bridge on American soil to threaten the lives of police officers, to kidnap an elected leader, and now we are finding out the same thing was happening in Virginia. You know, it's the sort of behavior you might expect from ISIS, and it should shock the conscience of every American, every American. And the failure to condemn these folks is stunning from the outset. We might remember, it matters. You have heard me say it before. Words matter. And the words of a president particularly matter. When the president tweeted "Liberate Michigan," "Liberate Michigan," that's the call that was heard. That was the dog whistle, just like when he said there were -- quote -- "very fine people" on both sides in Charlottesville as they came out of the fields carrying torches, their veins bulging, shouting anti-Semitic vile, carrying Nazi flags, accompanied by the Ku Klux Klan, and when a young woman was killed protesting. The president was asked, what do you think? He said something no president has ever, ever, ever heard. There were very fine people on both sides. Those words were heard, just like when he stood on the debate stage with me and refused to denounce white supremacists, but told that right-wing extremist group to -- quote -- "Stand back and stand by." Stand back and stand by, an American president. It not only shocked us, but it stunned the world, those words we heard. You know the reason and I decided to run for president. And I know that Debbie knows this. I had not planned on running ever again after my son died. But when I saw those folks coming out of those woods, I thought, how in God's name, how in God's name can I remain silent? I said at the time, and was somewhat, not criticized, but people didn't think it was -- well, I don't know what it was. When I said, I think we are in a battle for the soul of America. I think we are. What I saw at Charlottesville and the president's response to it is why I went to the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania last week, because I thought there was a need to stand up to hate in America and urge us, as Lincoln did, to come together as a nation. What I have learned, hate never goes away. It only hides. It never goes away. And if you give it oxygen, it comes out from under the rocks. It grows. We need to be clear from the president on down, in this country, there is no place for hate in America, period. None.</s>BIDEN: It will not be tolerated.</s>BIDEN: But President Trump revels in division and chaos. He will do anything to distract us from focusing on his failures to deal with this virus and to protect the nation. He is still living in a dream world. He keeps telling us that this virus is going to disappear like a miracle. He said, I think, last night in his town hall -- I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said, we have turned the corner. As my grandfather Finnegan might say were he here, he said, he has gone around the bend.</s>BIDEN: Turned the corner. My lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted. We all know the terrible price this nation has paid, lives lost, employment way -- unemployment way up. Across Michigan and the country, folks are worried about making their next rent payment or mortgage payment, whether their health care will be ripped away in the middle of a pandemic that you worked so damn hard, Gary, to keep, worried about -- and we talked about this with</s>BIDEN: And, as a consequence of his overwhelming lying, negligence and irresponsible action, how many empty chairs were around the kitchen table this morning or the dining room table last night? How many? How many women or men leaned over when they got in bed last night and reached over to touch their husband and wife, and they weren't there? You all know what loss is. It's profound, especially when it was avoidable, much of it. But mishandling the pandemic isn't enough for Trump. On top of that, he is still trying to take away your health care. Trump still is determined, in the midst of this pandemic -- and, by the way, if projections -- pray God they are not right, Father. But if they are right, though, in the next several months, there will be over 200,000 additional deaths. That will be in one year 400,000 people will have -- Americans will have died. That is more than lost in all of World War II. You hear me? World War II was four years. More American souls would have been lost than in World War II. But what is he doing? He is still determined to destroy the Affordable Care Act. This isn't hyperbole. Just like your opponent calls it a disaster, talk about a disaster. There's a disaster. The guy is 2000 percent or 200 percent, whatever it is with Trump. I hope everybody remembers. Look, as I said, this isn't hyperbole. It's real, as real as it gets. On November 10, the United States Supreme Court will hear the Trump administration make the case that the Affordable Care Act should be struck down in its entirety. Now, I think everybody thinks they know, but I just want to remind you, 10 million of you have already lost your health insurance because your employer's health insurance, they have gone out of business, 10 million Americans already without health insurance. And if Trump gets his way, 20 million more Americans will lose their health care. It's a god-awful -- in the midst of this god-awful economic crisis, 100 million Americans will lose their protections for preexisting conditions, including more than four million people right here in Michigan. Lifetime limits and benefits -- on benefits will be back. Insurance -- and, by the way, you know, a lot of you have been through what I have been through, and worse. But I can distinctly remember sitting on a bed with my Beau, my son, who came back from -- the attorney general came back from a year of serving in Iraq, which this president talks about losers who served. Losers. With the same significant disease that your mom had, stage 4 glioblastoma. When he was diagnosed when he got home, we asked the docs, it was only a matter of months, not if, just months. We never gave up hope. But I remember watching him on that bed, he made it almost 16 months. Toward the end -- this is not about me, it's about all of you -- I consciously thought to myself, what would it feel like if they were able to walk in and say, Mr. Biden, you've outrun your insurance coverage, suffered the last two or three months in pain on your own. Lots of luck, because that's what was happening before. Insurers, if they win, and that is what this court packing going on now is about, insurers will no longer allow you to keep your kids on your policy until age 26 in the middle of this economic crisis. Women once again will be charged more for their health care just because they are a woman. Older folks will be able to be charged more. And as the governor said, long-term complications from COVID will become preexisting conditions, joining asthma, diabetes, even pregnancies as a preexisting condition before and could allow insurers to jack up your premiums or deny coverage altogether. Getting rid of Obamacare is why they are racing to get this nominee through the Supreme Court. Make no mistake about it: Trump has made it clear from the beginning as your opponent has, he wants to get rid of Obamacare in its entirety. With this nominee, he has made that incredibly clear as well. Michigan deserves so much better, deserves leaders like Gary and Debbie Stabenow, public servants who lead with decency and honor, always look out for your needs. Think about how to ease the burden on your family. That is the sort of leader you got in Gretchen and Governor Whitmer as well. When she was in the state senator, she led the charge to secure Obamacare and Medicaid expansion for more than 800,000 Michiganders. Think about this now. Some of those states with Republican governors, did not expand, even though the federal government is paying from the front end. There's millions of people who have no coverage. After we passed Obamacare, with the help of Debbie and Gary, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, we were able to reduce the uninsured rate by 55 percent here in Michigan. If I have the honor of becoming your president, we'll build on the Affordable Care Act, no matter what they do. You can choose to keep a private plan if you still have one, because some of the private plans negotiated with UAW are good plans.</s>TAPPER: All right. You've been listening to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaking in Southfield, Michigan. Let's go straight to CNN's Jessica Dean. Jessica, tell me what you think the vice president's closing message is here in this crucial battleground state of Michigan?</s>JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, I think you're hearing it right now. In the end, it comes down to health care and keeping the Affordable Care Act. The Biden campaign, an aide telling CNN, look, that is the through line through so many issues. It goes to the COVID response and the COVID pandemic. It goes the President Trump's behavior and response to the COVID pandemic. It also as a just heard Biden talking about there, they're able to tie that to Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court. So, it is an all encompassing issue that they really believe people understand, pay attention to, and listen to. And they're looking back to 2018 as a road map of sorts, because remember, that's when Democrats took back the House and they were able to do so by hammering home a message on health care, on protecting the Affordable Care Act. And you saw it right there below Joe Biden on the lectern he was speaking on -- protect and expand. That is their message on the Affordable Care Act, to keep it and expand it. That's the closing message here to Michiganders -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right. Jessica Dean, thanks so much. Let's discuss this with CNN's Abby Phillip and "The Washington Post's" Philip Bump. Abby, you heard Joe Biden take the opportunity once again to go after Trump for the very fine people on both sides comment, a nod to what happened in Charlottesville. Stand back and stand by, referring to Trump's comments to the Proud Boys at the last debate. This also seems to be a bit a focus, in addition to the health care aspect, the idea that the president is, whether it's, you know, implicit, tacit or irresponsible, however and whatever the reason is, that he's an ally of bigots.</s>ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, I think that has become part of the closing message, in part because President Trump has allowed it to be part of the conversation right now. He's been given several really softball opportunities to knock down, you know, white supremacists, to knock down QAnon, and he has no immediately taken them. He's had to sort of almost be dragged to the point where he eventually says what people are asking him to say. And because of that, Joe Biden has been able to come back to this message that has animated his campaign really from the beginning and basically say to the public, this is not the type of leadership that you want. I really don't think that this is to president Trump's advantage. It would be so easy for him to simply just knock this to the side, not say any sort of conciliatory things about QAnon, and any of these other things, and it would not be part of the agenda in the final 20 days of this campaign. But as it is, it seems to have become a gift to Joe Biden in these final days.</s>TAPPER: And, Philip, meanwhile, the president, as Abby just alluded to, continued to spread and endorse these deranged conspiracy theories. Last night, he said he did not know whether -- what QAnon says is true, that the country is secretly run by a satanic cult of pedophilic cannibals. Take a listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just tell you, what I do hear about it is they are very strongly against pedophilia. And I agree with that, I mean, I do agree with that.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: OK.</s>TRUMP: And I agree with --</s>GUTHRIE: But there's in a satanic pedophile cult --</s>TRUMP: I have no idea. I know nothing about that.</s>GUTHRIE: You don't know that?</s>TRUMP: No, I don't know that.</s>GUTHRIE: OK, you just this week --</s>TRUMP: And neither do you know that.</s>GUTHRIE: OK.</s>TAPPER: I don't know that and neither do you know that, Phillip. He's talking about whether or not the nation is run by a cabal of Satan- worshipping cannibalistic pedophiles? I don't know that and neither do you. I mean, what the actual F, Phil?</s>PHILLIP BUMP, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: That's the most direct question I've ever been asked in an intelligent interview. No. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, the short answer is, as Abby said, he's reticent to speak out against a group which she thinks supports him. But this is a group which literally thinks he is essentially salvation doing battle against evil and protecting children. So, it's not as though if he were to say, QAnon is ridiculous, of course, I don't adhere to that, it's not as though they're going to suddenly turn and make Joe Biden their savior.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>BUMP: He's integral to the theory here. That is also what makes his failure to renounce them more dangerous, because it's not -- yes, it is problematic he has to be dragged kicking and screaming to say anything against white supremacy, but here, he's actively reinforcing a narrative of which he is at the center. By refusing to say it's false, he's not only giving oxygen to this conspiracy theory, but he's amplifying the fact that it is a theory that has him at the center and he's refusing to do it, which I think makes it more significant.</s>TAPPER: And it's a potential domestic terror threat, as FBI has said in memos. There's at least one dead person. There have been plenty of acts of violence, including a woman who had a car full of knives who was going to assassinate Joe Biden. I mean, it's really playing with fire. OK. So, that's that town hall. The other town hall on the other channel, ABC, Biden struck a different tone, quite different. Take a listen, Abby. He was asked what it would say about the country if he doesn't win. Here's what he had to say.</s>BIDEN: That could say I'm a lousy candidate and I didn't do a good job. But I think -- I hope -- that it doesn't say that we are as racially, ethnically, and religiously at odds with one another as it appears the president wants us to be.</s>TAPPER: Joe Biden is a flawed guy and he's a flawed candidate. There's a lot to criticize, but the contrast, Abby, between that moment of humility --</s>PHILLIP: Yeah.</s>TAPPER: -- and answering the question, entertaining it, and the Tasmanian devil that we saw in Miami, it was stark.</s>PHILLIP: Yeah, I mean, say what you will about Joe Biden or even that answer, it was a reasonable answer. You might even disagree with what he had to say, but you couldn't say he was being out of the box here. I mean, by contrast, in response to a similar question like that, President Trump has and would say that, you know, he would only lose if there was some sort of shenanigans going on or fraud or what have you. So, look, the tradition of American politics requires that our political candidates have that kind of humility that if they lose, it is the will of the team. And President Trump is reluctant to express that viewpoint, which is in contrast -- it's sort of antithetical to the several hundred year tradition of politics in this country. So, yeah, the contrast could not have been more stark last night for viewers. And, you know, I think it's just a choose your own adventure, the American people are really deciding, you know, more so than at any time I think in history, in recent history, between two candidates who literally could not be more different in style and in substance.</s>TAPPER: And, Phil, Biden was also confronted with some of the controversial comments he's made in the past, specifically when he told the radio host Charlamagne Tha God that if somebody, an African- American was struggling to decide between him and Trump, quote, you ain't black. That was a big mistake that he said that. Take a listen.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Besides you ain't black, what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?</s>BIDEN: The answer is there's two things I think I care and demonstrated I care about my whole career. One is, in addition to dealing with criminal justice system and make it fair and make it more decent, we have to be able to put black Americans in a position to gain wealth, generate wealth.</s>TAPPER: That's obviously just a snippet of his answer, but Biden later said to stick around so they could continue their conversation, and he did, and Biden stuck and talked with the audience after the town hall wrapped. What did you make of that moment?</s>BUMP: So, a couple things. First is in his answer, Joe Biden got at one of the fundamental issues here, which is systemic problems. Donald Trump repeatedly denied there are issues plaguing black Americans in particular. Joe Biden got at it pretty directly there. The second is, one of the fascinating things, one of the fascinating dynamics here is that Joe Biden's flaws as a candidate is he tends to meander a bit. He tends to exaggerate. He has verbal slipups. Those things are almost entirely muted by the fact that he's running against Donald Trump. No one is going to worry as much about Biden's exaggeration as they would if he were running against, say, Mitt Romney, simply because Donald Trump just totally blasts him out of the water on that metric. And I think the fundamental thing here, one of the things we heard just now in the speech that Biden gave, one of the things he's tacitly offering to the American public is what Abby got at, is this level of chill. Things are just going to settle down, he's just going to do his thing, his tone, his presence, all of that is meant to reinforce that message, too, although not explicitly.</s>TAPPER: Philip Bump, Abby Phillip, thanks to both of you. Have a great weekend. Also in our 2020 lead, an inside look at the Trump presidency from those who worked with President Trump and for President Trump. CNN has learned that former White House chief of staff, retired marine General John Kelly has told friends about President Trump, quote, the depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anybody else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life, unquote. This brand new reporting is from our new CNN special report "The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials". "The Insiders" airing Sunday at 9:00 p.m. and midnight Eastern, only here on CNN. With just 18 days until the election, President Trump is kicking off back-to-back rallies. But he's also spreading even more falsehoods about coronavirus. He's possibly also spreading coronavirus. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with a reality check. That's next.

Trump Defends His Retweet of Conspiracy About Biden Responsible for Death of Navy Seals

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our POLITICS LEAD today in one of the more infuriating moments of last night's town hall with President Trump, when pushed on the fact that he had retweeted several times a disgusting conspiracy theory about the Obama administration murdering Seal Team 6. Trump said, it was just simply a retweet.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC "TODAY" ANCHOR: Just this week you retweeted to your 87 million followers a conspiracy theory that Joe Biden orchestrated to have Seal Team 6, the Navy Seal Team 6, killed to cover up the fake death of Bin Laden. Now why would you send a lie like that to your followers, you retweeted it.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody and that was a retweet. I'll put it out there, people can decide for themselves --</s>GUTHRIE: I don't get that, you're the President, you're not like someone's crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever.</s>TRUMP: That was a retweet and I do a lot of retweets.</s>TAPPER: Joining mew now to discuss, longtime aide and confidant of Senator John McCain and author of the new book, "The Luckiest Man -- Life with John McCain," author Mark Salter. Mark thanks for joining us and congratulations on the book. I've read it and it's great. It's a lovely, lovely tribute and really interesting and I really recommend it. I want to ask you, because I'm sure you have your opinions, what do you think about President Trump unapologetically spreading these gross lies about Seal Team 6 and Bin Laden and Obama and Biden?</s>MARK SALTER, AUTHOR, "THE LUCKIEST MAN -- LIFE WITH JOHN MCCAIN": I think he is America's crazy old uncle. That's what I think of it, I mean it's -- it's just, well, fortunately, knock on wood, we'll never have another president like this. But, you know, fingers crossed, anyway.</s>TAPPER: You know what all these conspiracy theories make me think of, of course, is the fact that almost exactly 12 years ago when John McCain, your former boss, was running against Barack Obama, this happened.</s>SALTER: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's not -- he's an Arab. He is not --</s>JOHN MCCAIN (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nope.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope?</s>MCCAIN: No, ma'am, no, ma'am, he's a decent family man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about.</s>TAPPER: Now, obviously nothing wrong with being an Arab, but the point she was trying to make is she bought into this insane conspiracy theory about Obama. You write in your book that that would be remembered in later years and after his death as one of the finest, if not the finest, moments in his political career. And I have to say it is the exact opposite of President Trump who not only doesn't push back on conspiracy theories, he's like the leading provider of them.</s>SALTER: Yes. You know, John had been sort of the subject of a few conspiracy theories in his life, his political career. And yes, we had told him -- some reporters had told him that they heard some people at his rallies yelling some unfortunate things, so he was sort of on his guard in that moment. But it wasn't anything he wrote down or prepared or staged or anything, he just reacted as he normally would at any town hall he had done before. Somebody said something that was just wrong. I mean he didn't want to make issue with an elderly lady, and he didn't want to be too rude to her, but that happened at several times in that rally. And a few times, some in the crowd, not all and not even most, booed him for it, his own supporters. But, you know, he didn't think it was any big deal afterwards. Yes, of course I did. He was kind of surprised at the attention it got in subsequent years. It got more attention in subsequent years, Jake, than I think it really did at the time.</s>TAPPER: You write in the book, there's an interesting part where McCain completely is disgusted when then-candidate Trump is attacking the Khan family, who lost, they're a Gold Star family, they lost their son in Iraq, a hero. But he doesn't withdraw his support from Trump until after the "Access Hollywood" tape. He and Trump talk about it and McCain basically says that the real reason was the Khan family and his attacks on the Khan family. What do you think John McCain would be doing right now? I know you're hesitant to speak for him, but I can't believe he wouldn't be speaking out against this indecency. His widow has endorsed Joe Biden, shockingly.</s>SALTER: Of course, I observed this before. He didn't vote for Trump last time, as you mentioned, and Trump is not someone who improves on longer acquaintance with him. He's been a disaster as a President, and you know, he's got an affinity for our enemies and sort of aspires to join the international thugs club, and he's openly hostile to our allies. And that would have, you know, before John passed away, of course, he was a very acerbic critic of the President. He put out what I think was probably the harshest statement he ever made about the U.S. President after the Helsinki Summit when Trump took the word of Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence services. He did that just six weeks or so before he passed away, maybe two months. But so he'd have quite a bit to say, I think, and I can't -- I don't want to say what he would do in this election, but, I'm pretty sure, as I said, if he didn't vote for him four years ago, he hasn't done anything to win his vote, so I'm sure he would probably be with his wife Cindy in supporting his long-time friend Joe Biden.</s>TAPPER: The world needs a healthy Republican Party, I think, the United States needs a healthy Republican Party, based in fact, based in science, based on decency, based on a lot of the values that John McCain stood for. Is it possible that Republican Party can exist again as opposed to what we have today, which is a bunch of cowards and QAnon adherents?</s>SALTER: Yes, I think, you know, I think this kind of stuff preceded Trump and it will follow Trump to an extent, and there will be a battle for sort of Trump-like, Trump without the insane tweets, or something. But it will be nativist and sort of quasi-isolationist and protectionist and culture warriors, you know, versus more traditional reform conservatives. But I think that will go on for several election cycles and I'm not sure of the outcome. On the road we're heading, you know, we are heading -- we're now a party that tries to succeed by discouraging people from voting. That's not a party with a future. So I hope we get it right. I don't want to be a Democrat, and I don't think the Democrats would want to have me.</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>SALTER: I'd like to have a Conservative Party with principles and a sense of honor, and right now that's in pretty short supply.</s>TAPPER: Mark Salter, the book is "The Luckiest Man." It's a fantastic book about John McCain. I highly recommend it. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.</s>SALTER: Thank you, Jake.</s>TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you now. CNN has learned that former White House Chief of Staff Retired Marine General John Kelly has told friends about President Trump, quote, the depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life, unquote. This brand-new reporting comes from our CNN special report, "</s>THE INSIDERS: A WARNING FROM FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS." An inside look at the Trump Presidency from those who worked for the President who now say he is unfit for office. "THE INSIDERS" airs Sunday at 9:00 p.m. and midnight Eastern. Right here on CNN. A new update on when we could see a coronavirus vaccine and it's a reality check for President Trump. Stay with us.

W.H.O. Says Remdesivir Has Little or No Effect on COVID Patients

TAPPER: Back now with our HEALTH LEAD, a major blow to the President's hopes of getting a COVID vaccine before election day. Pfizer confirming today that it will not seek Emergency Use Authorization for its vaccine until the third week of November. Let's get right to CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, this on the one hand is good news, a late stage vaccine developer providing a specific timeline and it's relatively soon, but we need to be clear this is not a guarantee. Put this into some context for us.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake, it absolutely isn't a guarantee but it is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Pfizer being seen as really one of the frontrunners in this vaccine race. Let's take a look at what Pfizer's CEO, Albert Bourla, had to say on his website. On the Pfizer website they published a letter from him and it says, assuming positive data -- and that's an important phrase, I'm going to come back to it -- assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for Emergency Authorization Use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November. So as you pointed out, Jake, third week of November, that means not by election day, so yet more evidence, as if we needed more, that this vaccine is not going to happen by election day, but that "assuming positive data," let me sort of unpack what that means. They're basically saying, look, we're going to have or we anticipate having some data about how our vaccine is doing. It's been in a clinical trial, a Phase III trial since the end of July. But it might not be positive. The data might show that the vaccine doesn't work. The data might show that it's unclear if the vaccine works and Pfizer needs to continue on with its clinical trial. So just them saying we're going to have data doesn't mean the data is going to show the vaccine works.</s>TAPPER: Yes, but still, positive development and another reminder that Operation Warp Speed, run by President Trump and his team, is a good thing and is proceeding in a good way. There is an alarming new study from the World Health Organization about the effects or the ineffectiveness of the drug Remdesivir, the only antiviral drug authorized right now to treat COVID patients. Now we're told it actually has little to no effect on patients?</s>COHEN: That's right, and I will tell you that this study is considerably larger, Jake, than the study that got Remdesivir its Emergency Use Authorization earlier this year. Let's take a look as what the World Health Organization found. They looked at 2,750 patients who received Remdesivir. Compared them to patients who didn't, they found the drug did not save lives. It did not reduce your chance of getting hospitalized if you got COVID. And if you were hospitalized, it didn't reduce your chance of being put on a ventilator. The study that got Remdesivir on the U.S. market in the first place showed that Remdesivir could shorten a hospital stay. This study showing, it didn't even do that. One does have to wonder, what will the FDA say about this, will they reconsider whether Remdesivir should be on the market -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Elizabeth, thank you so much, appreciate it. As Joe Biden tries to flip Michigan, there's another race you need to know about with the control of the U.S. Senate on the line, and no one is comfortable calling the race right now. That's next.

Michigan Senate Race Tightens, Democrats Defend Seat Key to Taking Control of Senate.

TAPPER: In our 2020 LEAD, Democratic nominee for President Joe Biden is holding two events in Michigan today. He's hoping to flip a critical battleground state that President Trump won by a razor thin margin in 2016. It's also a key state for Democrats to hold as they try to take back control of the U.S. Senate. As CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Battleground, Michigan. Not just in the race for the White House but in the fight for control of the Senate.</s>SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): There is a great deal of energy right now on both sides because of what's at stake here.</s>MARQUEZ: First term Senator Gary Peters is facing a tough challenge. One of the few Senate contests where Democrats are on defense.</s>PETERS: It's incredibly important and we have to have the majority in the Senate for our President Biden to be successful.</s>MARQUEZ: The Republican challenger combat veteran and businessman John James who lost his 2018 bid for Senate against Michigan's other Democratic Senator by six points.</s>JOHN JAMES (R) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: People in the state of Michigan recognize that Gary Peters is all talk.</s>MARQUEZ: James declined a request to speak with CNN but he did appear twice Thursday on "Fox News" where he called out his rival.</s>JAMES: Senator Peters would be less than a speed bump against the leftist move toward move to anarchy and socialism.</s>MARQUEZ: While Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump in Michigan polls, one recent survey from "The New York Times" and Siena College shows the Senate race nearly even with Peters at 43 percent and James at 42 percent. Democrats need to pick up four seats to gain control of the Senate if Trump wins re-election or three seats if Biden wins the presidency. Since his Vice President would break ties in the Senate. Right now the GOP is favored to flip one Democratic held seat, Alabama.</s>CAMPAIGN AD: Gary Peters shows up --</s>MARQUEZ: The race is one of the top ten most expensive this cycle with Peters and his allies spending more than $56 million on ads so far compared to $45 million by James and outside groups backing his campaign. Peters has touted his bipartisan credentials and environmental record while James has attacked Peters on the coronavirus and for being an ineffective lawmaker. Voters here already casting ballots well aware of the stakes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having a blue Senate and having a blue Congress over the next four years is going to dictate all the legislation that our family cares about.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If President Trump wins and he doesn't have the House and the Senate, then this country is getting nothing done.</s>MARQUEZ: Strategists and party officials from both sides say the outcome in Michigan could be crucial for the direction of the Senate. (on camera): How important is it to flip a seat like Michigan?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that there is a huge opportunity right now in Michigan for Republican Party to flip a seat.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's critically important. There is no path for a Democratic Senate majority without Gary Peters returning to the United States Senate.</s>MARQUEZ: Now the Senator, his campaign, Democrats statewide, they don't seem particularly worried about this race. They expect it tighten up, they think it's about where they expected it to be. The bigger question for many is will President Trump be a drag to down ballots, candidates like Mr. James that certainly happened in 2018 when they cleaned up on statewide races and flipped two house seats and even made inroads in the state legislature -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Miguel Marquez, thank you so much, appreciate it. President Trump in moments of speaking at another rally in Florida before heading to more coronavirus hot spots as health experts fear the virus is spreading so he can soak up praise.

Joe Biden Campaigns in Michigan

BLITZER: Joe Biden is taking his presidential campaign to the battleground state of Michigan in a bid to rebuild what's called the blue wall President Trump's shattered back in 2016. CNN's Jessica Dean is tracking the Biden campaign for us. She's joining us from Michigan right now. So, Biden is going directly after the president, Jessica, in a very, very tough -- with tough words.</s>JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very pointed way this afternoon, Wolf, Joe, Biden making health care and the Affordable Care Act really central to his closing argument here in Michigan. He and his campaign believing that has a through line to so many issues, including Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court, Republicans' efforts to dismantle the ACA, and then, of course, the coronavirus and Trump's response to the coronavirus. Take a listen.</s>BIDEN: He is still living in a dream world. He keeps telling us that this virus is going to disappear like a miracle. He said, I think, last night in his town hall -- I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said, we have turned the corner. As my grandfather Finnegan might say were he here, he said, he has gone around the bend.</s>BIDEN: Turned the corner. My lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted. We all know the terrible price this nation has paid.</s>DEAN: Meantime, at his town hall last night in Philadelphia, Joe Biden talking about a question he's dodged for weeks now. And that's whether he supports packing the Supreme Court. He has said that he doesn't want to give that answer because it's a distraction. He said last night he promised to give his answer on that before Election Day. Meantime, we move ever closer to Election Day. I'm here at a drive-in event. It's all about voter engagement, making sure people turn out to the polls. We learned today, Wolf, that Vice President Biden's perhaps biggest surrogate out there, former President Barack Obama, will hit the campaign trail for him in Philadelphia next week.</s>BLITZER: Eighteen days to go until November 3, Election Day, but millions, more than 20 million Americans already have voted. All right, Jessica, thank you very much. Let's bring in our political correspondent, Abby Phillip, and CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers. He's the author of the new book "My Vanishing Country: A Memoir." Abby, CNN has learned that the former White House chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, has told friends that President Trump, in his words, "is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life." Given these very strong feelings, why won't the president's former chief of staff simply come out publicly to explain to the American people why he's so concerned about his former boss' character?</s>ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that is the question. And it's one that really I don't have a great answer to. It's not clear to me why John Kelly, who does not have a good relationship with this president and hasn't for a very, very long time, why he won't just simply say publicly what he's saying privately. The only thing that I can gather, from my understanding of how John Kelly is as a person from people who know him, is that he is kind of a circumspect person publicly. He doesn't want to get deeply involved in the political drama. But, at the same time, he's obviously painting a very dire picture of this person that he used to work for. And I think it stands to reason that he -- if he felt so strongly about it in private, he ought to let the public know publicly, because he's one of the people, one of the few people who has been so close to this president, worked for him for many years. And I think his opinion is important for voters to know as they're going to the polls.</s>BLITZER: Yes, so many of the president's former advisers are saying similar things. Bakari, we have also just learned that former President Obama will make his first campaign stop for Joe Biden next Wednesday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania being a key battleground state. This marks a long-awaited moment for the Biden campaign, doesn't it?</s>BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It does, I mean, and I know that Joe Biden has to feel amazing to have his former boss out on the campaign trail. Look, Barack Obama is the most popular politician in the entire country. He's the big dog. And so, when you roll him out, I mean, it's going to be energy abound for this campaign. It's going to be new wind beneath its sales, if it needs it. Barack Obama is someone who's going to pitch a message, much like Joe Biden, of unifying this country, of bringing this country together, whether or not you're in North Carolina, or whether or not you're in Ohio or Pennsylvania. He's someone, a lot like John Kelly knows Donald Trump, Barack Obama knows Joe Biden, and he will be able to speak to his character, he will be able to speak to his fortitude and who he is. And he will also be able to talk about a vision for this country moving forward. I'm so excited about having Barack Obama on the trail. The Republican Party doesn't have anything like it. I mean, Larry Hogan had to vote for Ronald Reagan today.</s>BLITZER: Yes, the governor of Maryland. And he made a point by saying he was voting for Ronald Reagan, a symbolic statement, indeed. And we do know that President Obama has a huge following out there to get out the vote, which will be so, so critical in this election. Abby, only 18 days to go. We're seeing a president very much on the defensive right now. What do the locations of President Trump's campaign stops reveal to you about how his team is viewing this race with only a few days left?</s>PHILLIP: Well, I think probably the only thing that you need to know about how the president's team is viewing this race is where he is tonight, where he's heading right as we speak, Macon, Georgia. He's going to Georgia to try to defend that state that he won the last time around. That should be a state that he should be able to win this time around if he were in a strong position. He was also campaigning in North Carolina, another state. He should be able to at least, if he were in a strong position, he -- as a Republican, he ought to be able to win that state pretty easily without investing resources in the last 20 days. This is a president who is defending a map and a very narrow path to victory. And that narrow path may very well require that he wins North Carolina. It will also require that he wins Florida, which is a state that he's been campaigning in recently as well. And so the Trump campaign, despite what the president is saying, knows that this is a map that is not trending in their direction. They're not in the position to expand the map. They are only trying to defend what they did last time around. And I think that defensive territory is actually a much broader territory than they would like it to be at this point.</s>BLITZER: Very important, indeed. All right, Abby Phillip and Bakari Sellers, guys, thanks very much. An important and quick programming note for our viewers: Tune in this weekend for an inside look at the Trump presidency from those who worked for the president, Jake Tapper, a CNN special report, "The Insiders: A Warning From Former Trump Officials." That will air Sunday 9:00 p.m. and midnight, 9:00 p.m. and midnight Eastern, right here on CNN, right after our special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM. Just ahead, we will have more on President Trump's embrace of yet another dangerous conspiracy group, QAnon, which the FBI calls a domestic terror threat. And, later, Congressman Adam Schiff is standing by to join me live here in THE SITUATION ROOM. We will discuss a new investigation into a potential Russian disinformation campaign targeting the Biden family. We will be right back.

Trump Refuses to Condemn QAnon Conspiracy Group Labeled a Domestic Terror Threat by FBI

BLITZER: Anti-extremist organizations are sounding the alarm after President Trump refused to condemn QAnon, a conspiracy group that's been labeled a domestic terror threat by the FBI. Let's continue the discussion with the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt. Jonathan, thanks so much for joining us. Let me remind you and our viewers what the president said about this dangerous group last night. Watch this.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon. I know very little.</s>GUTHRIE: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: You told me, but what you told me doesn't necessarily make it fact, I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>REPORTER: They believe it is a satanic cult run by the DNC.</s>BLITZER: He's clearly not condemning this conspiracy theory. The president of the United States actually encouraging a totally insane movement out there as he pour -- pouring fuel on the fire, Jonathan.</s>JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Yes. You know, Wolf, as I said last night, as soon as I saw that, it is shockingly irresponsible that President Trump refused to disavow QAnon, which, as you said, is a dangerous and unhinged hateful conspiracy theory that promotes anti-Semitism, it's inspired it's followers to commit multiple acts of violence. And, look, the most generous thing I can say here tonight is that claiming ignorance is just absolutely unacceptable. When you're the president of the United States, you just can't credibly say, I don't know who David Duke is or I don't know who the Proud Boys or I don't know what QAnon is, particularly when the president is on record is saying he watches cable television news all the time. I mean, obviously, he knows exactly who these people are, Wolf. And if you're not willing to call out a domestic terror threat, a group that wants to cause violence to the home land, I mean, that's a dereliction of duty at best.</s>BLITZER: Yes. The other day, he said the -- he said this. He said, well I don't know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. So he knows at least that much, and it's pretty shocking that he simply can't condemn this organization. Tell us why they're so dangerous.</s>GREENBLATT: Well, look, QAnon started in about 2017 on a service called 4chan. And, again, it is a sort of a shadowy conspiracy movement. I think their followers are probably in the tens of thousands. But they believe there is a deep state conspiracy, again, run by cabal of pedophiles. And their lunatic rantings have sort of move from the sewers of the internet, Wolf, into mainstream politics, in large part because of moments last night. You know, at the ADL, we track extremists. And I can tell you, on QAnon boards today, we watch them. And these extremists believe last night was a huge win. They think it was a win because simply being discussed on a platform like, you know, a broadcast news program, to them, feels like a victory. And when President Trump claims he doesn't know what they are but actually states what they believes as their core purpose, fighting imaginary satanic pedophiles, they think he is code -- you showing them code. He is approving of them. And that's why they feel emboldened today. And, look, like I said a moment ago, whether it was a QAnon enthusiast trying to attack a pizza parlor in D.C. or other acts of violence, these people are dangerous and they don't deserve to be dignified by the president of the United States or anyone in public life.</s>BLITZER: Have you or other leaders in the ADL actually communicated to the White House to express this concern?</s>GREENBLATT: Again and again. We've spoken to people at the highest levels of government publicly and privately to explain that in order to eliminate this kind of threat, you've got to denounce it clearly and cogently. But I must say, I mean, I've never had a moment like this before that I have seen in public life. There are plenty of responsible politicians on both sides of the aisle. But when the president himself signals that this is somehow normal, that it's just simply a group he's not aware of, I've got to say it sends them a signal. They feel emboldened by this. They already think, Wolf, that the president is re-tweeting their memes, right? And a lot -- and suggesting there somehow normal, it is giving them the entree they are looking for into American public life.</s>BLITZER: All right, Jonathan thanks very much. Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL, I appreciate you joining us. We're going to stay on top of this story for our viewers. Just ahead, I'll speak live with Congressman Adam Schiff about a new probe into a potential Russian disinformation campaign targeting Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Plus, multiple states are now reporting a huge surge in early voting. Will 2020 set a record for turnout? We'll be right back.

U.S. Investigating if Recently Published Emails are Tied to Russian Disinformation Effort Targeting Biden; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is Interviewed About Trump Warned Last Year That Giuliani Was Being Used to Feed Him Russian Misinformation.

BLITZER: Federal authorities, including the FBI, are investigating whether recently published emails that purport to deal -- to detail, I should say, the business dealings of Joe Biden's son, Hunter, are connected to an ongoing Russian disinformation effort targeting the Biden campaign in the days leading up to the election. Let's discuss with the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Adam Schiff. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Does it surprise you at all that this information Rudy Giuliani is peddling very well could be connected to some sort of Russian government disinformation campaign?</s>REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, we know that this whole smear on Joe Biden comes from the Kremlin. That's been clear for well over a year now that they've been pushing this false narrative about the vice president and his son. And, you know, the idea that the president, that the White House Counsel and others were made aware that Giuliani was being used by Russian intelligence and using Russian intelligence in the sense of meeting with an agent of the Kremlin and pushing out this Kremlin false narrative, the idea that they were knowing and still on the floor of the Senate during the impeachment trial, pushing this Kremlin narrative is pretty breathtaking. But I guess at this point we can't be shocked by anything this administration does, no matter how craven. But, clearly, the origins of this whole smear are from the Kremlin, and the president is only too happy to have Kremlin help and try to amplify it.</s>BLITZER: It's not like Rudy Giuliani is peddling this information in a vacuum, Congressman. Take a look at this picture of the president in the Oval Office holding up a copy of the New York Post touting this conspiracy theory. It's made its way all the way to the commander in chief with a big smile on his face.</s>SCHIFF: Yes. Well, look, I think we know who the driving force behind this smear has been all along and it's been the president and the Kremlin. The Kremlin has an obvious interest in denigrating Joe Biden. They want Donald Trump to win. They recognize he's a weak president. He's been utterly unwilling to stand up to Putin and other autocrats. He has diminished NATO. He has criticized and weakened our alliance with our transatlantic partners. He's been the gift that doesn't stop giving for the Kremlin. So, clearly, they want to help him. So they want to denigrate the vice president. The Intelligence Community has made that abundantly clear. And this particular smear though has also been acknowledge to come from the Kremlin, and there it is from the Oval Office, another wonderful propaganda coup from Vladimir Putin, seeing the president of the United States holding up a newspaper promoting Kremlin propaganda. It's really incredible.</s>BLITZER: The Washington Post, as you saw, is reporting that when the president was actually warned of concerns about Giuliani, where he was getting all this information, warned by U.S. intelligence, law enforcement authorities, the president simply shrugged his shoulders and responded, that's Rudy. How much is that a part of the problem here that the president, at least according to this reporting in the Washington Post, doesn't seem to care?</s>SCHIFF: Well, it's a big part of the problem. And we know for a long time, look, Rudy Giuliani doesn't, you know, run the president, the president runs Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani is doing the president's bidding. He was doing the president's bidding late last year and earlier this year in Ukraine. He was doing the president's bidding when he was pushing out this smear and trying to get the Ukrainians to push out this smear of his opponent because he was deathly afraid of being exactly where we are right now, which is less than three weeks from the election, losing badly to Joe Biden. But the fact that he would continue to do it, I guess at this point shouldn't surprise us. But this is the story of Donald Trump -- utter unwillingness to stand up to the Kremlin, willingness to use their help no matter how dishonest or disreputable, a willingness to undermine our own elections by getting Kremlin help and amplifying it. And there's only one remedy at this point and that's to vote him out.</s>BLITZER: Have you, as a member of the Gang of Eight, the top leadership in the Congress, the Senate, and the House, and members of the Intelligence Committee, have you been formally briefed on what the Russians are up to right now in trying to peddle this kind of information?</s>SCHIFF: Well, I was in the Intelligence Committee today to see what the latest was, and frankly, we haven't gotten much from the intelligence community very recently, which concerns me. They have at times, some of the leadership, like Director Ratcliffe, not been very forthcoming in terms of the intelligence on the Russian threat and been promoting this false equivalence with other countries. So, you know, I wish I could tell you more, Wolf. I wish the intelligence community was able to tell the public more. But we do know this: the Russians are once again actively involved in trying to denigrate the vice president, Donald Trump is helping them, and we know that they are amplifying the president's misinformation about absentee ballots. This is another gift the president is giving the Russians. Unlike 2016 when the Russians had to make up this stuff, they now can simply use the president's own false statements and amplify them. It is extraordinary, Wolf, that a president of the United States is telling his own citizens and the rest of the world that America can't hold a free and fair election. The Kremlin just has to push out that false narrative by the president of the United States.</s>BLITZER: Congressman Adam Schiff, thank you so much for joining us.</s>SCHIFF: Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right. Just ahead, more than 20 million general election ballots have already been cast here in the United States as more states report record increases in early voting. We'll be right back.

U.S. Surpasses 8 Million Coronavirus Cases; Pfizer won't Apply for Emergency Use of its Vaccine until after Election; Wolf One-on-One with NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins; Trump Approves California Wildfire Disaster Aid Request, Reversing Earlier Denial By FEMA; Russia Approves Second Vaccine Without Late-Stage Trial

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Sunday morning on "State of the Union" Trump campaign senior adviser and the president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, Democratic Senator from Delaware, Sen. Chris Coons, plus Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. It's at 9:00 a.m. and noon, Sunday. And then, Sunday night, a CNN Special Report, "The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials." "The Insiders" airing Sunday 9:00 p.m. and midnight right here on CNN. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news. A sobering new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. The United States has now confirmed more than 8 million cases. That's more than any other country in the world, and one million of them in just the last three weeks. Also, tonight, the death toll has topped 218,000 people here in the U.S. But President Trump campaigning in Florida, is spreading new misinformation about the greatest public health crisis in this country in a century. He's falsely claiming that the U.S. is, quote, "rounding the turn" in the pandemic, even as experts forecast that tens of thousands more Americans will die from COVID-19 in the coming months. And the president's hope for a vaccine before the election is taking a hit. Pfizer has just announced it won't seek emergency use authorization for its vaccine until the third week in November at the earliest. In a moment, we'll talk to the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins. He's standing by live. But first, let's go straight to the White House. Our White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins is joining us. Kaitlan, a big day for the president out there, campaigning and yet, new misinformation emerging about the pandemic.</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And the president is continuing to try to defend his record as he's in Florida today making his appeal to seniors while Joe Biden is in Michigan, pitching health care, of course, that's his message throughout this campaign all along. But Wolf, this comes after these two competing town halls last night where Joe Biden and Donald Trump were not on the same stage, but of course, they were still going after one another. And Wolf, we just got the ratings in for those town halls and of course, this is a ratings-obsessed president who'll not be happy with these numbers.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): President Trump and Joe Biden battling in battleground states today, one night after going head to head, but not face-to-face in town halls.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't watch Sleepy Joe last night. I just wanted to see what he looked like.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): In Florida, Trump making his pitch to seniors as polls show Biden is leading nationwide with voters 65 and older.</s>TRUMP: Seniors will be the first in line for the vaccine. We are rounding the turn, I say that all the time, some of the media doesn't like hearing it but I say it all the time, we're rounding that turn.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): President Trump also holding a campaign rally in Georgia after spreading misinformation about mask wearing during last night's town hall in Miami.</s>TRUMP: Hey, Dr. Fauci said, "Don't wear a mask," right?</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS HOST: At first, but then everybody agreed.</s>TRUMP: Oh, I don't know. Then he changed his mind. But then, you have a report coming out two days ago, that 85 percent of the people wearing masks catch it.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): The CDC report Trump is referring to did not find that 85 percent of people who wore a mask got coronavirus. It wasn't even about masks, and instead, found that people who got COVID- 19 were twice as likely to have reported eating at a restaurant than those who did not. The president sowing down about wearing a mask even as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was recently released from intensive care after his coronavirus diagnosis, admitted he was wrong not to wear a mask at the White House.</s>CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: It was a mistake, you know, I was led to believe that you know all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested and it gave you a false sense of security.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): Trump told NBC News he's not tested on a daily basis like staff claimed, and that he can't remember if he was tested before his debate with Joe Biden.</s>TRUMP: I don't know. I don't even remember. I test all the time. Again, the doctors do it. I don't ask them. I test all the time.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): Last night, Trump quickly denounced white supremacy but stepped on his own message when he danced around condemning the conspiracy group QAnon.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to --</s>GUTHRIE: They believe that it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.</s>TRUMP: -- study the subject.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): Trump was also pressed on why he retweeted an absurd conspiracy that Osama bin Laden's death was a hoax and President Obama and Joe Biden had SEAL Team Six killed, a baseless theory debunked by a Navy SEAL who was there.</s>TRUMP: That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody --</s>GUTHRIE: But --</s>TRUMP: And that was a retweet. I'll put it out there. People can decide for themselves. I don't take a position.</s>GUTHRIE: I don't get that, you're the President. You're not like, someone's crazy uncle who can just --</s>TRUMP: No, no. No, no.</s>GUTHRIE: -- retweet, whatever.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): Joe Biden stuck a more subdued tone during his own town hall as he criticized the president and sidestepped questions about expanding the Supreme Court.</s>GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: But don't voters have a right to know?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They do have a right to know what I stand, and they'll have a right to know where I stand before they vote.</s>COLLINS (voice-over): According to television ratings, from the dueling town halls, more people watched Biden than the ratings obsessed president who went after NBC's Savannah Guthrie for her tough questioning.</s>TRUMP: It's a nice pleasurable evening, as I have somebody going totally crazy last night. But I told you, I told you that. Another evening in paradise, I call it.</s>COLLINS: Now, Wolf, yesterday we saw Republican Senator Ben Sasse going after the president and today, it's his former Chief of Staff John Kelly who according to new CNN reporting has said this of the president to friends of his. And I'm quoting him now, "The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life." Wolf, that's from John Kelly, who worked for the president as one of his top aides in the West Wing for a little under two years. And so, you've got to wonder if there are going to be more aides speaking out against the president, whether it's privately like John Kelly apparently is or even publicly like Ben Sasse did in recent days.</s>BLITZER: Yes. We'll see happens in that front. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Let's get some more on the breaking pandemic news. We're watching. CNN's Nick Watt is joining us from Los Angeles right now. Nick, the U.S. leads the world in coronavirus cases, now more than 8 million since January.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Wolf. And as we accelerated past that 8 million mark, the surgeon general, who's in Wisconsin, why? Because they're opening a new surge testing site up there. Jerome Adams said that Wisconsin, one of the red states right now, and why? He said because cases are in the red and going in the wrong direction. Wisconsin's going to get another visitor from Washington this weekend.</s>WATT (voice-over): There's a MAGA rally in Wisconsin tomorrow night. Will the president mention the state is now seeing all-time record high new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths? Unlikely.</s>MAYOR TOM BARRETT (D-WI), MILWAIKEE: We saw it at Rose Garden just a couple of weeks ago, and we could see another superspreader event in Janesville tomorrow.</s>WATT (voice-over): Hotspots are popping up again in Connecticut. 12 now dead in a nursing home outbreak in California. New Mexico's average daily case count, more than doubled. Over the past few weeks.</s>GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): Pay attention to the facts. It is a deadly highly contagious virus. The virus is now winning.</s>WATT (voice-over): Nine states just set a record. Most new cases in a day. Latest national numbers, yesterday, we topped 60,000 for the first time since mid-August. Second wave, third wave. Ominous either way.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you think that by getting infected and saying poo-pooing the prevention modalities, that you're living in a vacuum and you're becoming part of the problem.</s>WATT (voice-over): The CDC now has thanksgiving guidelines, among them, dining inside only with people you live with, drinking too much might cloud your judgment. In-store Black Friday shopping is high risk. Meanwhile, disappointing news on remdesivir used on the president, the only drug explicitly authorized to treat COVID-19 in the U.S. It has little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients, according to the W.H.O. Better news on vaccines, "Assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November." So, after the election. The word assuming is doing a little work there. The data "would be reviewed not only by the FDA's own scientists but also by an external panel of independent experts at a publicly held meeting convened by the agency." To ensure public trust, some say the president has eroded that trust.</s>WATT: And among the first people who will see that vaccine data will be Dr. Anthony Fauci, that had just been confirmed. And despite the president's repeated baseless attempts to malign Fauci as a Democrat, Dr. Fauci says he has no political allegiances whatsoever and he's just trying to do his job. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: And he's doing an excellent job indeed. Nick Watt reporting for us. Thanks very much. Let's get some more on all of this. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins is joining us right now. Dr. Collins, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for everything you and your team do, of course. And as you know, the United States has just surpassed 8 million total confirmed cases of COVID-19. Did you ever think, Dr. Collins, that our country, a leader in health care and innovation around the world, would see this virus run rampant like it is?</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, there's so many reasons to be sorrowful about where we are. Of course, this is the most significant global pandemic in more than a hundred years but the way in which it has taken a toll in so many individuals and families in the U.S. is truly heartbreaking. And to see us cross that 8 million mark for infections and 218,000 people that have lost their lives is truly tragic. And we should be doing everything we can and as a physician and scientist, I'm certainly part of that effort to come up with better ways to prevent and treat, and prevent -- and come up with vaccines, ultimately, that will keep this from going on forever and ever. And we are on that path but we still have ways to go. So, this is a good moment, Wolf, for people to stop and ask themselves, what can I do to try to be sure that we limit the further infections that otherwise seem to be looming in front of us as cold weather is kicking in and people are indoors and those curves are going upward in the wrong direction.</s>BLITZER: It's absolutely true. Because yesterday alone, there were more than 63,000 new infections here in the United States in one day. So, how dangerous is it, Dr. Collins, for numbers to be that high at any point but especially now that many of us will be forced inside for the winter months?</s>COLLINS: Well I also look at not just the number of cases but hospitalizations because that indicates people are really severely sick and they need to be in the hospital. And that curve has also started up again, which is really troubling. That probably means, unfortunately, that we may start now to see also an increase in the number of deaths each day, which is the thing we most want to prevent. We're working really hard at NIH with our partners across government and in the private sector to come up with ways to help people who get that sick. In fact, we just announced today a new trial, immunomodulators to help the sickest people in the ICU to try to get them through that. But still, the best thing we could do is to have fewer people falling ill. And when you look at the country right now, especially in the Midwest, to places like Wisconsin and the Dakotas and Montana, it is really troubling to see how things are going up so steeply. And we all have a lot of work to do to try to get this turned around again.</s>BLITZER: Yes. It's hard to believe the United States has had more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other country in the world. Your colleague of long standing, Dr. Fauci, says it's not too late to turn things around with basic public health measures, without necessarily resorting to the kind of broad stay-at-home orders we saw earlier in the pandemic. But clearly, Americans haven't -- have not universally embraced the basics. So, why should we expect that to work now?</s>COLLINS: Well, good question. Why have we not been effective in getting the facts across? Because they are facts. Let's step aside from any sort of political perspectives and just look at the evidence. Wearing a mask is the best way to keep yourself from transmitting this illness, even though you might not know you have it. You might to other people. I mean think about it. If you were rolled into the operating room to have some sort of operative procedure and everybody in there just took off all their masks, you would be pretty nervous, wouldn't you? Same idea. Those people don't want to be involved in giving you an infection by what's happening in terms of what they're speaking and droplets coming out of their mouth. It's the same idea. It is such a simple thing. And certainly, no more difficult than thinking about wearing your seat belt. We all kind of do that. You do that to protect yourself but also to protect other people. If we could just turn that one around, stop thinking about this as a political issue and think about it as the kind of generosity of the human spirit of trying to protect other people, maybe we could do something. Thanksgiving is coming. Let's be thankful and be safe. And let's also be thankful that we have something we can do to help others.</s>BLITZER: Yes, let's be thankful and at the same time, let's wear a mask. Pfizer now says it expects to apply for emergency use authorization of its coronavirus vaccine perhaps by the third week of November. That would be the earliest. So, what will the FDA be looking for in order to make this kind of decision and if this vaccine does get this emergency use authorization, explain what happens next?</s>COLLINS: I want everybody to realize just how stringent the rules are going to be for any emergency use authorization. First of all, the trial has to be run on very large numbers of people, and there is a data safety monitoring board that's watching day by day to see if anything happens like an adverse event you didn't expect. And in fact, they just happened with the Johnson and Johnson. Vaccine is currently on a pause because of a single patient that had an unexpected event, probably not even related to the vaccine but you want to be sure. Once the DSMB sees that there does appear to be an efficacy signal, that is that the people who got the vaccine seem to be protected against illness, and that there's enough safety data, then they will tell the company and the company will decide whether they agree and whether they want to go to the FDA. The FDA will then look at the application. They will study it with great care. And they look at the raw data. And then they will hold a public meeting to see exactly, what is the evidence and is it sufficient to grant this. And only then will this idea of an emergency use authorization happen. And as Pfizer has pointed out, that's extremely unlikely to be happening until sometime in middle to late November. And only then if the data supports the fact that the vaccine work. It's too bad this has gotten all tangled up in other calendar issues. This is kind of the way science is supposed to go. You do the work. You do the careful analysis. You try to make sure that every standard has been met. And then you try to put something out that's going to help people. I'm still pretty guardedly optimistic that by the end of the year, we'll have one or more vaccines that is safe and effective and we can start distributing it but even that is not a guarantee. This is a very complicated science and sometimes, things don't work the way you want it to.</s>BLITZER: Yes. We got to make sure it's not only effective but it's safe. That the side effects are not going to really hurt individuals out there. We're going to be relying on the expertise. As you mentioned, Dr. Collins, the NIH launched a phase three trial today. Three drugs that aimed to stop people's immune systems from going into overdrive, what's called cytokine, I think I pronounced it -- cytokine storm -</s>COLLINS: Cytokine, yes.</s>BLITZER: Cytokine, I think that's how you pronounce it. Cytokine storm.</s>COLLINS: Yes.</s>BLITZER: How are these drugs supposed to work and how much promise have they shown so far?</s>COLLINS: Well, we know that people who get the sickest with SARS-CoV-2 viral infection are people whose immune system actually overreacts to the presence of the virus. That's how you end up in the ICU, maybe even on a ventilator. The virus is the initial problem but then the immune system gets a little too carried away. Think about it this way. Think about the virus is like a fire in your house. Maybe it's not terribly big fire and your sprinklers turn on to put the fire out and sometimes they put the fire out but the sprinklers keep going and then you end up with more water damage than you actually had from the fire. So, the virus is like the fire. The immune system is like the sprinklers. Sometimes we have to figure out how to get those sprinklers to calm down because they are overdoing it and causing more harm than good. That's what this new trial aims to do. Three different drugs. Two of them have already been in use for a long time for other conditions but they might be just the thing here. One of them is a new drug but it's also been in trials for other purposes. And we're going to find out whether these are the kinds of things that can help the sickest people with this condition where we most need to save their lives.</s>BLITZER: Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. We're so grateful to you - once again, to you and all your colleagues for what you're doing. Dr. Collins, thanks so much for joining us.</s>COLLINS: Always glad to be with you, Wolf. Call me any time.</s>BLITZER: I will. We certainly will. Up next, Joe Biden trying to flip a key battleground state that President Trump won back in 2016. Plus, a stunning assessment of President Trump by his former White House chief of staff, retired General John Kelly. He's telling friends, his former boss is, quote, "the most flawed person he's ever met."

New Restrictions On Indoor Gatherings In London

BLITZER: In global coronavirus headlines, new cases in Europe actually are outpacing the second wave of the coronavirus here in the United States. New restrictions are going into effect in England but the mayor of one city is pushing back. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Manchester. Salma, tell us more.</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Wolf, London has raised its COVID alert level to high. That is the middle tier. And starting on Saturday, Londoners will be banned for meeting anyone outside their household in an indoor setting. That means no meeting your friends at pubs, bars or restaurants. Meanwhile, here in Manchester, the mayor is in an open standoff with Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his plans to raise the alert level of this city to very high, the top tier. The mayor argues he's unwilling to gamble the economy of Manchester over what he says is an experimental strategy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded by essentially hinting at an ultimatum saying that he hopes the mayor will reconsider and engage constructively. Otherwise, the Prime Minister says, he will intervene to save Manchester's hospitals and the lives of its residents. The Prime Minister went on to say that the situation in Manchester is grave and gets worse with each passing day. That means the clock is ticking to get a grip on the virus, Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Salma Abdelaziz in Manchester, thank you very much. Hard hit cities in France are enacting a harsh new restrictions as the country grapples with a record setting number of new cases. CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Paris for us, one of the cities where new curfews going into effect tonight. So Jim, what are you seeing?</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the coronavirus case numbers here in France have been going in the wrong direction. And as a consequence, the government is going to impose starting this evening, a curfew which will go on for four weeks in 10 major cities. It means that people will have to stay off the streets between the hours of 9:00 in the evening and 6:00 in the morning. And there'll be 12,000 police out on the streets to find people who don't comply with that. In a country that values its nightlife in a big way, it's going to put a considerable damper on things. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: All right, Jim Bittermann in Paris, thank you. Russia, meanwhile, is breaking all sorts of records for new coronavirus cases. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow for us. Fred, what's the latest there?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. Another grim milestone for Russia as the country continues to see record numbers for new coronavirus infections. For the first time, the authorities in this country recorded more than 15,000 new coronavirus infections in the span of a single day. Now, the main hotspot in this country continues to be where I am right now, the capital Moscow which saw more than 5,000 infections in the span of 24 hours and all this is happening, despite the fact that the Russians have already approved two coronavirus vaccines, none of which actually went through the phase three tests and trials to determine whether vaccines are safe and effective. Now, the Russian authorities seem to be acknowledging that vaccines aren't going to be available for the broader public anytime soon. And they're urging people to abide by anti-pandemic measures, Wolf?</s>BLITZER: All right, Fred, thank you. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. Coming up, are the Russians using Rudy Giuliani to interfere in the U.S. presidential election? We're learning new information. We'll be right back.

U.S. Investigating If Recently Published Emails Are Tied To Russian Disinformation Effort Targeting Biden.

BLITZER: Serious questions tonight about whether the Russians are using Rudy Giuliani to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. CNN's Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt is joining us. Alex, there are fears that what Giuliani is now pushing here in the United States could actually be part of Russia's latest and very massive disinformation campaign in the U.S. presidential election.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Massive indeed, Wolf. We do know that it's a very active Russian campaign that's according to the U.S. Intelligence Community and that Rudy Giuliani already had open contact with a person that the U.S. has called an agent for the Kremlin. Now, we are being told by two people who've been briefed on what the FBI is doing that they're looking into whether these unverified e-mails about Hunter Biden that were published earlier this week by the New York Post about his business dealings in Ukraine and China are part of this bigger Russian disinformation efforts in the 2020 election. Now, those efforts, according to the Intelligence Community are to denigrate the Biden campaign and the former Vice President in favor of President Trump. The New York Post says that they got these e-mails from Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon. Bannon did not respond to our requests for comment. But last month, he told a Dutch broadcaster that people should stand by for a release of documents about Hunter Biden. Now, this is far from the first time that Giuliani has tried to dig up dirt and promote disinformation on the Biden's. He's been photographed with a Ukrainian politician whose name is Andrii Derkach. He has been named, Derkach, as -- by the Intelligence Community as a Russian agent and actually been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. So you have Rudy Giuliani openly working with a known Russian agent. And the President was reportedly warned about it. The Washington Post now reporting that the Intelligence Community was so concerned about this, that they told the White House and then the National Security Adviser himself told the President that any information that Rudy Giuliani brought to him could be contaminated by Russia, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: That's pretty stark indeed. So what's Giuliani saying to this idea that he's become what his critics are calling a tool for the Russians?</s>MARQUARDT: Well, of course, he's denying all this, he's trotting out the deep state argument that we've heard from many of the Trump orbit saying that members of the Intelligence Community are out to get Trump. Take a listen to what he had to say earlier today on Fox News.</s>RUDY GIULIANI, PRES. TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: No one in the Trump administration warned me, no one in the Intelligence Community warned me, the President didn't say that to me. This is the first time I'm hearing that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right,</s>GIULIANI: And I have a pretty good idea where it's coming from. And these are people who are trying to tear down Donald Trump and destroy his presidency.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Mr. --</s>GIULIANI: And the intelligence community of which there are many.</s>MARQUARDT: Now, Wolf, despite what he says there, it is clear that this latest effort by Giuliani is raising all sorts of red flags enough for the FBI to now be looking at this as potentially part of Russia's broader attacks on the U.S. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Significant development indeed. Alex Marquardt, thanks very much. And we're going to have much more on this coming up shortly here in "The Situation Room", the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, he is standing by live. Plus, there's breaking news we're following. The former White House Chief of Staff, Retired General John Kelly telling friends what he really thinks of President Trump using words like flawed, dishonest and pathetic.

Trump Holds Rallies Despite Nationwide Surge in Cases

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to CNN, I am Robyn Curnow. Just ahead --</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.</s>CURNOW: Complete denial; Donald Trump lies about the state of coronavirus as he hosts not one, not two but three packed campaign rallies. New lockdowns are kicking across Europe as we're live from Paris. Also, the lights of Broadway may be dark but Bernadette Peters' message of hope and her advice to young stars.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.</s>CURNOW: Thank you for joining me this hour. There are now more than 8 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the United States. That is far more than any other country in the world. It only took three weeks for another million Americans to catch the virus. And it is still spreading at an alarming rate. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths on the rise, with dozens of states trending in the wrong direction. For the first time since late July, more than 68,000 new infections were reported in just one day. But these numbers didn't stop President Donald Trump from holding more crowded campaign rallies on Friday. He continued to insist that the country was in a good place.</s>TRUMP: My message to American seniors today is one of optimism, confidence and hope. Your sacrifice has not been in vain. The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn. I say that all the time and some of the media doesn't like hearing it. I say it all the time, we are rounding the turn and we are prevailing. It is amazing what is happening. It's really been very amazing.</s>CURNOW: It is certainly a very different message from the director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Dr. Francis Collins told CNN earlier, the rise in hospitalizations and certainly troubling.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: That indicates people are really severely sick and they need to be in the hospital. And that curve has also started up again, which is really troubling. And that probably means, unfortunately, that we may start now to see also an increase in the number of deaths each day.</s>CURNOW: CNN's Nick Watt has more on the top pandemic headlines from across the U.S. Here is Nick.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's a MAGA rally in Wisconsin tomorrow night. Will the president mention the state is now seeing all-time record high new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths? Unlikely.</s>MAYOR TOM BARRETT (D-WI), MILWAUKEE: We saw it at the Rose Garden just a couple of weeks ago. And we could see another super- spreader event in Janesville tomorrow.</s>WATT: Hot spots are popping up again in Connecticut, 12 now dead in a nursing home outbreak in California. New Mexico's average daily case count more than doubled over the past two weeks.</s>GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): Pay attention to the facts. It is a deadly, highly contagious virus. The virus is now winning.</s>WATT: Nine states just set a record, most new cases in a day. Latest national numbers, yesterday, we topped 60,000 for the first time since mid-August. Second wave, third wave, ominous either way.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures and, again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>WATT: Disappointing news on remdesivir, used on the president, the only drug explicitly authorized to treat COVID-19 in the U.S. It has little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients, according to the WHO. Better news on vaccines. Assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November, so after the election and note the word "assuming" is doing a little work there.</s>WATT (voice-over): The data would be reviewed, not only by the FDA's own scientists, but also by an external panel of independent experts at a publicly held meeting convened by the agency to ensure public trust. Some say the president has eroded that trust. "Foreign Policy" magazine has been analyzing government communications during the pandemic. They conclude that countries that communicated clearly, early, were able to impact the spread. They also ranked 36 countries. The U.S. came in 33rd, ahead of only Iran, Turkey and Russia -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>CURNOW: Dr. Larry Brilliant is a CNN medical analyst and he joins me now from Mill Valley, California. Doctor, good to see you. These numbers are staggering. Again, the U.S. passing 8 million. New records, they seem to be worse or at least faster, than the first wave. Gathering speed. Why did the first million cases take a hundred days to spread and the last million take 17 days to spread?</s>DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Robyn. So, we're working off a higher base, as it were. If this is a third hump or a third wave, we are working off a base of 50,000 cases a day. In the prior, wave summer wave, it began at a base of around 10,000 to 20,000. With the first wave, it began at zero or hundreds of cases. What happens now is the virus is embedded in every county in the United States. And each one of them is a separate epidemic. After seeing large numbers aggregated, they represent the combination of tens of thousands of individual chains of transmission. We're in for a really tough couple of months.</s>CURNOW: As a doctor, when you look at these graphs and you look at these numbers, how do you feel? What goes through your mind?</s>BRILLIANT: I feel terrible. I feel like this is a wildfire and an epidemic out of control. We shouldn't have gotten here. We should have stopped this a long time ago. Right now, we have to double down on those public health interventions we know will still work. Chris Murray, who's the esteemed modeler from Washington, has said that if 95 percent of Americans, even now, wear a face mask, we would save 75,000 lives. Deaths would be averted by the first month of next year. How can we not do that? Why are we not doing that?</s>CURNOW: There is also the question about the politicization of the coronavirus and it's certainly a central, issue if not the key issue, for many voters in this election. How has the fact that it has been so politicized, so inextricably linked to this election, impacted the work of doctors?</s>BRILLIANT: I think the answer to the two questions, that one and this, one are intermingled. I think the president, having made a series of mistakes, errors and mismanagement, is afraid to admit that he was wrong for fear it would jeopardize his election prospects. So the result of that is he is doubling down on all of the errors and is now having a series of what can only be considered superspreader events by bringing thousands of people together in a closed space, with no social distancing and hardly a mask in sight in order to get that flush of adrenaline or OxyContin or whatever he is getting from these events that make him feel like he is popular again. This is a very serious thing. We have a president out of control, and we have a pandemic out of control, each one feeding in to the other.</s>CURNOW: What you are talking about is a uniquely American cocktail, a very unpleasant cocktail, that is playing out day by day. We are also seeing the pandemic getting out of control in Europe. Why is that?</s>BRILLIANT: I wouldn't think that Europe unfortunately, has been spared by either part of this cocktail. I think what we're seeing in Europe is what we're seeing in northern parts of the United States. That is as much a seasonality issue as the cold weather comes, especially in the northern climes. People go indoors and the virus is given the advantage. We are indoors, huddled together, spreading the virus.</s>BRILLIANT: That is what you see now. And the WHO is very worried about what is happening in Europe right now and has issued a notice that what is going on in Europe right now could increase by 2, 3, 4, even 5 times by the end of the year. We are seeing the same thing in the northern part of the United States right now. In fact, latitude is one of the key indicators of disease spread today.</s>CURNOW: OK, that's fascinating. Thank you very much for your expertise there. Dr. Larry Brilliant, good to speak, to you thank you very much.</s>BRILLIANT: Thank you Robyn, thank you for having me.</s>CURNOW: Coming up on CNN, as Dr. Brilliant was speaking there, Europe is certainly seeing a dangerous surge of coronavirus cases. We're talking about what's going to stop the spread. A dozen infections with a massive and rapid response in China. Nearly 11 million people are tested quickly. What officials say what they found, when we come back.

Polls Close in New Zealand General Election

CURNOW: Welcome back to CNN, I'm Robyn Curnow, live from CNN's world news headquarters in Atlanta. It's 22 minutes past the hour. The polls have closed in New Zealand's general election and Jacinda Ardern is seeking a second term of prime minister, as she faces her main opponent, national leader Judith Collins. According to New Zealand election officials, nearly 2 million of the registered 3.5 million voters got their ballots in early. Donna-Marie Lever joined us from Canterbury, New Zealand, with the latest. What do we know about the results? When can we expect them?</s>DONNA-MARIE LEVER, JOURNALIST: Local election results have just begun to trickle in here in New Zealand. With early voting closing 20 minutes ago. Labor, led by Jacinda Ardern, is currently sitting on 50 percent with the main opposition party, the center right national party, led by Judith Collins, sitting on 26.8 percent. Look, very early days. Only 3.5 percent of the vote has been counted so far. That is around 180,000 votes. What we know is that a record number of New Zealanders went to the polls, almost 2 million people, 1.9 million casting their votes early. That is almost half of all registered voters, here in New Zealand. Those interim results are not expected to become clear for several hours yet. Other parties, watching some of the minor parties, the Greens and New Zealand First, all of which could play a part in forming a coalition government under</s>MEP. CURNOW: Many people are watching this, because Jacinda Ardern has become a respected global figure the way she's dealt with the pandemic and the way she dealt with the terror attack. The fact that she is a working mom. She has certainly got respect globally. But how is she viewed at home? Is she as universally loved?</s>LEVER: She has captured headlines all around the world when someone like Oprah, endorses her. I do think the country sets up innocence (ph). She has featured very strongly here in the preferred prime minister polls sitting around 50 percent to 35 percent, that being consistent, sort of right throughout this election. It has been a long election, extended by 4 weeks, due to our COVID status.</s>LEVER: And I think that is another thing that is front and center for voters this time around.</s>CURNOW: What can you deduce from the fact that people have turned out? And they came early? Clearly showing enthusiasm and momentum, what does that tell us about what voters want from the election?</s>LEVER: I think many voters made the decision relatively early on with those numbers, 1.9 million early. This election was touted as a COVID election, with the economy and the response to this global pandemic, being absolute front and center. There has been pressure on Labor and the prime minister to relax the border, allowing the economy to recover. And many people have very openly supported many political parties, supported how Jacinda Ardern has handled the COVID-19 response. The full impact of that fallout of that may not be known. And I guess it is what critics would say as well. But she has a lot of support and that has been consistent in the polls throughout.</s>CURNOW: Interesting to see how people may be voting for, someone but potentially against someone. How do bread and butter issues, such as house prices and poverty and the stuff that really affects people's lives, how is that playing into this election in terms of policy and decisions about bread and butter issues?</s>LEVER: This is front and center. Everything is revolving around the economy, the impact of COVID and how people are living. Here in New Zealand, I guess we are very thankful of the way COVID has played out here. Ardern went quick and fast with her response. She put the country into lockdown and it does appear to paid off for her, I guess. That issue really seems to dominate what parties have been campaigning about.</s>CURNOW: Thank you for that update there from New Zealand and of, course we will bring you the latest results when we get them. We also see early voters in the U.S. are showing up in record numbers as well. CNN is keeping track; we will tell you how many millions of Americans have already cast their ballots. Then, there is this.</s>BERNADETTE PETERS, BROADWAY ACTOR: I'm concerned about people that were living on that salary.</s>CURNOW (voice-over): The pandemic may have closed down the stage but a Broadway legend is urging actors not let it close down their dreams.

Pfizer May File for Early Vaccine Use in November; Over 20M U.S. Ballots Cast; Broadway Shutdown Affects 100K Workers.

CURNOW: Just 17 days to go before Election Day, here in the U.S. Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are hitting crucial battleground states, in an effort to pick up as many votes as possible. In Macon, Georgia, Mr. Trump joked he may have to leave the country if he loses while Biden spoke to supporters in Michigan about bringing Americans together.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I will work as hard for those who do not support me as those who do. I do not see America in terms of red and blue. Bringing the country together, that is the job of a president. It is the duty to care, to care for everybody. We can be so much better than what we see. We can be -- we're at our best when we're the United States of America.</s>CURNOW: Our reporting shows that more than 20 million Americans have already cast their ballots and the lines have been, long all across the country. As you can see here. Early voting started Friday in Louisiana and this is what it looked like at one precinct. Pamela Brown has more on this record-setting push to the polls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see it as probably being one of the most important elections in my lifetime going forward.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And it seems she's not alone. Not by a long shot. More than 20 million Americans have already voted according to data from 45 states and Washington, D.C. analyzed by CNN, Edison and Catalyst. In North Carolina, these long lines on the first day of early voting Thursday were the first indicator of huge turnout in the Tar Heel State. The state board of elections is tweeting that more than 330,000 voters cast ballots on day one. That is believed to be a new record, beating the 304,000 ballots cast on the first day in 2016. In Georgia, they've seen a 62 percent increase in early, in-person voters compared to the same time four years ago. A similar story in Tennessee, where early voting in person or by mail started yesterday. And they've already seen a 91 percent increase compared to 2016.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think more of the millennial and younger are a little bit more aware and maybe are more wanting to get out there and more aware of the issues.</s>BROWN: In Pennsylvania, the secretary of state says she expects that full results from mail-in ballots won't be available until the Friday after Election Day.</s>KATHY BOOCKVAR, PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Sometimes you might have an omission or an illegible postmark, received three days later, they can be counted.</s>BROWN: And in Michigan today, the secretary of state there announcing that people can't carry guns on election day at polling places, saying in a statement she's, quote, committed to ensuring all eligible Michigan citizens can freely exercise their fundamental right to vote without fear of threats, intimidation, or harassment."</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel he's been treated fairly by the Democrats at all.</s>BROWN: In Florida, the edge Democrats have in voter registration is narrowing. New data from the state shows about 134,000 more Democrats are registered to vote than Republicans, which is down from 2016, when they led by about 327,000. And in California --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what? It's not -- you can't just trust anybody right now.</s>BROWN: That frustration, part of a week-long drop box drama, which today appears to have been ended. The secretary of state announcing this afternoon the California Republican Party agreed to no longer deploy these unofficial ballots drop boxes, which were found in at least four counties, a move the former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called --</s>ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: It's a stupid thing they're doing right now with these ballot boxes.</s>BROWN: In Florida, election officials are taking steps to remove ex- felons with court debt from the voter rolls after a Democratic led effort to raise millions of dollars to pay off some of the court debt for those ex-felons so they could vote -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.</s>CURNOW: Sabrina Siddiqui is a CNN political analyst and joins me now from Washington, D.C. Sabrina, great to see you. We are seeing this massive early voting, voters that are energized, willing to wait. They want to get their ballots in early. What does this turnout indicate?</s>SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly means there is a record level of enthusiasm at this stage with less than 3 weeks remaining until the election. More than 22 million Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting.</s>SIDDIQUI: That is roughly 16 percent of the number of people who voted in the 2016 election. Currently, Democrats have a 2:1 advantage over Republicans in early voting. But of, course that can change. Some states are not yet reporting their totals from early voting and, of course, there is the turnout we may see on the day of the election itself. Some experts are saying -- again, these numbers can change -- that this may be the highest turnout since 1908 in a U.S. presidential election. If anything is apparent, it is we're seeing enthusiasm like we haven't seen in recent memory.</s>CURNOW: It'll be interesting to see whether that enthusiasm is for or against Donald Trump or for Joe Biden. That certainly can play into how this all comes about over the next few weeks. I just want to talk about these battleground states. We saw both candidates going o key states and the president seems to be playing defense. How much can he swing votes in key states, the ones that he won, with 17 days to go?</s>SIDDIQUI: It's difficult. Anytime you have an incumbent president up for reelection, it's typically a referendum on the person's first term in office. Many people have been comparing the polling in 2020 to that of 2016. They say Hillary Clinton had a big lead at the stage, in the 2016 election, how much weight can you put in the polls that are showing Joe Biden comfortably ahead not just nationally but in battleground states? It's different because Donald Trump is no longer a hypothetical candidate. And so opinions of Donald Trump are already pretty set in stone. It's Joe Biden who has the potential to, perhaps, persuade some of those undecided voters.</s>CURNOW: You mentioned, at this stage in 2016, it looked like Hillary Clinton was a clear winner. Despite being ahead in the polls and despite last night's great TV ratings for him, are many Joe Biden supporters and even Joe Biden, in his camp, are saying let's be cautious, don't write off Trump yet.</s>SIDDIQUI: I actually think there is much concern among Democrats about the prospect of complacency, maybe voters who this is already in the bag. The Biden campaign and the Democratic Party more broadly have really been ramping up these efforts. Initially during the pandemic, they were encouraging Americans to vote via mail because of public safety concerns. Now they just tell them to vote, whether it's in person or by mail. However it is they can get out there and vote. There is a sense of urgency that Joe Biden's campaign believes it has capitalized on, to limit Trump's presidency to one term. But Trump supporters may show up on the day of the election. Republicans have been less likely to vote by mail. Democrats have always had an advantage of early voting .So they don't really want a repeat of 2016 where people think this election is already said and done. A majority of the public thinks this country is heading in the wrong direction and it is very clear that this election is about something bigger than the issues that typically you would lead up to an Election Day in November. This is about Donald Trump and a referendum, really, on the direction of the country under his stewardship, especially when the U.S. is still significantly lagging behind in its response to the coronavirus pandemic under his watch.</s>CURNOW: Sabrina, always great to have your perspective and your expertise, thank you for joining us. Have a great weekend.</s>CURNOW: The U.S. economy is certainly feeling the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The federal budget deficit has soared to a record $3.1 trillion. This after the government passed massive spending packages in an attempt to curb the impact of those economic shutdowns. That's more than triple last year's shortfall. With that in mind, ticket sales for Broadway performances in New York City are being suspended through the end of May, into next year. Those several months might not seem that long to tens of thousands of workers who depend on Broadway but it could mean, potentially, changing careers just to survive. Vanessa Yurkevich spoke to a Broadway A-lister who is trying to help.</s>PETERS: It's been very tough for Broadway.</s>VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Bernadette Peters is one of Broadway's most revered stars with decades of Tony winning performances. But, today, she's turning her spotlight on her fellow Broadway workers.</s>PETERS: I'm concerned about people that were living on that salary. That came to the city that were living on that salary to pay their rent, to buy their groceries.</s>YURKEVICH (voice-over): Nearly 100,000 workers rely on Broadway for their livelihoods. This single theater district brings $15 billion to New York City each year. But the pandemic has killed the lights on Broadway and will stay dark until 2021.</s>PETERS: Everyone in the show becomes a little community, a little family. From the ushers, to the people that sell the tickets, to people that clean, it's -- we're all part of it.</s>YURKEVICH: Laura Prather, a stagehand, keeps the lights on, on Broadway.</s>LAURA PRATHER, BROADWAY STAGEHAND: We have a saying, we light every light every night.</s>YURKEVICH: So she never thought she'd be the one tasked with turning off the marquee at American Airlines Theater.</s>PRATHER: It was the wildest moment of asking myself, are we going to be able to return?</s>YURKEVICH: She moved from St. Louis four years ago, buying a home. Her savings will only last her another six months.</s>PRATHER: My career of 15 years into this has basically vanished overnight.</s>YURKEVICH (on camera): What's the alternative for you right now?</s>PRATHER: Possibly finding a job in a different -- completely different field. The possibility of worst-case scenario, longer-term, is selling my place.</s>YURKEVICH (voice over): A worst-case scenario came true for actor Morgan Ashley Bryant. She's one of more than 50,000 people working in theaters across the U.S., now out of a job. Many local theaters are hanging on by a thread without federal aid. Bryant's role in the "Mean Girls" national tour is just one dream cut short.</s>MORGAN ASHLEY BRYANT, ACTOR: It's not prudent for me financially to stay in the city for an extended period of time with no idea of when I'm going to be able to go back to work.</s>YURKEVICH (on camera): So what does that mean? If you're deciding you can't be here anymore, where are you going to go?</s>BRYANT: I'm going to go home, to Alabama.</s>YURKEVICH (voice over): The financial pain has been great, but the emotional pain of not being able to perform has been greater.</s>YURKEVICH (on camera): Do you miss that feeling?</s>BRYANT: It's the best. Oh, my gosh.</s>YURKEVICH (voice over): But a little advice from Peters, who has been through the ups and downs of a storied career.</s>PETERS: If you have to go home and then come back, come back. You know, don't give up on your dream. Your dream is your dream. It's the most important thing you have. You have to see it through.</s>CURNOW: That was CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich in New York for us. Thank you for that, Vanessa. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Robyn Curnow. I'll be right back in 15 minutes with more news. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA," starting right after this.

People Wait in Long Lines in Georgia to Vote Early in 2020 Election; President Trump Campaigns in Michigan; Former President Barack Obama Will Campaign for Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden in Philadelphia; President Trump and Joe Biden's Campaigning in Pennsylvania Examined; Rudy Giuliani's Daughter Caroline Giuliani Supports Joe Biden for President.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump and Joe Biden are focusing on key battleground states today. The president campaigns in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states seeing huge spikes in COVID-19 cases.</s>CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the long wait to vote -- 17 days from Election Day now, and look at the lines wrapping around polling places. We have a live report for you.</s>BLACKWELL: And her father is one of the president's closest advisers, but Caroline Giuliani is urging Americans to end this nightmare and vote for Joe Biden.</s>CAROLINE GIULIANI, DAUGHTER OF RUDY GIULIANI: A lot of people's behavior is symptomatic of this toxic environment that he's created, and it's gotten worse every year since he's been elected.</s>PAUL: It is always good to have your company here. It is Saturday, October 17th. I'm Christi Paul.</s>BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.</s>PAUL: With just two weeks, a little more than that from Election Day right now, but the election is happening right this moment. More than 20 million ballots have already been cast.</s>BLACKWELL: So, President Trump and Vice President Biden out this weekend taking their message to the swing state voters. Sarah Westwood and Arlette Saenz are covering the campaigns. We're starting, though, with Natasha Chen, who is covering the voters, specifically in Georgia, and the line is long, has been for hours. Natasha, get us up to speed.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Christi, the line is actually a little better than it was the last time I talked to you. According to the website, in Cobb County here it is now down to three hours, which is better than four. But you can see how the line just wraps around, doubles back here. The people who got here the earliest this morning arrived at 4:30 a.m. before the doors opened at 8:00 a.m. And there are only 15, one-five, machines inside. So that's one of the frustrations that some of these voters have been telling me about. As you're seeing, this line doubles back right here, and then it actually goes all the way down this other corridor on the other side of the door. So there is much more to the line that you can't see on camera here. But there are people in line who are first-time voters. There are people in line who brought their dogs, brought their children, who are not of voting age, just because they wanted them to experience this. They brought their lawn chairs, their coffee. They're all prepared. Here are what a couple of voters told us this morning about why they came and why it was important to them.</s>MARIE RIVAS, GEORGIA VOTER: We are actually all neighbors, and we decided we all received absentee ballots, but in my mind, in my heart, having to come here in person early making sure my vote really does count, especially this time around.</s>MICHELLE BROWN, GEORGIA VOTER: I didn't know how long I would be here, and if I was here for six hours. I wanted to make sure she was here. I have food, I have water, and I have walked her already.</s>CHEN: And of course, up to this point, as of 9:00 p.m. last night, the state of Georgia says that 1.3 million votes have been cast. That's adding up early voting, as well as absentee ballots. And if you look at 2016, at the same time during that election, five days into early voting, the turnout is up 134 percent. And I just want to point out that this poll worker, Christina (ph) Dunbar (ph), has been cheering all morning for every single voter that has finished and come out the exit doors. She has cheered on more than 200 people now, and just keeping that energy up and really celebrating the people who came out here early to vote today Victor and Christi.</s>PAUL: We need more of her. We need more of Christina (ph), for sure, around these parts. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. Good information there. CNN's Sarah Westwood is at the White House. What can you tell us about where the president is going to be, say, in the next 48 hours? What are we going to see?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Christi and Victor, President Trump's campaign really moving at full speed now for this final sprint to Election Day. A little more than two weeks left before voters head to the polls, although, as we just saw, voting is already under way throughout the country. President Trump today is expected to head to Wisconsin and Michigan for a pair of campaign events before ending the night in Nevada, but he does so against the backdrop of a Midwest spike. In Wisconsin, for example, that state has seen two consecutive days of record highs in terms of coronavirus cases, but Trump is still holding rallies there anyway. Nonetheless, last night the president struck a more optimistic tone about the coronavirus and also expressed a rare show of empathy for people who have lost loved ones.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My heart breaks for every grieving family that has lost a precious loved one. I feel their anguish and I mourn their loss. I feel their pain. I know that the terrible pain that they have gone through when you lose someone, and there's nothing to describe what you have to bear. There's nothing to describe it. My message to America's seniors today is one of optimism, confidence, and hope. Your sacrifice has not been in vain. The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.</s>WESTWOOD: That's not exactly the case that the U.S. is rounding the turn. In fact, yesterday alone, the U.S. registered more than 68,000 new cases of coronavirus. That's a record for a one-day total since July. So a lot of spikes throughout the country that are causing concern for public health experts. But this is all really part of the president's strategy so far when talking about the pandemic to downplay the spread of the virus despite the numbers that we are seeing. The polls show that might not be resonating for many voters. In fact, the president is falling behind in a number of key battleground states, and Joe Biden leads him by a wider margin nationally. But again, at these rallies, we have not seen the kind of social distancing that experts have wanted to see. We have not also seen uniform mask wearing. Although mask wearing is encouraged at these events, images of the rallies and campaign events that the president has been having have shown not everyone is complying with that. a lot of mask-less faces. Now, ahead of the president's visit to Michigan, the governor's office put out a statement encouraging people to please social distance and wear their masks. I want to read you part of that statement. "We always are concerned when there are large gatherings without masks and social distancing. There is a risk of an outbreak when this happens, so we encourage people to wear their masks and practice social distancing." Now, this week we saw the president hold multiple events a day in multiple states. That could be a preview of the packed schedule we expect the president to keep right up until Election Day, perhaps making up for some of that lost time that the president was essentially sidelined over the past week when he had coronavirus, Victor and Christi.</s>BLACKWELL: Sarah Westwood for us at the White House. Thanks so much. Vice President Biden is expected to campaign in North Carolina tomorrow. But today, several of his surrogates, they are going to be out, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and former NBA star Magic Johnson.</s>PAUL: CNN's Arlette Saenz is following the latest from Washington. Not only those big names out in force for Biden, but somebody else coming out in the next week, we understand, who could be pivotal for the vice president. What can you tell us, Arlette? And good morning.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning. There certainly are some big names who will be campaigning for Joe Biden, not just this weekend, but also next week. The former vice president will be getting a little help from one of his friends, who also happens to be the biggest political surrogate in the Democratic Party at this moment. Former President Barack Obama will campaign in person in Philadelphia on Wednesday. This marks his first in-person campaign appearance for his former partner and will be part of a handful of stops that he is making in these final two weeks of the election. The Biden campaign believes that President Obama can help mobilize black men, Latinos, and young voters, to get out and vote for Joe Biden. Now, this stop on Wednesday from the former president will be a solo stop. We expect Joe Biden to be deep in debate prep on Wednesday as he prepares for that matchup against President Trump on Thursday night. But there is a possibility that Obama and Biden could reprise their political bromance, as they used to call it in the White House, and they could appear in person together in those final days before the election. Now, Joe Biden yesterday travelled to the battleground state of Michigan, where he once again focused on the coronavirus pandemic and criticized some of the president's recent comments about it. Take a listen to what he had to say.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said, I think last night, in his town hall, I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said we have turned the corner. As my grandfather Finnegan might say were he here, he'd say he's gone around the bend. Turned the corner, my Lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted.</s>SAENZ: Now, one thing you are hearing Joe Biden talk about consistently in these final days before the election is the issue of health care and the need to protect and expand upon the Affordable Care Act. The campaign believes that this is really an issue that touches all facets of the campaign right now, from the coronavirus pandemic to that nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and also Republicans' efforts to dismantle Obamacare. Health care was a winning issue for Democrats back in 2018 when Democrats won back the House of Representatives. And that is something that the Biden campaign is hoping to replicate in the coming weeks as they're trying to pull out that win and focusing a lot on health care. Now, tomorrow Joe Biden is heading down to North Carolina, one of those states that President Trump won back in 2016. Biden will be campaigning in Durham as early voting is under way in the state and he is trying to mobilize his voters to get out and vote with 17 days to go until the election, Victor and Christi.</s>BLACKWELL: Arlette Saenz in Washington, thank you.</s>PAUL: Arlette, thank you. So, Pennsylvania is a crucial state, obviously, for both President Trump and Joe Biden. Back in 2016 the state's 20 electoral votes went to the president, of course. Right now, though, Joe Biden is holding an edge.</s>BLACKWELL: So, CNN's Dana Bash talked to voters in a county there that flipped from blue to red four years ago.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A line forms outside well before opening, waiting to enter the Trump House.</s>LESLIE ROSSI, CREATOR, TRUMP HOUSE: We're ready for the next group. Come on in.</s>BASH: A mecca of sorts for the president's supporters in southwest Pennsylvania, where Trump's record turnout four years ago helped deliver his surprise Pennsylvania victory and the White House. Leslie Rossi created the Trump House in 2016 where she pushed disaffected Democrats and never before voters to choose Trump.</s>ROSSI: We gave people a place to come to to believe they could win.</s>BASH: Now Trump supporters show up daily for swag and yard signs and help registering to vote.</s>SCOTT HARRER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: We need Trump in there again. I'm 65, I think it's time to register.</s>BASH: Have you not voted ever?</s>HARRER: No.</s>BASH: Rural Westmoreland County has seen a surge in Republican registrations. They help with that here to.</s>RITA BLAIR, CHANGED PARTY AFFILIATION FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN: I changed my registration from Democrat to Republican.</s>BASH: Why?</s>BLAIR: From what I've seen in the last past couple of years, I'm ashamed to say I was a Democrat.</s>BASH: Joe Biden is ahead in Pennsylvania polls, yet his campaign motto is every vote matters. Campaigning here in Westmoreland County this month, which Hillary Clinton did not in the 2016 general election. It's not an area Democrats come and campaign very often, but you're here. Why?</s>JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: I'm here because, like I said, we are not taking any vote for granted.</s>BASH: Gina Cerilli county commissioner of Westmoreland PA. Ten years ago she was Miss Pennsylvania in Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant. Now she's an elected Democrat working to blunt Trump's advantage here.</s>GINA CERILLI, WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER: In 2016 Donald Trump was a fresh face. He was new to politics. Everyone was excited. He made big promises, bring back jobs. But frankly, Donald Trump broke those promises.</s>BASH: In small-town Pennsylvania, signs matter. Trumps are everywhere, big and bold. But Biden's are out there, too.</s>CERILLI: When you see signs like this, it makes the Republicans and the Democrats that voted for Trump in 2016 realize I'm not alone.</s>BASH: A big Biden challenge, his supporters are being COVID careful.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never did we think we would be meeting by zoom.</s>BASH: Phyllis (ph) Friend (ph), head of Democratic Women of Westmoreland County, organizes from home. She's clear-eyed about the Democrats' goal here in Trump country.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't win Pennsylvania for them, but we can add to the total numbers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, David, this is Joe, and I volunteer with the Trump campaign. How are you doing?</s>BASH: As for Republicans, they never stopped traditional ways of getting out the vote -- knocking on doors, walking in neighborhoods in masks, and using a GOP data driven app to find and persuade voters.</s>BRITTNEY ROBINSON, RUNS THE PENNSYLVANIA RNC OPERATION: Depending on who that voter is, we're able to tailor that message at the door and on the phone to how we think we need to target that voter and turn them out.</s>BASH: Given the president's struggles in the suburbs, boosting the vote here is critical for Trump. How important is it for him to get his numbers even higher than it was four years ago?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that we need to increase our voter turnout here for the president to offset some of what may be happening in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania.</s>BASH: Back at the Trump House, Leslie Rossi shows us the log of visits from thousands of Trump supporters. What are you seeing this year?</s>ROSSI: My numbers have tripled, tripled. Four years ago, my work was really hard here. I had to convince the voters to vote for the candidate. I had to convince them President Trump was the best choice for them. This time, I don't have to do any of that. They're all in.</s>BASH: Whether enough are all in could determine whether Trump can overcome the headwinds he faces to win Pennsylvania and a second term. Dana Bash, CNN, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.</s>PAUL: And stay with us, because Rudy Giuliani's daughter has a very raw assessment of her father's most high profile client. Why Caroline Giuliani is telling voters to end what she calls Donald Trump's, quote, reign of terror, her own words from her when we come back.

Cases Rising Rapidly across Much of Europe

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. So, coming up on the show:</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.</s>CURNOW (voice-over): False claims from the president on the same day the number of coronavirus cases crosses 8 million in the U.S. Also, Europe's second wave. People now facing new restrictions and nighttime curfews. We have live reports from the U.K. and France in just a moment. But also, a Japanese tourist stranded in Peru gets the deal of a lifetime, Machu Picchu all to himself.</s>CURNOW: Europe is fighting a difficult battle with coronavirus, one that is certainly getting worse each day. New infections are spreading and quickly. And now far exceed the rise of new cases in the U.S. That's what John Hopkins and the World Health Organization are now reporting. So here are some of the latest headlines. Italy reported more than 10,000 new cases on Friday, a record high for the third straight day. That's more than any recorded at the peak of its first wave back in March. Russia reported another record high number of new infections. Cases have surged in the country over the past two weeks, breaking records of single day increases almost every day. German chancellor Angela Merkel closed an E.U. special summit in Berlin as cases rise across the country there. And then several cities in France are trying to stop infections from spreading by setting nighttime curfews that are now in effect. Well, let's go straight to Melissa Bell. Melissa Bell is standing by live in Paris with more on all of that. Hi, Melissa. What can you tell us?</s>MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, it is a measure, a series of measures, these curfews, that came into effect at midnight, that are trying to bring down the number of people in ICU. That's what Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday then when he announced these fresh measures and the fact that from midnight last, France is effectively now in a state of sanitary emergency. And that could mean, Robyn, that there will be further measures. But it's a measure, also, of just how worried authorities are. We've seen a series of record-breaking daily races in new cases of coronavirus announced daily. The latest Thursday, more than 30,000 cases announced in a 24-hour period. Last night more than 25,000. The French president wants to get that back down to 3,000 to 5000 extra cases a day. So, there is a lot more that needs to be done. For now, they are trying with curfews. Almost anything to try and avoid a second lockdown that they feel the economy could ill afford. So curfews to see whether that makes a difference in 10 French cities, which will be enforced by 12,000 police men and women who will be out there to make sure that beyond 9 pm in those 10 cities, including here in the greater Paris region, people are not out in the street unless they have a piece of paper explaining the exceptional nature of their outing. So, you're going to have really quiet cities. Will it be enough to bring those new daily cases down? That's a big question. Because that, of course, has a knock-on effect, several days or weeks later in terms of ICU entries. And to give you an idea of how tight things are in the greater Paris region, we are looking at 46.8 percent of ICU beds already taken by COVID-19 patients, Robyn.</s>CURNOW: Goodness, OK. Thanks so much, Melissa Bell there live in Paris. Thanks, Melissa. Cases also reaching alarming levels in the U.K., especially in the northwest. Prime minister Boris Johnson had a message for the mayor of greater Manchester. The mayor has been criticizing the British government for wanting pubs in the area to close, among other measures. Here's what Mr. Johnson had to say in response.</s>BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I urge the mayor to reconsider and engage constructively. I cannot stress enough. Time is of the essence. Each day that passes before action is taken means more people will go to hospital, more people will end up in intensive care and, tragically, more people will die. Of course, if agreement cannot be reached, I will need to intervene in order to protect Manchester's hospitals and save the lives of Manchester residents.</s>CURNOW: Salma Abdelaziz joins me now live from Manchester. Salma, hi. Why is the mayor and why are folks in Manchester pushing back on this?</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: Quite clear (ph), Robyn, this is an economic calculation for the mayor. He says that he is unwilling to gamble the economy of this city for which he says is an experiment that this government's own scientists say might not work.</s>ABDELAZIZ: Essentially, he is saying, if you want us to shut down our businesses, if you want us to close the doors of our pubs and bars, our gyms, our nightlife, you must provide an economic package that allows people to come back when it is safe again to come back. And make sure that those businesses don't close their doors forever, Robyn. That is his first argument. His second argument is essentially, why us? Now there has always been tensions between the north of the country and the seat of power, of course, in London. And there's a sense here that people are being singled out. There's a lot of people asking, why us? Why not London? How is it going to work if you have small regional lockdowns? Why not have a nationwide lockdown, rather, which is exactly what the scientists who advise the government are asking for. And as this -- this is an extraordinary standoff, essentially. So over the weekend, we are still continuing -- I'm so sorry, there is someone shouting in the background. But over the weekend we are waiting for these talks to give some sort of results in Manchester. Meanwhile, in London, that city has been raised to tier two, that is the median level. That comes with extra restrictions that will shut down the country's hospitality industry and make it essentially that you cannot meet with anyone outside your household in an indoor setting. That means no meeting your friends at pubs, bars or restaurants. That will have a massive economic impact. Take a listen at what two staff members at a pub in London had to say about it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At this rate, I can't see us being able to -- how we can afford keep the amount of staff on without any further furlough (ph) help.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's had a massive impact. Almost immediately, we had cancellations through. And we've had to ring in (ph) and proactively reach out to people as well. It's the equivalent for us of about 3.5 thousand pounds worth of takings over the next -- over this weekend coming (ph).</s>ABDELAZIZ: Now Mayor Sadiq Khan has said these measures are necessary to bring the rising number of cases down. The mayor is also one of those who are critics of prime minister Boris Johnson's strategy and calling for a nationwide lockdown. All this is happening while the number of cases continues to rise, Robyn.</s>CURNOW: Well, thanks. I'm going to leave you to the gentleman behind you and hope you have a pleasant day. Thanks so much. So French authorities have four people in custody at this hour, following the beheading of a history teacher in a Paris suburb. Police say they shot and killed the suspected attacker. According to multiple reports, the teacher recently had shown to students controversial caricatures depicting the prophet. Muhammad. Some parents are reported to have complained to the school, as Jim Bittermann now explains.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: The attack occurred in a suburb about 45 kilometers from Paris. The secondary schoolteacher was decapitated at the scene and in the moments that followed, the assailant was spotted going down the street. Police gave chase. They confronted him, told him to drop his knife and when he didn't, they brought him down with a hail of bullets. He was killed at the scene as, of course, was the teacher. President Macron, visibly emotional, went to the scene this evening and he had this to say.</s>EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): One of our fellow citizens was killed today because he was teaching students about freedom of speech, the freedom to believe and not believe. Our compatriot was attacked. He was the victim of an Islamist attack.</s>BITTERMANN: The investigation into the attack has now been turned over to the terrorism prosecutor in France and this has been labeled by the president himself as an act of Islamic terrorism. The minister of education, who also was tweeting and speaking about this tonight, said that he had -- attack, this attack was a despicable assassination of one of the republic's servants -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.</s>CURNOW: Thanks, Jim, for that. So, you are watching CNN. Coming up, on the same day the U.S. passed over 8 million coronavirus infections, President Trump held three large campaign rallies. The troubling trends the country is facing. That is next.

U.S. Surpasses 8 Million COVID-19 Cases; Over 20M U.S. Ballots Cast

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: That indicates people are really severely sick and they need to be in the hospital. And that curve has also started up again, which is really troubling. And that probably means, unfortunately, that we may start now to see also an increase in the number of deaths each day.</s>CURNOW: A dire warning there from top health experts as COVID hospitalizations are on the rise in the U.S. It comes on the same day the nation surpassed 8 million confirmed infections. That's 1 million more than just 3 weeks. Ago And there is no end in sight to this grim reality. We know dozens of states, as you can see from this image, are trending in the wrong direction. For the first time since late July, more than 68,000 new infections were reported in a single day. But president Donald Trump is still holding crowded and largely mask less campaign rallies and continues to claim the U.S. is rounding the corner on the virus. But health experts warn, as bad as numbers are right now, they will likely get even worse, as Brian Todd takes us to communities already being pushed to the brink. Brian.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hospital beds on the move in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with hospitals pushing capacity. Officials in New Mexico say many coronavirus patients there need to be transferred from one hospital to another throughout the state. And, tonight, they're worried about having enough people to take care of them.</s>DR. DAVID SCRASE, NEW MEXICO HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Our hospital leaders' greatest concern today is staffing up those beds. They point out that the health care work force that's been fighting valiantly against COVID in New Mexico, they're getting tired. There's some people who've stepped back.</s>TODD: Cases have spiked to such an extent in New Mexico that the governor is telling people flat out don't leave your home if you don't have to. The virus, she says, is winning.</s>GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): This is the most serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced.</s>TODD: Wisconsin is also seeing horrific spikes. And officials say many new cases are tied directly to virus spreads in prisons and veterans homes, like the King facility in Waupaca County.</s>DIANE LYNCH, WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: There are 52 members currently in quarantine. And there are 25 staff members currently out of the work unit with positive COVID tests.</s>TODD: Wisconsin and New Mexico are two of 10 states that just reported their single highest day of new cases ever. The numbers are daunting all the way around. The U.S. topped 60,000 new cases in a single day for the first time since August 14, 32 states today trending up in new cases. The U.S. just passed eight million total cases of this virus. And America's top experts are very worried about the months ahead.</s>DR. ANNE RIMOIN, UCLA EPIDEMIOLOGIST: As we move towards the winter and the weather is getting colder, people will have fewer and fewer opportunities to be outdoors and to be able to just naturally social distance. We're going to be creating opportunities, more opportunities for this virus to spread. It is a dangerous moment in history.</s>TODD: Experts say, this year, even with so many Americans desperate for some kind of celebration, holidays will have to be scaled back to combat the virus. The CDC has just issued new guidelines for how Americans can stay safe at Thanksgiving, among them, assess the infection rates in your community, consider postponing or canceling activities. Think about having outdoor dinners, weather permitting, or hosting virtual dinners. And limit the number of people at any gathering. Mask-wearing and distancing are more important than ever, America's leading voice on infectious disease says. And he's becoming impatient with people who aren't doing those things.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So, if you think that by getting infected and saying -- pooh-poohing the prevention modalities, that you're living in a vacuum and you're not -- no, you're becoming part of the problem.</s>TODD: But Dr. Fauci said it is still not too late to turn the tide for what will happen with the virus this fall and winter, if Americans act responsibly, if state and local officials take good public health measures and emphasize all of that can be done without shutting the country down -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>CURNOW: So despite the pandemic, millions of Americans are standing in lines around the country to cast their ballot. Election Day is 17 days off. But this is what is already playing out in cities around the nation. It's staggering, really. Take a look at some U.S. states and how these early voting numbers are stacking up, compared to the 2016 election. Here in Georgia, 62 percent more people have already voted in person, compared to this point in the last presidential election. And in Illinois, there's a 400 percent jump. Tennessee and Kansas, also remarkably well up as well.</s>CURNOW: Sabrina Siddiqui is a CNN political analyst and joins me now from Washington, D.C. Sabrina, great to see you. We are seeing this massive early voting, voters that are energized, willing to wait. They want to get their ballots in early. What does this turnout indicate?</s>SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly means there is a record level of enthusiasm at this stage with less than 3 weeks remaining until the election. More than 22 million Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting. That is roughly 16 percent of the number of people who voted in the 2016 election. Currently, Democrats have a 2:1 advantage over Republicans in early voting. But of, course that can change. Some states are not yet reporting their totals from early voting and, of course, there is the turnout we may see on the day of the election itself. Some experts are saying -- again, these numbers can change -- that this may be the highest turnout since 1908 in a U.S. presidential election. If anything is apparent, it is we're seeing enthusiasm like we haven't seen in recent memory.</s>CURNOW: It'll be interesting to see whether that enthusiasm is for or against Donald Trump or for Joe Biden. That certainly can play into how this all comes about over the next few weeks. I just want to talk about these battleground states. We saw both candidates going o key states and the president seems to be playing defense. How much can he swing votes in key states, the ones that he won, with 17 days to go?</s>SIDDIQUI: It's difficult. Anytime you have an incumbent president up for reelection, it's typically a referendum on the person's first term in office. Many people have been comparing the polling in 2020 to that of 2016. They say Hillary Clinton had a big lead at the stage, in the 2016 election, how much weight can you put in the polls that are showing Joe Biden comfortably ahead not just nationally but in battleground states? It's different because Donald Trump is no longer a hypothetical candidate. And so opinions of Donald Trump are already pretty set in stone. It's Joe Biden who has the potential to, perhaps, persuade some of those undecided voters.</s>CURNOW: You mentioned, at this stage in 2016, it looked like Hillary Clinton was a clear winner. Despite being ahead in the polls and despite last night's great TV ratings for him, are many Joe Biden supporters and even Joe Biden, in his camp, are saying let's be cautious, don't write off Trump yet.</s>SIDDIQUI: I actually think there is much concern among Democrats about the prospect of complacency, maybe voters who this is already in the bag.</s>SIDDIQUI: The Biden campaign and the Democratic Party more broadly have really been ramping up these efforts. Initially during the pandemic, they were encouraging Americans to vote via mail because of public safety concerns. Now they just tell them to vote, whether it's in person or by mail. However, it is they can get out there and vote. There is a sense of urgency that Joe Biden's campaign believes it has capitalized on, to limit Trump's presidency to one term. But Trump supporters may show up on the day of the election. Republicans have been less likely to vote by mail. Democrats have always had an advantage of early voting. So, they don't really want a repeat of 2016 where people think this election is already said and done. A majority of the public thinks this country is heading in the wrong direction and it is very clear that this election is about something bigger than the issues that typically you would lead up to an Election Day in November. This is about Donald Trump and a referendum, really, on the direction of the country under his stewardship, especially when the U.S. is still significantly lagging behind in its response to the coronavirus pandemic under his watch.</s>CURNOW: Sabrina, always great to have your perspective and your expertise, thank you for joining us. Have a great weekend.</s>CURNOW: Polls are now closed in New Zealand's general election. Labor's Jacinda Ardern is seeking a second term as prime minister. She faces her main opponent, national leader Judith Collins, and the Labor Party has a huge lead in the early count. Just under 20 percent reporting. According to New Zealand election officials, nearly 2 million of the registered 3.5 million voters got their ballots in early. We will continue to monitor that story and the results, as they come in. Meanwhile, protesters in Thailand were sprayed by police water cannons after a third straight day of protests in Bangkok. In a mash of defiance, as you see here, thousands of demonstrators hit the streets, demanding the prime minister step down. Despite a government ban on large gatherings. Jonathan Miller, from the U.K.'s Channel 4 News, has more from Bangkok.</s>JONATHAN MILLER, JOURNALIST: So, the police continue to move in, causing panic in the crowd. But there is real anger here now. Listen to that. One of the shouts that they're chanting is, "slaves, slaves, slaves." They call the police slaves of the dictatorship. The police are just over there. They have come down from police headquarters, just up the road. But these people are rushing back to the scene here, having fled well back (ph). The police have to regroup now but they are coming back. They have got the water cannon back on. This is all about the government's credibility (ph). They have to do something. But you know what, this is the beginning of a new chapter.</s>CURNOW: Jonathan Miller there, from the U.K.'s Channel 4, reporting from Bangkok. Some spectacular scenes taking place there. Thanks to Jonathan for that. Coming up next on CNN NEWSROOM, a tourist stranded for months in Peru gets the private tour of a lifetime.

Japanese Tourist Gets Private Tour of Machu Picchu.

CURNOW: Now a tale of patience over panic. A Japanese tourist was finishing up a trip around the world when he landed in Peru back in March. His goal was to see Machu Picchu. Well then, coronavirus shut down the country and the airport, leaving him, of course, stranded for months. Matt Rivers reports on how this tourist finally got to fulfill his goal.</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jesse Katayama was a tourist who went to Peru to see Machu Picchu. And that is about the only normal part of this story. He says, "If I arrived a day earlier or a day later, this wouldn't have happened. It might be fate." The 26-year old was nearing the end of the trip around the world in March. He got to Peru on the 14th and then the country locked down. Not only was Machu Picchu closed, so was the airport. But panic? No. He just rented a room. He stayed in Aguas Calientes, a town at the foot of Machu Picchu. He quickly made friends and says his neighbors cooked for him all the time. When some Japanese made it home on repatriation flights, Jesse close to stay. Limited Spanish didn't stop the boxing trainer from setting up a local club for the neighborhood kids. "Uno, dos, tres," was simple enough. And it worked. He showed us the gifts the kids gave him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Japanese.)</s>RIVERS (voice-over): He says, "On the back, it says 'I love you.' So cute. I'm not the same person I was when I first got here." Machu Picchu had become kind of an afterthought. He lived close enough that he could see it but figured he'd leave before it reopened. And then came the call. The Peruvian government heard his story and made an exception. Jesse, this week, became the first and only tourist to enter the site since March. Just him and his photographer guides and a whole bunch of history. He says, "In the beginning, I wanted to go home and there were some tough times. But what I gained from this is invaluable. If anybody else finds themselves in a similar situation, I say, do your best and go for it." Or essentially just roll with the punches, fitting advice, from a boxing trainer -- Matt Rivers, CNN.</s>CURNOW: Beautiful story. Thanks, Matt, for bringing it to us. You're watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. "AFRICAN VOICES" starts after the break.

Coronavirus Cases Rising in States Across U.S.; New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Taking Precautions against Possible Coronavirus Spikes; President Trump Criticizes Republican Senator Ben Sasse for Recorded Comments about Possible Large Republican Losses in 2020 Election; People Wait in Long Lines in Georgia to Vote Early in 2020 Election.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: So, it's messy, Fred.</s>FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Right, it sure is. And there's still 17 days to go, and it just seems like it's potentially going to get even messier. All right, Marshall Cohen, thank you so much.</s>COHEN: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Just 17 days away now until the election, and the coronavirus pandemic is once again front and center. The U.S. has now surpassed 8 million COVID cases with a record number of cases Friday. More than 69,000 people infected in a single day, and experts fear it will get much worse in the weeks to come. Still, a defiant President Trump holding his sixth day of campaign rallies since he was diagnosed with the virus himself, downplaying its dangers, threatening to lock up his political opponents, and even suggesting that he'd leave the country if he were to lose. And his supporters taking their cues from him. Georgia State Congressman Vernon Jones, a Democrat, who endorsed the president for reelection, crowd surfs mask-less, on a sea of mostly mask-less people at a Trump rally. The pandemic not stopping voters from turning in their early ballots. In fact, the pandemic may be largely galvanizing this record turnout. This is a look at voters lining up and waiting hours to vote in Georgia. And across the country already now nearly 22 million have cast their ballots. And with just five days until lawmakers vote on the U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee, thousands are marching to the nation's capital in protest against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. high court. We have a team of correspondents covering all of these developments. Let's begin with Evan McMorris-Santoro and the latest on this alarming rise of COVID cases here in the U.S. So Evan, the surge is very frightening. What are health experts warning about?</s>EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, what they're basically doing is looking at the calendar and getting nervous about how close winter is. Winter obviously is a time people go back inside. It's flu season. That can be very, very bad for the pandemic. And I want to show you a graphic that shows you where we are right now in the fall. Ten states have reported their highest case totals in a single day since the pandemic began just in the last few days. So as you see, this is a rising problem here in the fall. Dr. Anthony Fauci recently said that, look, you've got to be wary of the winter coming and be careful.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can't enter into the cool months of the fall and the cold months of the winter with a high community infection baseline. And looking at the map and seeing the heat map, how it lights up with test positivity that is in more than 30 plus states is going in the wrong direction. It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures, and again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So look, Fred, what Dr. Fauci is saying is that the key to the pandemic in the winter is the same as it was in the spring, a rigorous and diligent following of socially distanced guidelines and mask guidelines. The same things that we did back then, we need to do again before this winter comes, he says, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: And then Evan, New York Governor Cuomo just gave an update on the COVID situation there. What did he have to say?</s>MCMORRIS-SANTORO: That's right, Fred. It was an interesting press conference because the governor laid out his plans for combatting this coronavirus pandemic here in this once hardest hit state for the fall. And his plan is really a block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood fight, using what he calls these high -- he calls them zones of micro clusters, where he draws a red circle around a block where the numbers have gone up, the infection rate has gone up, then draws an orange circle and a yellow circle with lessening degrees of restrictions as you move out from that red center. He says that he's learned enough about the pandemic from the spring and also has enough good data now that as we move into these tougher months, he can actually fight it on a block by block basis instead of locking whole city down like we saw back in the spring, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: We shall see. Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much in New York. All right, President Trump is set to hold several rallies in key battleground states today, ignoring warnings from his officials in his own administration. Both Wisconsin and Michigan are reporting a record-breaking number of positive cases. Both states are part of the president's campaign stumps today. CNN's Joe Johns joins me now from Muskegon, Michigan, where he'll kick off events there in a matter of hours, but already I see a lot of people behind you.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, in about three hours. In fact, we've seen a steady stream of people going in, and it's really picked up just over the last hour or so. A lot of people wearing masks, but not a great concern, obviously, about coronavirus, even though the governor is urging some social distancing out here at this big rally by the president. Now, this is one of those counties they think they can flip, the Trump campaign. It was very close four years ago, but Hillary Clinton won. The question, of course, is what is the message? Originally, when this rally was scheduled, the message was supposed to be a salute to law enforcement, but they've changed that to remarks supporting the American way of life. Not clear why they made that change. Nonetheless, this campaign has definitely been floundering around, trying to figure out a message, trying to find something that will stick to Joe Biden. Just last night we heard the president tracking back to the rhetoric of 2016, calling for his political opponent to be locked up. Listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm telling you, that Biden family, and others, but that Biden family is corrupt. It's a corrupt family. And with me and my kids, let me tell you, my kids -- I'll tell you something. Lock him up. You shouldn't lock them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary.</s>CROWD: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!</s>TRUMP: Lock them up.</s>JOHNS: After the rally here this evening, the president flies off to Janesville, Wisconsin, will hold another rally there, another critical swing state in the Midwest, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: OK. And then there's the president who is spending a lot of time tweeting and attacking Senator Ben Sasse, calling him stupid, obnoxious because of a recording in which Sasse said there is going to be a real bloodbath, and Republicans are going to pay for it, and that's why he didn't -- he has not been campaigning for the president.</s>JOHNS: Right, and this is one of those back and forth feuds that really just blew out into the open last week. Of course, the president with a string of tweets today, and these are the kinds of tweets that people we talked to even here said are worrisome for them as the president seeks reelection. Nonetheless, it was a response to Senator Ben Sasse's sharp comments regarding the president before a crowd. They were recorded and then made public. Listen to some of them.</s>SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): I'm now looking at the possibility of a Republican bloodbath in the Senate, and that's why I've never been on the Trump train. That's why I didn't agree to serve on his reelection committee and it's why I'm not campaigning for him. I think we are staring down the barrel of a blue tsunami.</s>JOHNS: So, the tweets we saw from the president. The president called Sasse stupid, obnoxious, a liability for the party. Sasse's office for his part said he's not going to engage the president on Twitter, but also indicating that what the president said that was recorded was, in fact, imparted to the president form Senator Sasse directly in the Oval Office, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Joe Johns in what appears to be a rather chilly Muskegon because people are wearing their layers. I'm seeing the folks behind you. Thank you so much, Joe Johns. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden issued a statement criticizing President Trump's planned rally in Janesville, Wisconsin. Biden notes that Wisconsin is in the grips of one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country. Biden reiterated these concerns while campaigning in Michigan yesterday.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said we have turned the corner. As my grandfather Finnegan might say where he here, he'd say he's gone around the bend. Turned the corner? My Lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted.</s>WHITFIELD: Biden's running mate Senator Kamala Harris is returning to the campaign trail on Monday after being temporarily grounded when two people on her team tested positive for COVID-19. So, with now just 17 days to election day, we're already seeing huge turnout of early in-person voters. Nearly 22 million so far. Just take a look at the early turnout numbers in Georgia as compared to 2016. As of noon today, more than 1,370,000 cast early in-person ballots. Compare that to October 22nd, 2016, and just over half a million cast early ballots. CNN's Natasha Chen is in Georgia where early voters have been lining up all day. Natasha, what's happening? Barely a line behind you.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, the good news is it's a lot better than it was when I last talked to you. So maybe there are only 40 people in line at this point, and it's just this one corner. But if you go all the way down, you can see the fence line and the yellow tape where we were this morning. The line this morning, when they opened the doors at 8:00, that was doubling back over and over. People had gotten here at 4:30 a.m. just to be ready for that 8:00 a.m. start. So, I guess the trick is to come in the afternoon. But as you mentioned, the turnout has been so drastic compared to 2016. At this point in the election in 2016, about five or six days in, we are comparing to numbers at that time. We're seeing 134 percent increase in total ballots cast at this point. That is both in-person as well as absentee. If you're looking at just the in-person early voting turnout, it's a 47 percent increase. And absentee ballots, this is the big difference, 615 percent increase compared to this time in 2016. And in fact, I spoke to two people who just dropped off their absentee ballots today. This is Laurin and Jay Gaylord. And Laurin, tell me about your decision to go with the absentee method and how long it took you to get that ballot.</s>LAURIN GAYLORD, GEORGIA EARLY VOTER: So, we did absentee ballot the last election in June, and it was so easy that we just decided to do it this time as well. So, we registered like really early for the absentee ballot, and so it probably took us about six weeks to actually get the ballots, but still, well worth it.</s>CHEN: And the pandemic, you said, is the reason why you chose to do that this time. You had always voted on Election Day.</s>L. GAYLORD: That's correct.</s>CHEN: And Jay, tell me about why it was so important for you to vote this time around and make sure your vote got in early.</s>JAY GAYLORD, GEORGIA EARLY VOTER: Yes, this election for us is really about health care, and, obviously, the pandemic, two very important subjects for us, and then racial equally as well. We just felt, this is an important election and wanted to make sure our voices were heard and came down and dropped off the ballots.</s>CHEN: And when either of you, when you saw the lines and how long they were earlier this week, even earlier today, was that surprising to you to see that kind of energy here?</s>L. GAYLORD: It was surprising, but very exciting. I'm happy to see people getting out and doing their part.</s>J. GAYLORD: Nice to see. I like seeing the turnout. I wish the lines weren't so long, I wish there were more opportunity for people to vote. But I'm pleased to see so many people doing it.</s>CHEN: Thank you so much. And we're talking about opportunities to vote. The machines inside this building, there are only 15, one-five, and that's why some of the long waits are happening earlier this morning. Poll workers were telling us that it's an issue of having enough power source for those machines inside. We're still asking officials if that's the case. But clearly, people are not daunted by the wait. In fact, there's free food being offered around by volunteers. So, everybody's here trying to make sure their vote is counted and counted early, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Such a variety of time spent in lines for so many early voting polling stations, 45 minutes, four hours, eight hours. But people understand the importance and are willing to do it, and they are. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. All right, coming up, a major blow to President Trump's hope of a vaccine before Election Day. The challenges companies are facing and what's next in the process. Then later, lights out on Broadway through May. Some of theatre's biggest stars worried about their friends and colleagues.

U.S. Surpasses Eight Million COVID-19 Cases; Biden Stresses Health Care At Drive-In Rally In Detroit; Polls Show Biden With Double-Digit Lead Over Trump; Cases Rising Rapidly Across Much Of Europe; Over 20 Million U.S. Ballots Cast; Trump Holds Rallies Despite Nationwide Surge In Cases; Nurse Receives OBE For Pandemic Work; Polls Close In New Zealand General Election; Millions Spent On Ads In Final Weeks Of U.S. Race.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): President Trump claiming the U.S. is rounding the turn in its coronavirus fight, even as new cases spike right across the country. Plus, more than 20 million Americans have cast votes in the presidential election. What that could mean for the candidates. The city of Manchester in a standoff with the U.K. government. Why it's opposing a new virus lockdown. A warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isa Soares. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.</s>SOARES: A very warm welcome wherever you may be watching. And we start in the United States. More than eight million Americans have now fallen victim to the coronavirus since the pandemic began. That's one fifth of the world's cases and one million more in just three weeks ago. And take a look at this. More than 132,000 new cases have been confirmed in the last two days, an alarming rate of infection not seen since late July. Hospitals in seven states are reporting record numbers of COVID admissions. But U.S. president Donald Trump now apparently recovered from his own bout with the disease, insists the country's quote "rounding the turn" on the pandemic. With U.S. elections just a couple of weeks away, he continues to hold crowded rallies, you can see that, all across the country, without any meaningful health precautions. One glimmer of hope, one vaccine may be ready by late November. But as the head of the National Institutes of Health cautioned, it is a big if. And this is what Dr. Francis Collins is about to tell you. Take a listen.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NIH: I'm still pretty guardedly optimistic, by the end of the year, we will have one or more vaccines that is safe and effective and we can start distributing it. But even that is not a guarantee. This is a very complicated science and sometimes things don't work the way you want it to.</s>SOARES: Now nearly all polls show President Trump trailing his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. So he has launched an aggressive campaign schedule over the next two weeks. We get more now on that from CNN's Ryan Nobles in Georgia.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump continuing his blistering pace on the campaign trail after recovering from the coronavirus. The president and his campaign hope to have him in front of supporters every single day, between now and the election. And the president made three stops on Friday alone, hitting a number of swing states, including two stops in Florida and here in Macon, Georgia, a traditionally Republican state, where the polls show a surprisingly close race. And the president hitting on all the big themes that he has throughout this entire campaign, picking on Vice President Joe Biden, calling him the worst presidential candidate in history, which is interesting, considering that Biden holds a sizable lead in many of the polls as we get closer to Election Day. And he also talked about his town hall with NBC this week and listen to what President Trump had to say about the person who moderated that town hall. NBC's Savannah Guthrie.</s>TRUMP: And Savannah, it was like her face, the anger, the craziness. I mean, the craziness last night. And I said good-bye. I said great job, Savannah. You did wonderfully. Good job.</s>NOBLES: And it's worth pointing out that Savannah Guthrie has not disappeared and hosted "The Today Show" the day after she moderated that conversation and town hall with President Trump. On Thursday, the president will continue this pace through the weekend. He's going to be traveling to Nevada and Arizona and also Wisconsin and Michigan, all states that will be crucial to his hopes at winning re-election -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Macon, Georgia.</s>SOARES: Ryan, thank you very much. Joe Biden's rallies look and feel much different from the president whose campaign is social distance and face masks and other measures. And on Friday he held a drive-in event in Detroit. Jessica Dean was there.</s>JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Joe Biden coming to the battleground state of Michigan on Friday and making the Affordable Care Act and health care really center to his closing argument here in Michigan. His campaign really believes that is a through line to so many issues that are driving this race, from the coronavirus pandemic, to President Trump's response, to the coronavirus pandemic, to Amy Coney Barrett's nomination process and Republicans' efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. And remember, Democrats ran this play, focusing on health care back in 2018, when they regained control of the House.</s>DEAN: It worked for them then. And the Biden campaign believes it will be a very effective message this go-around. Meantime, at a town hall on Thursday night, Joe Biden talked more about a question he's dodged for several weeks now, whether he supports packing the Supreme Court. Biden has said in the past, he said last night, he's not a fan of the idea. But he said he will offer his decision on it before Election Day. He wants to see how Republicans will handle the whole process before he announces his decision but committing to saying something before Election Day. And we move ever closer to Election Day. This is a voter engagement event in Detroit, Michigan, the campaign really focusing on states where early voting is already happening. And they're going to send perhaps their biggest surrogate out to an early voting state out next week, former president Barack Obama, who hits the trail for his first in-person event for Joe Biden on the campaign trail next week in Philadelphia -- Jessica Dean, CNN, Detroit, Michigan.</s>SOARES: Now let's get international perspective and bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex. And thanks very much for being with us today. Let's start off with the one impressive image I think it's fair to say that we've seen around the United States, of people lining up, some braving for hours and hours on end, actually, long waits to cast their ballots. What do you think is driving this record early voting? Is it enthusiasm? The pandemic? The presidency?</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Yes, I think it's all those things. I think it's going to be an election that will have record turnout. And we're seeing that 21 million people have already cast their votes early, according to states reporting data. That's 15.3 percent of the total vote counted in 2016. And we're also seeing that it seems to be favoring Democrats. They have been really rallying their supporters to get out the vote early in states like Florida, like Michigan, like Wisconsin, where early voting has reached over 20 percent. And Democrats in the states that are reporting data thus far have claimed that they have returned 2.5 million more ballots than Republicans. And now, this is part of the Democrats' campaign. They want their supporters to get out early because they're worried about the way the counting is going to take place, because Trump has indicated he might not accept the results. The Republicans remain confident that their supporters will turn out to vote on Election Day.</s>SOARES: So with that point you made, part of the messaging, to get out and get out early to vote. Let's talk about the very different ways of campaigning that we've seen. President Trump, as we just showed you, Natasha, continuing to hold more campaign rallies, in defiance, I must add, of his own government's social distancing recommendation, as we're seeing now on our screen. And he continues, as well, to minimize the impact of the pandemic. For our viewers around the world, Natasha, does this disregard for the pandemic is, that hurting him at all? Is there a way of knowing?</s>LINDSTAEDT: His disregard for the pandemic doesn't really affect those that are already going to vote for him anyway. They love everything he does. There's really nothing he could do that is going to turn these voters off. What he does, is people who are hovering between voting for Trump or for Biden, they were uncertain, they were independent, people who really care about getting a handle on the pandemic and who aren't part of Trump's base, feel he has been incredibly irresponsible by holding all of these campaign rallies, in person, where people are crammed in. They're sometimes not wearing masks. And this is reflective of the way he's handled the pandemic in general. He doesn't seem to really care about it. And he's downplayed it. And he said he did it to not create panic. But this isn't resonating well with voters who see that one of the biggest issues of this election is health care and COVID-19 and who they think is better able to get the crisis under control.</s>SOARES: And what is clear is I think, as we head into the final stretch, that the more prominent members of the Republican Party are already starting to distance themselves, from the president. Let's talk about today. Today, President Trump is campaigning in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states showing signs of trouble for the Trump campaign. Joe Biden having a clear lead there. But we've been here before and Trump won. How is this different? Is it different?</s>LINDSTAEDT: It is different because, in 2016, Trump was an unknown candidate. We didn't really know what he was going to do. So it was like a wild card situation. And you also had Hillary Clinton, who was an unlikable candidate, in that she never had a 50 percent or more favorability rating. Also Trump was really effective in characterizing her in a negative way by calling her Crooked Hillary. He has really struggled to negatively characterize Biden, he called him Sleepy Joe but that hasn't really worked.</s>LINDSTAEDT: The other issue in 2016 was low voter turnout, from key demographics that support Democrats. So now with the polls, they seem to be not wavering much and there are big leads for Biden in key states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Michigan and he is really close in the race in Florida. So what we're seeing here is these leads are pretty big. And there are a lot of people who have started to change their mind on Trump or who won't vote for Trump. He's held a lot of his supporters but 6 percent of Trump supporters, said that -- voted for him in 2016 said they will not vote for him in 2020. And he hasn't made up any ground. Remember all of these races were incredibly close. He won Wisconsin by 23,000 votes. He won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes. So he doesn't need to only just win or maintain what he had before but he also has to make ground. And he has not done that.</s>SOARES: Natasha, always great to get your insight. Come back on the show any time. Have a wonderful weekend.</s>LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.</s>SOARES: Pleasure. Now health experts warn, despite the COVID-19 numbers now, they likely will get even worse this winter. CNN's Brian Todd takes us to communities already being pushed to the brink.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hospital beds on the move in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with hospitals pushing capacity. Officials in New Mexico say many coronavirus patients there need to be transferred from one hospital to another throughout the state. And, tonight, they're worried about having enough people to take care of them.</s>DR. DAVID SCRASE, NEW MEXICO HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Our hospital leaders' greatest concern today is staffing up those beds. They point out that the health care work force that's been fighting valiantly against COVID in New Mexico, they're getting tired. There's some people who've stepped back.</s>TODD: Cases have spiked to such an extent in New Mexico that the governor is telling people flat out don't leave your home if you don't have to. The virus, she says, is winning.</s>GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): This is the most serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced.</s>TODD: Wisconsin is also seeing horrific spikes. And officials say many new cases are tied directly to virus spreads in prisons and veterans homes, like the King facility in Waupaca County.</s>DIANE LYNCH, WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: There are 52 members currently in quarantine. And there are 25 staff members currently out of the work unit with positive COVID tests.</s>TODD: Wisconsin and New Mexico are two of 10 states that just reported their single highest day of new cases ever. The numbers are daunting all the way around. The U.S. topped 60,000 new cases in a single day for the first time since August 14, 32 states today trending up in new cases. The U.S. just passed eight million total cases of this virus. And America's top experts are very worried about the months ahead.</s>DR. ANNE RIMOIN, UCLA EPIDEMIOLOGIST: As we move towards the winter and the weather is getting colder, people will have fewer and fewer opportunities to be outdoors and to be able to just naturally social distance. We're going to be creating opportunities, more opportunities for this virus to spread. It is a dangerous moment in history.</s>TODD: Experts say, this year, even with so many Americans desperate for some kind of celebration, holidays will have to be scaled back to combat the virus. The CDC has just issued new guidelines for how Americans can stay safe at Thanksgiving, among them, assess the infection rates in your community, consider postponing or canceling activities. Think about having outdoor dinners, weather permitting, or hosting virtual dinners. And limit the number of people at any gathering. Mask-wearing and distancing are more important than ever, America's leading voice on infectious disease says. And he's becoming impatient with people who aren't doing those things.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So, if you think that by getting infected and saying -- pooh-poohing the prevention modalities, that you're living in a vacuum and you're not -- no, you're becoming part of the problem.</s>TODD: But Dr. Fauci said it is still not too late to turn the tide for what will happen with the virus this fall and winter, if Americans act responsibly, if state and local officials take good public health measures and emphasize all of that can be done without shutting the country down -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>SOARES: A stark warning for countries across Europe, as coronavirus cases there spread at record rates. Now according to data, from Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization, new case numbers right here in Europe are far exceeding the rise of infections in the United States. Have a look. There you can see how red it is, more than 50 percent of the deep, deep red. The World Health Organization's European director, talked to CNN's Becky Anderson about what the public can do to really make a difference.</s>HANS KLUGE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Is there a reason for panic, Becky? No.</s>KLUGE: Am I worried? Yes, I'm very worried. There are some simple measures, systematic, generalized mask wearing, together with a strict control on social gatherings could save in this region about 281,000 lives in six months.</s>SOARES: One of those countries, France, is seeing an exponential rise in new infections, 10 metropolitan areas there are now under nightly curfew as the country set yet another daily record for new coronavirus cases. The curfew began on Friday at midnight. And it's running from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am the following morning. This is happening as France had more than 30,000 new infections on Thursday. Let's bring in Melissa Bell in Paris. One of the areas under curfew, and as we just said, infections are rising and rising rather fast, so are hospitalizations, which is important for people to understand that. But will the curfew, Melissa, from those you have been speaking to, will the curfew be enough?</s>MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that is exactly what authorities are going to be looking at. Because they're following that advice from the World Health Organization. And they essentially said, look, if we carry on, on this course and nothing is done to fix, this we're going to be seeing fatality levels four to five times what they were in April, by January of next year. And that's a pretty chilly warning. Also the World Health Organization saying look, lockdowns need to be a last resort because of the social implications, the economic implications of those. And so France, in the face of the rising numbers, in the face of the record rising number of new cases over the course of the several days, over the course of last 10, they're saying we're going to try everything we can. The latest strategy, are the curfews that are in the greater Paris region right now, right now I can walk out with my mask on and beyond 9:00 pm, I have to be at home unless you meet several criteria, you are going out to work, going to look after someone, you have a special document proving that you have a right to be out. And if you are caught out, without that document, you could face a fine of 135 euros, if you're a repeat offender, there is a threat of imprisonment and a far greater fine. This is something that will be enforced by 12,000 police men and women. Will it be enough to bring the numbers down? For the time being, they continue to rise. It is as you mentioned the question of the ICUs in the greater Paris region, 46.8 percent of ICU beds are taken up by COVID-19 patients, there will be a point at which the hospital system simply can't take anymore.</s>SOARES: I remember that Macron wanted to reduce that to 10 percent, to between 10 and 50 percent. Let's see whether this curfew measure really is able to shift those numbers. CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris, great to see you, thank you. Staying in France, nine people are being held for questions after a history teacher was attacked and beheaded in a Paris suburb. Police say they shot and killed the suspected attacker. According to multiple reports, the teacher had currently shown students controversial caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. CNN's Jim Bittermann has more for you.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The attack occurred in a suburb about 45 kilometers from Paris. The secondary schoolteacher was decapitated at the scene and in the moments that followed, the assailant was spotted going down the street. Police gave chase. They confronted him, told him to drop his knife and when he didn't, they brought him down with a hail of bullets. He was killed at the scene as, of course, was the teacher. President Macron, visibly emotional, went to the scene this evening and he had this to say.</s>EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): One of our fellow citizens was killed today because he was teaching students about freedom of speech, the freedom to believe and not believe. Our compatriot was attacked. He was the victim of an Islamist attack.</s>BITTERMANN: The investigation into the attack has now been turned over to the terrorism prosecutor in France and this has been labeled by the president himself as an act of Islamic terrorism. The minister of education, who also was tweeting and speaking about this tonight, said that he had -- attack, this attack was a despicable assassination of one of the republic's servants -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.</s>SOARES: The U.S. presidential election is more than two weeks away but early voting rates are up across the country. Millions of Americans have already cast their ballots. We'll bring you that story just ahead.

Biden Stresses Health Care At Drive-In Rally In Detroit; Polls Show Biden With Double- Digit Lead Over Trump; Trump Holds Rallies Despite Nationwide Surge In Cases

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.</s>ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.S. president unwilling to acknowledge the pandemic reality as the U.S. tops 8 million COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile Europe takes a city by city approach to tackling a second wave. Details on new targeted lockdowns and curfews across England as well as France. And at least one person on the planet has enjoyed lockdown. We'll tell you how a Japanese traveler went from stranded in Peru to solo touring Machu Picchu. I'm Isa Soares live from the CNN NEWSROOM.</s>SOARES: A very warm welcome, everyone. Now more than eight million Americans have now fallen victim to the coronavirus since the coronavirus pandemic began, one fifth of the world's cases and one million more than just three weeks ago. More than 132,000 new cases confirmed in just the past two days. It is an alarming rate of infection not seen since late July. Hospitals in seven states report record numbers of COVID admissions. But the U.S. president Donald Trump now apparently recovered from his own bout of the disease and insists the country is, quote, "rounding the turn" on the pandemic, with the election a couple of weeks away, he continues to hold rallies, as you can see there, all across the country without any meaningful social distancing. One vaccine may be ready by the end of the year but the National Institutes of Health says it is a big if. Here is what Francis Collins said about a vaccine being available before the election.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NIH: Extremely unlikely to be happening until sometime middle to late November and only if the data supports the vaccine works. It is too bad this is all tangled up in other calendar issues. This is kind of the way science is supposed to go. You do the work, do the careful analysis. You try to make sure that every standard has been met. And then you try to put something out that is going to help people. I'm still pretty guardedly optimistic that, by the end of the year, we will have one or more vaccines.</s>SOARES: Nearly all polls show President Trump trailing his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden and he has launched an aggressive campaign scheduled over the next two weeks and we will get more on that from CNN's Ryan Nobles in Macon, Georgia.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump continuing his blistering pace on the campaign trail after recovering from the coronavirus. The president and his campaign hope to have him in front of supporters every single day, between now and the election. And the president made three stops on Friday alone, hitting a number of swing states, including two stops in Florida and here in Macon, Georgia, a traditionally Republican state, where the polls show a surprisingly close race. And the president hitting on all the big themes that he has throughout this entire campaign, picking on Vice President Joe Biden, calling him the worst presidential candidate in history, which is interesting, considering that Biden holds a sizable lead in many of the polls as we get closer to Election Day. And he also talked about his town hall with NBC this week and listen to what President Trump had to say about the person who moderated that town hall. NBC's Savannah Guthrie.</s>TRUMP: And Savannah, it was like her face, the anger, the craziness. I mean, the craziness last night. And I said good-bye. I said great job, Savannah. You did wonderfully. Good job.</s>NOBLES: And it's worth pointing out that Savannah Guthrie has not disappeared and hosted "The Today Show" the day after she moderated that conversation and town hall with President Trump. On Thursday, the president will continue this pace through the weekend. He's going to be traveling to Nevada and Arizona and also Wisconsin and Michigan, all states that will be crucial to his hopes at winning re-election -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Macon, Georgia.</s>SOARES: Joe Biden's rallies look and feel much different than the president's campaign, with social distance and face masks and other safety measures. On Friday, he held a drive-in event in Detroit. Jessica Dean was there.</s>JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Joe Biden coming to the battleground state of Michigan on Friday and making the Affordable Care Act and health care really center to his closing argument here in Michigan. His campaign really believes that is a through line to so many issues that are driving this race, from the coronavirus pandemic, to President Trump's response, to the coronavirus pandemic, to Amy Coney Barrett's nomination process and Republicans' efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. And remember, Democrats ran this play, focusing on health care back in 2018, when they regained control of the House. It worked for them then. And the Biden campaign believes it will be a very effective message this go-around.</s>DEAN: Meantime, at a town hall on Thursday night, Joe Biden talked more about a question he's dodged for several weeks now, whether he supports packing the Supreme Court. Biden has said in the past, he said last night, he's not a fan of the idea. But he said he will offer his decision on it before Election Day. He wants to see how Republicans will handle the whole process before he announces his decision but committing to saying something before Election Day. And we move ever closer to Election Day. This is a voter engagement event in Detroit, Michigan, the campaign really focusing on states where early voting is already happening. And they're going to send perhaps their biggest surrogate out to an early voting state out next week, former president Barack Obama, who hits the trail for his first in-person event for Joe Biden on the campaign trail next week in Philadelphia -- Jessica Dean, CNN, Detroit, Michigan.</s>SOARES: Now let's get international perspective and bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex. And thanks very much for being with us today. Let's start off with the one impressive image I think it's fair to say that we've seen around the United States, of people lining up, some braving for hours and hours on end, actually, long waits to cast their ballots. What do you think is driving this record early voting? Is it enthusiasm? The pandemic? The presidency?</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Yes, I think it's all those things. I think it's going to be an election that will have record turnout. And we're seeing that 21 million people have already cast their votes early, according to states reporting data. That's 15.3 percent of the total vote counted in 2016. And we're also seeing that it seems to be favoring Democrats. They have been really rallying their supporters to get out the vote early in states like Florida, like Michigan, like Wisconsin, where early voting has reached over 20 percent. And Democrats in the states that are reporting data thus far have claimed that they have returned 2.5 million more ballots than Republicans. And now, this is part of the Democrats' campaign. They want their supporters to get out early because they're worried about the way the counting is going to take place, because Trump has indicated he might not accept the results. The Republicans remain confident that their supporters will turn out to vote on Election Day.</s>SOARES: So with that point you made, part of the messaging, to get out and get out early to vote. Let's talk about the very different ways of campaigning that we've seen. President Trump, as we just showed you, Natasha, continuing to hold more campaign rallies, in defiance, I must add, of his own government's social distancing recommendation, as we're seeing now on our screen. And he continues, as well, to minimize the impact of the pandemic. For our viewers around the world, Natasha, does this disregard for the pandemic is, that hurting him at all? Is there a way of knowing?</s>LINDSTAEDT: His disregard for the pandemic doesn't really affect those that are already going to vote for him anyway. They love everything he does. There's really nothing he could do that is going to turn these voters off. What he does, is people who are hovering between voting for Trump or for Biden, they were uncertain, they were independent, people who really care about getting a handle on the pandemic and who aren't part of Trump's base, feel he has been incredibly irresponsible by holding all of these campaign rallies, in person, where people are crammed in. They're sometimes not wearing masks. And this is reflective of the way he's handled the pandemic in general. He doesn't seem to really care about it. And he's downplayed it. And he said he did it to not create panic. But this isn't resonating well with voters who see that one of the biggest issues of this election is health care and COVID-19 and who they think is better able to get the crisis under control.</s>SOARES: And what is clear is I think, as we head into the final stretch, that the more prominent members of the Republican Party are already starting to distance themselves, from the president. Let's talk about today. Today, President Trump is campaigning in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states showing signs of trouble for the Trump campaign. Joe Biden having a clear lead there. But we've been here before and Trump won. How is this different? Is it different?</s>LINDSTAEDT: It is different because, in 2016, Trump was an unknown candidate. We didn't really know what he was going to do. So it was like a wild card situation. And you also had Hillary Clinton, who was an unlikable candidate, in that she never had a 50 percent or more favorability rating. Also Trump was really effective in characterizing her in a negative way by calling her Crooked Hillary. He has really struggled to negatively characterize Biden, he called him Sleepy Joe but that hasn't really worked.</s>LINDSTAEDT: The other issue in 2016 was low voter turnout, from key demographics that support Democrats. So now with the polls, they seem to be not wavering much and there are big leads for Biden in key states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Michigan and he is really close in the race in Florida. So what we're seeing here is these leads are pretty big. And there are a lot of people who have started to change their mind on Trump or who won't vote for Trump. He's held a lot of his supporters but 6 percent of Trump supporters, said that -- voted for him in 2016 said they will not vote for him in 2020. And he hasn't made up any ground. Remember all of these races were incredibly close. He won Wisconsin by 23,000 votes. He won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes. So he doesn't need to only just win or maintain what he had before but he also has to make ground. And he has not done that.</s>SOARES: Natasha, always great to get your insight. Come back on the show any time. Have a wonderful weekend.</s>LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.</s>SOARES: Now despite the pandemic, millions of Americans are standing in lines, around the country, to cast their ballot. Election Day is more than two weeks off but this is already is what is playing out around the nation. Here is a look at some U.S. states and how the early voting numbers are stacking up compared to the 2016 election. In Georgia, 62 percent more people have already voted in person compared to this point in the last presidential election. In Illinois, there's a 400 percent jump. Tennessee and Kansas both remarkably up as well. Pretty staggering. Still to come right here on CNN, with COVID cases and hospitalizations on the rise in the United States, officials are telling people how to stay safe over the Thanksgiving holiday. We're giving that advice next.

U.S. Surpasses Eight Million COVID-19 Cases; Cases Rising Rapidly Across Much Of Europe

SOARES: U.S. Health experts are sending out dire warnings about the upcoming holidays and the coronavirus. They say, as bad as the numbers are right now, they likely will get even worse this winter. CNN's Brian Todd takes us to communities already being pushed to the brink.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hospital beds on the move in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with hospitals pushing capacity. Officials in New Mexico say many coronavirus patients there need to be transferred from one hospital to another throughout the state. And, tonight, they're worried about having enough people to take care of them.</s>DR. DAVID SCRASE, NEW MEXICO HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Our hospital leaders' greatest concern today is staffing up those beds. They point out that the health care work force that's been fighting valiantly against COVID in New Mexico, they're getting tired. There's some people who've stepped back.</s>TODD: Cases have spiked to such an extent in New Mexico that the governor is telling people flat out don't leave your home if you don't have to. The virus, she says, is winning.</s>GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): This is the most serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced.</s>TODD: Wisconsin is also seeing horrific spikes. And officials say many new cases are tied directly to virus spreads in prisons and veterans homes, like the King facility in Waupaca County.</s>DIANE LYNCH, WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: There are 52 members currently in quarantine. And there are 25 staff members currently out of the work unit with positive COVID tests.</s>TODD: Wisconsin and New Mexico are two of 10 states that just reported their single highest day of new cases ever. The numbers are daunting all the way around. The U.S. topped 60,000 new cases in a single day for the first time since August 14, 32 states today trending up in new cases. The U.S. just passed eight million total cases of this virus. And America's top experts are very worried about the months ahead.</s>DR. ANNE RIMOIN, UCLA EPIDEMIOLOGIST: As we move towards the winter and the weather is getting colder, people will have fewer and fewer opportunities to be outdoors and to be able to just naturally social distance. We're going to be creating opportunities, more opportunities for this virus to spread. It is a dangerous moment in history.</s>TODD: Experts say, this year, even with so many Americans desperate for some kind of celebration, holidays will have to be scaled back to combat the virus. The CDC has just issued new guidelines for how Americans can stay safe at Thanksgiving, among them, assess the infection rates in your community, consider postponing or canceling activities. Think about having outdoor dinners, weather permitting, or hosting virtual dinners. And limit the number of people at any gathering. Mask-wearing and distancing are more important than ever, America's leading voice on infectious disease says. And he's becoming impatient with people who aren't doing those things.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So, if you think that by getting infected and saying -- pooh-poohing the prevention modalities, that you're living in a vacuum and you're not -- no, you're becoming part of the problem.</s>TODD: But Dr. Fauci said it is still not too late to turn the tide for what will happen with the virus this fall and winter, if Americans act responsibly, if state and local officials take good public health measures and emphasize all of that can be done without shutting the country down -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>SOARES: With us now to talk more about all of this is Oksana Pyzik, a public health expert at University College London. Thank you very much for joining me. You heard the numbers in the United States are pretty staggering, eight million infections with dozens of states trending in the wrong direction. And looking at the numbers, eight million, that is up from seven million just three weeks ago. And this seems to be moving faster than the first wave. Why is that?</s>OKSANA PYZIK, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: We are further along now into this pandemic. And there is a real sense of weariness amongst many people, about the extent of restrictions that have had to come into place. That along with encouraging relaxation and misinformation around mask wearing, et cetera, have all set in to accumulation of cases due to the behaviors.</s>PYZIK: The virus will behave based on how we will behave. So we can trace that rise directly back to, unfortunately, the fact that some areas are just not following the public health guidance.</s>SOARES: So when we see health officials saying, look, if we stick to the rules, we can contain this. You know, we have the misinformation, as you said, we've got also elements as you pointed out of COVID fatigue. As in Europe, as leaders put pressure and ways to contain the virus in different measures, do you think these measures are enough?</s>PYZIK: Well, certainly, we have had the introduction in the U.K. of this tier one, tier two, tier three system. But as we have already heard, it's unlikely that tier three will really be enough to start to reverse in some pockets where we have exponential growth, particularly in the northwest of England. So it is likely that more aggressive measures will have to be introduced quite soon, in order to keep things at bay and, certainly, to avoid something as drastic as a national lockdown, which we have heard the prime minister, Boris Johnson, repeatedly say he is not willing to do. But at the current rate, the 10:00 pm curfew, along with other measures, just haven't worked in bringing down the numbers. So it's likely that this concept of circuit breakers will be next in line, in order to really get us in a safer place by Christmas.</s>SOARES: Do you believe a circuit breaker is inevitable here?</s>PYZIK: I do think that this is the direction that we are heading. The numbers will really be an indicator quite soon about whether it is containable using these local strategies. That is, of course, preferable in some ways. But from a public health perspective, we have independent sage also pushing for a circuit breaker while we have school breaks coming up soon and this will be a good time to introduce it.</s>SOARES: Let's talk about the United States. We've seen rallies now, we're heading up to the U.S. election, three weeks or so to go before the U.S. election, rallies, we've seen people wearing masks, some people not wearing masks and that includes the president of the United States. And it seems like fighting this disease, it has become a partisan issue. How worried are you about the politicization of the pandemic?</s>PYZIK: There is no argument here that the coronavirus has become entirely politicized with -- and this has actually fed into this issue of misinformation that we had talked about earlier, with a disinformation, which is slightly different from misinformation in the fact that there is an intentional, political strategic point of view in order to destabilize communities. And in this instance, we do see that, having the U.S. leader also misrepresenting the effectiveness of wearing face masks, et cetera, at a point when we head into winter, where it's critically important for us to keep things -- to slow down the rates of infection, it is incredibly worrying. And it is leading to calling anyone that you disagree with just fake news. And unfortunately, we see that that sort of denialism is growing. It is coming from a number of sources. We see this also happening widely, coming up with political actors, for example, the Russians but also when we talk about online how much misinformation is out there, which can lead to people buying falsified COVID medical products, hocus pocus remedies. So it's extensive and dangerous for this to be propagated by the U.S. president.</s>SOARES: So great to get your insight. Oksana Pyzik from the University College London. Thanks very much. Have a wonderful weekend.</s>PYZIK: Thank you.</s>SOARES: Now as the U.S. election draws closer, President Trump has ramped up his rallies, jam-packed with spectators and hardly any masks. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the correlation, this is important, between the crowded spectacles and a spike in COVID cases.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald J. Trump.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: For President Trump's supporters, these rallies have come to represent a show of force against fear.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a 99.9 percent survival rate. And I am going to continue to live my life. I hope everybody else does, too.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): For many public health experts, though, these rallies also have the elements of a contagion. Few masks. Lots of people closely clustered together for more than 15 minutes at a time.</s>GUPTA: You can't see the virus but what is happening during a super spreading event?</s>DR. ERIN BROMAGE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is a rough analogy but if you think of a campfire and all you have is a gentle breeze that night, not everybody sitting around the campfire is equal in regard to the amount of virus -- or smoke -- that they're actually getting into their face.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): It is true, that outdoors can be up to 20 to 30 times safer than indoors. The virus more likely to disperse into the air. But it is still not completely safe. Again, think of that campfire smoke. It drifts and lingers and then travels wherever the wind may carry it. But here's the problem, definitively linking a gathering like this -- or this -- to a later spike in new infections can be challenging, especially with 50,000 people becoming infected every day. So to better understand the impact, CNN took a look at data from large rallies several weeks ago to see what happened to a relevant and related measure of the virus' damage: hospitalizations. Now as you watch this, remember, after someone's exposed, it typically takes about four weeks before they might become sick enough to require hospitalization. June 20th, Tulsa, Oklahoma: an indoor rally. Here was the situation going into that weekend in Tulsa. On that particular day, there were 197 hospitalizations in the state. On July 8th, 2.5 weeks later, the Tulsa Department of Health held a press conference.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last few days, we've had almost 500 cases and we know we had several large events a little over two weeks ago, which is about right, so we can connect the dots.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): Then five weeks after the rally, the number of hospitalizations is at 625, more than triple what it was on June 20th. June 23rd, Phoenix, Arizona: just days after that stop in Tulsa, President Trump held another indoor event, this time, Phoenix. When he visited, around 2,000 people were being hospitalized daily in Arizona, though the number was already rising. Fast forward 10 days and that number shoots up to more than 3,000 cases daily and that's maintained over the next three weeks. August 17th, Oshkosh, Wisconsin: take a look at what happened after the president visited Oshkosh, on August 17th, this time outside. Five weeks later, the number of hospitalizations rising by nearly 20 percent and continues its upward climb. As far as the recent rallies go, Florida, Pennsylvania and Iowa, they have been all within the last few weeks. So we may not have seen the impact on hospitalizations as of yet.</s>BROMAGE: There's no doubt that there has been transmission at the protests, the political rallies. It's just a fact that the virus doesn't discriminate. It will find a new host in a crowd that's there. If you are gathering together in a large group of people, there has almost certainly been transmission. It is impossible, very difficult to visualize that transmission or document that transmission, when there are so many people attending these events and then they scatter back out into their communities.</s>GUPTA (voice-over): On Saturday, the president's heading to Janesville, Wisconsin, about an hour away from where this 530-bed field hospital was erected earlier this week, a foreshadowing of what may be to come.</s>SOARES: Now as COVID cases spike in the U.K., some are lashing out over the government over planned restrictions and coming up we will find out what Boris Johnson is responding to the backlash. And new measures across the English Channel, too, as numerous French cities face nighttime curfews. We will go to Paris to find out how the new restrictions are working.

Police Holding And Questioning Nine In Paris Attack

SOARES: Nine people are now being held for questioning in France after a history teacher was attacked and beheaded in a Paris suburb. Police say they shot and killed the attacker. According to multiple reports, the teacher had recently shown students controversial caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad.</s>SOARES: And a source says the main suspect is identified as an 18- year-old man of Chechen origin and his parents, grandfather and brother are being held. And the French prime minister Emmanuel Macron said the government will respond, quote, "with the greatest firmness." CNN's Jim Bittermann has more.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The attack occurred in a suburb about 45 kilometers from Paris. The secondary schoolteacher was decapitated at the scene and in the moments that followed, the assailant was spotted going down the street. Police gave chase. They confronted him, told him to drop his knife and when he didn't, they brought him down with a hail of bullets. He was killed at the scene as, of course, was the teacher. President Macron, visibly emotional, went to the scene this evening and he had this to say.</s>EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): One of our fellow citizens was killed today because he was teaching students about freedom of speech, the freedom to believe and not believe. Our compatriot was attacked. He was the victim of an Islamist attack.</s>BITTERMANN: The investigation into the attack has now been turned over to the terrorism prosecutor in France and this has been labeled by the president himself as an act of Islamic terrorism. The minister of education, who also was tweeting and speaking about this tonight, said that he had -- attack, this attack was a despicable assassination of one of the republic's servants -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.</s>SOARES: And breaking news from New Zealand, where Jacinda Ardern has won a second term with 90 percent of the ballots counted. Ardern's Labor Party has won nearly half the vote and appears headed to a parliamentary majority, her opponent, the national party leader Judith Collins conceding. Take a listen.</s>JUDITH COLLINS, NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL PARTY: And I promise you, the national party will be a robust opposition. We will hold the government to account for failed promises. And we will push on behalf of all New Zealanders for the government to do better for Kiwis.</s>SOARES: Ardern also spoke as a result. Take a listen.</s>JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: We are moving in an increasingly polarized world, a place where more and more people have lost the ability to see one another's point of view. I hope that in this election, New Zealand has shown that this is not who we are, that, as a nation, we can listen and we can debate. After all we are too small to lose sight of other people's perspective. Elections aren't always --</s>ARDERN: -- elections aren't always great at bringing people together. But they also don't need to tear one another apart.</s>DONNA-MARIE LEVER, JOURNALIST: Excellently. And we have seen her address more than a thousand supporters at the town hall, where she has since shown the Labor Party's greatest support in more than 50 years. She promises to be a leader of party and government for the next three years that will support every New Zealander. So almost 90 percent of the vote is now in and it has not changed dramatically, throughout, hovering at around 49 percent mark. And national on 27 percent. I think what is very telling about this, national leader Judith Collins and in conceding defeat, she</s>SOARES: Pretty historic. So how has Ardern been promising to use the ground game here? What should be expected from a second term?</s>LEVER: She has talked very much about leading the recovery through the COVID-19 crisis. And that being front and center of all of the campaigning. And I think many New Zealanders, as we've seen tonight, in the results, agree that she has handled the crisis incredibly well. And the focus will very much be on the economy, in the next three years and national leader Judith Collins is promising to keep her honest on that.</s>SOARES: Wonderful journalist. Thank you from the breaking news from New Zealand, where Jacinda Ardern has won a second term as New Zealand prime minister.</s>SOARES: After the break, not a common story, a tourist travels to Peru and he gets stranded because of coronavirus lockdown. But then came the experience of a lifetime. We'll show you straight ahead.

Japanese Tourist Gets Private Tour Of Machu Picchu.

SOARES: A Japanese tourist can officially cross off making history from his bucket list. After all, it is not every day someone gets stranded in a country because of the global pandemic and ends up with a private of Machu Picchu. CNN's Matt Rivers with his remarkable story.</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jesse Katayama was a tourist who went to Peru to see Machu Picchu. And that is about the only normal part of this story. He says, "If I arrived a day earlier or a day later, this wouldn't have happened. It might be fate." The 26-year old was nearing the end of the trip around the world in March. He got to Peru on the 14th and then the country locked down. Not only was Machu Picchu closed, so was the airport. But panic? No. He just rented a room. He stayed in Aguas Calientes, a town at the foot of Machu Picchu. He quickly made friends and says his neighbors cooked for him all the time. When some Japanese made it home on repatriation flights, Jesse chose to stay.</s>RIVERS (voice-over): Limited Spanish didn't stop the boxing trainer from setting up a local club for the neighborhood kids. "Uno, dos, tres," was simple enough. And it worked. He showed us the gifts the kids gave him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Japanese.)</s>RIVERS (voice-over): He says, "On the back, it says 'I love you.' So cute. I'm not the same person I was when I first got here." Machu Picchu had become kind of an afterthought. He lived close enough that he could see it but figured he'd leave before it reopened. And then came the call. The Peruvian government heard his story and made an exception. Jesse, this week, became the first and only tourist to enter the site since March. Just him and his photographer guides and a whole bunch of history. He says, "In the beginning, I wanted to go home and there were some tough times. But what I gained from this is invaluable. If anybody else finds themselves in a similar situation, I say, do your best and go for it." Or essentially just roll with the punches, fitting advice, from a boxing trainer -- Matt Rivers, CNN.</s>SOARES: And he had plenty of time to take it all in and to meditate. Well, that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks very much for your company. For international viewers, "SAVED BY THE FUTURE" is next. For viewers in the United States, it is "NEW DAY." You're watching CNN. Have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for watching. Bye-bye.

U.S. Reaches Eight Million COVID-19 Cases; With Reelection In Jeopardy, Trump Calls For Rivals To Be Locked Up; Biden Campaign Slams Trump Rally In Wisconsin

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The coronavirus pandemic front and center as the election enters the home stretch. The U.S. has now surpassed eight million COVID cases, with a record number of cases Friday. More than 69,000 people infected in a single day and experts fear it will get much worse in the weeks to come. Still a defiant President Trump is holding his sixth day of campaign rallies since he was diagnosed with the virus, downplaying its dangers, threatening to lock up his political opponents, and even suggesting he would leave the country if he loses. And his supporters taking their cues from him, Georgia's state congressman, Vernon Jones, a Democrat, who has endorsed the president for reelection crowd surfed maskless on a sea of people, also mostly maskless, at a Trump rally. The pandemic not stopping voters from turning in their ballots early. In fact, the pandemic may be largely galvanizing the record turnout. Across the country, already 21 million have cast their ballots. And with just five days until lawmakers vote on the U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee, thousands are marching to the nation's capital and beyond in protest against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the high court. We have a team of correspondents covering all of these developments. Let's begin with Polo Sandoval and the latest on this alarming rise in COVID cases here in the U.S. Polo, how concerning are these trends?</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are concerning, Fred, especially when you look at some of these numbers. Consider yesterday alone, ten states in the country reporting their highest number of new COVID cases. That's since the start of the pandemic. Minnesota was one of the ones that saw perhaps the highest number here, about 2,300 new cases yesterday, shattering their previous record of about 1,500. So that's certainly a concern for officials here. We heard from the nation's surgeon general this week saying that the priority right now is to recognize some of those hot spot regions and then try to get those cases under control before trying to reverse some of these infection rates.</s>SANDOVAL: The United States surpassed eight million coronavirus cases on Friday. The death toll is quickly approaching 220,000. Case numbers are steadily increasing daily, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health officials from coast to coast are scrambling to contain the rising rate of infections.</s>DR. CHRIS MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: If you look at the map in the U.S., what's happening is exactly what we expected as the whole northern half of the U.S. transmission is on the upswing.</s>SANDOVAL: At least four states -- Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina and Wyoming -- reported their highest daily COVID-19 case count to date, just this Friday state health officials said. North Carolina, where President Trump spoke to maskless crowds on Thursday, set a new record for cases on Friday. Florida, now averaging nearly 2,800 new cases a day -- that's up from 2,400 a week ago. Wisconsin now has a positivity rate of more than 26 percent. The United States surgeon general, Jerome Adams, warning that Wisconsin is a COVID-19 red state.</s>JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I want you all to be aware that Wisconsin is currently one of our red states, meaning your positivity rates are over 10 percent and going in the wrong direction.</s>SANDOVAL: President Trump taking his campaign to Wisconsin today, a state where coronavirus cases are now at an all-time high. Infectious disease physician in Green Bay, Wisconsin says gatherings create a risk.</s>DR. AGNES KRESCH, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: At this point we are really recommending not to have any kind of gatherings, even to the point of family gatherings where people FROM different households, their getting together is a risk, too. Sandoval: Earlier on Friday President Trump said seniors would be the first to get any vaccine once it's approved. Officials also confirmed Friday that CVS and Walgreens pharmacies have been designated to distribute free coronavirus vaccines once they're approved to long- term care facilities.</s>SANDOVAL: And that piece you heard from Dr. Chris Murray, he also added that if some of these mask restrictions are eased throughout the country, then we could see a significant increase in COVID-related fatalities. Close to 80 percent increase, potentially even doubling the numbers that we're seeing right now, Fred. But important to mention that this is still a prediction as experts have said repeatedly, it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to reach that point. It's certainly possible.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much for that. All right. With the pandemic threatening to jeopardize his presidency, President Trump is returning to a familiar message from the 2016 campaign, calling for Joe Biden now to be locked up. CNN's Sarah Westwood joining me now from the White House. So Sarah, what more are you learning about this?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN REPORTER: Well Fred, last night we heard the president reprising a well-worn attack from 2016, this time directing it at the Bidens, calling for them to be locked up.</s>WESTWOOD: Obviously we heard him call very frequently in 2016 for Hillary Clinton to be locked up. He was heavily criticized for that for calling for the detention of his political opponent. This comes on the heels of a "New York Post" report that the Trump campaign has promoted aggressively about Joe Biden's son's contacts in Ukraine during his vice presidency. But we want to stress there's just no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Bidens. Nonetheless, The president last night in Macon called the Biden family corrupt.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm telling you, that Biden family, and others, but that Biden family is corrupt. It's a corrupt family. And with me and my kids, let me tell you, my kids, I'll tell you something -- lock them up. You should lock them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary. Lock them up.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, the Bidens are not under investigation for anything right now. We just want to point out that this was a remarkable shift in tone from just a few hours earlier in the day when the president was addressing seniors in Florida. He struck a very empathetic note, a really rare moment for him, when he talked about experiencing the losses of loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic. He's obviously been criticized for at times coming off as too callous, as too cavalier when talking about the human impact of the coronavirus. Seniors in Florida, by the way, are a key group that the president will need to win over in order to win reelection just a little over two weeks from now, his support among that group has eroded largely due to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Later today, Fred, he is set to campaign in Wisconsin and Michigan.</s>WHITFIELD: Ok. And then now, even among the president's political opponents, he's looking at some right there within the GOP. The president is attacking Senator, you know, Ben Sasse this morning, calling him, I'm quoting now, "stupid and obnoxious". What more can you tell us about what provoked this?</s>WESTWOOD: Yes, Fred, in a two-part tweet the president going after a member of his own party and calling him an embarrassment to Nebraska, the state where Ben Sasse is a senator. This came after Ben Sasse was recorded on a call with constituents criticizing the president. I want you to take a listen to part of that call.</s>SENATOR BEN SASSE (R-NE): I'm now looking at the possibility of a Republican bloodbath in the senate and that's why I've never been on the Trump train. That's why I didn't agree to serve on his reelection committee and it's why I'm not campaigning for him. I think we are staring down the barrel of a blue tsunami.</s>MEADOWS: Now Sasse has criticized the president in the past. The president has praised Sasse in the past. So they really had sort of a love/hate relationship during their mutual time in Washington. Sasse's spokesman has since responded on Twitter saying that the senator didn't say anything on that call that he hasn't said directly to the president in the Oval Office. But he's focused right now on his re-election, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Which is interesting, because Sasse has still, you know, been behind some of the policies of the Trump campaign. And he has, you know, seemed to be very much in favor of the Supreme Court nominee, which comes from President Trump. All right. Sarah Westwood, thanks so much. All right. The Joe Biden campaign is slamming President Trump's decision to hold a rally in Wisconsin today as experts issue dire warnings about an alarming number of new cases in the key swing state. CNN political correspondent Arlette Saenz joining us now from Washington. So Arlette, what more are you learning?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, Joe Biden is off the campaign trail, home in Delaware today but he is still keeping his focus on the coronavirus pandemic and once again criticizing the president's handling of it. He has released a pair of statements ahead of the president's trip to Michigan and Wisconsin today. And I'm going to read you a little bit of that statement regarding the trip to Michigan. Biden says, "We have lost far too many lives to this pandemic and the sad fact is, it didn't have to be this way. President Trump is knowingly downplaying the severity of the virus. At virtually every turn he has panicked and tried to wish it away, rather than doing the hard work to get it under control." Biden then tailors that message to Wisconsin and says, "Today 150,000 fewer Wisconsin workers are employed than when President Trump took office, and his failed response to the pandemic has crushed Wisconsin's economy." Now, yesterday Joe Biden traveled to the battleground state of Michigan where he also hammered away at the president's coronavirus response. Take a listen.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said, I think last night in his town hall, I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said, "We have turned the corner. As my grandfather Finnegan might say, he's gone around the bend. Turned the corner, my lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted.</s>SAENZ: And in these final weeks before the election, Joe Biden is really honing in on his message of health care, the need to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. His campaign really believes that health care is an issue that touches all facets of this campaign, from the coronavirus pandemic to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and Republicans' efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Health care was a winning issue for Democrats back in 2018 when they won back the house and that is something that the Biden campaign is hoping to repeat heading into November. Now tomorrow, Joe Biden is heading to North Carolina campaigning in Durham, in one of those states where the president won back in 2016, as he's trying to turn out his supporters to get out there and vote before the election. And we are also just learning that Kamala Harris will return to campaign travel on Monday. This is after the campaign pulled her travel over the past few days after learning that two members of her traveling team tested positive for coronavirus. They decided to cancel her events for a few days out of an abundance of caution. But on Monday, Kamala Harris will be campaigning in Florida and Orlando and Jacksonville on the first day of in-person early voting in the state, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz, thanks so much in Washington. All right. Nearly 22 million and counting, record-setting numbers, people across the country taking their voice to the polls weeks before election day. You're looking live in Marietta, today on a Saturday. Early voting, the impact scenes like this could have on the election. Plus, the subject of race in America on the ballot, how black and brown organizers are fighting back against voter suppression and with the number of coronavirus cases spiking, doctors warn of a potentially deadly winter. The latest on the pandemic next.

Early Voting Turnout; Final Presidential Debate Topics

WHITFIELD: All right. With 17 days until election day, more than 20 million Americans have already cast their ballots and looking at some of the early turnout numbers, Georgia seeing an increase of more than 62 percent in in-person early voting over 2016's numbers. North Carolina up 10 percent. Illinois, up a whopping 400 percent. And Tennessee seeing an increase of 91 percent. CNN's Natasha Chen joining us from Marietta, a suburb north of Atlanta where early voters began lining up before dawn on this Saturday. Natasha, what are you seeing and hearing from people?</s>CHEN: Right. Fred, the first person who got here this morning said he got here at 4:30 a.m. But the doors didn't open until 8:00. So that's how people felt about getting here early, knowing that they might have a long wait. And if you look at the Cobb County Web site right now, it says that the wait here at this location is 180 minutes. So people here were prepared. They brought food, they brought lawn chairs in some cases. And we're hearing enthusiasm from people who felt it was extremely important for them to show up and vote in person early. And we actually met a first-time voter here -- if you can introduce yourself again. You're 18, correct? ZHIHAO DONG (ph),</s>FIRST TIME VOTER IN GEORGIA: Yes. Hi, my name is Zhihao (ph) and I'm 18 years old and I'm here to vote.</s>CHEN: Yes, tell me why about you decided to vote in person early.</s>DONG: I believe that it is important for me to vote because I was born in this country and I want to show that I care about this country. I don't want the country to go into ruin, just like letting people do whatever they want And the current administration, I feel like they're not doing like enough to, like, support what the people in this country are wanting and needing. So I hope for a change like in the administration, a change in like policymaking by like law enforcements and stuff like that. That's what I really hope for.</s>CHEN: Great. When did you turn 18?</s>DONG: I turned 18 like two months ago.</s>CHEN: Two months ago, ok. So just before the general election. Were you excited to know that you could participate in this election?</s>DONG: Yes, I was -- yes, I was excited, especially like when they came to my school saying do you want to register to vote. I was like, wow, I get to vote in this election, yes.</s>CHEN: And be part of something very historic here. Thank you so much. And of course, we're hearing from other young voters as well in line today saying that they showed up because their top issues are how this administration has responded to the coronavirus pandemic and to issues of police brutality, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Natasha Chen, thank you so much, in Marietta, Georgia.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. We now know the topics for the second and last debate between President Trump and Joe Biden. Along with how they each would fight COVID-19, the candidates will be asked about American families, climate change, national security, leadership, and race in America. To help us understand the issues communities of color want tackled, I want to bring in Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Good to see both of you.</s>MELANIE CAMPBELL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL COALITION ON BLACK CIVIC PARTICIPATION: Thank you. Good to be here.</s>DOMINGO GARCIA, PRESIDENT, LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS: Good morning.</s>WHITFIELD: Wonderful. Melanie, what do you want to hear from these candidates in this next and final debate as it relates to race in America?</s>CAMPBELL: Thank you for that question, Fredricka. We just released our Black Women's Round Table and ISOS (ph) poll on what black women want. The number one issue across generations is we want the president to address structural and systemic racism in this country. The other thing that is of grave concern, issues around voting rights and voter suppression, and COVID-19 to have a plan to eradicate this pandemic. And I'm recovering from it myself. I had a rough time with being impacted by COVID-19. And so I know personally how important it is as well. And so those are some of the top-line issues that are of concern for black women. It's about survival, it's about safety. Those are the top concerns. This is something we've done for the past six years and racism has been number one in hate crimes for the last three years.</s>WHITFIELD: I'm glad you're doing well after, you know, going through</s>COVID. CAMPBELL: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: How worried about you about your potential pre-existing conditions that might impact your health care coverage upcoming?</s>CAMPBELL: Well, you know, it's something that's on my mind. I fought for affordable health care and helped fight for passage of what they call Obamacare. And so I'm on the other side of this equation now as someone who is living through COVID-19, with a lot of uncertainties, of course. But I think for this country we need to just thank health care workers. Having been through this, you know, I was in ICU for two weeks and knowing what these health care workers do every day. They take their lives in their own hands, showing up every day to help those of us who are struggling through it. And we need to do the right thing when it comes to that. The Heroes Act is one of those things that needs to get passed in the senate.</s>WHITFIELD: Domingo, what do you want to hear from these candidates in this next and final debate?</s>GARCIA: Well, you know, the impact of COVID-19 on the Latino community and the African-American community has been devastating. In Texas, 54 percent of the fatalities have been Latinos and we're seeing hospitalizations also in those numbers. What are they going to do with that racial disparity that COVID has opened up in terms of terms of the inequalities health care, in economics. The economic impact of this where mom and pop shops that are the lifeblood of the barrios and the communities throughout the United States -- they're not being helped by the Care Act. What are you going to do to help Jose, Maria on Main Street there in San Antonio or in Miami or New York or Dallas or L.A.? Those are things that are really important. And are you going to stop the division. Are you going to stop turning Latinos into political pinatas, to beat up and to divide and pit Americans versus Americans or are you going to unite all Americans to work for the American dream?</s>WHITFIELD: And Domingo, you mentioned Texas, you know, San Antonio -- I mean Texas in the throes of, you know, arguments over is voter suppression happening right now, if you've got in Harris County a gigantic, you know, county, where there are disputes over, you know, drop boxes, the removal of one, whether there should be many. You know, what are your concerns about whether voter suppression is keeping some ballots from making it into the ballot boxes this year?</s>GARCIA: Unfortunately, in Texas and in the South, you know, voter suppression is real, it's ugly, it's un-American. Here we had to file a lawsuit -- LULAC filed against the state of Texas when they reduced from 14 voting locations where you get seniors, who are the most at risk, could drop off their absentee ballots. And the governor of Texas, a Republican, Governor Abbott reduced it to one. The same as</s>WHITFIELD: So Melanie, you mentioned, you know, the concern about the ongoing wealth gap, you know, in America concerning people of color, black people specifically, and white America. And you know actor and rapper Ice Cube is taking some heat for his proposal of a contract for black America and his approach to both the Trump camp and the Joe Biden camp. And he says he wants to work with whoever is in power. This is how he addressed the issue last night.</s>ICE CUBE, RAPPER: I'm going to whoever is in power and I'm going to speak to them about our problems, specifically I'm not going there talking about minorities, I'm not going there to talk about people of color or diversity or none of that stuff. I'm going there for black Americans, the ones who are the descendants of slaves. And that's what I'm going to talk to anybody who is in power with that. So if anybody got a problem with that, it seems like a personal problem.</s>WHITFIELD: So Melanie, what do you think? There are people who have expressed they have a problem with it, particularly because of the timing and that it looks like the Trump administration is using him, seizing upon this opportunity to appeal to black Americans.</s>CAMPBELL: Well, what I would say is I think there's an assumption that no one else is doing that and that's not the case. So that's a little bit ill-informed. He has a right to do anything he wants to do representing himself, but many of us are very focused, very laser-focused on focusing on black Americans when it comes to issues around civil rights and social justice, economic justice and opportunities. We are very much active when it comes to that. I've never not thought that I would go meet with whoever gets elected. That's not a new message. Sometimes folks are new in getting involved and that's ok, too. But do your homework so you know what else is going on. There are a lot of black agendas out there. They're not monolithic people when it comes to economic justice and opportunity, it's not a new thing for folks to fight for that. But it is to be able to be informed about what's going on. We pushed the agenda on all the candidates. We did a poll -- we did a poll earlier on in the year, we sent all of the candidates, Republicans and Democrats, back in January to tell us what you're going to do for black people, specifically black women, because we are the ones who drive the black vote. We vote more than anybody. And when there's a large black voter turnout, it's because black women showed up. I can tell you who did not respond to that questionnaire, and that was the current president of the White House, President Donald Trump. But all of the several other Republican candidates responded, as well as Democrats within the current Democratic Party, Joe Biden.</s>WHITFIELD: Ok. And Domingo, quickly do you have any thoughts on particularly the timing, you know, of this effort of Ice Cube reaching out to these camps and this is now a point of discussion just 17 days ahead of election? Well, you know, we're seeing that both candidates are reaching out to Latinos and blacks. I would hope that it would happen year-round, not just during election time. And the fact of the matter there's some very important issues regarding immigration reform, freeing those kids in the cages, issuing the economic development, that help that we need for the mom and pop shops that are the lifeblood of minority communities and those need to be addressed. Whether that is President Trump or vice president Biden. And they need to be able invest in the community (ph) because a lot of people are hurting out here and they need help.</s>CAMPBELL: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Domingo Garcia, Melanie Campbell -- thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.</s>CAMPBELL: Thank you.</s>GARCIA: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: And this quick programming note, she was Ronald Reagan's strongest supporter, his sharpest negotiator and his life-long protector. "FIRST LADIES" examines the life of Nancy Reagan tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.

Trump Refuses To Denounce QAnon In Heated Exchange

WHITFIELD: All right. On the same day that YouTube said it will crack down on far right conspiracy group QAnon content, the president refused to denounce the group.</s>TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.</s>SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, MSNBC HOST: I just told you.</s>TRUMP: I know very little -- you told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia, they fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.</s>GUTHRIE: They believe that it's a satanic cult run by the</s>GOP. TRUMP: Studies --</s>WHITFIELD: The group's theories about satanic cults and Democrats have zero basis in fact, but its message is spreading around the world. As CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports, a former follower is telling CNN how the conspiracy theory drew him in and then took a toll on his life.</s>JITARTH JADEJA, FORMER QANON BELIEVER: Looking back, it seems so obvious that I was like probably in a deep depression when I found</s>Q. DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: Jitarth Jadeja (ph) who is 32 says he found QAnon on the Internet in 2017. Though he's Australian, he had previously lived in the U.S. and was already interested in American politics.</s>JADEJA: I think superficially it did seem like it gave me comfort. And didn't realize the nefarious kind of impact it was having on me, because it was very insidious how it slowly disconnected me from reality.</s>O'SULLIVAN: QAnon is a baseless conspiracy theory with a growing online community of believers. At the heart of the theory is Q, an anonymous insider who purportedly reveals information via through cryptic posts.</s>O'SULLIVAN: The theory claims there is a deep stage within the U.S. government that is controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and that President Donald Trump is trying to take them down.</s>JADEJA: I would have been so happy to see Hillary Clinton dragged in front of a military tribunal. That still bothers me to this day, at how willing and happy and joyfully I would have reacted to something that I would normally want no part in.</s>O'SULLIVAN: Jadeja followed QAnon for over two years, long enough he says, to share the theories with his father.</s>JADEJA: We used to talk about it a lot. We would show each other things, like did you see that, did you see that.</s>CINDY OTIS, VP OF ANALYSIS, ALETHEA GROUP: We tend to underestimate the extent to which these sorts of narrative ARE appealing. You have people who are potentially looking for answers. They want to know why bad things are happening in their lives. And so it's a very compelling narrative to say all of this is orchestrated, there's a cabal coming after you, they're trying to make your life miserable. If you want an answer for why bad things are happening, here they are.</s>O'SULLIVAN: While there aren't good estimates for numbers, to followers it's clear their ranks are growing. And now the FBI has warned that conspiracy theories like QAnon could very likely motivate criminal, sometimes violent activity in the U.S. For Jadeja, Cracks had already begun to form about QAnon when he started noticing logical inconsistencies in theories. The turning point came when he watched a video that disproved the final part of the conspiracy he believed in.</s>JADEJA: That kind of like shattered me, like I've never felt so down. It was the worst feeling I've ever had in my life. It's like I cannot trust my thoughts and emotions anymore. I don't know what to do. I was full of self-loathing.</s>O'SULLIVAN: You know, you obviously went down the Q rabbit hole and got back out. For people who are very deeply entrenched and believe in it now, is there any way to sort of bring them back?</s>JADEJA: Yes, there is. But it has to start with empathy and understanding and allowing them to keep their dignity. Because otherwise, what is their incentive? You have to admit you were wrong, so wrong for so many years and that you were made a fool of.</s>O'SULLIVAN: Jadeja says he feels deep guilt over sharing QAnon theories with his dad. Jadeja's father did not respond to CNN's multiple attempts to contact him.</s>JADEJA: And that is why that this is a big problem, not just because people are being taken in and their families are like being ripped apart. This is an existential battle between good and evil that these people think they're fighting.</s>O'SULLIVAN: And you know, only now are social media platforms really taking action against QAnon. But they're trying to close the barn door here after the horse has bolted. This conspiracy theory has been around for three years. People who I have spoken to at Trump rallies and at QAnon events have told me they really got into this conspiracy theory since the beginning of the COVID lockdown in March. People have had a lot more time on their hands to be on social media. They have been encountering this conspiracy theory on platforms like Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. So although it is good that these companies are now taking action against it, it might be a bit too little, too late, Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much for bringing us that. All right. Happening right now, thousands are marching in the nation's capital to protest President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. We're there live.

Thousands Of Women Gather For March In Washington.

WHITFIELD: Nearly four years ago, hundreds of thousands of women and men came to Washington the day after President Trump's inauguration in protest. Well today women and men are once again gather in the nation's capital. But this time before the election to inspire millions of Americans to vote and prevent another inauguration of Donald Trump. CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is at Freedom Plaza where the marchers of this women's march are gathering right now. So Suzanne, the 2020 March, you know, cannot be, you know, like the one in 2017 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But what is the picture being painted there?</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, I can see stark differences because I actually covered that 2017 March where it was nearly five million people across the country who took to the streets, including 200,000 in Washington, D.C. It was like a sea of these pink hats in solidarity of women and the energy back then. People were stunned. They were shocked. There was even desperation the day after President Trump was inaugurated. Today the crowd is much, much smaller. The organizers themselves discouraging people from actually coming out here in great numbers. They don't have buses from other cities that they are taking folks into. They want you to participate virtually but I'd say probably about several thousands have gathered here in Washington. They are starting here. It's a rally that will only be about 20 minutes or so with black lives matter, women's right groups, reproductive groups as well. And then they will make their way. They will march to the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court and finally to the National Mall. That is where the real work is going to be done, Fred. They are calling it a text-a-thon. They're going to try to text five million women to encourage them to vote. This is what some of the folks have to say, part of the march.</s>KAREN EHRGOTT, WOMEN'S MARCH PARTICIPANT: It's a mess. It's really, really a mess. I am very, very fearful of our democracy. I thought it was thriving and nothing could ever happen but clearly it's a lot more fragile than we understood it to be.</s>GREGORY ALLEN, WOMEN'S MARCH PARTICIPANT: As a man, I come from a woman. I come from a single mother. With a society that's supports women the entire society becomes better. If you have women make more money, then that means there's more money for them to raise their kids and there's more money for them to take care. And there's more money for them to take care of their kids that means that the kids are better educated. That they're more well-rounded and that they can contribute to society more.</s>MALVEAUX: Fred, they're also out here to oppose the fast tracking of approving Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. They want to slow down that process until after the election but it looks like that is going full steam ahead. We also expect counter protesters at the Supreme Court giving their support for Judge Barrett. And so a lot of energy. A lot of passion here in Washington as they press to register people to vote more than just about two weeks away from the election, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux in Washington, thank you so much for that. And we'll be right back.

With Re-election In Jeopardy, Trump Calls For Rivals To Be "Locked Up"; Trump Attacks GOP Sen. Ben Sasse As "Stupid And Obnoxious"; Rudy Giuliani's Daughter Urges Americans To Vote For Biden And Harris To End Trump's "Reign Of Terror"; NY College President Resigns After 700-Plus Students Test Positive

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The Coronavirus pandemic front and center as the election enters the home stretch the U.S. has now surpassed 8 million COVID cases with the record number of cases on Friday. More than 69,000 people infected in a single day and experts fear it will get much worse in the weeks to come. Still, a defiant President Trump is holding his sixth day of campaign rallies since he was diagnosed with the virus, downplaying its dangers, threatening to lock up his political opponents and even suggesting that he believes the country if he loses and his supporters taking their cues from him. Georgia State Congressman Vernon Jones, a Democrat, who has endorsed the President for re-election crowd surfs, mask less on a sea of mostly mask less people at a Trump rally. The pandemic not stopping voters from turning in their ballots early in fact, the pandemic may be largely galvanizing the record turnout. This is a live look at voters lined up in Georgia. Across the country, already 21 million have cast their ballots. And with just five days until lawmakers vote on the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Nominee, thousands are marching to the nation's Capital in protest against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the high court. President Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in Wisconsin today despite officials in his own administration warning about a record number of new cases in the key battleground state. CNN's Sarah Westwood joins me now from the White House. Sarah, what more can you tell us?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN REPORTER: Well Fred, last night President Trump was reprising some familiar attacks on his opponents, the Bidens, saying that they should be locked up. And that's obviously an attack we heard him direct quite frequently at Hillary Clinton in 2016 and he was heavily criticized for that for advocating for the detention of a political opponent. We heard him do some of that last night. Now that came on the heels of a report from "The New York Post" that the Trump Campaign promoted aggressively about Joe Biden's son's contacts in Ukraine during Joe Biden's Vice Presidency but we just need to stress there's no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Bidens here. Nonetheless, Trump at a rally in Macon, Georgia, last night was describing the Bidens as corrupt.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm telling you that Biden family, and others, but that Biden family is corrupt. It's a corrupt family. And with me and my kids, I'll tell you something, though. That's right. Lock them up. You should look them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary.</s>WESTWOOD: Now again no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Bidens, no evidence of illegal activity. They are not under investigation for anything here. But that raucous rally last night in Georgia was a real departure from the more somber tone we heard the president strike earlier in the day in Florida. He was at an event addressing seniors and he struck a more empathetic note talking about the losses that many people have experienced of loved ones throughout the pandemic. Now seniors are a key demographic that he'll need, especially in Florida, a must-win state for him that he visited yesterday. The president has been on this campaign blitz here on a final sprint to Election Day. Later today he's set to head to Wisconsin and Michigan, two states that are experiencing surges in COVID cases, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: And then let's talk about Republican Senator Ben Sasse. You know his comments through a recording about Trump and then now then Trump is unleashed via Twitter, being critical of him. And then now you have Sasse's office responding.</s>WESTWOOD: That's right Fred, some back and forth this morning between President Trump and the office of Senator Ben Sasse the president describing Sasse this morning as an embarrassment to Nebraska, calling him obnoxious and stupid the way that he's acted. Ben Sasse earlier this week was reported during the constituent call criticizing the president. I want you to take a listen to a part of that.</s>SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): Looking at the possibility of a Republican blood bath of the Senate, and that's why I've never been on the Trump train. Its why, I didn't agree to be on his re-election committee and it's why I'm not campaigning for him. I think we're staring down the barrel of a Blue Tsunami.</s>WESTWOOD: Now Sasse has never ban a major Trump supporter he criticized the President in the past. The president has also praised the Senator, though, so they've had sort of a love/hate relationship, two of them.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, Sasse's spokesperson responded on Twitter moments ago saying that Ben Sasse is focused on his re-election and didn't say anything in that constituent call that he hasn't told the president privately in the Oval Office, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Alright, Sarah Westwood, thank you so much for that. All right, Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden issued a statement criticizing President Trump's planned rally in Janesville, Wisconsin. Biden notes that Wisconsin is in the grips of one of the worst Coronavirus outbreaks in the country. Biden reiterated these concerns while campaigning in Michigan yesterday.</s>JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said we have turned the corner. My grandfather - might say where here he has said he has gone around the bend. Turned the corner my Lord it's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse as predicted.</s>WHITFIELD: Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, is returning to the campaign trail on Monday after being temporarily grounded when two people on her team tested positive for COVID-19. And now 17 days until the official Election Day, but already nearly 22 million Americans have cast votes in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Take a look at these pictures, live pictures from Marietta, Georgia, where voters began lining up well before sunrise to cast their early in-person ballots. And take a look here. This was New Orleans on Friday where thousands lined up for the first day of early voting there. CNN's Marshall Cohen is with me. This is a record year for early voting. I mean, wow. Is it mostly the pandemic that is driving this rush to vote or something else? Other things, I should say?</s>MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: You know it's a lot of things. People are saying the pandemic is one factor. People are also saying they are a bit worried about the postal service so they want to do it in person. So we've been looking at the data across the country. More than 20 million Americans have already participated in this election according to our survey of almost all the states and data from Edison Research and Catalyst. You mentioned the in-person turnout. That is not a fluke. If you look at some of the most important states here, Georgia, North Carolina. We looked at their turnout for the first day of in-person voting just a few days ago, compared it to four years ago, and it's off the charts. They've doubled the turnout in North Carolina. It was up by 42 percent in Georgia and not just the battlegrounds, too. Tennessee as well as you can see. So it's really something that we think at this point is a trend strong interest in in-person participation. You know, doing their part before November even arrives, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Marshall, you mentioned concerns people have about the U.S. Postal Service. People worried about their mail which has been so slow everywhere and now this ruling from an appeals court in the critical Battleground State of Michigan rejecting counting Michigan's late ballot. So, the ruling is seen as a major win potentially for Republicans. Explain why.</s>COHEN: Yes, that's right. So here's what we're talking about. Mail-in ballots, absentee ballots, when they can arrive in order to get counted. Now, last night Republican judges on the state appeals court overturned a previous ruling that would have allowed late-arriving ballots to still get counted as long as they were postmarked before the election. So in the old ruling, it would have still been counted if it arrived up to 14 days after Election Day, November 3rd. But the judges on that appeals court reversed it last night. They said in their decision that the pandemic is not compelling enough to change the rules. They're going with the original law. Ultimately, Fred, this could end up with thousands or tens of thousands of votes not counting. And it was the Republicans who brought this litigation to the appeals court to stick with that strict deadline.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Marshall Cohen, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much from Washington. All right, joining me now to discuss is Margaret Talev, a CNN Political Analyst and White House and Politics Editor at AXIOS. Margaret, good to see you.</s>MARGARET TALEV, POLITICS AND WHITE HOUSE EDITOR, AXIOS: Hey Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: So, in addition to all that, CNN has now learned that President Trump's Former Chief of Staff, Retired Marine General John Kelly, has disparaged the President in private conversations saying, "The death of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life" that coming from John Kelly.</s>WHITFIELD: So Margaret, what do you make of Republicans like General Kelly? We heard the audiotape from Senator Ben Sasse, distancing themselves from the president after, shall we say, for so long being complicity silent and now to unleash and unload like this?</s>TALEV: You know, Fred, I have talked to a number of Republican and Democratic friends, sources. And there are sort of two camps of reaction about this. And they meld together in this way. There's a group that says that what this points to is a growing belief that President Trump is going to lose the re-election and it's freeing people up to not only freeing people up to say things like this but people scrambling to get on that side of history to say, you know I have always been concerned about all of this. And it raises those questions that you just mentioned like if you were concerned, why didn't you speak out publicly? But there's another component to it and that is I think, even if you are cynical, as I am to some degree after covering politics for so many years, I think it is true that many, many Republicans, both inside this administration and in Congress have, in fact, been mortified or deeply disappointed by a lot of these elements and felt trapped and didn't know what to do? Do you, you know if you can see statistically if you fight the president you're much more likely to get lose a primary, to be run out of office. Is putting yourself on the line going to change anything anyway? Very few people have run up against the president and won within his own party. So I think to some extent there's a confessional element in this. People finally being freed up to express some of their deep, you know, frustrations with themselves and the situation. And on the other hand, also, it does seem to point to a growing belief inside the White House as well as among formers and in congress that the president is really in trouble and that if you've always wanted to say these things, it's much less dangerous to now.</s>WHITFIELD: So, then there's the daughter of the President's personal lawyer and Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani you know announcing that she will be voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Caroline Rose Giuliani making her feelings known in a piece for vanity fair writing this in part I'm quoting it now to anyone who feels overwhelmed or apathetic about this election, there's nothing I relate to more than desperation to escape corrosive political discourse. As a child, I saw firsthand the crucial selfish politics that Donald Trump has now inflicted on our country. It made me want to run as far away from them as possible but, trust me, when I tell you running away does not solve the problem. We have to stand and fight. The only way to end this nightmare is to vote. There is hope on the horizon, but we'll only grasp it if we elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. So in your view, does opining like this move the needle at all? And she did support Hillary Clinton, too, so this isn't like an epiphany right now. But it's pretty remarkable. Her dad is you know best is with the president and that she would you know now try to separate herself from Giuliani and this administration, this president.</s>TALEV: I think she's already separated herself from her dad. He's at the tip of a lot of the misinformation that came out earlier this week et cetera. But I'll say this to some extent it's like the adult version of Kellyanne Conway's daughter using your position as the children of prominent parents to try to put out there in sort of for stark public consumption these issues to have the sounding board and to attempt to effect turnout on the Democratic side is really what this is about. As you said she backed Hillary Clinton, she supported Barack Obama back in 2008, although I don't think she was old enough to vote, but she was an Obama supporter. So it's not a political shift on her part but it is an effort to use her unique voice to impact turnout now.</s>WHITFIED: You mentioned that earlier that you know the White House seemingly very desperate, the president desperate. I mean quite remarkable for the president to say, and if I lose, while rallying, you know, just yesterday, if I lose I might leave the country? I mean, that is extraordinary coming from the incumbent presidency. And I mean, there are other things, too, perhaps that underscore moments of desperation as you just mentioned. But how do you assess this?</s>TALEV: Our reporting over the last couple of days, my colleague Jonathan Swan has done some remarkable reporting. I think really like in the last 36 hours.</s>TALEV: Two things to flag, one is reports from insiders about the Campaign Manager Bill Stepien's private assessments which many of them walked away feeling that what he was signaling was a belief that they probably can't win. He has not said that in fact, he told us for the record the opposite, but - and it all does come down to turnout. No election is over until it's over but a real feeling of resignation. And second Jared Kushner and the RNC Chairman Ron McDaniel's move to bring back in the very final days of his campaign. A woman named Katie Walsh Shields, Republican, a key part of the 2016 operation who was kind of exiled from the White House early in the administration to bring her back in now just to try to figure out what can be done to reset this dynamic in the closing days? And some of the president's own moves, campaigning in places like Georgia does give you a sense that he's very much at this point the campaign's feeling is he's playing on defense trying for anything to turn the dynamics in the closing weeks of this race.</s>WHITFIELD: And perhaps even another indicator, I mean, this refrain from really talking policy in detail. Any ideas or flushing out what his ideas are moving forward? He just says it's going to be better. It's going to be great. But he's not give anything details about what's going to replace Affordable Care Act or what are you going to do specifically about making a dent on these Coronavirus numbers?</s>TALEV: Well, that's right. He was going to have the alternative to the Affordable Care Act in two weeks, like several months ago and every time it comes up, it's two weeks later. I wouldn't expect to see any kind of meat on the bone about any of these issues, before the election and honestly, over the course of the presidency. He's not been a detail heavy in terms of this sort of thing.</s>WHITFIELD: But now is the time if you want to keep your gig, right?</s>TALEV: Well, I think the president has signaled that this is going to be much more about trying to turn out his base, trying to depress the Democratic base, Democratic turnout, and to push not for a popular vote win but an Electoral College win following - trying to follow the same road map as 2016.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, still lots of uncertainty. Anything can happen, right? Margaret Talev, thank you I appreciate that.</s>TALEV: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, 8 million cases and counting. The number of Coronavirus cases soaring in the United States but will the country have to shut down again? Dr. Anthony Fauci answers that key question straight ahead. Plus, Trump or Biden, as voter's way in on the state of race in the Battleground State of Pennsylvania.

U.S. Reaches Eight Million COVID-19 Cases, As The Pace Of New Infections Signals A Tough Winter

WHITFIELD: All right a troubling spike in Coronavirus cases across the country has health experts warning that we could be in for a very long and difficult winter. The U.S. has now surpassed 8 million COVID cases and is averaging more than 50,000 new infections every day. More than half the states in the U.S. are seeing a surge in cases over the past week. For more on this, let's bring back Polo Sandoval. Polo, the U.S. added more than 69,000 new cases Friday. That's the largest one-day total since the end of July. This is very frightening.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's deeply concerning Fred especially when you hear from some experts including one prominent COVID modeler that we've heard from Dr. Chris Murray who says, what's happening right now is exactly what we expected for these spikes and many of these threshold numbers that we've been following that really determined what parts of the country are able to reopen? And that includes, of course, infection rates that also include death rates as well. And then we look at the map alone we can see that up to 10 states, at least ten states reported their highest number of new daily COVID cases since the start of the pandemic. So that's certainly telling here, that those numbers are certainly not going down, especially Wisconsin, showing about 3800 cases yesterday alone. That's breaking its previous record that we had seen. And when you hear from the nation's top infectious disease expert, there is still some hope there that it is not too late to bring some of these threshold numbers either down or at least have them flatten.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can't enter into the cool months of the fall and the cold months of the winter with a high community infection base line. And looking at the map and seeing the heat map how it lights up with test positivity that is in more than 30-plus states is going in the wrong direction. It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures. And again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.</s>SANDOVAL: So here there Dr. Anthony Fauci saying it's not necessarily about shutting down. In fact, just a few moments ago we heard from the Chief Executive here in the State of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying that starting October 23rd that movie theaters outside of New York City will be able to reopen at least at 25 percent capacity. So that means that people outside of New York City, as you well know, was once seen as sort of the epicenter of this COVID pandemic earlier this summer will now be stepping in the direction of at least some normalcy, certainly not ideal right now for New York City. But the big focus remains parts of Brooklyn, parts of Queens, and certain religious communities there with those restrictions that are where a lot of the focus is right now here for New York City officials trying to keep those numbers from going up any more than they have.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval in New York, thank you so much for that. All right, Dr. Chris Pernell is a Public Health Physician in Newark, New Jersey. Good to see you, doctor.</s>DR. CHRIS T. PERNELL, PUBLIC HEALTH PHYSICIAN: Good Fred to be here.</s>WHITFIELD: Given all of that, do you see that there's light at the end of the tunnel, that it is near or that we are rounding the corner as the president says?</s>DR. PERNELL: Well Fred, I'm always a - woman but we have to hunker down. And when I say we have to hunker down, we have to keep doing those public health measures that we know matter just like Dr. Fauci just said in the previous clip that you showed. We can't lessen up. We can't dilute what we know to be working. We can't stop following the public science and data. So is there light around the corner? Should we be vigilant? Yes, should we be optimistic? Yes. Should we let down our guard? No.</s>WHITFIELD: So that was kind of the forecast the rosier you know look from the president. Meantime, you know he continues to be on the campaign trail. He's going to be holding an event or several events in Wisconsin and Michigan today. Wisconsin especially facing a rise in cases, even though, you know, the president says he is free of the virus himself. Are these still, you know, potential super spreader events that concern you?</s>DR. PERNELL: Definitely these are potential super spreader events, and they definitely concern me. Look, I've been very clear. As a public health physician, especially one who is focused on health equity, we need smart leadership from the White House and the administration and we haven't been getting that. That is so important so that the public can trust our public institutions and that the public can trust that our public health infrastructure is prepared to do what we need to do to keep the Americans safe.</s>WHITFIELD: The Head of the National Institutes of Health you know is warning about a rise in hospitalizations and a subsequent rise in deaths. How well prepared are hospitals for what may be - what really may be around the corner?</s>DR. PERNELL: Right. So our hospitals, even all across the country, even in our state here in New Jersey, we've been following the data. We've been tracking our supplies. We've been tracking stockpiles and things of that nature. We've been closely monitoring communities, communities where there are vulnerabilities. And when I say communities where there are vulnerabilities, I'm specifically talking about marginalized communities black and brown communities. Here in New Jersey in Essex County, it's one of the top 12 counties that is a majority color community that's had staggering death rates due to Coronavirus. So we can't afford not to pay attention when we've had such a disproportionate impact. If we look at the latest data that's available, about 1 in 1,000 blacks die to Coronavirus. About 44,000 blacks have died to date. If you look at that number, have they died at the same rate as white persons? About 22,000 of those persons would still be alive. So it's important for hospitals to know the communities that they serve and those vulnerabilities which I just mentioned.</s>WHITFIELD: Yes, and this hits home for you in so many levels. Your dad was lost to COVID. Your sister you know, who is a breast cancer survivor. This makes her particularly susceptible and then she is in that category of long haulers, right? So, you know, how are you managing this? Here you are a care provider but then your loved ones are in your heart and you're feeling the pain of their pain and loss.</s>DR. PERNELL: Right. I'm just doubling down Fred on the public health physician and the support that I can be for my community. Why do I say doubling down? Because public health is very much looking at those things that are important to people and how they live providing emotional support on providing accurate information speaking up for those who feel like they don't have a voice. I get letters from people all across the country saying please, Dr. Chris, continue to talk about the reality of what we're facing. Especially in marginalized communities. And I've been doing that for my own family. I've been doing that for our community. And we need more in public health and more in the administration to realize just how important it is to have.</s>WHITFIELD: And then you're also volunteering yourself as part of the human trials, so should people be hopeful that there will be a vaccine, whether it be next year or even in 2022? What's your experience been?</s>DR. PERNELL: So I've been participating in the vaccine trial, you know, I've had both of my injections to date. I've been closely monitored. I've been more broadly tuned in to what's happening across all the vaccine trials? As I've said before, I think we should be vigilant that's the word that I would use. I'm very eager to see what type of safety and effectiveness data comes out of these vaccine trials? We don't have a particular candidate yet but we're hopeful. But just because we're hopeful it doesn't mean that we should rush the process, especially when we see public support for public health institutions to be waning. In particular there was a poll that was released in September where only about half of U.S. adults said that they would take a vaccine if one were to become available.</s>PERNELL: -- But just because we're hopeful, it doesn't mean that we should rush the process, especially when we see public support for public health institutions to be waning. In particular, there was a poll that was released in September, were only about half of U.S. adults said that they would take a vaccine if one were to become available. So it's going to be important that we have this conversation with the public in a way that they feel informed, in a way that we say we follow all the scientific guidelines. We've had the rigor in place to emphasize the importance of that.</s>WHITFIELD: Dr. Chris Pernell, thank you so much, and best to you, stay well and to the family.</s>PERNELL: Thank you. We'll be right back.

Trump, Biden Supporters Square Off In Pennsylvania

WHITFIELD: All right live pictures right now of people lining up in Marietta, Georgia where voters have been lined up since before dawn. Voting in swing states will be key in this election especially in Pennsylvania. President Trump's narrow 2016 victory helped propel him to Office and the state is once again center stage in the 2020 race. Biden has made his campaign headquarters in Philadelphia. And Trump is relying on his base support from the last election. Here's CNN Dana Bash.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A line forms outside well before opening, waiting to enter the Trump House.</s>LESLIE ROSSI, OWNER AND CREATOR, THE TRUMP HOUSE: We're ready for the next group. Come on in.</s>BASH (voice-over): A mecca of sorts for the President's supporters in southwest Pennsylvania, where Trump's record turnout four years ago helped deliver his surprise Pennsylvania victory and the White House.</s>ROSSI: Shirt or hat per person get a sign of her flag.</s>BASH (voice-over): Leslie Rossi created the Trump House in 2016 where she pushed disaffected Democrats and never before voters to choose Trump.</s>ROSSI: We gave people a place to come to, to believe they could win.</s>BASH (voice-over): Now Trump supporters show up daily for swag and yard signs and help registering to vote.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need Trump in there again. I'm 65. I think it's time to register.</s>BASH (on camera): Have you not voted ever?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.</s>BASH (voice-over): Rural Westmoreland County has seen a surge in Republican registrations. They help with that here to.</s>RITA BLAIR, CHANGED PARTY AFFILIATION FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN: I changed my registration from Democrat to Republican.</s>BASH (on camera): Why?</s>BLAIR: From what I've seen in the last past couple of years, I'm ashamed to say I was a Democrat.</s>BASH (voice-over): Joe Biden is ahead in Pennsylvania polls, yet his campaign motto is every vote matters, campaigning here in Westmoreland County this month, which Hillary Clinton did not in the 2016 general election. (on camera): It's not an area Democrats come and campaign very often, but you're here. Why?</s>JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: I'm here because, like I said, we are not taking any vote for granted.</s>GINA CERILLI, WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER: They've seen in the past four years --</s>BASH (voice-over): Gina Cerilli county commissioner of Westmoreland PA. Ten years ago she was Miss Pennsylvania in Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant. Now she's an elected Democrat working to blunt Trump's advantage here.</s>CERILLI: In 2016 Donald Trump was a fresh face. He was new to politics. Everyone was excited. He made big promises, bring back jobs. But frankly, Donald Trump broke those promises.</s>BASH (voice-over): In small-town Pennsylvania, signs matter. Trumps are everywhere, big and bold. But Biden's are out there, too.</s>CERILLI: When you see signs like this, it makes the Republicans and the Democrats that voted for Trump in 2016 realize I'm not alone.</s>BASH (voice-over): A big Biden challenge, his supporters are being COVID careful.</s>PHYLLIS FRIEND, HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC WOMEN OF WESTMORELAND: Never did we think we would be meeting by Zoom.</s>BASH (voice-over): Phyllis Friend, head of Democratic Women of Westmoreland County, organizes from home. She's clear-eyed about the Democrats' goal here in Trump country.</s>FRIEND: We can't win Pennsylvania for him, but we can add to the total numbers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, David, this is Joe, and I volunteer with the Trump campaign. How are you doing?</s>BASH (voice-over): As for Republicans, they never stopped traditional ways of getting out the vote -- knocking on doors, walking in neighborhoods in masks, and using a GOP data driven app to find and persuade voters.</s>BRITTNEY ROBINSON, RUNS PENNSYLVANIA RNC OPERATION: Depending on who that voter is, we're able to tailor that message at the door and on the phone to how we think we need to target that voter and turn them out.</s>BASH (voice-over): Given the President's struggles in the suburbs, boosting the vote here is critical for Trump. (on camera): How important is it for him to get his numbers even higher than it was four years ago?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that we need to increase our voter turnout here for the President to offset some of what may be happening in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania.</s>BASH (voice-over): Back at the Trump House, Leslie Rossi shows us the log of visits from thousands of Trump supporters. (on camera): What are you seeing this year?</s>ROSSI: My numbers have tripled, tripled. Four years ago, my work was really hard here. I had to convince the voters to vote for the candidate. I had to convince them President Trump was the best choice for them. This time, I don't have to do any of that. They're all in.</s>BASH (voice-over): Whether enough are all in could determine whether Trump can overcome the headwinds he faces to win Pennsylvania and a second term. Dana Bash, CNN, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.</s>WHITFIELD: And don't forget the final presidential debate is on its way and special live coverage starts Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.

Manchester Resists Highest Level Restrictions.

WHITFIELD: Coronavirus infections are reaching alarming levels across some parts of Europe again, especially in Manchester, England. CNN reporter Salma Abdelaziz joins us from there. Salma, the mayor of Manchester continues to oppose implementing the highest restrictions because he fears the economy will suffer. So how close are you all to a resolution?</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, this is an absolutely extraordinary standoff between the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Manchester. The Prime Minister essentially issued an ultimatum saying either the mayor reengages with the government and holds conversations. Otherwise, the Prime Minister said, he will intervene to save the lives of Manchester's citizens. Now, the Mayor's argument against raising the tear is essentially two parts. First, he disagrees with the Prime Minister's strategy. He says these small limited regional lockdowns are not enough to stem the virus. Second, he says if the Prime Minister insists on his strategy, well, he needs to provide the economic packages necessary to save businesses from collapse. And while he is doing this, of course, the virus continues to spread through Manchester and around the U.K. According to officials, if the virus continues at the existing rates, Manchester will run out of hospitals in a matter of weeks. All of this political volume of course happening over the weekend, we are expecting some sort of resolution coming next week but, Fredricka, this just shows the difficulties in implementing these procedures.</s>WHITFIELD: Difficult indeed. All right, Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much. The coronavirus pandemic is taking a toll on everyone's mental health, especially among the elderly. For seniors, social isolation can increase the risk of dementia by 50 percent. And it can have an even bigger impact on those already experiencing cognitive decline. So our 2014 CNN Hero, Carol Rosenstein, moved her music program online to mend minds.</s>CAROL ROSENSTEIN, CNN HERO: COVID just makes this doubly difficult for people to sustain their levels of wellness. Because they've got so much isolation going on, we are going to see people deteriorating faster.</s>ROSENSTEIN: But we can provide a great substitute that is going to keep us healthy and well during quarantine.</s>ROSENSTEIN: Music is medicine for the mind.</s>ROSENSTEIN: The complexity excites so many senses in our brain. All of that excitement, miraculously, pushes neurotransmitters that help us function.</s>ROSENSTEIN: Medicine with a side effect that is pure joy. Where is my Kleenex?</s>WHITFIELD: For more information visit CNNHeroes.com.

Trump Holds Michigan Rally As State Sees COVID Spike

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the list was really a pretext to get to know Ronald Reagan, who was now divorced.</s>ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Be sure to tune in all new episode of First Ladies, air tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on CNN. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. And we are just 17 days away from the Election Day. Coronavirus cases, unfortunately, are on the rise, but President Trump would like you to believe otherwise.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.</s>CABRERA: We all wish we really were rounding the turn, but don't be mistaken, we are not rounding the turn toward the exit sign. At least ten states are reporting their highest single-day coronavirus case totals since the start of the pandemic, including Wisconsin, where the president will hold a rally later tonight. In fact, the infection rate, the positivity rate, is somewhere up above 20 percent right now. He is also in Michigan today, a state that's also reporting a record number of cases. In fact, take a look at how those cases are climbing in Michigan. Also on the rise, the number of early ballots cast in this election. Americans are voting early in record numbers. More than 22 million have voted so far. And while requests for mail-in ballots are in high demand, in part, due to the pandemic, President Trump's sustained attacks on vote by mail, plus the overhauls to the Postal Service, have inspired so many people to vote early in-person. Let me take you to Georgia, these images from this morning where some people lined up for three or four hours to cast their ballots. We'll have much more on the ground there in Georgia in a moment. But, first, CNN's Joe Johns joins us from Michigan, where President Trump is just about to participate in this rally. You can see how many are gathered behind Joe. Tell us what you're expecting to hear from the president in his closing message to voters there.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's anybody's guess what the president says because so much of his extemporaneous</s>CABRERA: Okay. So, I know you've been talking to some of the supporters who have shown up for this rally, Joe. Do attendees tonight appear to be taking very many precautions against the virus?</s>JOHNS: Well, you know, it's a mixed bag of some of this and some of that. This crowd behind me, we've been trying to get a beat on it, if you look closely, it doesn't look like 100 percent of the people are wearing masks, not even 50 percent. We're guessing about 40 percent, and that's just a ballpark. Now, the governor did put out a statement advising people to wear masks and to practice social distancing. That hasn't happened for the most part here at this rally so far. And we did see though, there was a table when people were coming into this rally today. At that table, they had both hand sanitizer as well as masks. A lot of people were picking up the hand sanitizer but not a lot of people were picking up the masks. So, that's the situation. And as you can see, the president is just pulling up here in the plane designated today as Air Force One. And it's one of the smaller planes that they use to get into smaller airports. So, Ana, this is about to begin.</s>CABRERA: Okay. And we know that this is taking place near the Muskegan County Airport, so he's going to hop off the plane and get right over talk to these supporters. We'll keep an eye on this and bring any highlights, of course, to our viewers. Joe Johns, thank you. In an interview on Fox Business this week, President Trump said this about the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer.</s>TRUMP: They ought to open up the states. That's the other thing with the Democrats, maybe more important, open up the states. We're winning a lot of lawsuits about that. Michigan, she has to open up. She wants to be a dictator in Michigan. And the people can't stand her.</s>CABRERA: With us now is the Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel. And those comments are just the latest attack from the president on your state's governor, who was the subject of an alleged domestic terror kidnapping plot. Governor Whitmer specifically pointed to President Trump's rhetoric in her response to this alleged plot. The president, as we just mentioned, will soon be rallying supporters in your state. Do you have any concerns?</s>DANA NESSEL (D), MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have nothing but concerns. And we had the largest number of new COVID cases just in the last week as we've had since the beginning of the pandemic. And this president has done what he always does, which is to care more about himself than he cares about the residents of our state or frankly any state in the nation. It's totally irresponsible, and it shows that he does not care about the safety or the welfare of the people of our state.</s>CABRERA: Regarding the threat to the Michigan governor, Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden said this at an event yesterday.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Planning to blow up a bridge on American soil to threaten the lives of police officers, to kidnap an elected leader, and now we're finding out the same thing was happening in Virginia. You know, it's the sort of behavior you might expect from ISIS, and it shouldn't shock the consciousness of every American, every American. And the failure to condemn these folks is stunning from the outset. And the president tweeted, liberate Michigan. Liberate Michigan. That's the call that was heard. That was the dog whistle.</s>CABRERA: Attorney General, do you believe President Trump's rhetoric, like that liberate Michigan tweet is partly to blame, is partly responsible?</s>NESSEL: I know it is. All you have to do is look at the evidence in the case. I mean, every time the president makes a remark about our governor and calls her a dictator when she's doing nothing more than trying to save lives of people in our state, over 7,000 Michiganders have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Every time he does that, instead of supporting her efforts to protect our state residents, he engages and attains attraction for these individuals who want to do harm to our state elected officials, to our law enforcement officials, and, of course, to the governor. And if you look at where a lot of these individuals who sought to do harm to the governor, the 14 individuals, six of them charged in federal court, eight of them charged by my office, many of them met at these same rallies that were in protest of her orders that were trying to save people's lives here. And I find it to be absolutely despicable. I agree with the words of Joe Biden. And I look forward to having a commander in chief that tries his hardest to support those in our nation instead of trying to cause civil unrest and anarchy, which is exactly what he's done.</s>CABRERA: Your office has charged an additional person in this alleged plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer that happened this week. This additional suspect was charged with material support of an act of terrorism. Do you expect more charges to be filed?</s>NESSEL: I will say that anything is possible. Our investigation continues. And I think it's very important that bad actors out there that are engaged in this kind of activity, this kind of behavior, understand that whether it is the federal authorities or the state authorities that we are watching out for this kind of conduct and that people are going to be held accountable if it occurs. I just -- I find it so unbelievable that even knowing that the governor was in jeopardy, and other public officials as well, that the president would continue on this diatribe instead of being supportive of people in positions of authority who, again, are trying to save the lives of people in our state. And I can only imagine that this super-spreader event is only going to add to the loss of lives that we have here. And I look forward to having a president in January that actually cares about saving people's lives again instead of risking their lives.</s>CABRERA: As we look ahead to the Election Day, specifically, Michigan's secretary of state issued a directive Friday prohibiting open carry of firearms at voting locations on Election Day. This is something I know you support, but why is that directive necessary and do you have any fear of retaliation?</s>NESSEL: Well, firstly, we never thought it was necessary before. And, in fact, you know, that was not something that you would commonly see irrespective of whether or not there was guidance that was promulgated by the secretary of state. But, unfortunately, you know, we've heard the words of the president, right? And he's talked about his people coming to the polls, and that has been a source of grave concern to us. So even though the secretary of state and myself are doing everything we can to ensure safety and security of voters at the polls and that we will not stand for any kind of threats or intimidation to our electorate, it is something that we're concerned about, and so we have to do everything we can, working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that that does not occur. I just can't possibly imagine why anybody needs to bring a gun to the polls. And for people to be afraid when they go to vote, I mean, it's really the sign of a failed democracy, and we don't want to see that here in the state of Michigan, whether you're voting from home, whether you're dropping your ballot off at the clerk's office, or at a ballot box or whether you're voting on November 3rd in-person at the polls, we want everyone to feel safe and secure and for people to know that their vote counts. So that's what we're trying to accomplish, but the president's rhetoric is making it very, very difficult to do that. But we are determined to make sure that people feel safe at the polls here in Michigan.</s>CABRERA: That's important. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, thank you very much for taking the time and sharing your thoughts and expert expertise with us tonight.</s>NESSEL: Thanks for having me.</s>CABRERA: Up next, the Biden campaign warning its supporters that President Trump could still very much win this race. So is this a clever way to avoid complacency or is the race truly this close, as we give you these live images of the president about to get off Air Force One tonight to rally supporters in Michigan. Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Trump Goes On Rally Blitz As 10 States Break COVID-19 Records; How Vulnerable Are The Maskless Crowds At Trump Rallies?

CABRERA: Welcome back. Live pictures right now out of Michigan, the president holding his rally there despite the state seeing a concerning surge in coronavirus cases. He just took the podium, and we'll be listening in. But last hour, the state reported nearly 1,800 new cases today alone following a record day yesterday. And Doug Brinkley is a CNN Presidential Historian, Mark McKinnon is the co-Host of the Showtime Show, The Circus, also served as the campaign advisor for both President George W. Bush and John McCain, and they join us now. Thanks for being with us, guys. Mark, let me start with you, because the president wants this image of enthusiastic supporters, these voters who are out there. Maybe he thinks it will have a snowball effect, everyone wants to be a part of it, but are these big rallies actually helping him? Are undecided voters actually attending these rallies or being swayed by them, do you think?</s>MARK MCKINNON, CO-HOST, THE CIRCUS: Well, here is the big problem, Ana. The worst thing for Donald Trump in this election is for it to be a referendum on his handling of the COVID crisis. He doesn't want that to be the election. He wants it to be a choice between him and Joe Biden on any other issue but COVID. And what's happening now is he's going back into these states and he's going back into states that particularly are having spiking problems with COVID, like Wisconsin, like Michigan. So, I mean, just as you've been reporting today, and certainly every station in Michigan and Wisconsin that are covering these rallies, they're not going to cover the rally and not mention what's happening with COVID, and also probably looking at the crowds and noting that a lot of people are not wearing masks or socially distancing. So I'd say it's like the worst of all possible worlds that he's going out, doing these rallies, doing it in states where COVID is peaking.</s>CABRERA: Douglas, Biden, meanwhile, has no events today. He does have an event in North Carolina tomorrow. But, today, he's sending out surrogates, Elizabeth Warren to Wisconsin, Magic Johnson to Michigan. What does this tell you, and is it surprising Biden's not on the trail himself today?</s>DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: A little bit surprising. But, by and large, this election, as Mark was intimating, really is about COVID-19, and Donald Trump is betting that he is going to be able to win on saying, I'm the unmasked man, meaning people have been, you know, in quarantine or in their homes for months and months and months, and he's saying, if you elect Joe Biden, he'll -- it will be everybody back to the basement. I'm up there, I'm alive, I'm going to do well, and so it's odd. I mean, he actually feels that promoting unsafe standards, going to rallies without masks or social distancing, is going to work to his benefit because of COVID-19 fatigue. Biden is shown to kind of have a steady course of just being able to -- you can imagine that he would deal with the scientists in a way that Trump didn't. Remember, climate change, burning wildfires, Donald Trump says climate change is a hoax. And more and more, he's leading his supporters to think the novel coronavirus was a greatly exaggerated medical crisis. That's the way he's playing it.</s>CABRERA: We see the president defending state -- in states where he won in 2016. That's where he's campaigning. Meantime, you know, the polls also showing him trailing in some of these states nationally. Biden has been ahead consistently for some time, Mark, and yet Biden's campaign manager sent out a memo to supporters saying, in part, quote, we cannot become complacent because the very searing truth is that Donald Trump can still win this race and every indication we have shows that this thing is going to come down to the wire. So, is this an expected sort of reverse pep talk, warning supporters not to let up, not to be complacent, or is this race really closer than we may know?</s>MCKINNON: Well, you know, the Democrats, smartly, have PTSD from 2016 when everybody heard that they were ahead then. It's the absolute maxim of politics that you always run like you're ten points down, even if you're ten points up. LBJ did that, as you recall, when polls were published that showed that he was not only going to win but win big, but the polls showed that, they published in newspapers, and the Johnson campaign rightly realized that that would make their voters complacent because they would have the notion, this thing is in the bag, why do I need to vote. And that's why they made the infamous daisy ad to scare the hell out of people, to say, if you don't vote, Barry Goldwater is going to get elected and have his finger on the nuclear button. So it's a smart play by the Biden campaign to be clear to say this thing is tight, tight, tight and just repeat that message right up through the election.</s>CABRERA: Doug, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who is a moderate Republican, has been outspoken as a critic against President Trump at times. He wrote in Ronald Reagan on his ballot this year, saying he could not vote for Trump and he told The Washington Post, I know it's simply symbolic, it's not going to change the outcome in my state, but I thought it was important to just cast a vote that showed the kind of person I'd like to see in office. Doug, your reaction to that.</s>BRINKLEY: I think if Donald Trump loses that you'll see the Republican Party go back to saying, we're the party of Ronald Reagan. You know, Reagan has been kind of downplayed by Donald Trump. He was really the golden person of the Republican Party and suddenly he seems second tier. But without Donald Trump, and you're seeing Senator Sasse doing the same thing, basically reclaiming the rebranded Republican Party for 2021 as a conservative party of Ronald Reagan. But wasting your vote like he's doing and bragging about it, I don't find what Hogan did all that impressive.</s>CABRERA: Douglas Brinkley and Mark McKinnon, thanks, gentlemen, for being here. Hats off to you two. Good to have you here. All right, after a chaotic first debate, a presidential health crisis, a controversial debate cancellation, a competing town hall, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will face off one last time. It's the final presidential debate coming up with special live coverage starting Thursday and that's Thursday night at 7:00 Eastern here on CNN. This just in, an update on stimulus talks. CNN just learning Senate Republicans will hold a vote on a standalone payroll protection program bill on Tuesday in a separate $500 billion stimulus bill on Wednesday. Now, this is the same $500 billion Democrats blocked last month after arguing it didn't go far enough. Instead, Democrats are pushing for a stimulus bill worth more than $2 trillion. It's unclear whether enough Democrats will change their votes this time around to advance either bill. We are told, however, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are planning to speak on the phone later this evening. Coming up, with President Trump's campaign schedule showing no signs of slowing down, just how vulnerable are the people without masks at his rallies? We ask CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta to check the data. His report, next.

New Study On Coronavirus Spread In Schools

CABRERA: Two days after in-person learning began at a high school in Georgia, six COVID cases were reported, forcing the Fulton County school to go back to online learning yesterday. But with the cases again rising across the country, and experts bracing for a new wave, a new peak headed to the U.S., new findings indicate schools may be an unexpected bright spot. Emily Oster, one of the data scientists involved in the research, writes in "The Atlantic": "Our data on almost 200,000 kids in 47 states from the last two weeks of September revealed an infection rate of 0.13 percent among students. Even in high-risk areas of the country, the student rates were well under 0.5 percent." And Emily Oster joins us now. She's an economist at Brown University. Also with us, emergency physician at Brown, Dr. Megan Ranney. Great to have you ladies here. And as a parent myself, I'm really interested to hear about what you have learned. Emily, when some children began returning to schools in August, parents and medical experts, we all feared in-person classes would lead to a big spike in cases. And the social media photos of the packed hallways further stoked those fears. But your data says that really hasn't happened. Break it down for us.</s>DR. EMILY OSTER, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Yes, so I think really what we're seeing in our data is we're seeing relatively low rates. And we're seeing rates and patterns that are reflecting the communities. So it's looking like the cases are -- some people are coming to school, there are people with COVID at schools. But they really seem to be coming from the communities we're not seeing a lot of large outbreaks in schools. So, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine called your findings encouraging. But says there's significant bias in the results. Saying, "Schools that choose to report are often those not only that are tracking carefully, have mitigation strategies and plans, but probably have better outcomes." So, Emily, COVID data from schools, it really has not been -- it's been a little bit inconsistent, I guess, I should say. Some states like Florida don't release school numbers. So I guess how do you respond to this comment?</s>OSTER: So, I think it's absolutely right that our data would be better if there were more of it. And we're continuing to enroll schools. And we're hoping to enroll whole states and to improve that aspect of the data. But I will say I think that our data is very consistent with what we're seeing from a lot of other places, even with them reporting a bit different, small numbers of cases in individual schools, not really large outbreaks. More needs to be done. And I think we also need to understand better the patterns of mitigation that are contributing to these rates. Our schools are taking a lot of mitigation factors. And I think that that is the way we're going to have to go if we want to open schools safely.</s>CABRERA: Dr. Ranney, you say these findings are exactly why you've chosen to send your kids back to in-person learning at public school. But how much of that decision should depend on local factors like school size, classroom size, community positivity rate?</s>DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN & ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Yes, Ana, there's a lot of this decision making that does depend on some local factors. Local levels of community spread of COVID-19 are one of the most important factors in deciding whether or not it's safe to send kids back to school. And the reason for that is not because the kids are necessarily going to be spreading the virus between each other in school. As Dr. Oster's data has shown, there's not a lot of data showing that kids actually do that. But rather, if you have a high community level of COVID-19, you're just going to have a lot of people, both kids and teachers, coming to school who are already infected. And you're going to end up having to shut down the school anyhow, so you may as well put the kids in great distance learning programs. The second thing is making sure there's universal mask wearing. As your special with Dr. Gupta just talked about, mask-wearing is one of the best tools that we have to prevent spread of this infection. And so if the kids and the teachers are all wearing masks, all the time in school, you can feel pretty sure that, even if one kid or one teacher happens to be infected, that it's not going to spread.</s>CABRERA: So, Emily, what did your findings indicate about mask-wearing in schools? Does it matter the age of the child wearing the masks?</s>OSTER: So, almost all of our schools, 90 percent of the schools in our data, have mask-wearing, which is great. When you do cut the data by masks, you see higher rates in the places where there are not masks. And I guess the other thing to say is that, in general, elementary schools are lower risk than high schools. And as we get more data, I think we'll be able to understand a bit better how masks interact with that. But I think that Megan -- I would exactly echo Megan that I think it is not difficult to have all the kids and all the staff wear masks. My 5-year-old wears a mask for the entire day at school and he doesn't seem to have any issues and neither do the other kids that he's with. And I think we need to keep pushing on that prevention effort.</s>CABRERA: It's becoming -- it's about -- it's becoming a habit, which makes a big difference, too. Dr. Ranney, the other issue I want to ask you about is testing because the CDC initially blasted the idea of mandatory testing in schools. It is something New York City has started to do. And many universities are doing it as well. Should schools do mandatory testing?</s>RANNEY: So, I think that doing mandatory testing of kids and teachers at school on a random, ongoing basis is certainly a good idea. It can help us pick up those hot spots or those outbreaks early, knowing that especially, within kids, kids are likely to be asymptomatic spreaders. If we do random testing, we can identify those little clusters before they start to spread. The trouble, of course, is that there simply is not enough testing available. Even hospitals across the country are still lacking adequate access to rapid tests. If we had ample tests and they were cheap, I would say that every school should be doing it. But, gosh, Ana, we still have school nurses who can't get personal protective equipment or masks for their kids. And that's the most important thing before we start talking about testing.</s>CABRERA: I also worry about, again, the colder weather and moving everybody more indoors for all activities. Dr. Ranney, we know schools in Germany are reportedly opening windows for 20 minutes at a time to improve ventilation and children are bringing blankets to stay warm. Do you think that's effective and something we should consider doing here as we move into these colder months?</s>RANNEY: Absolutely. Ventilation plays a huge part in the spread of the virus. So if you have kids or teachers who are not masked and who are sick, if you have good ventilation, it can help get the virus out of the school building and minimize the risk of infection. If you go back to the flu pandemic of 1918, we had open-air schools at that time, which helped to minimize spread and keep kids healthy. The trouble, of course, is, here in the U.S., we're also facing an epidemic of gun violence. And I know that my kids' own school has spent a lot of money in the last few years to make their school as safe as possible to prevent the risk of school shooters. And so as we're weighing the risk of COVID versus the potential for school shootings, it puts teachers and administrators in a really tough spot when you start talking about doing outdoor classrooms or opening windows. So, what many of us are recommending is doing the best they can to improve their ventilation systems and then opening windows on second and third floors of buildings.</s>CABRERA: OK, Dr. Megan Ranney and Professor Emily Oster, great to have you here. Thank you so much for your insights and expertise.</s>OSTER: Thank you.</s>RANNEY: Thank you.</s>CABRERA: Coming up, are the Russians urging Rudy Giuliani to feed misinformation to President Trump? The troubling new report that the White House was warned.

Officials Investigating If Recently Published E- mails Are Tied To Russian Disinformation Effort Targeting Biden; Trump Doubles Down On Refusal To Denounce QAnon.

CABRERA: Federal authorities are now investigating whether recently published e-mails that purport to detail the business dealings of Joe Biden's son are actually part of an ongoing Russian disinformation campaign. The e-mails about Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine and China were published in stories by "The "New York Post," that CNN has not been able to verify. Now, "The Post" says it got them from two Trump confidantes, his now- indicted former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. In addition, "The Washington Post" reports the White House and Trump personally were warned last year that Giuliani was being used to feed Russian misinformation to the president.</s>RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: No one in the Trump administration warned me. No one in the Intelligence Community warned me. The president didn't say that to me. This is the first time I'm hearing that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FOX HOST: Right.</s>GIULIANI: And I have a pretty good idea of where it's coming from. And these are people who are trying to tear down Donald Trump and destroy his presidency.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FOX HOST: And Mr. Mayor --</s>GIULIANI: -- From inside the Intelligence Community, of which there are many.</s>CABRERA: So, this brings us to your weekend presidential brief with CNN national security analyst, Samantha Vinograd. She's also a former senior advisor to the National Security advisor in the Obama administration. Sam, what more do we know about Giuliani in this whole situation?</s>SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Ana, Giuliani is as good of a liar as he is a patriot. At this point, it is clear that Rudy Giuliani may be a Russian asset. And I am not alone in that assessment. We know that Rudy Giuliani checks all the right boxes when it comes to being a prime target for a foreign intelligence service. He has access. He has influence. And he has manipulation points. Plus, his specific behavior raises real red flags. I'm specifically referencing his ongoing contacts with pro-Russian Ukrainians, including a known Russian intelligence agent. And the fact that he moonlights as a mouthpiece for Russian misinformation on multiple occasions. The FBI shared these concerns. They started a counterintelligence probe into Giuliani in 2019. And as you mentioned, they warned the White House that Rudy Giuliani could be feeding the president of the United States Russian misinformation. Yet, despite all of this, Rudy is still at it. He is still meddling propaganda that is suspected of having links to Russian intelligence, like these alleged Hunter Biden details. And overall, he's been very nonplused by these very serious allegations. That's likely because he knows that the president isn't bothered by his behavior. Instead, he had good reason to believe the president condones this.</s>CABRERA: So if Giuliani is a counterintelligence concern, what more can the FBI do?</s>VINOGRAD: Well, the FBI has been consistently warning the president about his friend and family list for years. Back in 2016, the FBI warned the Trump campaign about counterintelligence threats. Trump didn't change his behavior. The special counsel report laid out in detail the ways in which the campaign was targeted. Trump didn't change his behavior. And the FBI directly warned President Trump that Giuliani was potentially a Russian asset. And Trump didn't change his behavior. This case, Ana, it's important to note that a failure to change his own behavior by President Trump risks the president becoming a willing participant in a Russian influence operation. That brings us to a harsh reality. The president of the United States doesn't seem to care if his inner circle, as himself, become Russian assets just as long as he gets some perceived personal gain. I don't think the FBI ever could have conceptualized a situation like this. It is really uncharted territory.</s>CABRERA: During a town hall Thursday night, Sam, President Trump again failed to denounce the fringe QAnon conspiracy theory group. What are the national security implications here?</s>VINOGRAD: Ana, this makes me sick. The FBI has specifically labeled QAnon as a domestic terrorism threat. And the president is serving as their cheerleader. He didn't just fail to disavow QAnon. He praised them, just like he did back in August. QAnon has every reason to think the president is supportive of their efforts. This could incite more violence. This is part of a larger pattern, though. President Trump consistently feigns ignorance about threat streams that support him, whether it's QAnon, the Proud Boys or Russia, and then pivots to praising them. The method to all of these maligned actors is that the president will have their back just as long as they have his. This could lead to more violence by any bad actor as long that is a remember to plug the president. At this point, it really feels like every time the president opens his mouth, he is endangering Americans.</s>CABRERA: Sam Vinograd, as always, thank you.</s>VINOGRAD: Thank you.</s>CABRERA: Since 2014, "CNN Hero" Carol Rosenstein has been using music to help people battling dementia, Parkinson's and other diseases. So when COVID hit, she moved her organization's programing online. And their work has become more crucial than ever.</s>CAROL ROSENSTEIN, CNN HERO: COVID just makes this doubly difficult for people to sustain their levels of wellness. Because they've got so much isolation going on, we are going to see people deteriorating faster.</s>ROSENSTEIN: But we can provide a great substitute that is going to keep us healthy and well during quarantine.</s>ROSENSTEIN: Music is medicine for the mind.</s>ROSENSTEIN: The complexity excites so many senses in our brain. All of that excitement, miraculously pushes neurotransmitters that help us function.</s>ROSENSTEIN: Medicine with a side effect that is pure joy. Where is my Kleenex?</s>CABRERA: Does that make you feel good or what? I was grooving along there. If you want to see more, Anderson Cooper has the full story about Carol's work using music to impact the COVID isolation. Just go to CNNheroes.com right now. And that does it for me this evening. I'm Ana Cabrera. I'll see you back here tomorrow starting at 4:00 Eastern. For now, I'll turn it over to my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, who picks up our coverage with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" after a quick break.

Thousands Gather For Women's March To Protest Justice Nominee

WHITFIELD: Thousands of women and men are participating in the women's march underway in the nation's capital right now. The number of participants is purposely smaller due to the coronavirus pandemic. But there are more than 400 sister marches underway across the U.S. Joining me live now from Washington is the executive director of the march, Rachael O'Leary Carmona. Rachel, good to see you. So, voters are already heading to the polls, you know, across the country. And we're just 17 days away. What are you trying to achieve with this march today?</s>RACHEL O'LEARY CARMONA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WOMEN'S MARCH: The march has a single purpose and that is to mobilize women to the march to the polls and to the win on November 3rd.</s>WHITFIELD: So, the goal overall is quite different in this march versus in 2017, a day after President Trump's inauguration. Make the distinctions for us.</s>CARMONA: I mean, four years ago, it was a grassroots uprising. And there were a lot of women who were worried about what a Donald Trump presidency meant for us. Four years later, we know what it has meant for us. We are sicker, we are poorer, we are scared, we don't see ourselves in the future that is to come, and women are here. We are fired up. We are fed up and we are voting Trump out of office.</s>WHITFIELD: And this March is also coming on the eve, you know, a few days ahead of the scheduled confirmation of the next Supreme Court justice. What are you hearing for -- from women and some men out there in the nation's capital today ahead of that possible confirmation?</s>CARMONA: I think people are really interested in justice for women, not a women's justice, and we will not trade our values for representation. And we will not have a conversation about an illegitimate process, the third of which to happen under this administration. The situation is that this is an illegitimate nominee. It's an illegitimate process that is here for undemocratic reasons. They are trying to put a justice on the court who will come for our healthcare and who will come for women's rights to have families when and when they're choose. And the people do not support those things. We have never been sicker; we are in a pandemic. And they are now coming for our health care. 70 percent of Americans do not believe that row should be overturned. Amy Coney Barrett does not believe that that is settled law. So, really, the process is a sham from start to finish. It's deeply undemocratic. And the majority of the people do not want this confirmation to happen until the inauguration.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, an objective, you know, for today's march is to get people to vote to be motivated about voting. I mean, we're talking about already more than 20 million people who have taken advantage of this early voting period who have cast their ballots. What does that say to you about the excitement of this election, the need of participating in this election? How do you read that?</s>CARMONA: I mean, what I read is that people are fired up and that they're fed up. I think that women are going to be the political bloc that decides the selection if men are hung up, like 50/50 or 47/47 on Biden versus Trump. And so, what that tells us is that women and particularly women of color are going to choose the next president.</s>WHITFIELD: This year, the Black Lives Matter movement certainly, you know, picked up steam, became a more embraced across all cultures, all walks of life, particularly after George Floyd's death. How important is it to you to hear from these presidential candidates, particularly days away from their second and final face off? What can be more revealed from a Joe Biden or a Donald Trump particularly on matters of race and a reckoning in this country?</s>CARMONA: I mean, I think if you're talking about matters of race and the presidential debates, you have to first start with President Trump's wink nod, dog whistles, and air horns to Proud Boys and other white nationalists across the country.</s>CARMINA: I think it's apples and oranges. So, one candidate is talking about the ways in which we can work to build with communities of color and the black community in general. And the other one is telling white nationalist militias to stand by. So, I think that we really need to reckon with that both as a country and as an electorate who will be, you know, voting for the next president.</s>WHITFIELD: And as a first generation Mexican-American who grew up in Wisconsin, are there matters that you feel either one of these candidates needs to address further, better explain better articulate for you?</s>CARMONA: I think we need to hear more from both candidates on issues that affect women, particularly around COVID release, why we are confirming, you know, judges right now and not passing relief for women who have been hit the hardest, particularly women of color. I need to hear about what's happening with climate. I need to hear what is happening to address racial inequality. And frankly, police violence and police riding in this country. And I think we need to hear about how we're going to come back to the leadership and kind of moral center of our country, as so many Americans today feel that Donald Trump has taken us down the wrong path.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Rachael O'Leary Carmona, thanks so much for being with us. Looks like you got a pretty good turnout there in the nation's capital. And of course, lots of other events and virtual events taking place across the country as a result of the pandemic. Thank you so much. All the best. Stay well.</s>CARMONA: Thank you. Thank you for having me.</s>WHITFIELD: Absolutely. All right. Right now, America is lining up. At the polls, voters have been heading to their voting locations to cast their ballots. CNN's Natasha Chen joining us from Marietta, Georgia.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we know that as of noon just today, more than 26,000 people across the state of Georgia have cast ballots in person, hundreds of them did so at this location, and thankfully, the wait is now much shorter than it was in the morning. But still more than an hour. Coming up, we'll talk to some voters about why they felt it was very important for them to be here.

Trump To Campaign In Midwest Battleground States And Suggests He May Leave Country If He Loses; Nearly 22 Million Votes Cast In 45 States And D.C.; Biden Campaign Slams Trump On Holding Wisconsin Rally As Experts Warn Of Alarming Rise In New COVID Infections; Trends Emerging As Record Number Of Americans Cast Early In- Person Votes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, Vice President Mike Pence is rallying supporters in Redding, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, President Trump is set to hold a rally in Michigan this evening, prompting Governor Gretchen Whitmer's office to encourage attendees to wear facial coverings and practice social distancing. This is President Trump returns to a familiar line of attack against Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.</s>TRUMP: I'm telling you that Biden family and others, but that Biden family is corrupt, it's a corrupt family. And with me and my kids -- let me tell you. My kids -- I'll tell you something -- lock them up. You should lock that. Lock up the Bidens, lock up, Hillary. Lock them all.</s>WHITFIELD: CNN's Joe John's joins me now from Muskegon, Michigan. So, what are you learning there?</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, Muskegon County, Michigan is one of the places in the United States that like many in 2016 was very close. Nonetheless, Hillary Clinton won his county in 2016 out of something like 73,000 votes. She only won by about 1100. And speaking to people in the Trump campaign, they think that this is one of the counties in this very important battleground state that they can flip. So, the question is, what is the message? When they first announced this rally, the message was supposed to be a salute to law enforcement. And then somewhere along the way, that theme got changed to remarks supporting the American way of life. No clear idea from the campaign why they made that change. But it is sort of symbolic of the way the President and this campaign have been all over the place when it comes to message at and -- in fact, just last night, the president really reaching back into the 2016 campaign. Talking about his opponent, saying his opponent ought to be locked up just like Hillary Clinton in 2016. Now, we've been talking to people as they stroll in a couple observations, unlike some of the other rallies around the country. We're seeing a lot of people coming to this Trump campaign rally later today who are wearing masks or picking them up as they walk in. That may be a reflection of the fact that Michigan has had so much of a problem with coronavirus over the last many months. We talked to some of those folks, as I said, and they gave us some idea of what appeals to them about the president in this 2020 campaign. Listen.</s>JOHNS: What is this election hinged on as far as</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: making America great again, I like everything that Trump has done for me. I don't like his Twitter's and all, but I like what's going on.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's done some great things that I have nothing to complain about over the last four years or, so -- and I certainly don't want Biden or Harris.</s>JOHNS: A little bit more about the Twitter account. You know today, there was a big back and forth the president a number of tweets attacking Republican Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse.</s>JOHNS: Ben Sasse, of course, was recorded speaking to a crowd and really had some very sharp comments about the president. The president responding in turn. And Senator Sasse essentially saying he's not going to bother doing tweets right now. Back to you, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: OK. But interesting that he would speak now. Even though he said he's not going to be campaigning for the president, Sasse has been known to support a number of Trump policies. And, of course, most recently he's very much on board with the Supreme Court nominee. All right, Joe Johns, from Muskegon? Muskegon, Michigan. Thank you.</s>JOHNS: Muskegon.</s>WHITFIELD: Muskegon. All right. The Joe Biden campaign is slamming President Trump's decision to hold a rally in Wisconsin today as experts issue dire warnings about an alarming number of new cases in the key swing state. CNN political correspondent, Arlette Saenz, joins me now from Washington. Arlette, what more are you learning?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Joe Biden is off the campaign trail back in Delaware today. But he is trying to keep the focus of this campaign on the coronavirus pandemic and what he sees as the president's mishandling of it. One thing that we really heard Biden focus on in past days in the -- expected to do in the coming weeks is focus on that issue of health care as he argues that Democrats will protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. The Biden campaign really sees health care as being an issue that touches all facets of the campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also putting it in terms of that nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and highlighting Republicans' efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. And yesterday, while Biden was campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan, he once again criticized the president's recent comments and response to COVID-19. Take a listen.</s>JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said, I think last night in his town hall -- I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said we have turned the corner. My grandfather might say, if he were here, he's gone around the bend. Turned the corner? My lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse as predicted.</s>SAENZ: That's just one of the many contrasts Biden is trying to present with the president in these final weeks before the election. And we're also learning that the Biden campaign is sending a new message to its supporters urging them to stay active and engaged in this election. The campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, will be sending an e-mail to supporters today, I'm told. And one of those warnings she has in there is, "We cannot be complacent because the very searing truth is that Donald Trump can still win this race. And every indication we have shows that this thing is going to come down to the wire." There are national polls in several battleground polls right now showing Biden in the lead. But what the campaign manager is telling supporters is don't underestimate President Trump's ability for a comeback, pointing to some of the lessons that were learned from the 2016 campaign when the president made a resurgence in those final days before the election. Now tomorrow, Joe Biden is taking his campaign down to North Carolina, campaigning in Durham. As early voting is under way in that state, he's trying to urge his supporters to get out there and vote in person or by mail across the country heading into the election. And we've also learned that Kamala Harris will be returning to the campaign trail on Monday. She will head down to Florida. This comes after the campaign had suspended her travel for a few days after two members of her traveling team had tested positive for coronavirus. The campaign doing that out of an abundance of caution. But one thing the campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, outlined in that memo is that they need to campaign like they are running behind at this moment. And you'll see Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in those battleground states in these final 17 days before the election -- Fred?</s>WHITFIELD: All right. The race is definitely on and hitting higher gear. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much, 17 days away. Seventeen days but, already, we're seeing a huge turnout of early in- person voters. Nearly 22 million so far. So take a look at these early turnout numbers in Georgia as compared to 2016. As of noon today, more than 1,370,000 Georgians cast early in-person ballots. Look at that October 22nd, 2016 number, just over 500,000 cast early ballots. CNN's Natasha Chen joining us from Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of north of Atlanta where lines have been long since sunrise. And it looks like you've still got some pretty significant lines behind you.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. It's gotten a lot better. That's the good news. The dates that you compared there, the votes that were counted as of noon today versus October 22nd, 2016, that's the same point in the election. So also about five or six days into that early voting at that time. Now right now, we're seeing a lot of people still waiting. In fact, you can see a food truck that pulled up. World Central Kitchen is giving out food to people, knowing there are a lot of folks waiting here. So you can see this line doubles back around right here. But it has gotten better because earlier this morning, when the doors opened, the line went all the way back, doubling back through those fence lines, all the way to the yellow tape that you see. There was probably a three or four-hour wait this morning. It's much better right now. We're still seeing people, though, bringing their small children here, wanting them to experience what this is all about. And as we were talking about comparing the numbers to 2016, the voter turnout in Georgia up to this point is 134 percent higher than it was at this point in 2016. And speaking of that election, we met one young voter today who missed voting that time around. He said he's not taking any chances this time.</s>DOUGLAS RICHARDSON, FIRST TIME TO VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: You know everyone expected it to go one way. And obviously your vote really does matter. So, me, my one vote could have been that deciding factor. So definitely needed to have everyone come out and vote, especially in every single election.</s>CHEN: And his sister is 19 years old. Also voting in her very first presidential election. She told me that the major issues driving her to the polls this time are the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic and police brutality -- Fred?</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Big motivating factors. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. Up next, U.S. authorities are investigating whether recently published e-mails are tied to a Russian disinformation campaign against the Bidens. And apparently the president was warned. Details next.

U.S. Officials Investigating If Recently Published E-mails Are Tied To Russian Disinformation Effort Targeting Biden

WHITFIELD: Federal authorities are now investigating whether recently published e-mails that purport to detail the business dealings of Joe Biden's son are tied to an ongoing Russian disinformation effort targeting the Biden campaign. "The New York Post" claimed in a series of articles this week that it obtained smoking-gun e-mails about Hunter Biden and his dealings in Ukraine. CNN has not determined the authenticity of the e-mails. "The Post" says it obtained the e-mails through two Trump confidants, his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. Juliette Kayyem is a former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and a CNN national security analyst. Juliette, good to see you.</s>JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.</s>WHITFIELD: So "The Washington Post" reported that the president was warned that Rudy Giuliani was being used to feed Russian misinformation to the president. So what do you make about all of this? I mean, a lot of it not substantiated. And then the people involved in Trump's circle are part of this. So now what?</s>KAYYEM: So my expert analysis is let's just treat it all as B.S. At this stage, there's no reason to believe that Giuliani and Bannon are actually truth tellers. In fact, Giuliani is now, you know, an agent of a foreign power. His -- he can't feign ignorance anymore. This is Giuliani, a mayor of New York --</s>WHITFIELD: A former U.S. prosecutor.</s>KAYYEM: A former prosecutor. So this idea that he's like, oh, I have no idea. It's all -- in my expert analysis, it's all B.S. So I don't even want to talk about the substance of "The New York Post" articles. The only story that comes out of this now, is Giuliani working with the Russians for disinformation to win in 2020. Trump knowing this and not stopping it. In fact, giving it a little bit of a nod. And "The New York Post," an agent of -- a publication of Rupert Murdoch, serving as an agent of Russian disinformation. That's the only takeaways at this stage.</s>WHITFIELD: And what about this being thread for a sizable -- potentially sizable federal investigation of Giuliani --</s>KAYYEM: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: -- and working with people who are, you know, suspect and who are Russian agents.</s>KAYYEM: So I think we assume that they are Russian agents. The federal investigation has -- the FBI has been concerned, has been warning, not just the American public but, obviously, leaders in our government about the potential for foreign interference in the 2020 campaign. It's not like -- we're not in 2015 and 2016. We knew exactly what they were going to do. Ad that's why ignorance is no longer a justification. And that is why Trump, the president, being told about Giuliani being compromised, which I think is like too nice to say about him. I mean, that Giuliani is serving as an agent of Russia. That Trump did nothing about it also means -- and this is hard to say -- that Trump is an agent of Russian interference. Because if you don't stop it, if you replay it -- he posted a picture of it today. If you, you know, have -- if "The New York Post" replays it, if other reporters retweet it, that's serving Russia's goals, which is amplification of total lies. There's no -- there's just no question at this stage that this is part of the campaign. Fortunately, I think most media has gotten started and the story is now this.</s>WHITFIELD: And is it your feeling, Juliette, that the president is desperate, that he feels, you know, the cards are falling and that is what elicited this response from him coming at a rally.</s>KAYYEM: Yes. Instead of talking about winning, he's talking about losing. Listen.</s>KAYYEM: Yes.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics. It puts pressure on me. Can you imagine if I lose? My whole life. What am I going to do?</s>TRUMP: I'm going to say, I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics.</s>TRUMP: I'm not going to feel so good. Maybe I'll have to leave the country. I don't know.</s>WHITFIELD: Wow. Juliette, talking about leaving the country. Why would he say that? Why would he feel like with all these other potential investigations out there, depending on whether he's in office or not, why would he say that?</s>KAYYEM: Yes. He always says the quiet part out loud. I'm sure the thought has crossed ed his mind as he's facing federal and state investigations he won't be protected from. Whether you go to a country that doesn't have extradition treaties. Ironically, a lot of those are Muslim countries, which we know the president had started his presidency against the Muslim countries. I will say it's sort of more generally, even if he's just goofing off, I think it's reflective of a president who does just not care about America. Can you imagine simply because you lost that you would leave America? Like, I mean, who does that? I think that that's actually the bigger story here is that a president who has so little confidence, faith in the institutions and what America means, who would not choose America but choose to leave, that's the president we've had. One who views it as himself. So who knows what his legal plans are? But he's in a world of trouble after he's president. So he's probably thinking about strategies to get out of these investigations, which include, as you know, as we've talked about, the $400 million in debt that he owes to --</s>WHITFIELD: To whom?</s>KAYYEM: -- some country or entity.</s>WHITFIELD: Yes. And it's quite extraordinary. Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much. Always good to see you. Be well.</s>KAYYEM: Thank you. Bye.</s>WHITFIELD: Next, a drive-through for flu shots during the pandemic. We're there live.