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Biden Says Trump Has "Quit On America" With His Mishandling Of Coronavirus Pandemic; U.S. Again Tops 70,000 COVID-19 Cases In Single Day, Trump: "We're Rounding The Corner Beautifully"

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The news continues tonight. Want to hand it over to Chris for "CUOMO PRIME TIME." Chris?</s>CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Have a good weekend, my friend. I am Chris Cuomo and welcome to PRIME TIME. More than 50 million votes have already been cast. And we are 11 days out from Election Day. Now, to the extent that a campaign is about making a case, the issue before you, as judges, is whether this President has dealt with the pandemic well enough. In a short time, we've jumped from 40,000 cases a day to 70,000 new COVID cases a day. The second highest total ever, more than 75,000 new cases recorded just today. The highest peak was in July. 223,000 dead now, projections say that may double by the New Year. Did you hear this President tell you any of that last night? Why not do you think? Have you ever heard of a Commander-in-Chief being rewarded at the polls for hiding the reality of a crisis? That's what lost Herbert Hoover, the presidency, to FDR, during The Great Depression. That may be the Republican Trump should compare himself to, Hoover, not Lincoln. Ignoring the virus does not make it go away. Saying we are rounding the corner is really another way of saying we are merely going in circles. Biden says he can do better. He says that starts with owning the reality.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The President still doesn't have a plan. He's given up. He's quit on you. He's quit on your family. He's quit on America. We can choose a different path.</s>CUOMO: Now, it was interesting. Trump's argument against Biden is not plan for plan. It's damn for damn. "Sure. I may be dirty. I may have a lot of corruption allegations. So does he." This President sat on that final stage, of a basis of comparison for you, listen to Biden discuss how to do better, and double-down on saying when it comes to the pandemic, Trump has done enough.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All he talks about is COVID, COVID, COVID because they want to scare people. And we've done so well with it. We're rounding the corner beautifully.</s>CUOMO: Denying the reality, just like Hoover did, during the Depression. But here's the good news. As painful a lesson as it has been, and will continue to be, the virus is the truth. The President may see us, as Red and Blue, but the virus is pummeling us all the same into this mass of lived purple. Fact, only one state is showing a downward trend in cases, Oregon. Hit early and hard, closed down, masked up, stayed that way until safe to reopen in safe ways. Lots of money to help communities and schools do just that. Not perfect, but good enough, compared to everybody else. Why doesn't the President learn from that example? Well maybe it's because the Governor is a Democrat, and learning from it would mean actually making a plan, two things this President apparently hates. He decided to say instead, "All this bad data, temporary."</s>TRUMP: We're fighting it, and we're fighting it hard. There is a spike. There was a spike in Florida, and it's now gone.</s>CUOMO: You are not fighting it hard. You are trying hard not to fight it. Gone? Temporary? You know who else said that? Not Lincoln, Hoover, about the market crash. Let me show you the facts. Does this look to you like the spike in Florida is gone? Easy way to read it, red, bad. The State which does not have a great history with case reporting transparency, in hospitals, or schools, still, just recorded its highest number of daily cases in more than two months. No part of that state is in the clear. Look at it. Look at the number of recent deaths in Florida. Trump wanted to say "Florida good, New York bad." Well, look at the deaths for deaths, what metric matters more than that, right? Florida's death per day, seven-day trailing average. New York's. OK? It's not even a comparison. New York is in a better place than Florida. Why? It's taking better steps. But nobody is safe and no state can do it alone. If for no other reason, they don't have the pocket. Florida is among 15 states that has had a daily positivity rate above 10 percent over the last seven days. So, tell us again, Mr. President, how Coronavirus is gone in Florida, tell us, because you seem to know something that every piece of data denies. Let's be honest. What is Trump great at? Lying, denying, defying, attacking everything, except the pandemic, why? He has no "How" to do anything. "We can't close," he says. True. How do we stay open? Crickets! "We have to get back to school," he says. True. How? Crickets! How do we get schools the money they need, and the testing, and tracing, for these communities, for ventilation, to change, so that our kids can be safe? His answer, vaccine. A vaccine that won't be ready for most of us for close to a year? No plan, no plan to make a plan, and no deal on the table to get any relief to anyone. And to prove that there is no shame in his game, Trump actually went to sell his "COVID is cornering," to our most vulnerable folks, The Villages in Florida, the nation's largest retirement community. (</s>VIDEO PLAYS PRESIDENT TRUMP'S RALLY AT THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA) CUOMO: Look at them. This population, in a maskless crowd, not socially distanced, during the third peak, of a worsening pandemic, in the senior community, seriously? And not one word from this President about what they should do differently. He knows everything they're doing puts them at risk, and not a word. Why? Because saying nothing about the problem, about the pandemic is better for him, in his mind. Another example, have you heard him say a word about the veterans that he says he loves, right? "Nobody loves the veterans." Have you heard one word about the huge increase in cases among veterans? 70 percent among V.A. patients, according to the military, in the last month, not a word about their pain, or how to help them, but he loves them. He was put in a position to help. His inaction has inarguably hurt. So, what about Biden? He says he has a plan.</s>BIDEN: I'll immediately put in place a national strategy that'll position our country to finally get ahead of this virus and get back our lives. I'll reach out to every governor, in every state, Red and Blue. I'll ask the new Congress to put a bill on my desk by the end of January. I'll put a national testing plan in place with a goal of testing as many people each day, as we're currently testing each week, a seven- fold increase. As President, I'll use the full power of the Defense Production Act to drive the manufacturing of personal protective equipment, masks, gloves, gowns and more, and ensure that's distributed equitably. I promise you we'll get through this, and come out the other side, much faster than the rate we're going now.</s>CUOMO: Now, if you really need a plan, if that's what matters to you that the pandemic response is inadequate, you want to see better, Biden may win. But Trump may win as well. Why? Because of his inability to lead in this pandemic, and all the trumpery that has gone along with it, is in fact trumped by his perceived value as an advocate for widespread animus toward politics and culture in this country, he wins. Remember, the only song you've ever heard about loving Herbert Hoover was sung by who? Archie Bunker. "Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again. Didn't need no welfare state. Everybody pulled his weight," Archie Bunker. Hence the sell of MAGA, going back to times that White working-class people may have liked better and felt safer. Which will win out? That is the proposition that will decide this election. Let discuss. Let's take it to two sides of the political equation, Van Jones, and Charlie Dent, one rule, nothing about my singing. Charlie Dent, in terms of the proposition - well first, let me get you out of the way. Is it true that Biden is scrubbing you for a role in his Administration?</s>CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I think that was just some speculation in Politico. I have not had any conversations with anybody in the Biden campaign or transition, none. They have not contacted me. So, I'm not angling to get back in the government. I read that in the press, just as you did, Chris.</s>CUOMO: All right.</s>DENT: Will be not much to it.</s>CUOMO: Appreciate you answering the question. So Trump's move, "Forget about the pandemic, we're rounding the corner. It's just a scare tactic. We're going to get back. Everything's going to be great. And don't listen to these Republicans. They're a bunch of pansies. I'll get you what I need." Do you think it's enough for him to win?</s>DENT: You mean, by diminishing the pandemic?</s>CUOMO: Yes.</s>DENT: Of course not. I mean, of course not. I mean, it seems to me the President's numbers are slipping in large measure with seniors because of his response to the pandemic. Seniors are the most vulnerable at-risk population, and they're the most fearful, at least based on my experience, they're the most fearful. And the President has been very cavalier in his response. That stunt he pulled at Walter Reed, with that little drive-by, while he was admitted, and then coming to the White House, taking the mask off, I mean I think people believe that he's just not taking this seriously enough.</s>CUOMO: But did you see him at The Villages in Florida?</s>DENT: And it's really--</s>CUOMO: All those old people in a state that matters as much as any, crowded together for him.</s>DENT: Well yes, you ought to talk to my mother-in-law. I know a lot of - I guess I get with lot of them, senior citizens, with whom I speak. They tend to be very careful. They're the ones who are most likely to social-distance, and avoid meeting with people in crowds. That's my experience with seniors. So, I'm just - look, his numbers are plummeting among seniors. I do think this pandemic response is a significant reason why.</s>CUOMO: His answer to Biden, Van, is "He's a bum. He's dirty. And, by the way, he's not going to get it done for you, and he hates oil."</s>DENT: Well--</s>VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, it's--</s>CUOMO: Hold on - I got you Charlie. Let Van get in here. Go ahead, Van.</s>JONES: It's remarkable to see a U.S. President, standing on a graveyard of a quarter million Americans, and you ask him, "Do you have any regrets looking back?" And he says "No, no regrets looking back," a quarter million Americans dead. And then, you ask him, "What's your healthcare plan moving forward?" He goes "It's a great healthcare plan." "But what is it?" So, you have no regrets looking back, and you have no plan going forward. So, what is your argument for yourself? You don't like Joe Biden's son. That's not enough to get you re-elected in a country that expects at least competence. Listen, we can - we can have our tribal issues, and our differences, and we can bicker and we can fight. But it used to be the case that if you had 3,000 Americans dead, 9/11, the entire country came together, to figure out what to do about it. We have two 9/11s every week, every week, and growing. And this President still cannot bring us together. And so, it's a pass/fail, at this point, and this President has clearly failed.</s>CUOMO: Well look, what's the difference between 9/11 and the pandemic? Everything, culturally, also, common enemy that's identifiable, and feared by all. Do you think Biden has made the case that all Americans need to come together at all, let alone to fight this pandemic, Van?</s>JONES: Well he's making the case. He's trying to make the case. He's trying to be heard. I don't think anybody doubts that under a Biden Administration, there would be less rancor, and chaos, and crazy, and foolishness, and shenanigans, and nonsense going on. And I think, right now, you got a lot of people, who they're just - people are just tired. They're exhausted. And Biden, sometimes, seems like he wants to be Captain Quarantine, and he has to be clear that he's talking about a safe reopening, not a permanent shutting down. He makes a mistake sometimes, of defending masks more than he talks about how he's going to get everybody's kids out of our houses and back to school. But I think nobody, watching those two guys last night, could come away thinking that Joe Biden is somebody who wants to divide America.</s>CUOMO: Ordinarily, the insurgent, Charlie, would be pushing anger and fear, right? "Look at this pandemic. Look what you did to the economy. Look what you're doing to the rest of us." But ironically, it's Trump pushing it, even though he's the one with the record and with the mandate to be doing something about it. Listen to what he said about Biden's running mate. If there were any question about what Senator Perdue was up to, the other day, when they said, "Oh, he just mispronounced her name," listen to this.</s>TRUMP: Biden's running mate, the most liberal member of the United States Senate, and, by the way, Kamala will not be your first female president.</s>TRUMP: She will not be your first female president. We're not supposed to have the socialist - look, we're not going to be a socialist nation. We're not going to have a socialist president, especially a female socialist president. We're not going to have it. We're not going to put up with it.</s>CUOMO: Only thing worse than a socialist, Charlie, is a female socialist, who happens to be Brown with a weird name. She might as well be the female version of that "Hussein Obama" guy.</s>DENT: Yes. Look, those comments are disrespectful and insulting. There's really no place for it. The President doesn't have the capacity to differentiate himself with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on policy. He's simply incapable of articulating the argument. I mean many of us watched that debate, last night, and we said, "Hey," we celebrated, we said, "Hey, the President seemed semi-normal last night. The bar was low." And - but he really doesn't have the capacity to debate policy. He just doesn't - he just doesn't have enough of a substantive view of the world to make the arguments. That's always been the problem. That's why he resorts to these types of ad hominem attacks, name- calling, insults.</s>CUOMO: Yes, and because it works.</s>DENT: That's--</s>CUOMO: Especially in a culture where people have opposition as the mandate, and disdain as the mode. Van, he didn't make a mistake about Ka-mala, instead of Kamala. "Weird name, weird color, women, women socialists, all bad," not down with what we used to know and love and feel safe with, Van. He's saying it on purpose. It's not style. It's not, not being a politician. It's being both. That is his style. And he's the ultimate politician. Will it work?</s>JONES: It is working for his core base. They love that stuff. They understand that he is giving the middle finger to what I was taught are basic norms and values. Now, it's called "Being PC." It'd be respectful of people, to not offend people, for no reason in the world. That was basically how I was raised, and how pretty much everybody else was raised. Now, they've relabeled basic manners and decorum as "PC," and then they can throw these little barbs around. They think it's cute. They think it's funny. People are watching. People are watching. There are a lot of people that wish they could be a part of the conservative movement. There are a lot of people of color who are quite conservative. They are business owners. They are people of faith. They cannot be a part of this movement. He is chasing away people who would otherwise appreciate some of the things he's done, on criminal justice, and in many other things, Opportunity Zones. People can't hold their nose, though, for that kind of stuff. Whatever good deeds he's done, which he likes to brag on, his bad words overwhelm those deeds, over and over and over again. And people are watching. And he's paying a price he may not know.</s>CUOMO: We'll see. Van Jones, Charlie Dent, thank you both, good health, happy heads to both of you, be well. All right, least--</s>DENT: Thanks, Chris.</s>CUOMO: --"Least racist guy in the room. This Ka-mala," ooh, yes "Least racist." Why did you say it that way? Come on! How do we get jobs back if we keep going backwards with this virus? How big a task do we have? What does recovery look like? Economics connected to the pandemic, someone who knows the intricate tie, Tom Friedman. On a Friday night, what could be better? Scotch!</s>TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

Trump Administration Quick To Sanction Iran For Election Interference, But Silent On Russia's Continued Targeting Of 2020 Race.

TEXT: LET'S GET AFTER IT.</s>CUOMO: Boy, we were all there at night together, right, the sudden presser, the FBI and DNI commanding attention on the same day that former president Obama opened a can of whoop-ass on Trump. But then, they didn't agree on the interference threat. And what's the point? Is it to help or hurt Trump? They gave us different versions. They gave us proof of emails that certainly would help Trump but not proof of anybody trying to hurt him. Then what happens? They rush out sanctions, against Iran, for "Executing malign influence operations aimed at misleading U.S. voters." OK, what about Russia? Nothing about that, despite the FBI Director saying Russia is stealing voter information right now, and saying this more than a month ago.</s>CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: Russia continues to try to influence our elections, primarily through what we would call malign foreign influence.</s>CUOMO: Well, they're waiting. They're going to hit Russia - no, they did hit Russia. On Monday, they charged, the Department of Justice, six Russian GRU, it's like their spy operation officers, with malware attacks, including targeting of French elections, and the 2018 Olympics. And today, the Treasury Department sanctioned Russia as a government institution for malware attacks in the Middle East, but nothing to do with what they're doing here. Why? Let's talk threat assessment and action with former CIA Director, John Brennan. He has a new book. "Undaunted: My Fight Against America's Enemies, At Home and Abroad." And as part and parcel of that work, for this country, and thank you for your service, and welcome to PRIME TIME, would be dealing with Russia. What are we supposed to believe about this threat, Director that it was to help Trump or hurt Trump? They only gave us proof of one. The FBI and the DNI seem to have different stories.</s>JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR, AUTHOR, "UNDAUNTED": Well Chris, I really wish that the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, had more credibility at this point, because I think the American people really need to know and deserve to know what the nature of the threat is to our upcoming election. And unfortunately, John Ratcliffe has demonstrated time and again that he has politicized his position by doing things in support of Donald Trump. And so, that press statement, the other night, when both John Ratcliffe and Chris Wray, came out, it was rather puzzling, especially since John Ratcliffe led off with Iran. And although Iran does have a cyber-capability, has no doubt about that, Russia has much more sophisticated capabilities, and its presence in social media, which is the vector that it uses, to influence attitudes, sentiments, and votes, its presence has much more pervasive, insidious and damaging than Iran's.</s>CUOMO: Why move on Iran and not Russia?</s>BRENNAN: Well, I think it's because Donald Trump really is hoping that the Russians are going to continue to help him win this coming election the way they helped him last time. It is clear that the Russians favor Trump, as they did in 2016. But Iran has been the target of much of Trump's wrath. And, again, this is part of a distraction, as he highlights the Iranian threat, and really tends to downplay the Russian threat, which is what Ratcliffe did the other day. He said that Iran was trying to hurt Trump, but he didn't say at all what the Russian efforts and intentions are.</s>CUOMO: Not to be cynical, but what do they need to interfere with this, in terms of the narrative they're pushing, when the President says the same thing? "The system is rigged. I don't think the count's going to be fair. Proud Boys, stand by, you know, stand ready," whatever that subtle - not-so-subtle message was. What do they need to get involved for? He's making more damage than they could.</s>BRENNAN: Well, I think you're right. But that doesn't mean that they're not going to try to augment his efforts, and amplify a lot of his messaging, including about fraudulent election. But the Russians really have been on social media, and misrepresent themselves as American citizens, as American entities. And again, they're trying to ensure that Trump's message is getting out far and wide. And if they are navigating it to some of the state electoral systems, it really does raise the concerns, once again, as we had in 2016 that they might try to do something, on a technical front, like on the day of election that could cause some chaos, and havoc at election booth by, for example, bringing down voter registration rolls. But I do think they make their money, the Russians, mostly on the influence operations, what Chris Wray refers to, as malign operations, and that is in the social media environment.</s>CUOMO: So, what is your thought of our state of readiness for what might happen after the election, especially immediately after, in terms of threat profile? And what is your take on the efforts that have been made, by this government, to protect the system, from any such activities?</s>BRENNAN: Well I'm sure my former colleagues, in the Intelligence Community, and Law Enforcement, and Homeland Security are doing their level best to try to prevent the Russians, Iranians, anybody from interfering in the election, whether it be foreign or domestic. However, as we've seen what Donald Trump is doing, he is fueling the polarization within our country. He is egging on those elements that tend to be rather extremist, those, on the Right. And I really am concerned what he may do in the lead-up to the election, but then, in the aftermath, if he believes that he's not going to be re-elected. The powers of a president are enormous, and he clearly is not abiding by the norms and standards of former presidents. And so, therefore, I really do worry about what he might do, and what tactic he might engage in, in order to try to preserve his presence in the White House.</s>CUOMO: John Brennan, the book is called "Undaunted: My Fight Against America's Enemies, At Home and Abroad." People often say, "Boy, it's weird that nobody has attacked us, thank god." It's not weird. It's not an accident. Read the book. And you will see what goes into keeping this country safe. And, once again, Sir, it's a rare pleasure to have you on this show, and thank you for your service to the country. Be well, you and the family.</s>BRENNAN: Thank you so much, Chris.</s>CUOMO: All right, be well.</s>BRENNAN: Thank you for having me.</s>CUOMO: Now, let's turn from the threat to the search for a real governmental response, not just in terms of interference, but in terms of interference with getting some relief to so many, who are hurting from this pandemic. Two topics, one Senator, Angus King, of Maine. Good to see you, Sir.</s>SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): Yes, Sir. Good to be with you, Chris.</s>CUOMO: Do you share Director Brennan's concerns that this President, if he were to lose, may not peacefully transfer power?</s>KING: I do. I mean that's not speculation. He's been asked that question several times directly. And he's essentially punted, and said, "Well, we'll see." That's not a very reassuring response. And, by the way, Chris, the peaceful transfer of power is one of the things that's distinguished this country from the rest of the world for ever since our founding, and for the President to say that, and at the same time, as you suggested, to denigrate the democratic process, say it's going to - "If I don't win, it's going to be rigged and they're fraud, and million fraudulent," that's a very dangerous message because our system, Chris, is based on trust. It's based upon the trust of the citizens that the system works that who gets the most votes wins, and for him to undermine that, and it's the same message, by the way, that the Iranians and the Russians are pushing, is really dangerous for the country.</s>CUOMO: Do you think your brothers and sisters, on the Right, in the GOP, would go along with that?</s>KING: Well, I'm not sure. I mean, they are certainly reluctant, as you well know, as everybody knows, to criticize this President at this time. I think there may be a difference of how they - what they talk about behind closed doors and what they say publicly. But I can't imagine any of my colleagues, who aren't concerned about the issue of the peaceful transfer of power. And John Brennan was talking about, and Christopher Wray, about the malign influence, the social media. There's another piece of this that was announced the other day, and that is the Russians are burrowing into our election infrastructure. They did this in 2016. And I remember, saying at the time, they didn't do anything. All the Intelligence was they didn't change any votes. They didn't do anything. But they were in most of the states' infrastructure. My comment was they weren't doing it for fun. And I'm worried that - and they don't have to do the whole country.</s>CUOMO: And nothing's been done about it.</s>KING: All they have to do is mess up the rolls in--</s>CUOMO: None of systems have been hardened, right?</s>KING: Well they have been hardened. We're in lot better shape. I want to be a little bit reassured.</s>CUOMO: I get different takes on that.</s>KING: The states are in a lot better shape now--</s>CUOMO: So, I want to hear yours.</s>KING: The states are in a lot better shape now than they were in 2016. But they're not invulnerable. And what we learned, this week is, and we learned it, back in the summer, that the Russians are starting to plant malware, and be ready, to contribute to the chaos. Chris, these guys don't like democracy. They don't want it to work.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>KING: That's their goal. They don't have to change votes. They just have to sow doubt and undermine what it is that makes this country, you know, had been the envy of the world.</s>CUOMO: Who are you talking about, Trump or the Russians?</s>KING: I'm talking about the Russians right now.</s>CUOMO: Oh, sorry, Senator! Let me ask you something else, straight talk with Angus. The President says Nancy Pelosi is holding up a deal. He said to Joe Biden, "You know, sometimes you got to talk to your people, and just make them do it." We're told that McConnell said to the White House, "Forget it. I'm not screwing up the Judge's confirmation. We're not going to get a deal done now. I'm not going to - I can't get the votes right now." What's the truth?</s>KING: Well I think the latter is the truth. I mean Mitch McConnell has been reported, I mean I didn't hear him say it, but it's been reported that he told the White House he didn't want a deal before the election. Look, Chris, Nancy Pelosi had the House pass a COVID relief bill on May 15th. Mitch McConnell never brought it up. Not only did he not bring it up, he never entered into any kind of negotiations. He never came to Chuck Schumer, or to the White House, or to Nancy Pelosi, and say, "OK, let's sit down and make a deal." It never happened. And--</s>CUOMO: But isn't that bad for Trump? Doesn't Trump benefit from a deal right now?</s>KING: He certainly would. And it would have benefited even more if a deal had happened a month ago. The House, by the way, passed another bill. They reduced - the bill they passed in May was $3 trillion worth of stimulus.</s>CUOMO: Right.</s>KING: They passed another bill, two weeks or three weeks ago, of $2 trillion, they brought their offer down by a third, still no response. The President said "Well we're not going to negotiate," and then the next day, he said, "Yes, we are." But Mitch McConnell has been the man missing from the table all this time.</s>CUOMO: But why would he do the President dirty on something that matters this much?</s>KING: Well who knows? He may - he may think this will not help the President. And if Joe Biden is elected, it will help Joe Biden. He doesn't want to hurt - help Joe Biden. But look, Chris, this shouldn't be about Joe Biden or the President or the election. This ought to be about the American people. There are people losing their apartments. They're losing their incomes. They're--</s>CUOMO: Waiting in line for food.</s>KING: --hurting for healthcare. 10 million people have lost their healthcare in this pandemic. And this is all games about who it's going to help and whether you ought to give this gift to Joe Biden or Trump. What about the guy - the poor guy that's trying to make his payments? That's who we ought to be thinking about.</s>CUOMO: She loses. Just like they always do in a culture of opposition. When opposition is rewarded, in a binary system, the loser is the person who is supposed to be served. If opposition is the line for success and non-achievement, who is going to lose? The constituents. Senator Angus King, I know you're always pushing for progress, and to get things done for your state, and the rest of the country. You're appreciated for it. I wish you good health.</s>KING: Yes. Good heath to you, Chris. Thank you.</s>CUOMO: Take care. All right, now, the incumbent is the underdog maybe, national polls. But I'm telling you state-by-state you got to keep looking at this. Things are changing. They're close. And he believes, Mr. Trump, that he is already the greatest president ever, maybe except for Abraham Lincoln. Well, what does the past, in terms of presidential behavior, tell us, in terms of points of comparison with Trump? And is he picking the right Republican to compare himself in to this moment? Should it really be another Republican who lost because of how they coped with a crisis in a very famous election that shaped this country for decades to come? Doris Kearns Goodwin with the inside scoop of history, next.</s>TEXT: CUOMO PRIME TIME.

Trump Claims "We're Going to Quickly End This Pandemic"; Surgeon Gen.: U.S. Likely to See Record Case Count This Week; U.S. Nears New Record for Daily Coronavirus Cases; Study: Wearing Masks Could Save More Than 100,000 Lives; Biden: We Saw Trump "Repeatedly Lie" to Americans at Debate: Trump: Biden Showed He's "Not Capable".

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Till then you can always follow me on Twitter and Instagram @WOLFBLITZER. Tweet the show @CNNSITROOM. Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, Dr. Anthony Fauci is my guest. I'm going to ask him about the coronavirus surge ravaging the country. What anything Americans can do to turn this pandemic around and those persistent attacks on him by the President of the United States. Plus, Trump seizing on Biden's comments about oil and fracking. How damaging was it? And the race to 270, who's ahead in the all-important state of Florida and why there could be bad news for Republicans in safe red states like Kansas, Alaska and South Carolina. Let's go OUTFRONT. And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, just 11 days until Election Day. And tonight, the candidates laying out stark differences on the defining issue of this campaign, the pandemic. The President about to speak at a rally in Pensacola, Florida, his second big rally in the sunshine state today. His first was at a retirement community, The Villages. The biggest retirement community, in fact, in this country. Many of the seniors there not wearing masks. No need to remind you that elderly people are at an increased risk of dying from coronavirus, something masks help prevent. Meanwhile, Joe Biden doing the exact opposite, laying out his plan to combat the virus including specifically wearing masks.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wearing a mask is not a political statement. It's a scientific imperative.</s>BURNETT: Biden wants mask mandates in all of the states. The President, of course, actively encourages no mask wearing at his own rallies and today before the event in Florida with the seniors wearing few masks, at the White House, Trump once again mocked a reporter for wearing a mask.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is Jeff Mason. He's got a mask on. It's the largest mask, I think, I've ever seen.</s>BURNETT: And while the President is painting a rosy picture tonight, here he is.</s>TRUMP: We're going to quickly end this pandemic. This horrible plague that came in from China. You look at what's going on and we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner. We're rounding the corner beautifully.</s>BURNETT: Biden sees things very differently.</s>BIDEN: Last night, we saw the President of the United States lie to the American people and repeatedly lie about the state of this pandemic. We saw him refused to take responsibility. If this is a success, what's a failure look like? We're more than eight months into this crisis and the President still doesn't have a plan. He's given up. He's quit on you. He's quit on your family. He's quit on America.</s>BURNETT: Voters tonight have two polar opposite choices that became even clear on that final debate stage last night.</s>BIDEN: We're about to go into a dark winter, a dark winter and he has no clear plan.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... that you have no plan.</s>TRUMP: I don't think we're going to have a dark winter at all. We're opening up our country. I say we're learning to live with it.</s>BIDEN: People were learning to die with it.</s>BURNETT: I'm going to speak momentarily with the nation's top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci. But first I want to go to the two campaigns tonight, Arlette Saenz is covering the Biden campaign, Kaitlan Collins OUTFRONT of the President's rally tonight at The Villages. Let me start with you, Arlette, though Vice President Biden today laying out new details of his plan to combat the virus. What did he say?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Erin, it's very clear that Joe Biden is trying to keep the coronavirus pandemic front and center in these closing days of this campaign. The former vice president arguing that President Trump is ignoring the realities of the state of the pandemic right now in this country and also arguing that the number of deaths due to COVID-19 show that the President is ill-equipped, that he didn't develop a sufficient plan. So what you heard from Joe Biden today in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware was starting to lay out some of that strategy of what he would do in office if he's elected. Now, one of those things Biden said is he's not going to wait till he's in the White House to get started working on this pandemic. He said that during the transition, he would begin reaching out to governors, Republicans and Democrats to gauge what kind of resources they need to combat the pandemic. He also said that he would call on Congress to put a bill on his desk by the end of January to provide the resources for public health and economic initiatives. A contrast to the current state of play in Washington right now as negotiations are tied up over that COVID relief bill. Biden also talked about the need for Americans to wear masks saying that it's not a political statement, that it's something that people need to do to curb the spread of the virus and consider the other people that are around them. Biden has acknowledged that he can't implement a nationwide mask mandate, but he said he would go to the governors asking them to do so. And if the governors did not do that in their states, he would then take that to the mayors and local officials. Biden here in these closing days of the campaign really believes that he can hone in on the COVID-19 crisis as well as the economy. His advisors believe this is the defining issue of the campaign and that voters will ultimately believe that the President's mishandling of the pandemic will be a reason to vote for Biden in the coming weeks as the election winds down.</s>BURNETT: All right. Arlette, thank you. And I want to go now to Kaitlan, she's in Florida, as I mentioned with the President. And Kaitlan, I mean, the two visions here could not be more starkly different. A very different picture from Donald Trump tonight.</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They couldn't be more different. You heard it last night. But Erin, we're seeing it today, the difference in these events that Joe Biden and President Trump are holding. And so that's the question that ultimately pans out here, because what the President was saying last night, mocking Joe Biden for saying that we're going to have a dark winter ahead, something that medical experts have said as well, the President repeated that here today. And let me remind people, this is what this rally would have looked like, Erin, if they had held it a year ago before there was a pandemic, before anyone knew what coronavirus was. Because it's not just mask wearing, which is what we talked about so often with the President's rallies and we saw few and far between here today, but also the social distancing. There is no social distancing here. And this is a retirement community, a massive one. And everyone is seated next to each other. And yes, we are outdoors, which medical experts say helps. But we saw how that played with the Rose Garden event and how it can still spread, even if you're outdoors, if no one is wearing a mask and they think they're protected when they're not and they're certainly not social distancing. And so the President was here, Erin, to try to shore up his support with seniors, something that he has been hurting with. And of course, it's what helped him carry him to the White House in 2016. And of course, he's got these people who attended this rally wearing Trump shirts on his side. But the question is what about those vulnerable seniors who are worried about COVID, who are worried about what's going to happen? Did the President win any votes over by holding rallies like that? That's the big question for the Trump campaign that they're going to find out in about 11 days.</s>BURNETT: Absolutely a crucial question, because they need those votes to win. Thank you, Kaitlan. And just to be clear, here is where things stand in this country right now. More than 223,000 Americans are dead, 32 states tonight showing upward trends in new cases, only one state in the entire country is on a downward swing. The daily case count in the United States topping 70,000 and we don't even have today's numbers, so I'll give you yesterday's. The count then was the fourth highest day of cases overall since the pandemic began. Today, we are already over 65,000, so we're on track for another near record. Twelve states seeing their highest seven-day averages for new daily cases yesterday. The seven-day average of deaths continues to climb. Now, it's 763 which is the highest level of average weekly deaths in a month, hospitalizations also on the rise, 41,010 Americans reported hospitalized with COVID on Thursday. OUTFRONT now, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. And Dr. Fauci, I appreciate your time. We look at these numbers and they're sobering. And there's been this chart out there that has been deeply concerning comparing the U.S. to Europe. And you know this well, I'll put it up for everyone to see. Europe a couple weeks ahead of the U.S. at the beginning, we saw the surge and then there and then here. The numbers there came down then significantly, but that never really happened here. We always were at a much higher plateau. Now in Europe a super spike in cases, well ahead of what we're seeing here in the United States. Are you concerned that we could be about to follow suit with a massive spike?</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Yes. Erin, I am concerned about that. And the reason I'm concerned is the numbers that you gave our baseline is really quite high. If we hang around 50,000, 60,000, 70,000 and we're there, that's the reflection of community spread. And then as you look at the map of the country, you see more than 30 states are having upticks in test positivity, which is a pretty good predictor that you're going to have a surge in cases which will lead to surge in hospitalizations. The reason I'm particularly concerned, as we get deeper into the cooler months of the fall and the cold months of the winter, that activities out of necessity are going to have to be done indoors and that's going to be a problem. So that's the reason why I say we really need to double down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long. And I don't mean shutting down the country, Erin, because whenever I talk about amplifying and just stressing the public health measures, people think that that means we're going to shut down. It doesn't mean that. It means there are some fundamental things that you can do. Universal mask wearing, keeping a distance, avoiding congregate and crowded sections, particularly indoors and wash your hands as often as you possibly can. They sound very simple, but we're not uniformly doing that and that's one of the reasons why we're seeing these surges. We can control them without shutting down the country. And we've got to pay particular attention now, particularly these congregate settings indoor more than outdoor that we will lose control over it if we don't do that. So that's the reason why as much as I can essentially plead with the American public to please take these things seriously. We can turn it around.</s>BURNETT: There is a new study, Dr. Fauci, from Columbia University. And it had a big range but a horrifying range, 130,000 to 210,000 Americans would be alive if we had had a stronger response to the virus. Up to 94 percent of the people who have died in this country could still be alive if we had done some of the things you just mentioned, national mask mandates. They also cite the insufficient testing response early on and delayed overall response, some of the reasons that they think these deaths could have been prevented. Like I said, it is a stunning study to read. Do you think that that many lives could have been saved by those simple but fundamental things?</s>FAUCI: Erin, I don't want to put a number on it, because that's a model study. But I feel quite confident that if we had uniformly done the things that I was talking about just a moment ago, that certainly considerable number of lives could have been saved. Remember back when we were having the daily press conferences at the White House and I was saying when we were talking about opening up the economy and opening up the country again, we had the gateway, the phase one, the phase two, the phase three. And I emphasize that it's not going to be an all-or-none phenomenon. It's not like turning a light switch on or off. It can't be that you can go from being relatively locked down to just opening up and just not worrying about anything. You've got to do it in a graded fashion. And a graded fashion means you abide by the guidelines, but you do it with some fundamental common denominators. And that's what I refer those five things to, they're almost like minimal common denominators that we've got to do. I mean, you got to it across the board. We can't be having some not doing it all and others adhering to it. Otherwise, you're right, lives likely could have been saved if we had done it that way but it's not too late.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>FAUCI: I mean, that's the point I want to make. I don't like we throw up our hands and say, well, this was terrible.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>FAUCI: We can turn it around, we can.</s>BURNETT: So we can by doing those things. What you're talking about though some of your concern about what we're seeing in Europe and whether that could happen here is obviously inconsistent with what the President is saying. I don't need to tell you that. But he did just speak moments ago at a rally and here's what he said.</s>TRUMP: We're going to quickly end this pandemic, this horrible plague came in from China. You look at what's going on and we're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. We're rounding the corner beautifully.</s>BURNETT: Dr. Fauci, do you agree?</s>FAUCI: Well, if you look at the numbers, Erin, it tells us that that we really are facing a very challenging situation. And if we don't do something in the sense of paying stricter attention to the kinds of public health mitigation issues that we were talking about, it's not going to spontaneously turn around. So the good news on the horizon is that vaccines look promising and hopefully by the time we get to the end of November, the beginning of December, we will have shown that we have at least one or two and maybe more but at least two vaccines that are safe and effective. That's going to be an important issue. But from the public health standpoint, if you look at the numbers of the daily infections, the upticks on the map of more than 30 states that are having upticks, it's not going to spontaneously turn around unless we do something about it. We don't want to throw our hands up and give up, that's ridiculous to do that. But on the other hand, we don't want to just say that nothing can happen. We have control of this. We can do things that could turn that around.</s>BURNETT: So I understand you don't want to wade into politics, but masks are not political. They shouldn't be political. And we see the President in these rallies and people don't wear masks. And Joe Biden does have a really different plan and today he talked about it and he specifically talked about making mask wearing mandatory. Here's how he put it.</s>BIDEN: First, I'll go to every governor and urge them to mandate mask wearing in their states and if they refuse, I'll go to the mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place nationwide.</s>BURNETT: He also wants to make masks mandatory in federal buildings, interstate transportation. Do you think this is a good idea? Is this what a President of the United States would be helpful if they were doing fighting for mask mandates?</s>FAUCI: Well, one of the issues that people that talk about mandating not be a good idea, because then they'll say they have to enforce it and there's going to be a difficulty enforcing it. But if everyone agrees that this is something that's important and they mandated it and everybody pulls together and say, we're going to mandate it, but let's just do it. I think that would be a great idea to have everybody do it uniformly. One of the issues though, I get the argument, say, well, if you mandate a mask, then you're going to have to enforce it and that'll create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>BURNETT: So in other words - but it sounds like what you're saying is sort of the power of the comments, that you're gonna have some people who don't wear them, you only need to have a certain amount and the mandate could get you there.</s>FAUCI: Right.</s>BURNETT: Even if you don't have enforcement, right?</s>FAUCI: Right. Right, exactly.</s>BURNETT: OK. So you mentioned vaccine and I know you spend a lot of time on that, and you also spend a lot of time on therapies, a considerable amount of time. And the President did just speak about that as well and his own experience recovering from the virus in the debate last night, let me just play it again.</s>TRUMP: I can tell you from personal experience that I was in the hospital, I had it and I got better. And I will tell you that had something that they gave me, a therapeutic, I guess they would call it. Some people could say was a cure.</s>BURNETT: OK. Cure is a really big word and it's a word that all of us cling on to when we hear it. I know, you've talked about that antibody cocktail that he received as possibly being extremely effective in his case. Would you call that though a cure?</s>FAUCI: It's semantics, Erin, it really is. I mean, when you talk about a cure, you're talking about something that if you don't intervene, it's not going to get better by itself. Many of these cases spontaneously recover without any intervention. So when we intervene and the person gets better, I would rather say it hastened or improved greatly their recovery, because cure means that, for example, you have cancer, and you give someone chemotherapy, they're cured. If you didn't give them chemotherapy, they would have died. But when you have a situation where someone might ultimately get better anyway, the semantics of saying cure is just that means different things to different people. I would rather say these therapies are highly effective. If they are, I hope they will be, in essentially making someone improved much, much more rapidly than they normally would.</s>BURNETT: And is that how you - is right now the antibody cocktail sort of the most promising thing that you are seeing out there or are there things in the wings that we're not even yet aware of?</s>FAUCI: Well, the antibody cocktail is really directed specifically against the virus itself. So that's something you would want to give more early in the course of infection. We have some good therapies that are for people who have advanced disease. What we really need to do much more of is get therapies to prevent people from getting into the hospital, as opposed to when they're in hospital and very ill to help them to get out of the hospital so that's where we're focusing. Monoclonal antibodies, Erin, are quite promising. The monoclonal antibody that the President received is quite promising. We're in the process right now of doing clinical trials for that antibody in anybody from other companies to show that they are safe and effective. Myself, I'm cautiously optimistic that they are going to be an important tool in our armamentarium of treatment. We were very successful with those type of antibodies with Ebola and it made a big difference in Ebola. I would hope and I think it might make a big difference here.</s>BURNETT: One final question, Dr. Fauci, the President again last night called you a Democrat to disparage you and it's not the first time. He's been saying it a lot lately, like here.</s>TRUMP: I think he's a Democrat, but that's OK. He's a Democrat. He's actually a very good friend of the Cuomo family. He's a Democrat. Everybody knows that.</s>BURNETT: You made it clear obviously, you're not registered to either party. And as I've said on the show, it's irrelevant what you are. It's not relevant to what you do. But he keeps saying this to disparage you to kind of bring your reputation down among people to whom that would seem to be a negative. Do you think he's trying to get you to quit?</s>FAUCI: I don't think so, Erin. I don't pay attention to that kind of thing. And I have the ability that I had for a long time to just focus like a laser on what I need to do. And my job through vaccines, through therapies and by public health measures is to safeguard the health, the safety and the welfare of the American public. That's all I concentrate on. These are the kinds of things, though people may find it difficult to believe, are mere distractions. They don't bother me. I know what my job is and I've got to do it and I'm going to do it. So that kind of whatever you want to call it is to me, it's noise.</s>BURNETT: Well, we all really appreciate, this whole country appreciate your laser focus on trying to do those things and protect the American people. And I thank you for your time tonight, Dr. Fauci.</s>FAUCI: Good to be with you, Erin. Thank you for having me.</s>BURNETT: And next debate fallout. Trump giving himself props, Biden cleaning up comments about fracking, who has the edge right now? Plus this.</s>TRUMP: So I'd like to terminate Obamacare, come up with a brand new beautiful health care.</s>BURNETT: More than four years later though, there is still no plan. Where is it? And red state warning, the season's campaign watcher says Republicans have reason to worry. Perhaps even in states like Kansas and Alaska. He's OUTFRONT with his election predictions.

More Than 71,000 New Coronavirus Cases In U.S, Worst Day Since Summer

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight, 71,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the United States. That is the fourth- worst day since the pandemic began. More than 41,000 people are hospitalized. That's the most in two months. Eight states are reporting record hospitalizations this morning. Joining us now to talk about this and more we have CNN political commentator, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He is an epidemiologist and a public health expert. Dr. El-Sayed, these numbers really got our attention -- 71,000 new cases. I mean, just a few days ago we were at 50,000 and we were going God, that's bad. I have a horrible feeling it's going to go up to 60,000. And then we hit 60,000 and we said uh-oh, how soon until 70,000. Here we are. I mean, this is the -- I fear, the rapid acceleration that we've heard about.</s>DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT (via Cisco Webex): Yes, Alisyn, this speaks to two aspects of COVID-19. The first is that there are humans underneath this. Seventy-one thousand people just got some terrible news just a couple of days ago and we're hearing about it today. And that has happened now millions of times. And that is the reality of COVID-19, not to mention the fact that for 223,000 families they are now aching for the loss of a loved one. But then, the second point is that this is an infectious disease pandemic. The reason that this virus is so dangerous is because of how fast it can spread. And we're used to thinking about things in linear terms, right -- that there's going to be a little bit more every day. That's not how this virus works. It can double in just 2 1/2 days. And unfortunately, we are facing down what could be the most serious surge we have had of COVID-19 yet and we've got to be acting that way, our public officials have to be acting that way. Because we're not turning the corner, we're about to hit the wall.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Doctor, you're in Ann Arbor which, in some ways, is in the middle of this new surge. Just what does it feel like for you?</s>EL-SAYED: Yes. I mean, I'll you what, right? Saturdays in the fall, to me, in Ann Arbor always meant going to the big house. One hundred thousand-120,000 people packing into a football stadium to watch our Michigan Wolverines play football. That hasn't happened yet. And we're about to start playing football but it's not going to be a packed stadium. In fact, the Washtenaw County -- our county in Ann Arbor -- just announced a stay-home order for the next two weeks for students on the University of Michigan campus. This is not normal and it speaks to a broader epidemic underneath this pandemic. We've got institutional -- institutions that have not been ready for where we are and have not been able to respond to the fact that nationally, we have not had a response to COVID-19 that has protected our young people, protected our old people, protected the way we live. And so, this is not a normal fall and I think everybody's feeling that. But it's about to get worse and we have to make sure we're doing what we can to protect ourselves, our families, our loved ones, and our communities.</s>CAMEROTA: There hasn't been a national response -- a coordinated national response, but the president has been strangely consistent about what he believes is going to be the end of this and how we're going to get out of this. So here he is again, last night, saying it's going to magically go away.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will go away. And as I say, we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is the same fellow who told you this is going to end by Easter last time. This is the same fellow who told you that don't worry, we're going to end this by the summer. We're about to go into a dark winter -- a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.</s>CAMEROTA: Doctor, what does President Trump mean, we're rounding the corner?</s>EL-SAYED: I think in his mind, the way he's going to buy himself out of his non-response is through the vaccine. And yes, we have made incredible progress on a vaccine because the NIH is an incredible institution and they've been able to work and orchestrate with the military and with the pharmaceutical corporations who make vaccines to be able to accelerate a process by which we both make the vaccine in terms of research, and then actually manufacture the vaccine at the same time. And we're doing this across multiple vaccines at the same time. Here's the problem, though, is that if you look at poll after poll, it shows that people are less and less willing to take a vaccine. And as I said many times, there's a difference between a vaccine and a vaccination. You've got to get a vaccine in people's arms for it to be useful, and if people aren't willing to take it because of the president's politicization of this vaccine, he's undercutting the vaccine itself. And we know that we need to get 70 to 90 percent of people to take sometimes two doses of some of these vaccines in order for them to work. And so, I worry a lot about whether or not we're actually rounding the corner because all I'm seeing is, Alisyn, the numbers that you showed us -- the numbers going up and up and up. We know that the winter and the fall are going to be harrowing times. We've got models telling us that we could be hitting 385,000 deaths by February. We are not turning the corner. There's going to be a lot of work we need to do. And we need a competent administration to do them and this president hasn't shown that's he willing to lead competently on this issue from the jump.</s>BERMAN: Two things can be true at the same time and very well might be true, which is we may have a vaccine that's widely available by next spring or summer and that's terrific, but that doesn't help us for this winter and fall, which is here. And it's deeply troubling and the numbers are getting into a critical, critical zone. So, Dr. El-Sayed, thank you for being with us and helping us understand what we are seeing now and what needs to be done now. Appreciate it.</s>EL-SAYED: Thanks, John.</s>CAMEROTA: As you know, North Carolina is a critical battleground state. So what did undecided voters -- yes, they exist -- what did they think of the debate last night, and did it finally solidify their plan? That's next.

Undecided Voters In North Carolina React To Final Debate

BERMAN: So as of this morning, more than 2.4 million voters in North Carolina have already cast their ballot. That is 80 percent of the total of the early vote in North Carolina that they had in 2016. Polls show that the race there is very, very close, but after some really hard looking we were able to find some undecided voters. And CNN's Gary Tuchman caught up with some of them and watched the debate with them last night.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four of them identify as Democrats, three as Republicans, four as Independents. All of these North Carolinians still not sure which candidate they want to be president. We watched the final debate with them. The group leaving no doubt who they think did best.</s>TUCHMAN (on camera): Who do you think won the debate? How many of you think Donald Trump won this debate? OK, no hands being raised for that. How many of you think Joe Biden won the debate? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. How many of you feel it was a draw? Two. Two for a draw, zero for Trump, nine for Biden.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): So why did this group feel Joe Biden did so well? James voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but is now concerned about the nation's lack of unity.</s>TUCHMAN (on camera): What do you think the most important moment of this debate was?</s>JAMES: Definitely when Joe Biden was talking about that he's going to be an American president because Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn't support the blue states.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): John also voted for President Trump in 2016. Joe Biden's debate comments about American families around the dinner table meant quite a bit to him.</s>JOHN: And Trump responded with some mockery of that. And I think for me, politics are about relationships and people, and this is all about the American family. So that was quite revealing and disturbing for me to hear.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): Terri voted for Hillary Clinton four years ago but has been undecided because she did not like Joe Biden's role in the 1994 crime bill. But after the debate, she feels differently.</s>TERRI: So what resonated with me was the fact that Joe Biden owned the crime bill and his -- and his role in the crime bill, and that he owned the fact that they made a mistake.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): Nathan voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and is one of the two who feels the debate was a draw. He says the economy must continue opening.</s>NATHAN: Both of them want to open it. I think we need to open faster than slower, not wait for the coronavirus to go away.</s>TUCHMAN (on camera): So that was an important point for you --</s>NATHAN: It is important, yes.</s>TUCHMAN (on camera): -- the president made?</s>NATHAN: Yes.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): When it comes to the major question are any of the 11 now ready to make a decision on who should be president, no response was more interesting than this one from Harrison.</s>HARRISON: Well, I'd like to vote for Joe Biden almost totally, except for the fact that he is going to increase abortion access in America. And so, if -- you know, I'll feel a little bit safer about that not happening if Amy Barrett is on the Supreme Court.</s>TUCHMAN (on camera): So you say if she is confirmed you'll vote for Biden, most likely.</s>HARRISON: Yes.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): So how many of these 11 voters are now ready to cast their votes following this debate? The answer is seven.</s>TUCHMAN (on camera): Of the seven of you who say you're ready to cast your votes, how many are ready to vote for Donald Trump? Zero. How many are ready to vote for Joe Biden? All seven.</s>TUCHMAN (voice-over): As far as the other four, the debates are over but their indecisiveness is not. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Davidson, North Carolina.</s>CAMEROTA: You know I Iove watching these things. I love watching them, I love conducting them. I learn something every time. We weren't pumping in the cricket noise there. There really was cricket noise when Gary was asking how many people are going to vote for President Trump. And it was just fascinating to hear that those moments that Joe Biden seized on about your family around the dinner table, that they do resonate with real voters.</s>BERMAN: I was surprised by the uniformity in the perception that those voters had. I really was. And if you follow the punditry online and post-debate on all the news stations, you wouldn't get the impression that Joe Biden won as clear of a victory in this debate as he did with those undecided voters last night, which is why it was so interesting what they said. So interesting what broke through to them -- really. Appreciate Gary's work on that. So, President Trump offered a new explanation for why he paid so little in taxes. We have a fact-check on that, next.

Trump Claims He Prepaid Millions In Taxes.

CAMEROTA: Developing this morning, more warnings about foreign interference ahead of Election Day. National security officials announcing that Russian state-sponsored hackers have tried to break into dozens of state and local government networks here in the U.S. and have succeeded in stealing data in at least two cases. This week, intelligence officials also accused Iran of being behind thousands of intimidating e-mails sent to voters.</s>BERMAN: So, President Trump claimed last night that he prepaid millions of dollars in taxes. What is the truth? Chief business correspondent and star of EARLY START, normally seen at this time, Christine Romans joins us now with a fact-check -- Romans.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, EARLY START: You know, John, if the president would just release his tax returns it would clear up all of these questions -- so many questions about potential conflicts of interest. He has not. Joe Biden has released 22 years or so of returns. From excellent reporting from "The New York Times," what emerges is the picture of a man who portrays himself as one of the wealthiest presidents in the nation's history but has avoided paying federal income tax for decades. In fact, paying just $750 in 2016 and 2017. Last night, the president made this claim.</s>TRUMP: They keep talking about $750, which I think is a filing fee. But let me just tell you, I prepaid millions and millions of dollars in taxes.</s>ROMANS: A filing fee. John, the IRS does not charge taxpayers a filing fee. That's from tax preparation services like H&R Block, not the IRS. Reporting by "The New York Times" shows the president is a serial tax avoider who has presided over hundreds of millions of dollars of losses over the years and is crushed by a mountain of debt. That "Times" tax bombshell revealed a few things. The president is adept at losing lots of money. The system rewards rich people who lose lots of money. They can write off those losses. And the average citizen has paid more to support America's military, roads, school, and democracy than the president has. Again, if he would release his returns he could clear that up if he disagrees. Then once again, without evidence, he claimed he's under audit and that he would release his tax returns once that audit is over. He can -- it is his choice and it provides the public with transparency into the president's business dealings and potential conflicts. Of course, the president then turned around and attacked Joe Biden on his son's alleged dealings with China. Earlier this week, we learned from the "Times" that Trump had pursued a range of business projects in China for years and even maintains a previously unknown Chinese bank account, even operating an office there during his first run for president. A Trump Organization lawyer told the "Times" the company opened that account to pay local taxes and no deals ever materialized. But again, if he'd just release his tax returns it would give the American people an awful lot of transparency and clarity into his business dealings.</s>BERMAN: Yes, he could release his taxes today. Do not hold your breath, Christine Romans --</s>ROMANS: No.</s>BERMAN: -- on that. Thank you very much for that fact-check. Appreciate it. So it was the final debate between President Trump and Joe Biden, perhaps the last time they'll be on stage together until the inauguration. But whose?</s>CAMEROTA: Oh, dun, dun, dun.</s>BERMAN: We'll tell you much more about who viewers thought won this final debate, next.

Trump and Biden Clash in Final Presidential Debate; More than 71,000 Cases in U.S, Worst Day Since Summer.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: Tthe first debate, Donald Trump. But according to the poll, he didn't beat the guy he's actually running against. Once again, the president made the false claim that we're rounding the corner and the coronavirus will go away. Vice President Pence warned that a dark winter is coming. We'll let you answer that.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: Thank you.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's not a serious scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon.</s>KRISTEN WELKER, MSNBC HOST: President Trump, your reaction?</s>DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I didn't say over soon. I say, we're learning to live with it. We have no choice. We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does.</s>BIDEN: He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. You folks home will have an empty chair at the kitchen table this morning. That man or wife going to bed tonight and reaching over to try to touch their -- out of habit, where their wife or husband was, is gone. Learning to live with it? Come on. We're dying with it.</s>BERMAN: Coronavirus deaths are increasing in more than half the country this morning. Overnight, more than 71,000 new cases were reported. That's the highest number since the summer. That's the fourth worst day since the pandemic began. More than 41,000 people are hospitalized. That's the highest number in two months. Eight states are reporting record hospitalizations.</s>CAMEROTA: Joining us now, CNN Political Analyst Maggie Haberman, she's a White House Correspondent for The New York Times, and CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, I want to start with you. There were all sorts of talk about before the debate about what President Trump's style would be, if he was going to listen to his advisers, if he was going to do anything differently. What's the feedback last night and today? Do they think that he accomplished what he had to?</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that was the Donald Trump that they had hoped to see at the first debate and, really, for the last several months of this election, because the president was more restrained than he was the first debate. Of course, the bar was incredibly low for that given it was pretty much incoherent at the first debate. But I think the president's advisers walked away believing that the president did a much more effective job of painting Joe Biden as this career politician who didn't get anything done during his time in office, which was the president's original line of attack several months ago. The question, though, of course, is whether or not it's too late for the president to be making that argument to the voters that he needs to actually go and vote for him on Election Day or, you know, over the last several weeks, if people have been doing absentee voting and early voting. So I think people are happy with the president's performance last night, certainly his advisers. But the question is, is it too late for them to actually make a difference with that performance now.</s>BERMAN: And, Maggie, your story overnight gets to this fact. And as I noted before, ultimately, the question isn't whether second debate Donald Trump beat first debate Donald Trump, that would have been hard not to do. It's do we do against Joe Biden and who presented the most compelling argument for how to lead the country over the next four years. And, look, polls are poll. Our polls seem to think that viewers thought that Joe Biden won the debate. There are two different questions, right? Did Donald Trump improve? Did he improve enough?</s>MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Look, John, you raise a point that I think is equally important, which is Joe Biden did better too. Joe Biden did not have a great first debate. A lot of Democrats will admit that privately. And he performed much better last night than he had the first time. So even as Donald Trump was casting a better version of himself, and he definitely was, he was calmer, he was much more on point, he stuck to what he had clearly prepared to say for the most part. Biden was also better. And Biden was able to rebut a lot of what the president was saying. There were moments where Joe Biden didn't do as well as his advisers might have wanted him to do. There were certainly moments that way with Donald Trump. So far, this race has been Trump against Trump. And I don't think last night did a whole lot to change that.</s>CAMEROTA: Maggie, I want to stick with you for a second in terms of those missed opportunities for the candidates. Let's play a missed opportunity, if that's what you want to call it, or a misstep from President Trump, where Joe Biden was talking about what's going to be happening around the dinner table and coronavirus and the loss from that.</s>BIDEN: There's a reason why he's bringing up all of this malarkey. There's a reason for it. He doesn't want to talk about the substantive issues. It's not about his family and my family. It's about your family. And your family is hurting badly. We should be talking about your families, but that's the last thing he wants to talk about.</s>TRUMP: Typical political statement. Let's get off this China thing and then he looks, the family, around the table, everything, just a typical politician when I see it.</s>CAMEROTA: What did you think of that exchange, Maggie?</s>HABERMAN: It was an odd moment for President Trump to try to make fun of Joe Biden as a typical politician for telling voters that it's more important to talk about their own circumstances in the middle of a pandemic and an economic recession. I think there was a moment where the president could have taken that and said something to the effect of, I understand what people are going through, but, and then try to continue with the case he was hoping to make about Joe Biden's son. Joe Biden did what his advisers wanted him to do, which is to say essentially, you're raising an issue about my child that has no role here. And the president just couldn't pivot and find a way to get back into it. I think that was more than a missed opportunity. I think that that was something where the president potentially harmed himself, depending on whether we see that moment show up in ads.</s>BERMAN: You know what's interesting is, we saw it show up in a focus group last night that Gary Tuchman did with undecided voters in North Carolina. And the man you're about to hear from pointed this moment out, out of the blue. I mean, Gary didn't bring it up. This guy brought it up. And this is someone who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. So listen to how this undecided voter going into the debate saw that very moment Maggie is talking about.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump responded with some mockery of that. And I think, for me, politics are about relationships and people and this is all about the American family. So that was quite revealing and disturbing for me to hear.</s>BERMAN: I was struck by that, Kaitlan, Gary's focus group, hearing people watch the debate. I think people watched these debates differently than reporters often do. And different things strike them in different ways. What did you see here there?</s>COLLINS: Yes. And I think the president has always had trouble striking this empathetic tone. And you saw it the way he was talking about coronavirus last night, you know, right off the bat. And I think that was one of the biggest issues to voters. And people always talk about how most people who aren't reporters, who are just watching the debates may not watch all 90 minutes of it. And the president was more successful in landing his attacks on Joe Biden at the end of the debate. But at the beginning, when it's coronavirus, that is something that affects every single person who was watching. And so when the president was saying things like a vaccine will be ready in a few weeks, and then he was pressed on that and he said, actually, he could not guarantee that it would be ready in a few weeks, he was going back to his timeline that he said before about, by the end of the year, compared to what medical experts have said. You know, that's a moment where that matters to voters, that the president is being straight forward with them about what is actually happening with the pandemic. And you saw the president rely on tactics that he's used before to talk about his response to coronavirus. And I think that could have been one of the more effective parts for Joe Biden, where the president was relying on things that he said before, and we know that voters do not like the way the president has handled the pandemic largely. And, of course, that changes when you look at which voters, if they're likely Biden or likely Trump voters, and there's a really wide gap, according to the latest CNN polling of how those voters prioritize the pandemic, but, of course, the president's voters doing less so than likely Biden voters. But I do think it's a moment that matters to everyone who was watching.</s>CAMEROTA: Here is a moment that may have been a misstep, Maggie, for Joe Biden. At least the Trump campaign thinks it is. So listen to this.</s>BIDEN: Transition, from their own industry (ph), yes.</s>TRUMP: Oh, that's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: That is a big statement. Because I would stop --</s>WELKER: Why would you do that?</s>BIDEN: Because the oil industry pollutes significantly.</s>TRUMP: Oh, I see.</s>BIDEN: And here is the deal.</s>TRUMP: That's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: If you would let me finish the statement, because it has to be replaced by renewable energy, over time, over time. And I would stop giving to the oil industry, I would stop giving them federal subsidies.</s>CAMEROTA: What did that moment mean, Maggie?</s>HABERMAN: Look, that was -- I was going to point to that moment a few seconds ago. That was a moment that I think that Joe Biden might end up regretting, depending on whether people believe that there is still enough time to suffer anything in this race. But I think that the Trump campaign already, from the folks I've heard, from pointing to that moment as something they hope to highlight in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania, places where this might resonate with voters. I think that it was an unforced error. And it is part of why they have been trying to force attention on Biden and what he will do in the coming years. To be clear, Alisyn, again, I'm not sure it's enough to change the trajectory of the race, but they are hoping to flush it into voters' minds in the final 11 days here.</s>BERMAN: It is interesting, and I don't disagree, it was a notable moment. It was one of those notable over 90 minutes where you sit up in your chair a little bit, like, oh, this is interesting. I was reminded though that fracking is actually underwater in Pennsylvania. It has a net negative in Pennsylvania. 52 percent of voters of Pennsylvania disapprove of racking, 48 percent approve. I know the Trump campaign is leaning into this as a moment and will use this over the next few days. Maybe it's less clear about how effective it will be. We'll have to see. Kaitlan, Maggie brought up the whole 90 minutes and you brought up the fact you watched the whole 90 minutes. The actual very end of the debate was notable, how each candidate -- and this gets to something that Maggie was saying too, just about the overall tone and how they approach things. The closing argument that they made when Kristen Welker asked, what will your message be to America on inauguration, listen to this.</s>WELKER: Imagine this is your inauguration. What will you say in your address to Americans who did not vote for you?</s>TRUMP: I'm cutting taxes and he wants to raise everybody's taxes. And he wants to put new regulations on everything. He will kill it. If he gets in, you will have a depression the likes of which you've never seen. Your 401(k)s will go to hell. And it will be a very, very sad day for this country.</s>BIDEN: I will say, I'm an American president. I represent all of you, whether you voted for me or against me. and I'm going to make sure that you're represented. I'm going to give you hope. We're going to move. We're going to choose science over fiction. We're going to choose hope over fear. We're going to choose to move forward because we have enormous opportunities, enormous opportunities to make things better.</s>BERMAN: It was interesting, and maybe that both candidates did what they wanted to do. President Trump just wants to make that economic contrast, but Joe Biden was the one who actually answered the question directly.</s>COLLINS: Right. And I thought that was a great last question by Kristen Welker to really give an indication of where their mindsets are and how they're viewing the presidency, which is something we don't always -- it sometimes gets lost in the other topics of the debate. But the president knows that he has polled strongest with voters on his dealing with the economy. His advisers have hammered that home with the president. They've said, that's what he should focus on with the pandemic. And so that's why, obviously, the president chose to focus on that. But another thing that people do actually care about and they often prioritize when they're polled is unity in the country, and the way the country is so polarized and so divided right now. And that's what Joe Biden was appealing to. And so the question is, what makes voters -- what drives voters to the polls more? Is it unity or is it their wallets, is the argument that the president was making. But I do think that was such a great last question. It really was indicative of where their mindsets are.</s>BERMAN: An example. What happens when a debate moderator moderates, also?</s>CAMEROTA: Yes. I'm so glad that Kaitlan brought that up, because Kristen Welker -- huge props to Kristen Welker. We talked a lot about when a moderator doesn't do it right, she did it right.</s>BERMAN: Some big moments on immigration, on health care, much more just ahead.

More than 71,000 New Cases in U.S.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, developing overnight, a staggering 71,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the United States. That is the highest number since the summer. That's the fourth worst day of the entire pandemic. More than 41,000 people are hospitalized this morning. That is the highest number in two months. Eight states are reporting record hospitalizations. So joining us now, Dr. Carlos Del Rio. He is the executive associate dean at Emory University Medical School and a contributor to the Moderna vaccine trial in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health. These numbers, Dr. Del Rio, are deeply troubling. You look at the number of new cases, 71,000, that's a big number. And 41,000 hospitalizations, that is a big number. And they're both trending upwards. The president keeps on saying, even at the debate last night, we're turning a corner. I don't know that these graphs are telling that story.</s>DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Yes. Unfortunately, John, we're not. And, you know, if we're turning the corner, the corner is turning uphill, right, not downhill. And I'm very concerned that the increase in cases and the outbreak, really uncontrolled outbreak in the Midwest and the Great Plains, is really troublesome. We -- we are easily going to reach, you know, 90,000 to maybe 100,000 case if we -- if we don't stop this. And it's -- it's not going to be easy. But, again, it -- it goes back -- this goes -- goes back to the basics. We have to wear masks. We have to social distance. We have to wash our hands. We have to avoid crowds. We have to avoid close conglomerate settings. If we do that, we can actually control transmission and then wait for a vaccine. But, right now, we're really not doing what we need to do. We're letting the virus run, you know, run its course. And that's -- that's costing hospitalizations and it's going to cost a lot of deaths, too.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: But, Doctor, when you say we could reach 90 to 100,000 cases, when? What's your projection?</s>DEL RIO: Well, at the current projection, the way it's growing right now, Alisyn, I suspect it will be before, you know, before November 1st that we will be there, or right around the election time that we'll be at that level.</s>BERMAN: That's a lot. I mean that's quick. I mean that's quick, Dr. Del Rio.</s>DEL RIO: Well, you've got to think that, you know, this is a virus that if -- if you -- if you have one person infected and that person then doesn't isolate, doesn't wear a mask, within, you know, four days, that person has infected about 2.5 to 3 people. And within a month, as a result of that one person being infected, 400 people have gotten infected. And that's what we call exponential growth. So if you have one person infected, and there's no precautions, that one person leads to 400 infections.</s>CAMEROTA: That's just amazing. Last night President Trump talked about his timeline for a vaccine. So listen to this.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a vaccine that's coming. It's ready. It's going to be announced within weeks. And it's going to be delivered. We have Operation Warp Speed, which is -- the military is going to distribute the vaccine.</s>CAMEROTA: You, Doctor, are involved in the Moderna vaccine trial. Are we weeks away?</s>DEL RIO: Well, I think -- for one thing I would say that we have really development of a vaccine is one of the most successful stories in this pandemic. And when we talk about all the failures, I think the way vaccines have been developed is absolutely incredible. We went from finding a new virus in January to getting a first vaccine to humans in March, to starting phase three trials in July. And, yesterday, the Moderna vaccine study actually completed the enrollment of 30,000 participants. Again, that was an incredibly fast speed of enrolling people. Pfizer also has completed enrollment. Now we have two vaccine studies, the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which that are on hold because of a side effect. So the way the vaccine race is heating up and is going, we will either have Moderna or Pfizer ready to look at the data. The DSMB (ph) probably will look at the data sometime in middle to late November, early December. There was a meeting of the advisory committee yesterday. So I suspect the president's a little optimistic. We'll probably have a vaccine, if everything goes well, we'll probably is a vaccine ready for approval early next year and we'll probably start rolling out immunizations in March. But I want to caution people that it is not going to be until the middle of next year to the third quarter of next year that we get it to the general population. And this is a vaccine that both of those vaccines need two doses, both of those vaccines need refrigeration in a minus 70. So this is not a vaccine you're going to be able to go to Walgreens or CVS to get. This is a vaccine they're going to be getting at a very specific sites that the states are going to set up for vaccination.</s>BERMAN: Dr. Del Rio, thank you for that. Really appreciate you being with us this morning.</s>DEL RIO: Glad to be with you.</s>BERMAN: So from white lies to outright whoppers, so much to fact check in this debate. That's next.

Democrats' Edge Narrows in Key States

BERMAN: So 11 days left to vote and by some counts the number of votes cast early already is around all the early votes cast four years ago, at least in the places where they kept track. More importantly, the amount of votes that's in already is about 35 percent of all the votes cast four years ago. And, again, 11 days left to go. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us with the latest here. And, Kristen, what's important is there are two ways to vote early, by mail and in person. And what's happening is, each of those methods are telling a little bit of a different story and things seem (ph) to be tight.</s>KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. And so the pattern we really had been seeing when it came to early voting, and this, of course, included mail-in ballots, was that Democrats were far outpacing Republicans in terms of actually casting these early ballots. That is no longer the case, particularly in the swing states of Florida and North Carolina, where we have really seen that ramped up early, in-person voting. North Carolina, for example, just between last Monday and today, the margin between Democrats and Republicans, it has been cut in half. Now, we still want to point out that the mail-in ballot system, that is still largely being utilized by Democrats. And, John, when we talk about early voting, when we talk about what's going on across the country, it's really important to talk about all of the different cases that are shaping this election, court cases. And I want to mention one that is out of Texas, another state that's seen a huge influx of early voting. The Supreme Court there, in the state, ruling to allow curbside voting. Now, this was something that was put in place by Harris County because of the pandemic. They said it was safer, that it was socially distant, and Republicans had sued to stop it. And just to keep in mind here, Harris County is the most populous county in the state, the third most populous county in the entire country. So now the Supreme Court is saying that this is allowed. So different from what we just talked about yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court said that curbside voting in Alabama was no longer going to be an option. But I do want to note, this is super important for Texans because 73,000 of them have already voted using the system.</s>BERMAN: Kristen, thank you very much for being with us, interrupting your nonstop counting of the early vote to give us the latest report. Appreciate it. So, this morning, Europe struggling to contain record-breaking surges in coronavirus cases. We have reports from around the world, next.

Coronavirus Update from Around the World.

CAMEROTA: This morning, coronavirus cases are rising across much of Europe as stricter restrictions go into place. We have CNN reporters across the world covering all of the new developments for you.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Scott McLean in Berlin, where Germany has recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 death toll since May. Europe is throwing restrictions, curfews, and even lockdowns of the coronavirus, but so far, the numbers continue to rise. France saw record-high cases this week and is now extended a 9:00 p.m. curfew to most of the country, now affecting 46 million people. Eastern Europe is seeing a spike in coronavirus deaths that it never saw in the spring. Poland is seeing four times more new COVID-19 deaths now than it did at the peak of the first wave. The Czech Republic is seeing six times more.</s>SELMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I'm Selma Abdelaziz. In Manchester, where England's toughest coronavirus restrictions went into force today. Pubs and bars must shut down and households are virtually banned from mixing together. The restrictions came into place after a dramatic ten-day standoff where the mayor of greater Manchester outright refused to implement the governor's plans and demanded a larger financial package instead. He failed to reach a deal and the prime minister intervened to unilaterally force this city into these tougher measures.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Seoul. South Korea has reported a jump in new coronavirus cases from Thursday, the highest in more than a month. And 155 new cases, the vast majority of them locally transmitted. Health officials say that the reason for this increase is cluster infections in high-risk facilities. These are places like nursing hospitals or day care centers for the elderly. Authorities say they have been stepping up testing in those particular facilities and they're hoping to complete that program by the end of this month.</s>CAMEROTA: Our thanks to all of our correspondents around the globe. And NEW DAY continues right now.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He says, we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. You folks home will have an empty chair at the kitchen table.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump had said 38 times that it was going away. It was wrong eight months ago and it's wrong today. We're now back above 60,000 confirmed new cases per day.</s>DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Both of them were better than they were last time, but I thought that Joe Biden held his own. And that's all he had to do.</s>BIDEN: Kids were ripped from their arms and separated. And now they cannot find over 500 sets of those parents. It's criminal!</s>TRUMP: They are so well taken care of. They're in facilities that were so clean.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.</s>CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to your NEW DAY. The final presidential debate was tense, but much more calm and more substantiate. President Trump toned down the outrage. He tried to portray Biden as the ultimate insider and himself as an outsider, though he's been in the White House for four years. President Trump offered little in the way of concrete plans for a second term. Joe Biden challenged the president on his record, in particular his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. And 223,000 Americans have died and Joe Biden tried to channel those families.</s>BERMAN: So CNN's post-debate poll was pretty clear about who viewers thought won the debate. Joe Biden by 14 points. And it's interesting, right? The second debate Trump might have bested the first debate Donald Trump, but according to the poll, he didn't beat the guy he's actually running against. Once again, the president made the false claim that we're rounding.

U.S. State Department Issues Security Alert Warning of Credible Terror Threat against Americans in Turkey.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: For all the talk about style, ultimately the question is who present a better vision for the future, essentially the new challenges facing the country with the pandemic getting worse by the day.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: They disagreed on how to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The president played down the coronavirus, insisting without proof that we are rounding the corner and that it will, quote, go away. Former Vice President Biden claims the Trump administration failed America in their response to the pandemic.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's not another serious scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump, your reaction.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't say over soon. I saw we are learning to live with it. We have no choice. We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does.</s>BIDEN: He says we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. You folks home will have an empty chair at the kitchen table this morning, that man or wife going to bed tonight and reaching over to try to touch their -- out of habit where their wife or husband was is gone. Learning to live with it? Come on. We're dying with it.</s>CAMEROTA: Deaths are increasing in more than half the country, and more than 223,000 Americans have died. Biden says anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president. Overnight more than 71,000 new cases were reported, that is the fourth worst day since the pandemic began. More than 41,000 people are hospitalized, that's the most in two months. Eight states are reporting record hospitalizations. Joining us now to talk about this and so much more, we have former democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, Pete Buttigieg. He is a can you remember gat for Biden-Harris campaign. Mayor, great to see you.</s>PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Same here. Nice to be here.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, scale of one to 10, 10 being the highest, what number do you give former V.P. Biden for last night?</s>BUTTIGIEG: Of course I will give him a 10 because he is my pick for president, but also because what he did last night I think shows who he is. You were just playing that clip where he showed that he has the emotional equipment as well as the competence to deal with something like the coronavirus. He actually knows what it's like to reach across out of habit for your spouse and they are not there anymore. And over and over again, whether we were talking about family separation or what's at stake with dealing with the pandemic, or economic issues, he was very clearly just more in touch with the American people. There was that moment where he squared up and addressed America about kitchen table issues. And Donald Trump did something that was revealing, as well as, I think, bad politics, but more importantly revealed something about his character. He mocked Joe Biden for doing that because Donald Trump literally has no idea what it's like to sit at a kitchen table and try to do the bills. So Donald Trump had to fundamentally change the trajectory of the race last night. That didn't happen, and it's why, you know, we continue to see the V.P. in the lead. But we also know not to take anything for granted, it all comes down to voting.</s>CAMEROTA: Is that the moment that the Biden team will seize on in these next days? Should we expect to see that in ads? Is that the moment that you all thought was the most winning?</s>BUTTIGIEG: Personally, I thought it was a very powerful moment. Also the V.P.'s closing argument when he said this is about character, and you know him and you know me. I think it was a powerful moment because it's so obviously true. And, remember, part of what we have going for us is that the American people agree with Joe Biden on just about every major issue, whether it's what to do about health care, the fact that the pandemic response has been inexcusable, the need for wages to go up and not to just be cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations, which is Donald Trump's only economic policy. On issue after issue after issue people are already with us. This was a chance to remind people of that. And yes, you didn't see the fireworks, and thank God you didn't see the chaos of the first debate, but I do think this debate served us well, too.</s>CAMEROTA: Debate watchers did think that President Trump scored some points, one of which was saying to Joe Biden, you had your chance. You've been in government for a long time. So here are some of those moments.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Excuse, he was there for 47 years. He didn't do it. It was just a little while ago, right, less than four years ago, he didn't do anything. He had eight years he was vice president. He did nothing. You guys did nothing. Joe, I ran because of you. You are all talk and no action, Joe.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We got a lot of it done.</s>TRUMP: You didn't get anything done.</s>CAMEROTA: At some point former V.P. Biden said, well, we had a Republican Congress. But not for all eight years they didn't. Would you have liked to have seen a different or stronger response to that?</s>BUTTIGIEG: Well, that's the amazing thing, right, even with a Congress fighting them at every step it's extraordinary what was achieved during the Obama-Biden administration. And again, look no further than the Affordable Care Act. One of the things, one of the many things achieved while Joe Biden was vice president was that health care was expanded and made available to millions of Americans those same millions of Americans who are worried about what will happen if Donald Trump succeeds and the Republicans succeed in taking that health caraway, which they failed to do in the Senate, largely because of that big thumbs down from John McCain, and are now instead trying to do in the courts which is part of what's at stake in this Supreme Court nomination. It is just one more piece of evidence of how out of touch Donald Trump is with American life, to have no clue what it meant in our actual lives out here in the Midwest, for example, when the Obama-Biden administration rescued the auto industry, brought us back from the great recession, and expanded health care coverage to millions of Americans.</s>CAMEROTA: Do you know how Joe Biden plans to spend the next 11 days? Should we expect to see him out more physically on the campaign trail as opposed to what was this week?</s>BUTTIGIEG: I think you will continue to see a mix of more traditional campaigning in a new form and virtual campaigning and media appearances. Look, both candidates are campaigning, but the difference is our side is doing it in a way that respects the health and safety of our voters and our supporters. And it's the same for me. I love hitting the campaign trail. It feels really different. I was in Wisconsin yesterday, Michigan the other day, and, of course, it's different with social distancing, masks, and other safety precautions. But this is a chance for Joe Biden to do what presidents ought to do, which is to model and lead by example as well as describing what they're going to do.</s>CAMEROTA: There was another moment last night that it seemed like the Biden campaign felt they had to clean up after the debate, this one about oil. So listen to this.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would transition from the oil industry, yes.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, that's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: That is a big statement.</s>TRUMP: That's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: Because I would stop --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would you do that?</s>BIDEN: Because the oil industry pollutes significantly.</s>TRUMP: I see.</s>BIDEN: Here is the deal --</s>TRUMP: That's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: Well, if you let me finish the statement, because it has to be replaced by renewable energy over time. Over time. And I'd stop giving to the oil industry, I'd stop giving them federal subsidies.</s>CAMEROTA: Was that answer a misstep somehow?</s>BUTTIGIEG: Look, I think he stated a simple and important truth, which is that America in order to continue job growth and in order for there to be a future needs to move to a renewable energy economy. And by the way, there's going to be more opportunity for workers in that renewable energy economy than ever. Certainly if you are my age or any younger, it is blindingly obvious that we are going to need to make major transitions in American energy, and of course a lot of those are under way. Again, here in the Midwest you look at what's going on with wind energy, for example, but also even the major energy companies see this. So President Trump is trying to cling to this vision that nothing has to change, and then he makes really strange remarks like windmills killing all the birds and something about windows that I don't even understand, that show that he is literally incapable of even grasping the nature of the problem, and therefore will never be able to serve up a solution. And remember, there is no do-over on climate. We are literally entering the event horizon. We have got a matter of just a few short years before these things become irreversible. And what I love about Joe Biden's way of talking about the climate is he makes clear that this is not a choice between doing what's right for the climate and doing what's right for the economy. The only way to have an economy continue to grow is to have an economy wired up to the benefits of the many transitions and improvements we have got to make.</s>CAMEROTA: Mayor Pete Buttigieg, thank you very much for coming on NEW DAY this morning.</s>BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. It's a pleasure.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BERMAN: We do have breaking news just into CNN. The State Department just issued a security alert warning of a credible terror threat against Americans in Turkey. So let's get right to CNN's Nic Robertson with the breaking details. Nic, what do we know?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this is a threat that could be kidnappings or direct attack on U.S. citizens. What the U.S. embassy is advising American citizens in Turkey to do at the moment is not to gather in places where foreigners and Americans might gather, in office buildings or in shopping malls, places like that. So that's number one. If you are an American citizen in Turkey you should be aware of this and you should take appropriate action and not loiter in those sorts of places. What we also understand is because of this threat and it's being taken as being very credible, is that the embassy in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, will be closed, and the consulate general in Istanbul, in Adana and Izmir on the coast, they are also going to shut as well. There will be no services for American citizens at those facilities for the foreseeable future, they've been suspended. Also visa services obviously for Turkish citizens, American visa services for Turkish citizens, that all has been put on hold. It's not clear how long this threat is active for, but this is coming to effect very quickly, very immediately. I have to say this isn't the first time we have seen these threats against Americans in Turkey. Over the past decade or so I would say there's been at least two occasions on my recollection where, again, the embassy and the consulate generals have been shut down because of credible threats. The Turkish authorities work very closely with U.S. authorities in Turkey. There is generally speaking, certainly with these sorts of scenarios, a good sharing of information about current threats. One can think about the attack within the past couple of years on the Istanbul Airport, a major terrorist attack there. There was a terrorist attack at a New Year's Eve party in Istanbul just a few years ago. So the threats are very credible. We know that ISIS is just across the border and Al Qaeda just across the border in the southern end of Turkey in Syria. We know, we understand, that there have been missions recently to take out high value Al Qaeda and ISIS targets by U.S. forces inside Syria. So it's not clear where the threat is coming from or how long it will last, but very clear advice, don't loiter in places where foreigners might gather.</s>BERMAN: Let me follow up on that last point you were making, because I am curious if there is any sense about where exactly this threat is coming from. You talk about the geographic proximity of ISIS in some Al Qaeda bases, and there are other terror groups over the decades, frankly, that have operated in and out of Turkey as well.</s>ROBERTSON: Well, the Turkish government designates the PUK a terrorist organization, a Kurdish group. Generally, they are not perceived as being a threat to U.S. citizens. The Kurds, generally speaking, rely very heavily for support from the United States. So it would seem at this stage that it would be unlikely to be them who are targeting the United States. But it really isn't -- to be targeting U.S. citizens -- but it really isn't clear at the moment. I do think as we look at it right now knowing that Turkey, and it admits this, it knows that it has an ISIS threat close at hand, it knows there is a potential Al Qaeda threat close at hand. Those seem to be the most likely groups that could be involved. But, yes, Turkey has become a transit point and a hub for a myriad of different groups.</s>BERMAN: This alert just in, of course, unclear exactly how many Americans in general are traveling right now in any country given the pandemic, but certainly embassy and consulate personnel, they should be on alert today. Nic Robertson, thank you very much for this report, please keep us posted. I know information is still coming in. All right, 11 days left to vote in the U.S. election, and we have now seen the final set piece, the final debate, the last best chance to change the trajectory of this race. What's different this morning? We will discuss next.

Trump and Biden Clash in Final Presidential Debate; Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg Interviewed on Joe Biden's Debate Performance

BERMAN: For the final time, we saw President Trump and Joe Biden on a stage together before the election. It was the final debate, the last best chance to change the trajectory of this race, and what we want to play for you now is the actual end of this debate, which in some ways encapsulated the entire feel of the 90 minutes. Watch.</s>WELKER: Imagine this is your inauguration day, what will you say in your address to Americans who did not vote for you.</s>TRUMP: I'm cutting taxes and he wants to raise everybody's taxes and he wants to put new regulations on everything. He will kill it. If he gets in you will have a depression the likes of which you've never seen. Your 401Ks will go to hell and it'll be a very, very sad day for this country.</s>BIDEN: I will say I'm an American President, I represent all of you whether you voted for me or against me, and I'm going to make sure that you're represented. I'm going to give you hope. We're going to move, we're going to choose science over fiction, we're going to choose hope over fear, we're going to choose to move forward because we have enormous opportunities, enormous opportunities to make things better.</s>BERMAN: Joining us now, Susan Page, she is the Washington bureau chief for "USA Today", and she recently moderated the vice presidential debate. Also with us, CNN political commentator, Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, and CNN political commentator, Bakari Sellers, former Democratic state representative from South Carolina. Susan, I want to start with you here with the end. Let's begin at the end here from the debate last night. It was interesting to watch them answer that question about what you will say at the inauguration. Donald Trump chose to use that moment to attack Joe Biden. I doubt if he wins or maybe he will when he is inaugurated, he will attack Joe Biden during the inauguration. Joe Biden used that moment to talk about bringing the country together. It may be that that's exactly what they wanted to both of them in this debate last night. What do you see?</s>SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, USA TODAY: Yes, absolutely. It was Mr. Attack versus Mr. Empathy. And for President Trump focusing on the issue that's good for him, the economy, but you did hear Vice President Biden swing right back to the cost of this COVID-19 pandemic and all it has meant to the country. So, yes, I think the closing, as you say, encapsulated the message of each candidate and outlined the choice that voters face in just 11 days.</s>CAMEROTA: Scott, I know that you think that last night was the best night of President Trump's entire campaign. So what did you think was so effective?</s>SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, for one glorious moment we actually here in the Republican Party got a chance to see a real policy debate, Donald Trump let Joe Biden talk, just as we talked about yesterday on the show, and for the last, you know, 18 months, he let Joe Biden talk, he rebutted the points, he talked about the issues and the accomplishments that he has, he even talked about the negative consequences of the Biden agenda in the future. It was a normal debate. Trump made solid conservative Republican points. The moderator, I think, handled it great, just as Susan did, by the way, on the vice presidential debate the other day. It was -- it was like a normal night and in a normal environment where you're debating policy, Republicans will do just fine. Now, a lot of folks have voted, a lot of folks have made up their mind, I don't know if it's going to change public opinion dramatically, but for one glorious night, we had a real policy debate and I think Donald Trump won it.</s>BERMAN: When Scott said I don't know that it will change things dramatically, Bakari Sellers smiled. So, Bakari, how did you see things last night?</s>BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, we are a morning show. I've got to show off this smile this morning and brighten people's day up, Berman. I saw last night, and this is what we -- we suffer from the soft bigotry of low expectations when it comes to Donald Trump. Donald Trump really cannot clearly articulate any talking points beyond that of the Fox News morning shows and what it shows is last night, and I pinpointed this as he was talking, Donald Trump literally cannot talk to anyone outside of his base, and that's the problem. Donald Trump has no ability to expand his base. And what Joe Biden has done is understand that he has a base that is energized, is focused, but he's also reaching out to Middle America, he's also reaching out trying to expand his base, which is why he has this lead that is so large nationwide. You heard Donald Trump last night with talking points such as AOC plus three. He was talking about Black Lives Matter and using the language that resonates on Fox News. You know, he cannot talk about issues or policy in a way that expands his base and, last but not least, and this is the number one issue outside of coronavirus and kind of intertwined with coronavirus, and I don't know if Scott can answer this question, but the Republican Party has no answer on health care -- just absolutely none. They can say Obamacare is bad, they can say they want to get rid of Obamacare, that's all good, whatever. But they don't know -- they have no plan and they haven't had a plan for ten years and they get tripped up on this all the time and it's devastating to watch them not get out of their own way on health care.</s>CAMEROTA: Hold that thought, Scott, we want to take a quick look at Vice President Mike Pence, he is in Indiana right now and he has just voted along with Karen Pence there at his side. He just dropped his ballot into the ballot box. Gave a thumbs up, posed for a picture. He has just voted. I will take this moment just to deviate for a second, Susan, because you moderated the vice presidential debate, just to get your thoughts on Kristen Welker and what she did last night.</s>PAGE: I thought Kristen did a fantastic job. I think she was in control from the start. She was very well-prepared. I thought could not have done a better job of moderating. I also thought the mute button worked pretty well. I had been a little bit of a skeptic about how that would work, but I think it imposed a kind of order on the debate that was really -- that was really helpful in setting more constructive tone than we had at the first presidential debate. I think when the debate began and it seemed pretty normal I think all of America took a little sigh of relief.</s>BERMAN: I will note, Bakari Sellers, dropping the soft bigotry of low expectations the George W. Bush, quote, on a George W. Bush guy. Scott Jennings there --</s>JENNINGS: That's my line. He's quoting my lines.</s>BERMAN: I saw what you did there. I saw what you did there, Bakari. Scott, answer the health care question because that was something that was a part of the discussion last night and we talk about unforced errors, you know, Donald Trump released the "60 Minutes" interview yesterday in its totality and in that "60 Minutes" interview says I hope the Supreme Court throws out the entirety of Obamacare.</s>JENNINGS: Well, it's no surprise Republicans don't like Obamacare and Donald Trump has said that many times, most Republicans have said that is correct they've voted that way. Bakari is not wrong, on health care Republicans have one thing going for them and one thing going against them. Going for them is most people don't like Obamacare, okay, I know this because I watched the Democratic presidential primary and everybody ran against it, even Joe Biden says we have to change Obamacare and the rest of them want to throw it out and replace it with something else. Sound familiar? This is what Republicans have had going for them because it just hasn't worked out the way Obama and Biden said. What they have going against them is this word salad talking around what would you replace it with? And the Republicans, as Bakari noted, have never put forward a comprehensive plan that has been satisfactory to the national debate on this and it's been used as a bludgeoning tool in all these campaigns, it manifested itself in the House races in 2018, it's one of the things they are using against obviously Donald Trump right now. So, there is an old saying where I come from. It's called you can't beat something with nothing. This is why Obamacare passed in the first place because Republicans didn't have an alternative and it's an Achilles' heel. So Bakari is right about that on the forward-looking stuff, but looking backwards health care -- I mean, you know, a lot of people in this country don't like the way, it's all turned out and Trump got that part right.</s>CAMEROTA: I'm sure Bakari will be quoting you back to yourself in a few years from now.</s>BERMAN: Bakari got that right part.</s>JENNINGS: Do you think we are going to be running against each other or something?</s>CAMEROTA: Maybe.</s>SELLERS: Bakari is right and take a break.</s>CAMEROTA: Oh, no, we're not done. We're not done, Bakari. OK. Let's do an interesting mental exercise and have you switch roles. Bakari, do you think that President Trump did anything effective last night?</s>SELLERS: Oh, I think so. I think that his temperament last night was what people wanted to see. He was more deliberate, part of it was the mute button, part of it was actually listening to Scott Jennings and other people just telling him that he has to shut up sometimes. So I think that that temperament that we saw come out was way more refreshing because we got a chance to hear people, hear people talk, we got a chance to hear Joe Biden talk, we got a chance to hear Donald Trump talk. So I just believe that Donald Trump is a much better -- and this is actually kind of counterintuitive -- he is a much better political figure and politician when he stays on message and when he is disciplined. The weird part about that statement, though, is I believe he got elected because the American public wanted someone who doesn't stay on message and is not disciplined. And so, we'll see if that will win again, but I think the chaos has exhausted way too many people.</s>BERMAN: All right. We have ten seconds left for you, Scott and Susan. Scott, what did Joe Biden do well?</s>JENNINGS: He tied up Donald Trump on taxes. He knew Donald Trump couldn't resist taking the bait and at one point Biden got a little, you know what eating grin on his face because he knew Trump was going down a rabbit hole on his personal taxes. And then, look, he's been running this empathy campaign, as Susan said, and he nailed it again last night. It's empathy versus Donald Trump the person, that's the kind of campaign he's been running, that's how he closed it. So, if you're the Biden people, that was mission accomplished on continuing with the theme of empathy.</s>BERMAN: And, Susan, next week at this time, what will stick from this debate? What will we be talking about from this debate?</s>PAGE: We won't be. You know, Trump had a pretty good night, but Biden had a pretty good night, too. Trump needed Biden to have a bad night to change the trajectory of the race we're seeing.</s>CAMEROTA: Friends, thank you very much. Great to get all of your takes this morning.</s>BERMAN: He's smiling again. Now Bakari is smiling because he's going to get breakfast.</s>CAMEROTA: He thinks --</s>SELLERS: I've got a haircut. I've got a new haircut, too. So I feel pretty good about myself.</s>CAMEROTA: He thinks he won that segment.</s>BERMAN: Exactly.</s>CAMEROTA: Thank you, guys, very much. All right. How is the Trump campaign feeling this morning after the president's performance? We're gong to speak to a top Trump campaign official, next.

Tim Murtaugh is Interviewed about the Debate; Wisconsin Voters on Presidential Debate; Fact Checking the Debate.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will go away and, as I say, we're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away. I take full responsibility. It's not my fault that it came here, it's China's fault.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump talking about the coronavirus pandemic which has now killed 223,000 Americans. Joining us now is Tim Murtaugh, he is the communications director for President Trump's campaign. Tim, thank you so much for being with us this morning. I know you were up late. I heard you on the post-debate conference call saying you think that President Trump won the debate. I know you thought he won the first debate as well. You wouldn't be good at your job if you didn't put that out and I don't doubt that you actually think it. I want to talk about the substance of this debate, if I can. We talked about 223,000 deaths, 71,000 new coronavirus cases reported overnight, 41,000 new hospitalizations. Can you explain this morning how that, as the president said again last night, is rounding the corner?</s>TIM MURTAUGH, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Well, I think it's pretty obvious that the president has done an admirable job of marshaling both the federal government and the private sector in what is really an unprecedented assault on the coronavirus. And as the president made clear last night, had Joe Biden been president in January, he would not have shut down travel from China, as the president did, and all medical experts have credited that with saving thousands of American lives. So instead of the 220,000 people that you're talking about, we'd have far more. So if Joe Biden had been president at the beginning of this, we know that we, as a nation, would be in far worse shape.</s>BERMAN: So --</s>MURTAUGH: And then last night, Joe Biden incredibly said that the president was too late to do that, when he spent months criticizing the president for doing it at all. And so it's Joe Biden who has to get his story straight and he has been unburdened with the responsibility of leadership during this crisis --</s>BERMAN: Let me --</s>MURTAUGH: When it is President Trump who has been leading the country. And the nation can see that.</s>BERMAN: Well, the nation can see where we are in the pandemic. There's no question about that.</s>MURTAUGH: Sure. And remember the initial projections, John, of 2.2 million people dying.</s>BERMAN: And on the ban with China, it is worthy of note the 40 -- the 40,000 -- 40,000 people did come in -- the initial projections of 2 million dead were from one study if nothing at all -- nothing at all was done. Are you suggesting to me --</s>MURTAUGH: CNN trumpeted those numbers a lot, John.</s>BERMAN: Can I ask you something --</s>MURTAUGH: Sure.</s>BERMAN: Did the president ever consider doing nothing at all? Did someone propose to the White House doing nothing at all?</s>MURTAUGH: The president took it very seriously from the very beginning. In the first week of January -- it's --</s>BERMAN: Doing nothing at all? Because you bring up these 2 million number. I just want to know where the 2 million is --</s>MURTAUGH: No. No. Don't -- no. No, no.</s>BERMAN: OK.</s>MURTAUGH: The president took this situation very seriously from the beginning.</s>BERMAN: OK.</s>MURTAUGH: You remember, in the very first week of January, the CDC started issuing travel warnings for China and also conducting screenings at major American airports. That's just a fact. And now for Joe Biden, after the fact -- and let's remember what happened in the H1N1 thing. Had that been a more deadly virus, there would have been mass casualties.</s>BERMAN: Well --</s>MURTAUGH: Ron Klain (ph), Joe Biden's chief of staff, admitted at the time --</s>BERMAN: Right.</s>MURTAUGH: They did everything wrong.</s>BERMAN: Let me --</s>MURTAUGH: Now Joe Biden's going to cast himself as some sort of expert and where he's been sitting here watching this from his basement in Delaware? I don't think so.</s>BERMAN: Let's talk about coronavirus, which as the CDC said, for hospitalizations is five times deadlier than the flu. So keeping those two things different I think is very important. I do want to talk about the now again. As the president says rounding the corner. And where we are today is the highest number of new cases in months, since July, the fourth highest number of new cases ever. And the hospitalization rate, again, at 41,000 and rising. So where does the president see the pandemic today? What direction does he see this heading in the next few weeks, Tim?</s>MURTAUGH: Well, we're going to defeat the coronavirus. That's absolutely certain. And that's why the president has been on Operation Warp Speed.</s>BERMAN: But is it going to get worse before it gets better?</s>MURTAUGH: And there's a vaccine coming very shortly. And now, you know, Joe Biden has been spending all of his time trying to convince people not to take the vaccine. And the president -- look, the president is the -- is the candidate who represents defeating the coronavirus and continuing to reopen America. We have to be able to move forward as a society and still function. He is the candidate of reopening the country. Joe Biden made it clear again last night, he's the candidate for lockdowns. And every medical expert will tell you, if you go back into a lockdown, that comes with even more health problems unassociated with the coronavirus itself. Physical problems, mental health problems, people won't get their health screenings if we go into another lockdown, never mind with the impact that it will have on children if schools stay closed indefinitely. In Virginia, where I live, the Fairfax County Public School Teachers Union, they want the schools to stay closed until August of 2021. And you know that Joe Biden is unable to oppose what the teachers unions do and he'll go along with that.</s>BERMAN: Does --</s>MURTAUGH: And now you're talking about parents having their kids not in school for two entire school years, John. That's just not acceptable. And that's the Biden way. The president wants to reopen the country and that's his affirmative, positive message.</s>BERMAN: Does -- well, Joe Biden -- Joe Biden said -- Joe Biden said -- and he can present his own views here. Joe Biden said that he's in favor of schools being open if it can be done safely and if more resources were given to the schools to do so. On the subject of hospitalizations, though,</s>I -- MURTAUGH: Well, in the U.S. -- in the -- in the coronavirus bill that's before Congress right now --</s>BERMAN: Tim -- Tim --</s>MURTAUGH: The president has offered more money for schools than Nancy Pelosi requested and she still rejected that package.</s>BERMAN: Well, the House and Senate bill on the table since June (ph) --</s>MURTAUGH: So I -- I find those kind of comments in a debate setting hollow.</s>BERMAN: OK, Tim, on the 41,000, what's the president's immediate --</s>MURTAUGH: She's asking</s>BERMAN: What's the president's immediate plan to reduce the number of hospitalizations now at 41,000?</s>MURTAUGH: The president is moving forward with therapeutics. He mentioned it again last night. There are remarkable treatments now. Listen, the case fatality rate in the United States is absolutely among the lowest in the world. The fact is that if you contract the coronavirus, the United States is where you want to be for treatment. Our mortality rate is very, very low compared to the rest of the world. That is absolutely good news. The therapeutics that are available now and with a vaccine that is quickly on the way. And, again, I will remind you, the reckless rhetoric that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris use to purposefully frighten people away from taking the lifesaving vaccine when it is ready --</s>BERMAN: Well --</s>MURTAUGH: It's reckless and it's, once again, all they have done this whole time --</s>BERMAN: Look, Joe Biden -- Joe Biden made clear --</s>MURTAUGH: Is take the coronavirus and now the vaccine and make it into a political weapon.</s>BERMAN: Joe Biden -- Joe Biden made clear, Tim, Joe Biden made clear that he will take the vaccine if the scientists say it's safe to do so. Joe Biden has praised Dr. Anthony Fauci.</s>BERMAN: Joe Biden has praised Dr. Anthony Fauci. The fact is, is that you know that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has been very critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci over the last several days. I want to a few other things about the debate. The subject of the 545 children who have been separated from their parents and now the administration can't even find their parents, Tim. Does the president regret that this situation exists this morning?</s>MURTAUGH: Well, it's a regrettable situation, certainly. And it's a very dangerous journey that people undertake to cross, in many cases, coming all the way through Mexico. And it's why we should not lay out the welcome mat and encourage people to do that. The fact is, it's not as simple as you make it sound or as Joe Biden made it sound on the stage last night, to locate the parents who are in other countries. And when they do locate them, it has been DHS's experience that in many cases the parents do not want the children returned. And so -- and, remember, and Joe Biden makes a big deal out of this, but the cages that were built, the cages that are in question, were built under the Obama-Biden administration. This was a policy that began under them. If he was so morally outraged by it at the time, why didn't he say something then?</s>BERMAN: Well, look, no the cages -- the cages, as you call them -- the cages, as you call them, some of them existed during the Obama administration. The policy of separation as a mass policy categorically began during the Trump administration as a choice. That is on the record, a choice that was supported and proposed and promoted by the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions. We have Rod Rosenstein on the record. That is a Trump policy. The policy of separation is a Trump policy. I do think it's notable you call it now a regrettable situation. And is the president involved in reuniting these children with their parents?</s>MURTAUGH: Well, certainly that's under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE and all of the other associated agencies. And it's -- and, again, it's not as easy as you make it sound or as Joe Biden makes it sound. You have to locate the parents. And when they do -- are located in these other countries, in many cases, John, the parents do not want the children sent back to them in their home countries. And, once again, you cannot just have this open borders policy, as Joe Biden advocates, and say, come on in. [08:40:03} And we you get here, we'll give you taxpayer funded health care and amnesty and work permits to compete against American citizens. Well -- and Joe Biden also supports sanctuary cities, which is a further magnet to encourage people to make the dangerous journey. The policies that Joe Biden is laying out on immigration openly invite people to come and try to enter this country illegally because he's promising that he won't do anything to enforce our laws when they get here.</s>BERMAN: Tim --</s>MURTAUGH: It is a basic misunderstanding of the encouragement that people see when you say we're not going to enforce our laws. And that's exactly what Joe Biden is doing. And, again, that -- that in itself puts people's lives at risk because it encourages them to make the dangerous journey through Mexico, coming from other countries, through Mexico, to our southern border. It will create further problems. And Joe Biden knows that, but he's pandering, once again --</s>BERMAN: Well --</s>MURTAUGH: Talking about amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens which would be a flood on our hospital systems --</s>BERMAN: He's talk about a path to citizenship. Tim -- we've got -- unfortunately --</s>MURTAUGH: No, that's amnesty, John.</s>BERMAN: We're -- we're -- we're out of time here. You were up super late last night. I do appreciate you getting up for us this morning. Nice to talk to you. Eleven days left. Get whatever rest you can. Thank you</s>MURTAUGH: Yes, maybe in 12 days we'll get some rest. Thanks, John.</s>BERMAN: Appreciate it. So what are voters saying about the debate? CNN speaking to voters in line right now in Wisconsin about to cast their votes. That's next.

University of Michigan Under Stay-At-Home Order Amid Spike in Coronavirus Cases; Big Ten Football Returns to Action As COVID Cases Surge in U.S. Midwest

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Eight states are reporting record hospitalizations this morning. Joining us now is Dr. Mark Schlissel; he's the president of the University of Michigan that is currently struggling with an outbreak. Also with us CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is a proud alum of the University of Michigan and we'll get into all of that. I see your wolverine fist bump there. Sanjay, let's start with where we are in the country, before we get to Michigan. I remember this week, when we were at 50,000 cases and we said, oh, gosh, let's hope against hope that we don't go to 60. Then we were hoping against hope that we wouldn't go to 70. We're now at more than 71,000. What happens tomorrow?</s>SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I mean, the numbers are clearly going up, and that's one thing that you look at. But you also try to pay attention to the pace at which these numbers are increasing as well. You know, that's the real concern. I mean, the numbers are going up and they're going up at a pretty rapid pace. Add to that, what we've known for some time, that the Fall was going to be worse than the Summer. People can't be outside as much, the virus is very contagious and it's more likely to spread. So, you know, this is a concern. We do know that the people, the demographics if you will, of people who are getting infected are different now compared to earlier in this pandemic. They tend to be younger, more likely to be under the age of 50. But as you pointed out, Alisyn, despite that, we are seeing significant increase in hospitalizations as well. I mean, there are many hospital systems now around the country that are at much higher capacity than they typically are this time of year. And we're going into not only, you know, worsening coronavirus numbers, but also flu season. So, look, this is a concern. I mean, if you were to imagine a storm, if this was a viral storm like a hurricane, you would say, you've got to hunker down for a while. People right now -- people need to identify who their bubbles are going to be for the next couple of months, say, we're going to be together for a couple of months. We'll get through this, but the next couple three months probably are going to be really tough.</s>CAMEROTA: President Chisel, let's zero in on what's happening at the University of Michigan. Just this week, local authorities -- local health officials ordered students there to stay in their residences, effective immediately, to try to combat an outbreak. So what went wrong on campus?</s>MARK SCHLISSEL, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: So, yes, Alisyn, good morning, good morning Sanjay, it's great to be on with you.</s>GUPTA: Good morning.</s>SCHLISSEL: I think we're seeing the same thing on campus that you were just describing in the United States as a whole. The weather is getting colder, people are spending more time indoors, and I think there's a little bit of COVID-19 fatigue going on. But what's interesting, Alisyn, is the challenge on our campus is focus on our undergrads. So, we've got about 30,000 total undergrads and 16,000 or so graduate and professional students. And 99 percent of our student cases are in people less than 22 years old. So, it's the undergraduate population. And the epidemiology of these cases shows us that they're not happening due to spread in our classrooms or in our campus facilities. They're happening under social circumstances where small numbers of people let their guard down. And you know, young people have strong urges to get together, I understand that. And I think as they do more of that indoors and they gather in larger numbers, we're seeing the consequences.</s>CAMEROTA: And so, will you send students home after they're out of this, you know, stay in their residence order that I think expires on November 3rd. What's the plan?</s>SCHLISSEL: Well, the way we've structured our semester is to end the in-person part of our semester on November 20th, the Friday before Thanksgiving. Send the students home for a much-needed week of vacation. It's been a very difficult and stressful semester for everybody. And then they'd return, but only online for the last week or two of instruction followed by exams done remotely. And so, the in-person semester was set to end on the 20th. We've given students the choice, if they'd rather go home for this self-isolation period, it's OK with us. But we want to make sure they do so carefully. So in collaboration with the Health Department, we've set up some exit protocols that involves self-isolation for a period of time, you know, enhanced social distancing, and a requirement that they take a COVID- 19 test, a virus test within a week of their departure. And then with some instructions for how to stay safe at home. This of course, the bigger risk is young people seem to do reasonably well and make it through this virus, but they're going home to families that are much more heterogeneous where there's much more risk of a bad outcome from an infection.</s>CAMEROTA: Sanjay, I know, you have some questions about what's happening at your alma mater. What are they?</s>GUPTA: Yes, and President Schlissel, welcome. You know, people should know as well, you're an immunologist, I mean, you're a doctor, you're immunologist, this is your area of study. When students came out of campus, came out of school back in March, there were fewer than 5,000 people who had been infected, fewer than a 100 people who had died. When they returned, more than 5 million people had been infected and close to 200,000 people at that point had died. Just fundamentally, you know, even with robust testing, you saw large outbreaks happening around campuses around the south. Why did you think it was OK to go ahead and bring students back this Fall?</s>SCHLISSEL: You know, it's a really important question, Sanjay. You know, all of our choices have not been, you know, choices that are good versus bad. They're all difficult choices. So, the decision to have 20 percent of our classes in person and 80 percent online, and our dorms at about two-thirds occupancy rather than have everybody at home was based on the fact that 70 percent of our students live off-campus in leased residences in town, as you know. Those leases are signed a year in advance, and the survey data we had suggested that students were coming back to Ann Arbor whether we were fully remote or not. We were also very concerned about the loneliness and isolation many students are suffering. And we were concerned that there's some classes that just can't be taught online. Things like laboratory instruction, music and arts instruction, and we didn't want those students to suffer. We have students that are coming out of the foster care system, where we are their place to live. So it was a complicated, difficult decision, but we decided on balance to give it a try and to put in place a good public health guidance with masks and distancing. All of our large classes were made remote. We emphasized in person only when the course could really be taught best in person or only in person. And we put some confidence and faith in our students to work together and give it a try. The first several weeks of this semester went quite well with pretty small numbers of cases. It's the last three or four weeks, as you see happening all around the nation, that things have started to slip away from us.</s>CAMEROTA: Sanjay, do you --</s>GUPTA: Look, I mean, the virus is very contagious -- yes, the virus is very contagious, very predictable as are as I think you're alluding to impressions, this whole students. They're going to congregate and they're going to do it, and by the way, no one loves Michigan football more than me. I even carry my hat right here on the desk. But what about -- what about football, though, sir? You know, I mean, this is -- this is a really challenging one. You know, people have said that it just shouldn't happen because even if you can keep athletes safe, it's going to encourage gatherings. Do we need to have football? Christine Brennan, who is one of our analysts said that it represented the darkest day in the conference's history to go ahead with big 10 sports. Again, I love football. I know you do as well. But does that make sense? What boxes are getting checked by going ahead in the season --</s>SCHLISSEL: Sure, it's an important question. It's an important question, Sanjay. So the way we have approached the pandemic and the way the Washtenaw County Health Department has approached it is their orders focus on where the risk is. So students, although, they're supposed to stay in place, they're allowed to go get food, they're allowed to go to medical appointments. They're actually allowed to go to class. They're allowed to take walks and go out for exercise with one other student. Our research labs remain up and running, our health system is up and running. So the order is focused on diminishing the activity that's at risk. We had shut down all intercollegiate athletics for a period of almost a couple of months as you recall in August and September, while doctors and team officials and league officials tried to figure out whether you could conduct intercollegiate sports safely. They brought to the presidents a number of weeks ago a plan that involved daily rapid antigen testing, you know, the quick turnaround test, with data that showed that if you administer one of those tests every day, the likelihood that an infected student who could transmit the disease would enter one of our facilities or beyond the playing field was almost zero. So we all became confident that for the student athletes themselves, it was safe. So, it fell into the same category as other activities on campus. Our graduate students are doing their thing in our research labs and our students are going to class. So we felt that we shouldn't penalize our student athletes if we had figured out a way to allow them to compete safely. It's the league providing the testing, so they're bearing the expense. It's no drain on our testing capacity, but the important point you raise is the culture of football on our campus and other campuses, would it provoke partying around a game? There's no attendance at the game, just two tickets to each student for their family, basically. So there'll be almost nobody in our 100,000-seat big house. And I became convinced, unfortunately, that the students that were going to violate this order and were going to look for ways to congregate and party on a Saturday or a Saturday night, Sanjay, they're probably going to do it anyway. And that's what's been getting us in trouble. So the vast majority of our students have actually been doing quite well. You walk our campus, everyone is wearing a mask, the classrooms are safe, our eating facilities are safe. So we've just struck again another one of these difficult balances.</s>CAMEROTA: Yes, President Schlissel, I'm not sure if you're aware that today is a very special day, speaking of partying. It's Sanjay Gupta's birthday today.</s>SCHLISSEL: Oh, Sanjay, happy birthday!</s>CAMEROTA: And here's a picture of Sanjay when he was at the University of Michigan Med School --</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, he's a looker!</s>CAMEROTA: Or is that John Travolta, I can't tell.</s>GUPTA: Wow!</s>CAMEROTA: So, happy birthday Sanjay--</s>GUPTA: You guys are good, digging into the archives.</s>CAMEROTA: I take it you're going to have a big maskless party today for yourself or what?</s>GUPTA: This is going to be a birthday to remember, for sure, but no parties here. But thank God, the hair is almost the same. Geez, not much has changed --</s>CAMEROTA: You are working on that --</s>GUPTA: I like a lot of the --</s>BERMAN: Paging Dr. Gupta! I have to say!</s>CAMEROTA: Mcdreamy!</s>BERMAN: All right!</s>GUPTA: Oh, God.</s>BERMAN: Happy birthday, Sanjay!</s>GUPTA: This is good --</s>BERMAN: Thank you --</s>GUPTA: Next year we're together. That's my wish.</s>CAMEROTA: OK, us, too --</s>SCHLISSEL: I hope so.</s>CAMEROTA: Us too. President Schlissel, thanks very much, thanks for engaging in that frivolity with us --</s>SCHLISSEL: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: All right. It was the final presidential debate last night. A lot was said that was not true. National treasure, fact-checking robot, Daniel Dale watched so carefully and when we come back, you will hear his definitive report on the truth. That's next.

Trump and Biden Clash in Final Presidential Debate.

BERMAN: Just 11 days left to vote, nearly 47 million people have voted already. That's about 35 percent of the total vote from 2016 with 11 days left. But again, thanks to the founding fathers, it's not about how many votes exactly, but where? CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten joins us now with the path to 270 electoral votes. Harry, and this morning as we sit here, you say that Joe Biden has more paths to 270 electoral votes. Why?</s>HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER: I mean, look, it's pretty simple, John. Look at the seven closest contests that Trump won in 2016. Look at the polling averages in those particular contests and what do you see? You see that Joe Biden holds a lead in all of them from 3 points in North Carolina all the way up to 9 points in Michigan. And the fact is Joe Biden only needs to carry at least two of these contests in most cases three, in order to win to get to 270. And right now, he holds a lead in all seven of them.</s>BERMAN: Let's talk about the different paths starting with the most obvious.</s>ENTEN: Right. The most obvious one is basically the Midwest path right for Joe Biden. Look at the states where he was ahead by 5 points or more in both September and October. And what you see there is if he's just able to win those states, he gets to 279. That is even the case even if he loses states like Florida, North Carolina and Arizona where he has been holding a lead. As long as he wins those states where he was ahead by 5 points in September and October, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, plus the Clinton states and Nebraska's second congressional district that gets you to 279 electoral votes --</s>BERMAN: Well, no, on this map, he could actually also lose Nevada and --</s>ENTEN: Yes --</s>BERMAN: Still win the presidency there. Sure he doesn't want to, all right, backup path for Joe Biden?</s>ENTEN: Yes, the backup path is let's just say that he loses in a state like Pennsylvania, right? If he's then able to win in a state like Arizona where he is ahead by 4 points or more in the September and October average, and you add in Nebraska's second congressional district, that barely gets him to 270 electoral votes. But I think the sort of gets at the idea of why Biden is the favorite at this point. He has more paths to the presidency so that even if he loses a key state like Pennsylvania, there is, in fact, a realistic chance that he wins even if he loses Pennsylvania and Florida and North Carolina.</s>BERMAN: All right, how about the Midwest debacle path for Joe Biden? This is unlikely, but not impossible.</s>ENTEN: Right. You know, sometimes there are polls that miss in certain regions, right? Let's just say the poll averages are off again in the Midwest. Is there a path for Joe Biden? In fact, there is a path for Joe Biden. Let's just say he wins the Clinton states but then goes down and he wins Florida, plus North Carolina, that gets him to 276 electoral votes. Now, my guess is, this is probably not going to happen, but the one thing to keep in mind that we learned the hard way in 2016 is polling errors tend to be correlated across states. So, if the polls are off in a place like Pennsylvania, there is a pretty decent shot that they'd be off in Michigan and Wisconsin as well. There would still be a path for Biden, but it would be a difficult one, but it's at least plausible.</s>BERMAN: All right. President Trump's path.</s>ENTEN: Right. Look, the president has fewer paths than Joe Biden does, there's no doubt about that. But there still are some paths for him. The most obvious one for him is to win in the places where he was down, but down by less than 5 points, and then add in a place like Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania. So he needs to win Florida most likely, he needs to win Arizona, North Carolina. But then as long as he just picks off one Midwestern state or Great Lake battleground state, he'd get there. But again, I will just say this over and over and over again, it's going to be very difficult for Trump to win if he doesn't win in at least one of those Great Lake battleground states.</s>BERMAN: And just one point you made before, Harry, that I want to expand on a little bit. Guys like you and me, we should just say troubled, deeply troubled individuals, will sit at this map and look at all the different possible paths minus this state, plus this state. In truth, things move in a pattern, typically speaking, there's a trend. There is a reason Donald Trump won in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin last time, all of them rather than just one of them, right?</s>ENTEN: Yes, that's exactly right, right? Look, these are states that are part of a union, they all share similar demographics to one another. So, you know, you know that in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, a large share of the electorate is non-college white voters. So, if the polls are under-estimating Trump support among that group in one of those states, there is a pretty good chance it's underestimating in another. There's also sometimes where polls will just under-represent someone's strength in a certain region, right? So it wouldn't be surprising to me if the polls were underestimating Trump in Florida, there is a pretty decent shot they're underestimating him in North Carolina because they're both southern states. So these poll errors are correlated. So, just because, you know, one state might say, oh, look, Biden is ahead by 5 plus in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, even if he loses one, he'll be able to win another. That math doesn't necessarily always work out which is part of the reason why Trump still has a chance at this particular point --</s>BERMAN: The converse is equally true, though. Is that Joe Biden could win by more in all the states just as easily as Donald Trump could win there. All right, Harry, I'm going to ask a rhetorical question, I'm going to answer it, and I'm going to ask for the evidence here. When is the election over? The answer to that question is when they're done counting the ballots. And sometimes that's not on the original election night. It may not be on November 3rd when the election is over, and we know who won, and that's OK. And history tells us it's OK, and there is precedent for that, correct?</s>ENTEN: There's absolutely precedent for that. You know, there are going to be a lot of states, more states where a substantial number of votes will be counted by mail this particular year. Just look at a state like Washington, right, which has had mail-in elections for a while now, and you can go back to 2010 and look at the Senate race there right between Patty Murray and Dino Rossi, that race was not declared the winner until Thursday after election day. So, it was two days later, and Murray actually won by a fairly decent margin, he won by over 4 percentage points. And so, this to me is rather important. It takes time sometimes to count the votes, but it's much more important to get an accurate count this year than to be quick. And I know, we here at CNN certainly believe that.</s>BERMAN: That 4-point margin is what's key in that. Four points in a presidential race is actually a pretty sizable amount. It took until Thursday there, even with that sizable amount, it could take some time, that's OK. And Harry, you're OK. Thanks so much for being with us this morning --</s>ENTEN: So, are you, buddy.</s>BERMAN: All right, NEW DAY continues right now.</s>JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2020: I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All he does is talk about shut downs. Democrats, all, they're shut down so tight and they're dying. We're not going to shut down.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden won the debate. He didn't win by a little, this was not close.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Donald Trump was right on his game. I actually think that he completely steward Joe Biden.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at 11 days until election day. It's an unknown factor if he changed the trajectory of this race here. As so many people have voted, those votes cannot be changed.</s>TRUMP: I'm the least racist person in this room.</s>BIDEN: You know who I am, you know who he is. Character of the country is on the ballot.</s>BERMAN: All right, good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY and our viewers in the United States and all around the world, so, OK, what now? We saw the candidates together, probably for the last time until the inauguration, so what's different this morning with just 11 days left to vote? Now that we have seen the final debate? A new CNN poll found that viewers thought that Joe Biden won the debate, a 14- point edge.

Joe Biden Lays Out COVID-19 Response Plan.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Inviting the virus into the White House, hosting what Dr. Fauci called a super-spreader event, endangering more people's lives by telling the public, don't worry, don't worry about the disease. Don't let it dominate you. How many people, from Kristin in Arizona, will end up suffering because their loved one listened to the president? Kristin said her dad voted for Trump, listened to him, believed him that the virus wasn't a big deal. Then her dad became infected and died. Kristin said her dad's only preexisting condition -- this is her quote -- the only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump -- end of quote. Even after contracting the virus himself, Donald Trump still, still refuses to promote universal mask-wearing, which could have saved nearly 100,000 lives and could still save over 100,000 lives in the next few months. The longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he gets. We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path. We can do what Americans have always done, come together and meet the challenge with grit, compassion and determination. And, today, I'm going to tell you exactly what I plan to do if I have the honor of being elected your next president. I'll immediately put in place a national strategy that will position our country to finally get ahead of this virus and get back our lives. I'll reach out to every governor in every state, red and blue, as well as mayors and local officials, during transition to find out what support they need and how much of it they need. I'll ask the new Congress to put a bill on my desk by the end of January with all the resources necessary to see how both our public health and our economic response can be seen through the end, what is needed. Look, a pandemic doesn't play favorites, nor will I. As I said, no red states, no blue states, just the United States, united in our response, united in our purpose to stop the spread of COVID-19 and beat this virus. First, I'll go to every governor and urge them to mandate mask-wearing in their states. And if they refuse, I'll go to the mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place nationwide. As president, I'll mandate mask-wearing in all federal buildings and all interstate transportation, because masks save lives, period. Just look what happened in Arizona. The Republican governor initially tried to bar local governments from implementing mandates on their communities. What happened? In June, Arizona got hit with a surge of cases. Hospitals were flooded. The state health system was overwhelmed. So, cities and counties appealed the governor's ruling. They imposed their own local mandates covering most of the states. The result? Cases fell by 75 percent. Wearing a mask is not a political statement. It's a scientific imperative. It's a point of patriotic pride, so we can pull our country out of this god-awful spiral we're in. And it's a testament to the values we were taught by our families and by our faith, love thy neighbor as thyself. Second, I'll put a national testing plan in place, with a goal of testing as many people each day as we're currently testing each week, a seven-fold increase. There's a key difference in this campaign between Donald Trump and me. I believe in testing. Donald Trump does not. I believe in science. I believe in public health officials. I believe in the example of other countries, which prove that widespread testing is needed to regain the health of our nation, to reopen safely, and, critically, to stay open. Every school, every worker, every American, should have easy access to regular, reliable, free testing. To achieve this, we need to increase both lab-based diagnostic testing, with the results back within 24 hours or less, and faster, cheaper screening tests that you could take right at home or in school. Look, what we have right now isn't anywhere near good enough. States are still improvising on the fly. School districts are still mostly on their own. And many Americans still don't know when it's important to get a test or how. This isn't beyond our capacity to master, not if we're directing a coordinated effort across government and the private sector, instead of leaving chaos to reign. We will manufacture the lab supplies needed to make sure we have enough tests. And we will tap more of our nation's lab capacity, so you can get your test results more quickly. We will build a national corps of contact tracers to work closely with trusted organizations in these communities that are most at risk. We will also take steps to ensure that no one has to choose between getting a test and putting food on the table, look, and no one, no one is scared that being tested for COVID might jeopardize their immigration status. The only way we will defeat this virus is if we defeat it everywhere. The third point I'd like to make is, we will close the personal protective equipment, to PPE gap, and get the gear out where it's needed. Every health care worker will have a reliable supply of properly fitted N95 masks. It's unconscionable that we are more than eight months into this crisis and front-line health care workers are still rationing their personal protective equipment. As president, I'll use the full power of the Defense Production Act to drive the manufacturing of personal protective equipment, masks, gloves, gowns, and more, and ensure that it's distributed equitably. Look, we won't stop until the nation's supply exceeds the demand and our stockpile is replenished, especially in hard-hit areas and in communities that are disproportionately impacted by the virus. I will appoint a fully empowered -- I will appoint a fully empowered supply commander who's in charge of filling in the gaps. We will make sure we can manufacture critical supplies right here at home, so we're not dependent on other countries in this crisis. Fourth, we will provide consistent, reliable, trusted, detailed nationwide guidance and technical support for reopening safely and the resources to make it happen. We need a single source of guidance that we can trust, where we know the information won't change by -- for any reason other than the science that guides it, not political expediency, not public image. It won't be easy as to open or close. Social distancing isn't an on- or-off thing. And we're learning more every day about the virus and how it spreads. We need to be able to adapt and adjust our behavior to responsibly respond appropriately. But schools and businesses can't be responsible -- make responsible decisions if they don't have the information, the science. It's not just more detailed, effective guidance they need. It's consultations and technical support, so people have a place to turn with their questions. It's having a government that's in your corner, not a government that's turned its back on you. And once we get our federal, state and local governments working together, once there's universal masking, enough PPE and testing to go around, science-backed guidance to help us make the right decision, then we can get our kids back to school safely, our businesses growing, and our economy running again without wasting another minute. As I said last night, I'm not going to shut down the economy. I'm not going to shut down the country. I'm going to shut down the virus. And, finally, we will be focused on developing safe and effective treatments and distributing a safe and effective vaccine. President Trump claims he found a cure. But let me tell you, yet we have 1,000 people dying each day. More than 40,000 people are in hospitals right now battling the virus. Lifesaving therapies shouldn't be just available to the wealthy, the well-connected. We need to make sure they're available that everybody, available and affordable. And it's also possible we could learn any day that one of these vaccines currently in trial is showing itself to be effective. That will be a wonderful day for our people and people around the world everywhere, whether it comes next week or in the next two months. But it's still -- it will still be many months before any vaccine is widely available. And we need a president who will take responsibility for making sure it gets to every single person in this country in a way that's equitable and accountable. We need a president who, in the meantime, is doing his job to protect the American people. Once we have a safe and effective vaccine, it has to be free to everyone, whether or not you're insured. Let me say that again. The vaccine must be free and freely available to everyone. This is just not one more reason why it's so despicable that Donald Trump is fighting, in the middle of a pandemic, to get the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act, which I worked so damn hard to get the votes for. Under the ACA, insurers are required to cover recommended vaccines for free. So, overturning the ACA would mean people have to pay to get the COVID-19 vaccine. That's wrong, very, very wrong. Unlike Donald Trump, I believe health care isn't a privilege. I think it's a right. That's why, as president, I'll protect and build on the ACA by adding a public option that will compete with private plans to expand coverage and lower health care costs across the board. I will bring down drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies. I'll make sure Americans have insurance -- those with insurance have access to free COVID-19 vaccine. And I'll direct the federal government to bulk-purchase as many doses as are necessary of the COVID-19 vaccine, so we can provide free to those who are uninsured underinsured, or Medicaid-eligible. Throughout all this, throughout all this, yes, Mr. President, I'll listen to the scientists, and I'll empower them. I know how much President Trump has damaged faith in our institutions, in our leaders, in government itself. We have to rebuild the trust between the public and its public servants. It's probably the most difficult task we will face in the coming years. But, if I'm elected president, I'll always give it to you, as FDR said, straight from the shoulder. I'll deliver on my promises. I'll listen to the American people, no matter what their politics. I'll let the doctors and the scientists speak freely, so you can make the best decision possible for yourself and for your family. And I won't let four years of Donald Trump rob us of the most fundamental American qualities, our hope in the future and our faith in ourselves. We can beat this virus. We're not too divided to achieve big things. We're America. We can do this. We have never failed when we work together. Imagine, imagine a true nationally coordinated plan where we spared no expense, so our schools have the resources they need to reopen, with full health and safety protocols in place. Imagine every small business getting a restart package that helps cover the cost of installing Plexiglas, providing PPE, and more to minimize the risk of exposure for customers and workers. Imagine older Americans and people with disabilities having the peace of mind that comes with trusting that the public health system is working for them. Imagine, instead of staying locked up in their rooms, they're able to hug their grandchildren or other -- those who they love and haven't been able to see. Imagine, if you're a member of a community that has been hit particularly hard, black, Latino, Asian American, or Native Americans, imagine a public health and economic response that treats your needs as a priority, not as an afterthought. Imagine a day in the not-too-distant future when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and your family, maybe even go out to a movie, when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduations surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends. That's the Biden/Harris agenda to beat COVID-19. It's going to take all of us working together. And that's not hyperbole, all of us working together, watching out for one another. We are also going to have to wear a mask and practical social distancing a while longer. It's going to be hard. But, if we follow the science and keep faith with one another, with one another, I promise you we will get through this and come out the other side much faster than the rate we're going now. Look, you all know this. The American people have always given their best to this country in times of crisis. And this time isn't any different. I'm not joking when I say this. I think every day about the brave doctors and nurses and hospital workers, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders who, not figuratively, but literally are putting their lives on the line day in and day out to care for people. I think of the essential workers who carried the rest of us on their shoulders through these many months, the grocery store clerks, the delivery clerks, the drivers, the folks on the assembly line, the meatpackers, and so many more, people too often overlooked, too often overlooked, undercompensated. They have given the best of their country when we needed them the most. Think of the small businesses who moved heaven and earth to try to take care of their employees and keep their businesses open, and, sadly, of all those who couldn't because they didn't get the help they were promised. I think of the parents juggling working from home with the added demands of overseeing their child's education. I think about the educators who are spending hours learning how to teach online. They're doing what they always do, giving above and beyond for their students. I think of the families and the communities who stepped up, donating to charities, doing grocery runs for older relatives and neighbors, finding new ways to connect and support one another. That's the America we know. That's the United States of America. That's who we are. And, like John -- John F. Kennedy, when he committed to take us to the moon, he said: "I refuse to postpone the possibilities that exist for this country." I refuse to postpone, refuse to postpone the American purpose, and will not only lead our country back, but lead the entire world. There's no challenge, there's no challenge we cannot meet, no enemy we're unable to face, no threat we can't conquer. We stand together united, bound by our common resolve, determination and values. Folks, together, we can harness the unlimited potential of the American people, not just to get back where we were before this virus hit us, but to get back better. I promise you, and you know in your heart, we can do this. We must do this. And we will do it together. You know we can do it. This is the United States of America. May God bless you all, and may God protect our front-line workers and all those who have lost a loved one. Thank you. And keep the faith.</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. You have been listening to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaking about the coronavirus pandemic. He was standing in Wilmington, Delaware, during this final 11-day stretch of the presidential race, Biden continuing to attempt to draw a contrast with President Trump over the issue of the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. That's a key division that was on display during last night's debate. Both candidates are claiming victory in that final debate, which was the last major opportunity for both Trump and Biden to make their closing arguments to tens of millions of voters at the same time. CNN Arlette Saenz covers the Biden campaign for us, and she joins us live now. Arlette, hammering President Trump's coronavirus response, explaining how he would handle it differently, this has become perhaps the closing message for Joe Biden.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, Joe Biden has been reliably consistent in trying to turn the coronavirus pandemic and the impacts that it has had on the economy into the defining issues of this campaign. You heard that from him last night during the debate and again today, as he warned of this dark winter that is coming as the coronavirus progresses throughout the country. He also once again was quite critical of the president's handling of the virus, saying that he has quit on America, quit on people, and has had no plan. And what we also heard from Joe Biden today were some policy specifics, running through what he would do as president, Biden saying that he wouldn't wait until he was president to start working on this coronavirus pandemic issue, that he, during the transition, would start talking to governors to figure out what they need to help in their states, so that once he's in office, he can basically hit the ground running with being able to address those concerns. He's also saying that he's going to call for Congress to put a bill on his desk to address public health and economic resources that are needed to get the country through this virus. Biden also talked a little bit about that mask mandate. He's acknowledged that he can't mandate mask-wearing for everyone. But in the speech, he said that he would go to governors. And if the governors would not require masks in their states, he would go to mayors and local officials to get that done, in addition to mandating masks in federal buildings. Now, one other interesting note was the way that Biden talked about vaccines. He tied this back to the Affordable Care Act, as President Trump and Republicans are pretty firm in their desire to try to dismantle Obamacare. Biden pointed out that the Affordable Care Act covers vaccines. And if the Affordable Care Act is dismantled, that would mean that people would have to pay for their vaccines. Biden wants to ensure that vaccines will be free for all Americans, so they would have access to that in this critical time of the pandemic, once the vaccine is approved. But one of Biden's overarching messages here was that he would rely on science. You have heard the president mock Biden for listening to scientists. And the Biden campaign essentially says, yes, that's true, we will listen to the scientists, because that is what needs to guide the response throughout this coronavirus pandemic. And he also talked -- you heard Biden talking about the need for everyone to work together, consider the people around you. Mask- wearing is going to be critical to get out of this crisis, he says, and to just think about the ways that Americans all need to work together to try to address this pandemic, Biden really keeping his focus in the closing days of this campaign, as they believe this will pay off with voters -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Arlette Saenz, thanks so much. Let's bring in Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the co-director for the Vaccine Development Center at Texas Children's Hospital. He's also dean at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hotez, Joe Biden said that he would push for quicker lab results, a national contact tracing network, and more PPE, personal protective equipment, for health care professionals. Is that -- are we not doing that enough? What do you think? What's your analysis of those proposals?</s>DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, Jake, my big picture is that I thought this was an extremely important speech. And it was important for two major reasons. The first is the timing. This is a terrible day. We just hit 75,000 new cases in the United States, which is the second highest number ever in this pandemic, so -- in the United States. So we are looking at an awful, awful fall/winter surge, and we need some guidance and direction that we haven't been getting. The other reason terms of the timing is because it also coincides with the new report from the Institute for Health Metrics that we're probably looking at 511,000 American deaths by February 28, unless we do something. And the report also finds that, if we can ensure 95 percent wearing of masks, we can save 130,000 American lives. This is serious stuff, so, that first of all, the timing was very important. And, second, this is the first time we have really heard about a national plan, a national road map. This is what we have been suffering because of not having from this current administration. In the White House, there never was a national plan. It was letting the states take the lead. The U.S. government did provide some backup manufacturing support for ventilators and PPE, but no direct guidance, which is what we needed. And the states never had the epidemiologic horsepower to know how to control this epidemic. This is why we needed the full force of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide the guidance and directives on how to do that. The governors and the states never knew how to do this. And this is one of the major reasons why we have now 220,000 deaths, with those horrible projections. And, also, the masks were never encouraged. And we heard from the vice president, from Joe Biden, that he is going to contact these individual governors. And the reason why that's so important is because we just -- last night, we had the South Dakota governor send out that tragic tweet. Even though they are in the epicenter of this epidemic right now, and hundreds of South Dakotans are about to lose their lives, she's still not going to encourage mask-wearing. She's saying that interferes with individual freedoms. I mean, come on. We are 10 months into this horrible epidemic, and she has the ability to save hundreds, maybe thousands of lives of South Dakotans, and still clings to these fake ideas of health freedom and medical freedom, as they call it, or discrediting masks and fake concepts of herd immunity. This has to stop.</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>HOTEZ: And the only way we're -- clearly, the only way this is going to happen is if we get some big change in leadership in Washington.</s>TAPPER: Well, I want to ask you about that, because, obviously, the American people are looking at the choice they have in front of them, President Trump or Joe Biden, for direction and leadership in this crisis. Coronavirus cases are up in 32 states. Daily cases, as you just noted, hit 71,000 yesterday. That's the highest number we have had since July, the number of hospitalizations in the U.S. reached 41,000. That's a two-month high. And, tragically, the weekly average of deaths caused by coronavirus is around 760. That's the highest weekly average we have had in a month. You have you have been warning of a worsening pandemic in winter months. Last night, we heard Joe Biden say that a dark winter is coming. And we also heard President Trump say that we're turning the corner. Who's right?</s>HOTEZ: Vice President Biden is correct. Vice President Biden is following what the scientists have been telling him now for months, that we are in the middle of the beginning of our third big peak, where the projections, as I have indicated, hundreds of thousands of more American deaths. Look, I understand everyone's exhausted, everyone's fatigued by a whole year of COVID-19. But the reality is that the worst could be yet to come and that the beginning has been more or less the warmup act for what's about to hit. And we're already seeing that across the Northern states. If you look at a COVID-19 heat map, the whole northern part is lit up from Idaho all the way to Minnesota and Wisconsin. And it's going to continue like that. It's about to move into -- it'll go into the Northeast and will likely occupy the entire nation. And the numbers, the projections are real; 511,000 Americans will have died by February 28 unless there's an intervention. To give you a comparison, the horrible 1918 flu pandemic, that historic pandemic, that killed 640,000 Americans. So, we are reaching those kinds of numbers. And unless we have national guidance, we will almost certainly head towards that point. The one thing I am worried about is, even if the vice president wins the election, it's still January 20 before he gets up and we start all of this. And how do we navigate the post-election period, that lame-duck period? I'm really worried for the nation over that time?</s>TAPPER: Well, and we also don't know who's going to win. I mean, that's another matter altogether. Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you so much. Appreciate it. While Joe Biden details his coronavirus proposal, President Trump is about to hold a campaign rally at one of the largest retirement communities in the country, yes, an area home to people who are some of the most vulnerable to the virus. He's holding an event there, a rally there. That's right. And that's next.

Trump Holding Rally at Florida Retirement Community; GOP Adviser Says Trump Debate Performance Could Be Too Late; Trump Campaign Raised Biggest Online Funding on Debate Night; Trump Claims to Be Least Racist Person in the Room; Biden Falsely Claims He Never Opposed Fracking

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And we're back with the 2020 LEAD. In the next hour, President Trump will kick off the first of two rallies in Florida, once again ignoring the health recommendations of his own administration and holding potential super-spreader events, putting the American people at greater risk during a deadly pandemic. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is traveling with the President in The Villages, Florida. And Kaitlan, the President is about to hold a rally there at The Villages. It's a retirement community. This obviously a must win demographic and must-win state for the President. We know that seniors are far more susceptible to coronavirus than any other demographic. Are you seeing there, steps being taken to protect seniors gathering in a crowd during a pandemic? Are they requiring masks? Are they doing anything?</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, Jake. This actually looks a lot like the President's normal rallies that he's been holding for the last several weeks. Now when we were coming in, we did see a lot of people wearing masks, they were all filing in, but now we're here, and we should note it's outdoors and we're on a really big piece of land because we're over by The Villages, their polo field. But, of course, as you can see behind me, everybody is bunched in and packed in pretty close together and you are seeing a lot of people who are not wearing masks while they're out here. There are some people who are but certainly there are a lot who are not. So, it really does mirror the President's average rallies. So of course, as you noted this is a massive retirement community here in Orlando, Florida. And so that's the concern here, because even the President acknowledged last night while he was talking about the pandemic that is very much still happening here in the country, talking about how older people are more susceptible. They are more vulnerable to this. And so, of course, that's the concern here, as the President is gathering so many of these supporters here together as they are close together not wearing masks and not social distancing -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: And Kaitlan, the bar was low, but President Trump seemed to reach it. He took a less combative approach than he did at the first debate. He wasn't constantly interrupting. I guess the question is, do Trump allies, does the Trump campaign think that there is still the potential for the President to have moved the needle for undecided voters or any of these demographics that he struggled with, seniors or women?</s>COLLINS: Well, based on the conversations I had, the way they were looking at that final Presidential debate was that if the President had a repeat of that first performance, it was going to hurt him. And they already know what the poll numbers look like, they're looking at the same polls that you and I are looking at. So, they knew that he needed a much better performance which, of course, last night objectively was, because as you noted, the President was restraining himself and not interrupting every five minutes as he was in the first debate. But the question is just because they believe the President performed so much better last night, does that change voters' minds, or is it too late for the President to have done that? Because based on what a lot of people that we spoke with, even some Republican lawmakers, they wished that had been the Donald Trump that the nation had seen during the first debate when people were still casting early votes, which of course, we know how many have already been cast, millions of them. And so, they wish the President had seen that then because in 2016 they felt like a crunch in the last few days as the President is doing now with all these rallies really helped pull them over the line. But now they are concerned that that's not going to be the case given so many are going to early vote or they're absentee vote already, and so they won't have as many people going in on election day. And so, the President did perform better in their eyes. They basically viewed it not as Donald Trump beating Joe Biden but good Donald Trump beating bad Donald Trump last night.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>COLLINS: The question is whether or not it's actually going to change anybody's mind.</s>TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan, put your mask back on. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. The numbers are in. More than 55 million people watched the final presidential debate, and while both campaigns are claiming victory today, Trump's campaign manager Bill Stepien told reporters that the President had the best online fundraising performance at any point of his campaign, both in 2020 and 2016. Still, Biden maintains a big cash advantage over President Trump with more than $107 million more than President Trump has. Let's discuss with CNN's Van Jones and Scott Jennings. Van, let me start with you. Biden is the frontrunner, so last night he really just needed to stay the course. How do you think he did?</s>VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think he did well. Look, if you're a Trump supporter after that first horrific debate, and then he gets COVID and then throws a fit and won't be a part of the video thing, like you're just hoping anything good would happen, and something did good happen in terms, you know, Trump's performance was as solid as he's ever done. He did a good job, it's just it's probably too late. At the same time if you're a Biden supporter, every time he looked to the camera, and he was talking directly to the American people about our pain and his plan, that was working for our side. So, this was more like a draw, but unfortunately, when you're as far behind as Trump is in the polls, a draw is not good enough.</s>TAPPER: Scott, I know I watched your comments last night, I know you're a lot more happy with his performance at the last debate than at the first debate. Do you think he might actually make inroads with any voters, though?</s>SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I do, actually. I think, you know, in some of the national polls, Jake, there's been a lag between Trump's job approval and his ballot share against Biden, and I've always struggled to understand, well, if you approve of all of his policies, why aren't you voting for him? And there's a clear answer, of course, and that's because folks have been worn out. A lot of Republican, you know. People in the suburbs are like, I like the tax cuts, and I like the judges, I don't like the tweets and I don't like, you know, feeling worn out every day. But last night he reminded them why they voted for him before and why they have largely supported him, and that's because they see that a Republican President who's correctly arguing on policy and executing on the things that they like, they see what that looked like. If that happened in the first debate, I think we would be having a lot different conversation right now. It's unfortunate for him it came in the last debate. So wobbly, conservative, center right suburbanites, I think that checked a box for them last night. And I do think some senior citizens, if they were watching it last night, that's the kind of Republican performance they recognize as well.</s>TAPPER: Van, President Trump falsely claimed to have done more for the black community than any other President with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln. I mean it's just a crazy thing to say when you look at the records of, you know, even just like Lyndon Johnson. He also said something else that was a little controversial. This --</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am the least racist person, I can't even see the audience because it's so dark, but I don't care who's in the audience, I'm the least racist person in this room.</s>TAPPER: Eight in ten black Americans believe that Trump is a racist, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll earlier this year. Why does the President make comments like that instead of acknowledging that maybe sometimes that he has said things that seem insensitive, but he wants to work on it?</s>JONES: Well, that's not his style. I think it's really unfortunate, because Donald Trump, and I get beat up liberals every time I say this, but I'm going to keep saying it. He has done good stuff for black community. And you know, upping his own stuff, black college stuff, I worked with him on criminal justice stuff. I saw Donald Trump have African American people formerly incarcerated in the White House, embraced them, treated them well. There's aide to Donald Trump that I think he does not get enough credit for. But the reason he doesn't is because he also says the most incendiary stuff and he retweets white nationalists. And he violates the number one rule of blackness, which is, I don't mess with people who mess with people I don't mess with. In other words, I'm not friends with people who are friends of my enemies. And so, the black community can appreciate some of the stuff he's done, but when they see him playing footsie on Twitter with these white nationalist organizations, it just wipes it all out. And so if they had a disciplined strategy of being a consistent ally with the black community and being an enemy of the white nationalists, we'd be in a very different spot, and that's the tragedy of these mixed messages from the Trump White House.</s>TAPPER: Scott, I know the Trump campaign is jumping all over comments that Biden made and the controversy about whether or not he wants to move away from fracking or not. It would be political malpractice for them not to seize that. Take a listen to what Biden said last night.</s>JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I never said I oppose fracking.</s>TRUMP: You said it on tape.</s>BIDEN: Show the tape. Put it on your website.</s>TRUMP: I'll put it on.</s>BIDEN: Put it on the website. The fact of the matter is, he's flat lying.</s>TAPPER: Here's what Biden said in 2019 during a CNN Democratic debate.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Just to clarify, would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking in a Biden administration?</s>BIDEN: No, we would work it out. We would make sure it's eliminated and no more subsidies for either one of those, any fossil fuel.</s>TAPPER: Now we should know that without an act of Congress, any President cannot issue an outright ban on fracking across the U.S., and the Biden campaign is saying he means no more subsidies for fracking, not no more fracking. But if it is banned, obviously that would kill tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, many of the states at the heart of the race.</s>JENNINGS: Yes, look, I mean, the message to energy-centric voters is, if you remember what the Obama-Biden administration did to coal, that's what they're planning to do to fracking and that's what they're planning to do to oil. And so, while they can't universally pass laws, they can certainly implement a regulatory regime that makes it extremely difficult to use fossil fuel and that's what Biden has indicated. Look, he's been all over the map. He had to say one thing in the primary, he's saying another thing now. His running mate has been even more strident anti-fracking, anti-fossil fuel. The one guy left in this race who's been very consistent about this is Donald Trump. And so, if you're an energy centric voter in Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Donald Trump's been right with you all along. Joe Biden's been all over the place and now he's struggling to explain it. So those voters haven't yet voted and they're making up their minds, I think it's good play for the Trump campaign.</s>TAPPER: Van Jones, very quickly, I imagine you think this is actually a good thing for young voters who care a lot about climate change.</s>JONES: Well, also, ironic, you can't be for coal and fracking. What took coal down was fracking. It wasn't the Obama administration. It was the cheap natural gas that fracking poured in. So do people want to have it both ways on the other side, too, they're for coal and they're for the fuel that replaces coal. But more importantly I think that, you know, sometimes everybody knows he gets his words tangled up. I think he was trying to say in his world, we're going to start removing subsidies for dirty energy and giving more help to clean energy, and most Americans agree with that.</s>TAPPER: Scott Jennings, Van Jones, thanks to both of you, appreciate it. More than hundred thousand lives could be saved if the majority of Americans did just this one thing. Stick around.

Universal Mask Usage Could Save 100,000+ Lives in U.S.

TAPPER: A brand new study finds that widespread mask use could save more than 100,000 lives in the United States between now and February -- 100,000. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is standing by with the details. Elizabeth, break down the numbers for us. Exactly how do they arrive at this number? How do the authors describe widespread mask use?</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Jake, this is a group out of the University of Washington that has been doing much of the modelling that we've been talking about. So, they're modelling using statistics, what would happen "if." And here's what they came up with. They said if everyone always wore a mask in public, or most people, this is what would happen. Right now, about 49 percent, about half of Americans report always wearing masks in public. If we could get that 49 percent number up to 85 percent, we could save 95,000 lives from late September looking forward until the end of February. If we could get that number up to 95 percent, we could save more than 129,000 lives. It is so unclear why anyone, including the President, keeps dissing masks. It doesn't make sense, they save lives. This study, this modelling shows it. Other kinds of studies have shown it and there is no downside to masks -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: What does the study say about the need for further lockdowns.</s>COHEN: You know, it's interesting, they said, look, if we could get mass usage up, that could go a long way to getting these case numbers down. And so, you know, if they said if that's the case maybe you wouldn't have to do other things. You wouldn't have to do these lockdowns. You wouldn't have to take those steps. So, in fact when people talk about let's open up more, well, we could open up more if more people wore masks.</s>TAPPER: And some of the states without mask mandates are now seeing their highest levels of infection. Tell us about that.</s>COHEN: That's rights so let's take for example South Dakota, they do not have a mask mandate and on Wednesday she said South Dakota is doing good. Well, when you take a look just today, they posted a record number of cases more cases per day than they've had ever in this pandemic. It is hard to see how that is doing good. It is hard to understand why they won't have a mask mandate.</s>TAPPER: South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem you're quoting. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. Appreciate it.</s>COHEN: Right.</s>TAPPER: In our 2020 LEAD with just 11 days until the Presidential election an astonishing 50 million voters have already cast their ballots including Vice President Mike Pence who cast his ballot alongside his wife Karen in Indianapolis this morning. I wonder who he voted for? With just days to go there is troubling new concern about Russian interference in what may be the first major hack of the election. As CNN's Pamela Brown reports in our latest installment of "MAKING IT COUNT."</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the election just 11 days away, more than 50 million Americans have already turned in their ballots.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE VOTER: Well, I would rather get it done and over with and do it early, that way I know I've voted.</s>BROWN: And more than half of those votes come from CNN's 16 most competitive states. And one of the fiercest battle grounds North Carolina over two and a half million ballots have been cast. That's more than half of total turnout in 2016. Millions of people choosing to vote in person amid the coronavirus surge across the country. Most states with mask mandates say they won't stop people without masks from voting. They will be asked to fill out a ballot outside or in an isolated area. Some voters agree with the approach.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE VOTER: I think it's really important for people to vote and so it's important to accommodate them. And if they don't choose to wear a mask, they still have the right to vote and I think as long as the accommodations are reasonable.</s>BROWN: On election interference, intelligence officials confirm Russian hackers have stolen election data. But it's unclear how the information will be used beyond threatening emails that came to light this week.</s>JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections.</s>BROWN: The federal government issued two new cyber security alerts warning that state and local governments were targeted but officials say election infrastructure has not been compromised. The intelligence community generally agrees that Russians interfered four years ago to help Trump win, despite that, President Trump slammed the assessment again at last night's debate.</s>TRUMP: The one thing that's common to both of them, they both want you to lose because there has been no nobody tougher to Russia between the sanctions, nobody tougher than me on Russia.</s>BROWN: Intelligence experts agree stopping Russia should be the priority.</s>JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Russia has been interfering in the run-up to our election already and from my part, at least, is the far more serious threat than Iran.</s>BROWN: This as 2020's first election ransomware attacks hit Georgia. Officials in Hall County say the hacks effect a voter's signature database and precinct maps. But security experts believe election infrastructure wasn't affected and the attack was like driven by profit, not politics.</s>BROWN: And Jake, there is renewed focus tonight on what is considered voter intimidation. The Trump campaign actually filmed voters going to a polling station In Philadelphia and found three people who had more than one ballot. And now under Pennsylvania law, you can drop off someone else's ballot if they have a disability, it has to be in writing. Now the Trump campaign claims this is just the tip of the iceberg. But the Secretary of The Commonwealth says filming people as they are going to polling stations could be voter intimidation which is illegal in Pennsylvania -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right, Pamela Brown, thanks so much. Breaking news on one of the coronavirus vaccine trials here in the United States. That's next.

The Keys to Victory for the GOP, Dems in Tight Senate Races; Trump Announces Israel & Sudan Agree to Normalize Relations

TAPPER: Of course, it's not just control of the White House up for grabs in 11 days. The balance of power in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives is also at stake and those results could make the president's job either much easier or much, much more difficult. CNN's resident forecaster Harry Enten joins me live to break down the odds. Harry, let's start with the Senate. Who has the advantage right now?</s>HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, it's the Democrats who have the advantage, right? Heading into this election, obviously, Republicans currently have control. They are controlling 53 seats to Democrats 47. Right now, the forecast suggests that Democrats will get all the way up to 52 seats. What I should emphasize here is that this race for Senate control remains within the margin of error and it would not surprise me if Republicans maintain control, but at this point, Democrats are favored.</s>TAPPER: Where are the races where Democrats have the best odds of winning of capturing a seat?</s>ENTEN: Sure. So, I'm going to take you through three races. We'll start off in Arizona, which I think is a key race, right? Look, Mark Kelly is running in that race as a Democrat against the incumbent Martha McSally. That, of course, used to be John McCain seat. And what we see here is Mark Kelly holds an advantage, a seven- point lead. He has been leading throughout this race. So, this looks like one of the Democrats' pickup opportunities. Another key state would be Maine. Look, Susan Collins has been a long time Republican senator from there. Joe Biden is running well ahead in that state of Donald Trump right now, and it looks like he is going to carry Sara Gideon across the finish line, but both are still under 50 percent. They do have that ranked choice voting in Maine, that kind of complicates the picture. But right now, Gideon is the favorite there. And then, finally, in North Carolina. I think if there is one said that will sort of tell us which way the Senate is going on election night. It's going to be in North Carolina. Cal Cunningham has been leading over the incumbent Thom Tillis, but Cunningham, of course, ran into a sexting scandal. At this point, neither the candidates are particularly well-liked, but right now, Cunningham has a slight advantage in that race.</s>TAPPER: And what about Republicans? They must have at least one chance to pick up a seat.</s>ENTEN: Yes, they got -- they got one really good shot to pick up a seat down in Alabama. You know, Doug Jones, obviously, won that special Senate election back in 2017. Right now, he is down significantly to Tommy Tuberville who is the former coach of the Auburn football program. I'm fairly certain this seat is going to flip no matter what happens nationwide even if Democrats have a very good night. The other second-best pickup opportunity for Republicans is in Michigan. But notice here, it's their second-best pickup opportunity and John James, the Republican, is still down six points to the better Gary Peters. And I think that the fact that this is their second-best pickup opportunity really just speaks to the breadth of the Democratic advantage in the Senate. They have a lot of seats they can potentially pick up, the net gain of three that they need if Biden wins the presidency, but Republicans really just don't have that many pickup opportunities.</s>TAPPER: All right. So, that's the Senate. Let's turn to the House. I want to get your reaction to a claim that President Trump made last night.</s>TRUMP: We might have the House by that time, and I think we are going to win the House, OK? You'll see but I think we are going to win the House.</s>TAPPER: I don't know anyone who thinks that the Republicans are going to win the House. Give us a reality check on that.</s>ENTEN: I don't know what the heck he is talking about, to be perfectly honest.</s>ENTEN: I think Daniel Dale should come on into this segment. He can fact-check that one. Look, here is the forecast for the House. In fact, the Democrats are actually favored to pick up seats in the House of Representatives at this point. The forecast for them to get up to 240. Obviously, they had 235 after the 2018 results. So, at this point, Democrats are actually favored to pick up seats in the House. I don't really understand what President Trump is talking about. But then again oftentimes he says things that simply are not backed up by the facts.</s>TAPPER: All right. That's a nice way to put it. Harry Enten, thanks so much. I appreciate it. Today, President Trump announced that Sudan and Israeli have agreed to normalize relations. It's just the latest in a series of U.S.-brokered deals between Israel and various Arab states in the run-up to the U.S. election. President Trump could not help, of course, but turn an international achievement into something of a crude attack on his Democratic opponent.</s>TRUMP: You think sleepy Joe could have made this deal, Bibi, Sleepy Joe? I think -- do you think he would have made this deal somehow? I don't think so.</s>TAPPER: Talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on speakerphone. CNN's Kylie Atwood is live for us at the State Department. And, Kylie, this is a big achievement. The U.S. just helped broker deals between Israel and the UAE, Israel and Bahrain. So, how much does this new deal with Sudan change the Middle East landscape?</s>KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, I think you laid it out right there. This individual announcement today on its own isn't as significant as the fact that there have been three countries in the last two months that have normalized relations with Israeli and that is tremendously significant. Now, this has been a push by the Trump administration. They were unable to secure peace between Israeli and Palestinians but they have been able to push for these normalized relations with Israeli and these other countries. Of course, this comes as the president is getting closer to Election Day. It's something that he can tout on the campaign trail as a foreign policy victory. Now, what does Sudan get for this? Sudan is going to be taken off the state sponsor of terrorism list. President Trump announced the U.S. would be doing that. And as a result Sudan is going to be opened up to all sorts of international investment that it wasn't able to receive for the last 27 years while it was on this list -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right. That seems really interesting. But, of course, it's not all good news at the State Department today. A former senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just came out with a blistering op-ed in "The Atlantic". One part of it says quote: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his predecessor Rex Tillerson have weaponized the institution for the Trump administration's domestic political objectives. Tell us more about this adviser and what he's saying.</s>ATWOOD: Yes, Jake, as you said, a scathing op-ed here from Ambassador Michael McKinley. He is a former senior adviser to Pompeo but he's also a lifelong ambassador. He had served as ambassador in four different countries, wildly respected here at the State Department. Now, he came out saying that President Trump's secretaries of state both Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo have damaged this department so much that it may be at its lowest point since the 1950s. He says that that damage is because they have politicized this department. Now, Jake, this ambassador left the department last year. He was frustrated that Pompeo wouldn't defend the ambassadors who got caught up in the Ukraine impeachment saga but hasn't said much since he left. And it is important he is coming out saying this now. He makes it pretty crystal clear in what is he writing this is because he wants the American people to nope his position. He wants them to know just how much damage the Trump administration has done to the State Department and he wants them to know it before they go to the polls in just a few weeks -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Coming up the one country where every person who lives there is getting tested for coronavirus. That's next.

COVID-19 Infections Hit New Peaks Across Europe.

TAPPER: In our world lead, coronavirus infections are reaching new peaks across Europe with five countries in particular seeing a surge in cases. They are the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France. And in Italy, new curfews are going into effect as that country just reported a record high number of COVID cases in just the last 24 hours. CNN's Scott McLean is live in Berlin for us with the latest on the spike in cases across the continent.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jake. So, the approach here in Europe seems to be localized restrictions with minimal impact on the economy, lockdowns only as an absolute last resort. The trouble is it's not actually clear if that approach is working. German Chancellor Angel Merkel last week brought in a series of new restrictions aimed at virus hot spots like right here in Berlin but this week, her country recorded another record high case count. France is expanding.</s>A 9: 00 p.m. a curfew to most of the country affecting 46 million people. Italy is also recording record high case counts. One regional governor there is calling for a nationwide lockdown because the argument is that, well, these partial measures simply have not worked. Things are worse, though, in the Czech Republic which is recording more new coronavirus cases per capita than any other major country on Earth by a mile. In fact, infection rate in the Czech Republic is five times higher than it is in the United States. And what's really scary is that for most of Europe, the United States, the second wave of the virus has been much less deadly. In the Czech Republic, though, the second wave has actually been eight times more deadly than the first. The country went back into lockdown this week. The health minister today, though, was accused of breaking his own coronavirus rules. He is rejecting calls to step down, though. The Czech prime minister, though, is vowing to replace him any ways. Next door in Slovakia, they are watching the Czech situation with horror as their own cases begin to rise. Their strategy is to test the entire country, every single person. That's more than 5 million all over the span of just the next three weekends -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right. Scott, thanks so much. People in the United Kingdom are also bracing for new restrictions as officials there look to curb a second wave of coronavirus in the U.K. This as new cases in that country continue to climb to worrying levels. CNN's Nina Dos Santos is live for us in the English city of Bristol with the latest.</s>NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: Thanks very much, Jake. Well, the debate between lockdowns on a local level or on a national level is very heated here in the west of England. I'm just 20 miles to the south of Wales which is one of the de facto sort of constituent countries of the United Kingdom, which like North Ireland has got and has its own abilities to set its own health care rules. And Wales, as of this evening, has put its 3 million residents into lockdown for the next 15 days to come. It's a very different approach to other parts of the U.K. like England where I am, but still implementing local lockdowns to manage health and wealth if you like. Now, Wales won't know about a month whether or not this fire circuit breaker lockdown it is implementing has actually worked but they claim it's the only way to try to protect their population, protect their health care system and also prevent Christmas from being a digital Christmas where people can't visit their loved ones. Across the border in the north in Scotland, over there the local government and national government in Scotland has become so alarmed, Jake, in the recent rise of cases that it is also proposing a five- tier coronavirus restriction that is probably going to start coming into place the next two weeks to come. So there is this big debate. It is quite confusing across parts of the U.K., but there's one thing you can't argue with and that is the broader trend that Scott was just pointing out. You can see it here in the U.K. as well. Based on the moving average, COVID is still a disease that is infecting tens of thousands of people and 150 people are losing their lives every day here -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right. Nina, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Joining us to discuss the mental health effects of this ongoing pandemic is clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Georgetown, Andrea Bonier. Dr. Bonier, good to see you as always. Cases are surging. Health care experts think this surge could be worse than the previous surge given how cases are spiking in the Europe because the U.S. kind of trails Europe in many ways. What worries you most from your perspective of a mental health perspective on the worsening pandemic?</s>ANDREA BONIER, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Yes. It really is a perfect storm when you think about it. We have a lot of people that suffer over the holiday season from grief and loss and pass trauma that comes up and the seasonal depression and isolation that can kick in when the cold and darkness come. What I'm most concerned about people's usual holiday traditions being disrupted and that taking a real mental health toll, and people not being able to gather and having a toll on mental health, to the point where people aren't prioritizing, hey, I need to really take care of myself and ask for help here.</s>TAPPER: Kids are in this horrible world of unknown about going back to school. Some have gone back and have as to snap back and go back to virtual learning. Some haven't gone back at all and some haven't seen their friends in person since March. How -- how can we help our kids manage this through the winter?</s>BONIER: Yes, I think we need to talk proceed proactively with our kids. We need to do what we do to protect our mental health and how important sleep and sunlight is if we can get it wherever over this winter and encourage our kids to share their feelings. You know, a lot of us search for the right things to say to our kids when really it's about listening, it's about making it feel safe for them to say, I am sad and for us to bear witness to that and sit and talk with them.</s>TAPPER: When this pandemic started, we talked about getting outside for a little, just a walk around the block or whatever can be so helpful for mental health. What can people do in the winter when getting outside for any long period of time might not really be an option?</s>BONIER: Yes. The important thing to remember is that sunlight matters even when it's cold. So, even opening a shade or curtain so you can get some sunlight in and bringing house plants in. The data actually says it can help improve mood. If you feel you're might be suffering from true seasonal depression there are things like light boxes that might help physiological. We need that sunlight. It's not so much about temperature even if it's 20 degrees outside, sunlight can make a big difference.</s>TAPPER: What are the signs we should be looking for when it comes to our loved ones in terms of mental health?</s>BONIER: Yes, any kind of real change in behavior, so more impulsivity, expressing that there's hopelessness to the point of them really feeling like things aren't getting better, when someone expresses that they feel like a burden to other people, that's really a concerning sign of potential suicidal thinking. Also, increased substance abuse or when someone stops caring for themselves in those daily ways when hygiene really falls off, you know, more so than most of us sort of not showering as much maybe, when they're not eating the way that they should, when they're sleeping so much more, that's when you really know you have to have a conversation.</s>TAPPER: All right. Andrea Bonier, thank you so much. Always great to have you on the show.</s>BONIER: Thank you.</s>TAPPER: More than 223,000 American lives have been lost from the coronavirus so far in the United States. We are going to use this moment to remember just one couple whose time together was cut short by this virus. Don and Sandy Maybon died in neighboring hospital rooms. They were both 80. Sandy was a schoolteacher almost 40 years. Don served as the mayor in their hometown of Madison, Nebraska, for four years after nearly two decades on the city council. They spent their days giving back to their community and playing an active role in the lives of their four grandchildren. Don and Sandy died within two days of each other shy of their 60th wedding anniversary. May their memories and the memories of all those lost in this horrific pandemic be a blessing. Be sure to tune in to CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday. My guests include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Democratic congresswoman from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That's at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern on Sunday. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @jaketapper. You can tweet teh show @TheLeadCNN. Our coverage on CNN continues right now. I will see you Sunday morning. Stay safe.</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.

Interview with Former CDC Director Thomas Frieden; COVID-19 Cases Rising Nationwide; Candidates Hit Campaign Trail Following Debate; Trump Seizes on Biden's Oil Comments at Florida Rally; 52 Million Early Votes Already Cast 11 Days to Election; Dr. Birx: More Virus Spread Occurring in Homes As Colder Weather Forces Social Gathering Indoors.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're following breaking news on the coronavirus and the worsening second wave here in the United States. Tonight, nearly 224,000 Americans are dead. The U.S. case count keeps climbing and climbing, and now hospitalizations are rapidly increasing, hitting the highest level since August. It's yet another alarming indicator of the dangers ahead. But a new study shows as many as 130,000 American lives could be saved over the next several months if, if most Americans started to wear masks. Also breaking, President Trump is in the must-win state of Florida right now. He's still in need of a campaign reset, even after he managed to give a more measured performance in his final debate with Joe Biden last night. The day after their face-off, the former vice president, he is now escalating his condemnation of President Trump's handling of the pandemic, saying the president seems to have given up. Eleven days before the election, so many voters already have had their say. As of this hour, more than 52 million, 52 million early ballots have already been cast. Let's start our coverage this hour with our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, covering the president, who is down in Florida. Jim, the president is now in this frantic dash to Election Day. He needs to make up some ground. Florida is so critical. Without Florida, it's probably unlikely he could get reelected.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very unlikely, Wolf. And the president is touting his debate performance today, but not all of his campaign advisers are pleased. I talked to one adviser, who said the president failed to deliver a knockout blow against Democrat Joe Biden. But, in the meantime, the president is in the fight of his political life. He will be campaigning here in Pensacola, Florida, later on this evening. And as we have seen time and time again, Wolf, at these Trump rallies, Trump supporters not wearing masks, not social distancing. I hardly see any masks in sight right now, as this virus is raging across the country.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Campaigning in the must-win state of Florida, President Trump is predicting a comeback, even as he's trailing in the polls and running out of time.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're all waiting for that great red wave.</s>ACOSTA: The president is patting himself on the back after his less hostile debate with Joe Biden.</s>TRUMP: They wanted to play by the rules. They felt very strongly about it. It's two different styles. I'm able to do different styles, if you had to.</s>ACOSTA: But Mr. Trump is still trying to rewrite history, insisting he's always taken responsibility for his response to the coronavirus.</s>TRUMP: I always take responsibility.</s>ACOSTA: Even though that's obviously not true.</s>TRUMP: No, I don't take responsibility.</s>ACOSTA: As COVID-19 cases are once again peaking in the U.S., the president and top administration officials gathered in the Oval Office without wearing masks, as Mr. Trump needled one reporter for using one.</s>TRUMP: This is Jeff Mason. He's got a mask on. It's the largest mask I think I've ever seen.</s>ACOSTA: Coronavirus Task Force doctor Anthony Fauci said the West Wing's resistance to mask-wearing is not setting the best example.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Virtually everybody who is in that room was tested that day to go into the Oval Office. But, still, the image of that is something that may give the wrong impression to people.</s>ACOSTA: Though Fauci acknowledged the president is spending more time listening to controversial task force member Dr. Scott Atlas, a mask skeptic.</s>FAUCI: I definitely don't have his ear as much as Scott Atlas right now.</s>ACOSTA: In his own post-debate speech, Biden called on all Americans to wear masks and to listen to the scientists.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Yes, Mr. President, I will listen to the scientists, and I will empower them.</s>ACOSTA: At the debate, the president was sending more mixed signals, falsely claiming the virus is going away.</s>TRUMP: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>ACOSTA: While also saying Americans may have to grow accustomed to life with COVID-19.</s>TRUMP: I say we're learning to live with it. We have no choice.</s>ACOSTA: Biden slammed Mr. Trump for that.</s>BIDEN: He says that we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America.</s>ACOSTA: The president also claimed he's not a racist.</s>TRUMP: I can't even see the audience because it's so dark, but I don't care who's in the audience. I'm the least racist person in this room.</s>ACOSTA: While smearing undocumented immigrants who show up for their court dates.</s>TRUMP: I hate to say this, but those with the lowest I.Q., they might come back.</s>ACOSTA: The Trump campaign believes Biden had a major gaffe when he said he wanted the U.S. to transition from fossil fuels to green energy.</s>TRUMP: Would you close down the oil industry?</s>BIDEN: By the way, I have a transition from the old industry, yes.</s>TRUMP: Oh, that's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: I will transition. It is a big statement.</s>TRUMP: That's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: Because I would stop...</s>KRISTEN WELKER, MODERATOR: Why would you do that?</s>BIDEN: Because the oil industry pollutes significantly. I'd stop giving them federal subsidies.</s>TRUMP: That could be one of the worst mistakes made in presidential debate history. We're going to see. We hope it is.</s>ACOSTA: Mr. Trump tried to turn to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for some political help, as he touted a new peace agreement between Israel and Sudan. But take a listen, as Netanyahu seemed reluctant to play along.</s>TRUMP: Do you think sleepy Joe could have made this deal, Bibi, sleepy Joe? I think -- do you think he would've made this deal somehow? I don't think so.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, Mr. President, one thing I can tell you is, we appreciate it the help for peace from anyone in America. And we appreciate what you've done enormously.</s>TRUMP: Yes.</s>ACOSTA: And as the president is playing catchup with Democrat Joe Biden, he is planning on holding multiple rallies every day between now and Election Day, sometimes three to five rallies a day. Wolf. We have been accustomed to seeing one potential super-spreader event, one potential super-spreader rally with the president out on the campaign trail. Now he may have multiple potential super-spreader events, as many of these supporters here are not wearing their masks and they're not practicing social distancing -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: And thousands and thousands of them are gathering to hear the president. All right, Jim Acosta, thank you very much. Let's get some more of the breaking news on the coronavirus crisis. Let's go to CNN's Nick Watt. He's joining us right now. Nick, as we're seeing so many disturbing new numbers unfolding right now, and there's also some news you're getting the vaccine front. Update our viewers.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, some pretty good news on the vaccine. Johnson & Johnson getting ready to restart, hoping to restart their trials here in the U.S. after an unexplained illness in a volunteer. They say no evidence that that illness was connected with the vaccine. AstraZeneca, meanwhile, just got the green light to restart their trials here in the U.S., after a similar situation. But here's the thing. As the director of the National Institute of Health said today, unless enough of us take that vaccine, then this virus could be here for years.</s>WATT (voice-over): We are now in the full surge, virus spread accelerating.</s>ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We're in a very serious moment right now. We're seeing increases in cases. And what we're seeing is, through the Midwest, Upper Midwest and the Plains, a lot of cases occurring.</s>WATT: A dozen states are suffering all-time record high average daily case counts.</s>TRUMP: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The truth of the matter is that we're turning the corner into a tsunami.</s>WATT: Nationwide, the three worst days for new cases were all back in ugly, ugly July, coming in fourth, yesterday, 71,671 new infections.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: This time, it's in the middle of the country.</s>WATT: And the number of COVID patients in our hospitals has soared by a third in just three weeks or so.</s>AZAR: Then, we will see results from that.</s>WATT: Results means deaths, our average daily death toll already higher than it's been in a month. And another 160,000-plus Americans might die before the first day of February, according to influential modelers. They say, if 95 percent of Americans wore masks, 100,000 lives could be saved through the last day of February.</s>AZAR: This is being driven by individual behaviors at this point.</s>WATT: Like going mask less, family gatherings, public gatherings, three cases now confirmed at this Los Angeles mega-church, which defies public health orders, meets inside.</s>PASTOR JOHN MACARTHUR, GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH: We will obey God, rather than men.</s>WATT: Big Ten football kicks off tonight, very few fans. Still, "We are expecting some potential new obstacles as a result of the upcoming football season," says the mayor of East Lansing, home to Michigan State. We are in the full surge. We know what we need to do.</s>REINER: Mask up, and we can turn this around.</s>WATT: We can turn this around, but will we turn this around? Now, the surgeon general today said that, this week, we will probably see our highest ever daily case count for this virus. Yes, and the data backs him up. Yesterday, we were just 5,000 or 6,000 short, and as we just showed you, the trajectory on that graph, Wolf, is going like that.</s>BLITZER: Yes. I just double-checked. Yesterday, 71,671 people came down diagnosed with coronavirus. Another 856 -- 856 Americans, sadly, lost their lives to coronavirus just yesterday. Deepest condolences to their families. Nick Watt, thank you very much for that report. Joining us now, Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Frieden, thank you so much for joining us. As you watch the numbers of new cases, the numbers of hospitalizations in the U.S. tick back up toward previous highs, how concerned are you about what will unfold during the coming weeks and months as we approach winter here?</s>DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Well, Wolf, it's extremely concerning. What we're seeing is an upsurge throughout most of the U.S., and the increases continue. Not only are the levels high, but they're increasing. And although the focus is on the number of diagnosed cases, the best estimate is, there are roughly five times as many infections each day as diagnosed cases. What that really tells us is that we are, yes, turning the corner, but into a tsunami of an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.</s>BLITZER: So, what do we need to do to try to stop that?</s>FRIEDEN: There's a lot we can do. But one thing we have to understand is, it's not one thing. Masks are important. But it's not only masks. A vaccine, if it comes, will be important, but we're still going to have a pandemic. There's no fairy tale ending to this pandemic. But there's lots we can do to drive down spread with the three W's, wear a mask, watch your distance, wash your hands. All of them are important. And reduce risky indoor gatherings. And, second, where there is spread, tamp it down with rapid testing, isolating people quickly after they become infectious, and identifying contacts and quarantining them. If we do that, we can keep it to a low level, and that way get more of our economy back sooner.</s>BLITZER: What I hear you saying, Dr. Frieden, is that we're still not doing enough testing. Is that right?</s>FRIEDEN: I would say we're not doing testing strategically enough. It doesn't matter how many tests you do, if you don't take appropriate action, both to prevent spread and if there is a positive. What we're seeing is now an increase, again, in the turnaround time for tests. What you want to have happen is, if someone feels sick, they get tested the same day, they get the results back within a day, and they're isolated, so that you're reducing the infectious burden in communities. That's not what's happening in most places of the U.S. And as cases increase, you get into a vicious cycle, because there's less testing capacity, longer turnaround times. Public health staff are overwhelmed. What you want to do is drive down cases with masking and distancing and shutting or restricting indoor places, so that you can get into more of a virtuous cycle, and have cases come down and down and down. The only way to do that, Wolf, is to focus on it, not deny it.</s>BLITZER: When you see these images of these huge rallies that the president is having, thousands in Florida right now, for example, thousands of people showing up, most of them not wearing masks, many of them elderly, and no social distancing at all, it's such a problem. But the president himself seems to be encouraging it. Look at these pictures coming in, Dr. Frieden.</s>FRIEDEN: Well, at least they're outside. Out of doors is vastly safer than indoors. But any time you have lots of people together and coming from different places, some of them having higher rates of COVID, there is a definite risk of spread of the virus. And that spread will result in further infections, further hospitalizations, and further deaths.</s>BLITZER: And it's so easy to simply put on a mask, and it will save so many lives. And, unfortunately, so many people don't want to do that. We have just learned, Dr. Frieden, that the drug maker AstraZeneca will resume its vaccine trials here in the United States after it was paused because of safety concerns. Are you confident in the FDA's decision to allow this trial to move forward?</s>FRIEDEN: I'm encouraged that we have seen companies like AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson really very careful, very transparent, pausing, providing information, without violating any patient confidentiality, and then resuming. What we really need here is not just a vaccine that is safe and effective, but also one that's trusted. And that means the processes have to be followed, there has to be full transparency about the data. This is an unprecedented attempt to develop a vaccine this fast. And some of the types of vaccines have never been used before. But I'm guardedly optimistic that we will have a safe and effective vaccine at some point in the next few months. But, again, it's not going to take the pandemic off the table. It will be a great tool, especially if people take the vaccine, but we're still going to have the risk of cases, clusters and outbreaks. We're still going to have to adjust to a new normal, a more sustainable normal, and let's hope a better normal of recognizing that we're all in this together, and we can get through it.</s>BLITZER: Yes, we have got to err on the side of caution. The dangers are so great. When asked, by the way, about his communication with the president, Dr. Fauci, a man you know well, said -- and I'm quoting him now -- he said: "I definitely don't have his ear as much as Scott Atlas right now." Does it concern you to learn that the White House is increasingly moving away from Dr. Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert?</s>FRIEDEN: Well, I think it's not about individuals. But what concerns me deeply is Dr. Atlas, although he claims not to be advocating herd immunity, is exactly advocating herd immunity, is saying, let it spread among young, healthy people and protect the vulnerable. It's a tempting idea, except it's completely wrong, because what starts in the young doesn't stay in the young. Some of the young can get very ill or die. And, ultimately, the vulnerable isn't a little sliver of our society. It's 20 percent of people in this country who are over the age of 65, and nearly half of adults have an underlying condition that puts them at higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID. So, it's a very deadly mistake to follow.</s>BLITZER: And young people, even if they're totally asymptomatic, they can still spread this disease to their parents, their grandparents, and others all around. So, this is really -- as you say, this herd immunity idea is really, really pitiful. It's really sad and so, so dangerous. Dr. Frieden, thank you so much for joining us.</s>FRIEDEN: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: Just ahead, Joe Biden hits hard on the pandemic and the president's failures as he delivers his closing message to voters. And if the debate wasn't a game-changer, can the president carve a path to victory with only 11 days left? We will be right back.

Study: Wearing Masks could Save up to 130,000 Lives in U.S.; AstraZeneca to Resume its COVID-19 Vaccine Trial in U.S.; Boston Schools Go Back To All-Remote As COVID-19 Cases Climb

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. And we're following breaking news. More than 223,000 Americans have now lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic as the number of known cases here in the United States has now topped 8.4 million. And in a very, very disturbing sign, the number of hospitalizations is now at the highest level since August. But despite the country's frightening trajectory, a new study shows that as many as 130,000 Americans lives could be saved if people would simply wear masks. We are following all of the breaking election news as well. Right now, President Trump is in must-win state of Florida, still needing to reset his campaign although his performance in the last night's debate was markedly less combative. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is hitting back at the president. Just a little ago, in a major speech accusing him of having given up, given up on fighting the pandemic. Now in just 11 days left until the election, more than 50 million early votes here in the United States already have been cast. Let's begin with more on the breaking campaign news. Our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us from Florida right now. Jim, the president clearly understands how important Florida, Florida, Florida is to him.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. With these debates behind him, President Trump is now in the fight of his political life. He is trailing Joe Biden in critical battleground states like Florida where he is campaigning tonight. We are stationed outside the president's upcoming event in Pensacola. We can see Trump supporters streaming into this venue behind us. None of them, hardly any of them wearing masks at this moment. We want to also show you a live picture of a current Trump rally taking place right now in The Villages in Central Florida. That's a key part of that battleground state. Again, Trump's supporters not social distancing, not wearing masks as this coronavirus is raging across the U.S.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Campaigning in the must-win state of Florida, President Trump is predicting a comeback, even as he's trailing in the polls and running out of time.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be a great - red wave like you've never seen before. You're going to have a wave like you've never seen before.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The president is patting himself on the back after his less hostile debate with Joe Biden.</s>TRUMP: I wanted to play by the rules. I felt very strongly about it. It's two different styles. I'm able to do different styles, if you had to.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): But Mr. Trump is still trying to rewrite history, insisting he's always taken responsibility for his response to the coronavirus.</s>TRUMP: I always take responsibility.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Even though that's obviously not true.</s>TRUMP: No, I don't take responsibility.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): As COVID-19 cases are once again peaking in the U.S., the president and top administration officials gathered in the Oval Office without wearing masks, as Mr. Trump needled one reporter for using one.</s>TRUMP: This is Jeff Mason. He's got a mask on. It's the largest mask I think I've ever seen.</s>ACOSTA: Coronavirus Task Force doctor, Anthony Fauci, said the West Wing's resistance to mask-wearing is not setting the best example.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Virtually everybody who is in that room was tested that day to go into the Oval Office. But, still, the image of that is something that may give the wrong impression to people.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Though Fauci acknowledged the president is spending more time listening to controversial task force member Dr. Scott Atlas, a mask skeptic.</s>FAUCI: I definitely don't have his ear as much as Scott Atlas right now.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): In his own post-debate speech, Biden called on all Americans to wear masks and to listen to the scientists.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Yes, Mr. President, I will listen to the scientists, and I will empower them.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): At the debate, the president was sending more mixed signals, falsely claiming the virus is going away.</s>TRUMP: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): While also saying Americans may have to grow accustomed to life with COVID-19.</s>TRUMP: I say we're learning to live with it. We have no choice.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Biden slammed Mr. Trump for that.</s>BIDEN: He says that we're - you know, we're learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it. Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The president also claimed he's not a racist.</s>TRUMP: I can't even see the audience because it's so dark, but I don't care who's in the audience. I'm the least racist person in this room.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): While smearing undocumented immigrants who show up for their court dates.</s>TRUMP: I hate to say this, but those with the lowest I.Q., they might come back.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The Trump campaign believes Biden had a major gaffe when he said he wanted the U.S. to transition from fossil fuels to green energy.</s>TRUMP: Would you close down the oil industry?</s>BIDEN: By the way, I have a transition from the old industry, yes.</s>TRUMP: Oh, that's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: I will transition. It is a big statement.</s>TRUMP: That's a big statement.</s>BIDEN: Because I would stop...</s>KRISTEN WELKER, MODERATOR: Why would you do that?</s>BIDEN: Because the oil industry pollutes significantly. I'd stop giving them federal subsidies.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Mr. Trump tried to turn to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for some political help, as he touted a new peace agreement between Israel and Sudan. But take a listen, as Netanyahu seemed reluctant to play along.</s>TRUMP: Do you think Sleepy Joe could have made this deal, Bibi, Sleepy Joe? I think -- do you think he would've made this deal somehow? I don't think so.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, Mr. President, one thing I can tell you is, we appreciate the help for peace from anyone in America. And we appreciate what you've done enormously.</s>TRUMP: Yes.</s>ACOSTA: And even though the president is happy with his debate performance, not all of his advisers are pleased. I talked to one Trump campaign adviser who said candidly the president did not deliver, did not deliver a knock-out blow against Joe Biden at a time when he needed it most. Getting back to showing you how these supporters are behaving at these rallies, Wolf, take you back to The Villages in Central Florida. Show you some live pictures from there. Again, supporters there not social distancing, not wearing masks and I can tell you behind us as people are streaming into this Pensacola rally, also again not wearing masks as they head into this venue. The president is packing in thousands of supporters into these rallies even though there is a track record that some of these supporters are getting sick after going to his events. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Clearly, he still has a huge, huge following. Thousands of people showing up at all of these rallies in these key battleground states. All right. Jim Acosta, thank you very, very much. Let's get some more on the breaking pandemic news right now. Brian Todd is working the story for us. Brian, I understand we are getting some important vaccine news. What is the latest?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf. The drug maker AstraZeneca said it's about to resume the experimental vaccine trial of its vaccine in the United States. That trial had been on pause since last month because a volunteer in Great Britain had suffered a neurological condition, but AstraZeneca says the FDA has reviewed all the global data and concluded that it's safe to resume that experimental vaccine trial in the United States. Now, on the other side of this coin, America is by almost every metric in the early stages of a very dangerous surge.</s>TODD (voice-over): The winter surge of COVID has begun. That's according to an influential modeling group at the University of Washington which now predicts about 160,000 more Americans could die by February 1st. 32 states are trending up and reporting new cases. There were more than 70,000 new cases across the country yesterday, the highest daily count in months. 12 states have just seen their highest ever 7-day averages of new cases.</s>DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: People are just tired. They are tired of months of mask wearing and social distancing. They are letting down their guard. And, unfortunately, the coronavirus is not done with us yet even if we are done with the coronavirus. And so, we really do need to double down on the basic measures. Mask wearing is number one. Number two, number three.</s>TODD (voice-over): In fact, that same modeling group at the University of Washington says if 95 percent of Americans wore masks in public, more than 100,000 lives could be saved through February. Meantime, the head of the National Institutes of Health said a vaccine won't be the magic bullet if enough people don't get it.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I've been talking so optimistically about how we are likely to have a vaccine by the end of the year. But it's only 50 percent of Americans are interested in taking it. We are never going to get to that point of immunity across the population where this COVID-19 goes away. It could be here for years.</s>TODD (voice-over): In three coronavirus hot spots in the U.S., vastly different approaches to mask wearing. The mayor of New Orleans says anyone not wearing a mask in her city could get a 500-dollar ticket.</s>MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL (D-LA), NEW ORLEANS: So, this is just another urge and another encouragement to follow the simple guidelines to put that mask on, keep your distance so we can stay on track.</s>TODD (voice-over): But in South Dakota, the governor tweets that the government should not mandate mask wearing. Quote: "Those who don't want to wear a mask shouldn't be shamed into it." She says. "We need to respect each other's decisions." And in Colorado, a federal judge has cited with two churches who sued. The judge ruling that the churches don't have to limit their indoor capacity and don't have to require parishioners to wear masks. It goes squarely against Colorado's COVID-19 rules.</s>PASTOR BOB ENYART, DENVER BIBLE CHURCH: We will worship together. We will have congregational singing and we could do that without the government interfering.</s>GOUNDER: I find that somewhat confounding. To the best of my knowledge, there is no religion in the world that does not put human life as the number one priority, the number one value.</s>TODD: And we have this just in as well. Despite the proclamations by President Trump and his Health and Human Services secretary that the United States is turning a corner with the virus. The president's own surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, has just said that this coming week, we will probably have what he says is the highest number of cases that we have ever had on a daily basis in the United States. He notes that cases are going up in about 75 percent of the jurisdictions across the country and Dr. Adams said that almost invariable deaths will increase as well. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: I simply don't understand why the president keeps saying we are turning the corner. It makes no sense at all. It's getting worse and worse. All right. Brian, thank you very, very much. Joining me now, Rick Bright, a top vaccine expert who actually resigned from the federal government back on October 6th. Several months after filing a whistleblower complainant accusing the Trump administration of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Bright, thank you so much for joining us. You just heard Brian Todd's report showing that there are some very, very troubling trends unfolding right now. Coronavirus cases are surging, hospitalizations around. So much of the country are climbing as we head into the winter. Just how dire is the situation right now?</s>RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR, BIOMEDICAL ADVANCED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: Well, Wolf, thanks for having me on today. I'm very concerned about the numbers that we are seeing today. More cases today in the last 24 hours than we have seen for many months since the start of this entire pandemic. It was entirely predictable as he laid out in my testimony to the Congress last May. If our government didn't step up and show leadership and put in place proper guidelines and strategies and plans to stop this pandemic and slow its spread, I predicted that back in May that we would see the darkest winter in modern history. And unfortunately, Donald Trump and his administration has failed to put any of those actions in place that we have talked about for months. President Trump has failed to protect Americans from this pandemic. He is still in denial. We heard that last night in the debates. He is still is not telling Americans the truth. And until Americans hear the truth and see leaders leading by example, they are not following the best public health guidance and that is why we are seeing this skyrocket in cases and it will translate into more deaths. Hundreds of thousands of more deaths over the coming months. Unless we have strong leadership, and everyone takes action now.</s>BLITZER: Yes, but there are some developments involving therapeutics, some developments of vaccines which is your specialty. What is your reaction to the news from AstraZeneca, for example, that its vaccine trial will resume here in the United States after it was paused due to safety concerns? You're a true expert in this field. What do you think?</s>BRIGHT: Well, Wolf, it's a sigh of relief. I mean, whenever we develop vaccines for anything, when we get into larger clinical studies, we are always going to find something that happens in a person and we have to stop and investigate whatever happens and determine if it was related to the vaccine or not. And determine if it poses some risk that will be greater than the benefit that we would see if we had a vaccine for that particular disease target. It sounds like the FDA took their time to review this. AstraZeneca clearly provided all the needed information and data for the FDA to review. With the FDA giving a green light to continue in that clinical trial tells me that they are going to continue watching and monitoring closely for any similar events such as what they have seen already. However, the FDA must be comfortable that either the event was rare or insignificant for whatever they investigated and/or the company has a really strong plan in place to monitor for that to happen again. And if it does, I'm sure the FDA will be notified very quickly. I'm encouraged that the trial is continuing. I'm encouraged that we have five or six other clinical trials also in late stage development. So, I think we are getting closer and closer to a vaccine.</s>BLITZER: On the other hand, you heard what Dr. Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health, is warning that if only 50 percent of Americans are willing to go out there and get the coronavirus vaccine and God willing there will be a safe and effective vaccine either one dose or two doses, whatever it takes, the virus could still stick around for years if only half the American population is willing to take the vaccine. What does that illustrate to you?</s>BRIGHT: Well, it illustrates we have a long road ahead of us still. So, even with an effective vaccine, you're right, Americans have to take the vaccine. We have a lot of trust to rebuild amongst the American population and our government and the manufacturers who are making those vaccines. I think the politicization of the pandemic that we have seen by the White House, by President Trump over the last several months, the political pressure on the CDC and the FDA have not done anything to help build trust. I think, if anything, it's eroded trust. So, the FDA by using an external advisory panel of experts to review the vaccines as it become available is a critical step for that transparency that I hope will build trust in American people to take the vaccine. However, as Dr. Collins indicated, even when we have a vaccine, I think it's going to take another whole year from now before we have sufficient supplies and the process to vaccinate enough people across America. And, therefore, we are going to still be wearing masks and social distancing for a while even after we have a vaccine.</s>BLITZER: Yes, Dr. Fauci told me a few weeks ago he thinks even with a vaccine that is safe and effective, most of us will still be forced to wear masks for most of next year given the fact that even a safe and effective vaccine might only be 70 percent effective, meaning 70 percent of the people who get the vaccine will have a positive outcome from it, but for 30 percent, maybe it's not going to much at all. So, this is a problem that is going to be around for a while. Rick Bright, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for all your important work.</s>BRIGHT: Thanks, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Up next, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden talks about his pandemic plan and says we don't have to be, quote, "held prisoner" by what he says on President Trump's failures. And we are also tracking the race to win 270 electoral votes as the candidates are focusing in on those key battleground states with just 11 days to go before Election Day here in the United States.

Trump-Biden Fight Intensifies after Debates 11 Days until Election

BLITZER: Fresh off last night's final presidential debate, Democratic Nominee Joe Biden is back on the campaign trail intensifying his attacks on President Trump and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. CNN political correspondent Arlette Saenz is covering the Biden campaign for us. Arlette, today, the former vice president laid out part of the strategy for dealing with COVID-19. Tell our viewers what he said.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's clear that in these final 11 days of the election, Joe Biden wants to keep the coronavirus pandemic front and center in this campaign. You saw him talk about it last night in the debate and in his speech today offering a different vision for how he would approach the pandemic that is still gripping the country. He was once again critical of the president as he spoke in Wilmington, Delaware today. Accusing him of quitting on America and not having a sufficient plan to address the crisis. Take a bit of a listen to more of what Biden had to say earlier today in Delaware.</s>BIDEN: The longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he gets. We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path. We can do what Americans have always done, come together and meet the challenge with grit, compassion, and determination.</s>SAENZ: Biden also ran through a bit of the policy and strategy for how he would approach COVID-19, should he become president. One of the things he said is that he wouldn't wait until becoming president being in the White House to get to work. He said that during the transition, he would start talking to governors about the resources that they might need in their states. He also said that he would push Congress to have a bill on his desk by the end of January to provide resources for public health and economic concerns. Biden also again talked about a mask mandate saying that he would press governors to institute that in their states if they didn't implement that, he would go to the mayors and local officials to try to get that done. Biden acknowledging himself that on a federal level he could only mandate masks in federal buildings. But one of the overarching things that you heard from Joe Biden is that he will listen to the scientists. That is what his guy did all of his response to the coronavirus pandemic and he says that that is how he would operate in the White House. Now for Biden's part campaigning over the next few days they are likely to hammer away at this message once again. Tomorrow he will have events in Pennsylvania, that critical battleground state that President Trump narrowly won back in 2016. And he is also getting some more help from that top Democratic surrogate President Obama who will be hitting the campaign trail in Florida. All these events smaller, socially distance is they are trying to present that contrast to the president with the coronavirus. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Florida is so important. The fact that former President Obama will be there for Joe Biden tomorrow is very, very significant. We will of course have a lot of coverage of that over the weekend. Our thanks very much Arlette for that. Let's get some more from CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip and CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen, former presidential adviser David Gergen. Abby, today really illustrated the very sharp contrast between these two candidates. On the one hand, Joe Biden is focusing his message entirely on coronavirus. The president on the other hand, is holding crowded mask less events in the Oval Office and that campaign rallies. This one that he is holding today with senior citizens packed without a lot of face masks, no social distancing at all in Florida. So, what do you make of that contrast with just 11 days to go?</s>ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the president is doubling down on this part of his reelection strategy. There has not been, despite the change of tone last night, a change in message from President Trump. He is running on the coronavirus basically going away even though we know that that is not what is happening. He is running on this idea that he doesn't have to campaign with the virus in mind or even responsive -- being responsive to the concerns of voters on the issue of the virus. And that is the contrast with Joe Biden. I mean, it could not be more clearer for voters. So, this is not an attempt by the Trump campaign to try to narrow the differences between the candidates on COVID and leave the broader differences on issues like the economy, which the president is on more sure footing on, and it's a real distinct choice. And I'm not sure it's going to work because we know, based on the polls, the American people are not satisfied with how the president is handling this virus. They think he needs to take it seriously and show more leadership and the kind of leadership they want to see is in the way that he behaves at the White House at these rallies and in his day-to- day life, in addition to sort of sending a broader message to the American public.</s>BLITZER: And David, despite what the president is saying, we are rounding the turn, for example. Coronavirus cases right now are surging throughout so much of the United States with only 11 days to go before Election Day. How much do you think this will weigh on these few undecided voters right now in those key battleground states who potentially could make the difference?</s>DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: If we are in the beginning stages of a dark winter as Joe Biden said last night, the next 10 days, the media is going to have to decide if they are covering the presidential race or they're going to start over the pandemic. And the truth is that they will cover how Biden and Trump respond to the pandemic. And so far, Trump is relying on these rallies, that doesn't provide an answer on the pandemic and there is no evidence in yet that his rallies are changing the margin Joe Biden has had a steady margin of eight to 10 points ahead nationwide. That rallies aren't seem -- don't seem to be cutting into that. And we have seen no evidence at these rallies are extending people to vote early. Most of the people -- a lot of people are voting early are Democrats, not Republicans. So, I think the Trump campaign has maybe they're just in a box and can't get out of. But they have mishandled the messaging and the focus on the pandemic to show real leadership. They are not showing real leadership and I think it's become a real drag on him. And one of the reasons Joe Biden is likely to win at this point is that he is handling the pandemic with so much more respect for science.</s>BLITZER: Yes, I wouldn't pay too much attention to those national polls. I would pay attention to those five or six or eight battleground states where this election will be determined. National polls interesting but you know what, the current president lost the popular vote last time about 3 million votes. He still won the electoral college. He was elected president of the United States. You need 270 electoral college votes. You know, Abby, President Trump might have missed his last chance to change the trajectory of the race at the debate last night with only 11 days to go. What does he need to do right now to give himself a serious shot on Election Day with only these few days left?</s>PHILLIP: Well, we have been just discussing it. The big drag on President Trump is his handling of the virus and he has demonstrated that that is not going to change between now and Election Day. I do think last night that the change of tone, while it probably wasn't the kind of -- as Jim Acosta put it, the knockout blow that perhaps maybe his allies wanted, it was soothing to some Republicans who are unlikely to vote for Biden but wanted the president to sort of show a different kind of tenor of his voice, frankly. And especially for other Republicans who are running on the same ballot as President Trump. I think his change of tone - his change of tone was important for them. But he still struggling with seniors, he's still struggling with women. And he didn't offer them anything different in the substance of what he had say last night and he is not going to change his approach. We know that already. So, this is where the race is right now and I think this is probably where it's going to be in terms of the fundamentals between now and Election Day and just a matter of whether he's going to get enough people to support him or don't like Joe Biden to show up at the polls.</s>BLITZER: Yes, I suspect he did reassure some of those undecided Republicans with his performance last night. Abby, thank you. David Gergen, thanks to you as well. Coming up, President Trump and Joe Biden are focusing in on those key states as they battle for the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House. One of them of course is Florida. That is an absolute must-win for President Trump as he is campaigning there. In fact, right now. We'll be right back.

51 Plus Million Early Votes Already Cast 11 Days To Election; Georgia County Hit With Election Ransomware Attack.

BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking stories here in "The Situation Room". Thanks to early in mail-in voting, more than 52 million Americans already have cast ballots in the presidential election. That total jumped by more than a million this hour alone. Let's go to CNN's Pamela Brown. Pamela, that's a huge number. But I understand there are also some troubles. What are you hearing?</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf. Tonight, as we learn tens of millions of voters have already cast their ballots early, there is renewed scrutiny on voter intimidation and concerns about foreign adversaries using stolen data to influence the elections.</s>BROWN (voice-over): With the election just 11 days away, more than 50 million Americans have already turned in their ballots.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would rather get it done and overweight and do it early, that way I know I've voted.</s>BROWN (voice-over): And more than half of those votes come from CNN's 16 most competitive states. And one of the fiercest battlegrounds, North Carolina, over 2.5 million ballots have been cast. That's more than half of the total turnout in 2016. Millions of people choosing a voting in-person amid the coronavirus surge across the country. Most states with mask mandate say they won't stop people without masks from voting. They'll be asked to fill out a ballot outside or in an isolated area. Some voters agree with the approach.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, it's important to accommodate them. And if they don't choose to wear a mask, but they still have the right to vote.</s>BROWN (voice-over): And there were new debate over what is considered voter intimidation. After filming voters at a Philadelphia polling station, the Trump campaign found at least three people dropping off more than one ballot each. What their attorney believes is just the tip of the iceberg and what could constitute unlawful absentee voting. But voters are allowed to drop off ballots for people who are disabled and state officials warned the videos might be interpreted as intimidation.</s>KATHY BOOCKVAR, PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Voter intimidation is illegal under state and federal law. And videotaping, you taking pictures of you is in -- without your consent is part of that.</s>BROWN (voice-over): Which the Trump campaign calls categorically absurd. On election interference, intelligence officials confirm Russian hackers have stolen election data, but it's unclear how the information will be used. Official say Iran used voter information to send threatening e-mails that came to light this week.</s>JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections.</s>BROWN (voice-over): The federal government issued two new cyber security alerts, warning that state and local governments were targeted. But officials say election infrastructure has not been compromised. The intelligence community generally agrees that Russians interfered four years ago to help Trump win. Despite that, President Trump slammed the assessment again at last night's debate.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The one thing that's common to both of them, they both want you to lose, because there has been nobody tougher to Russia with -- between the sanctions, nobody tougher than me on Russia.</s>BROWN (voice-over): Intelligence experts agree stopping Russia should be the priority.</s>JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Russia has been interfering in the run up to our election already. And for my part at least, is far more serious threat than Iran.</s>BROWN: And we're learning more about 2020's first election ransomware attacks that hit Georgia. Officials in one Georgia county say the hacks affected a voter signature database and precinct maps, but security experts believe that the election infrastructure was not affected, that is important and that the attack was largely driven by profit, not politics. But, Wolf, ransomware attacks are a concern of security experts as we near Election Day, because they can sow chaos and confusion.</s>BLITZER: Yes, they can. All right, Pamela Brown reporting for us, thank you very much. Coming up, President Trump campaigning right now in the must win state of Florida with just 11 days to go until the election. He's still talking about last night's debate. We'll give you an update when we've come back.

Experts: Masking Could Save 100K Lives by March 1; 51+ Million Early Votes Cast in U.S. Election

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello everyone, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, appreciate your company, I am Michael Holmes. We begin with breaking news this hour, alarming evidence that the country that already has the most reported infections and deaths in the global pandemic is not just headed in the wrong direction; it is heading down a dangerous path. The U.S., on Friday, reported the most new coronavirus cases in one single day. Nearly 84,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Now if the U.S. is "rounding a corner," as the president likes to say, what is waiting around that corner is terrifying. Just one state, that's the one in green, Oregon, has numbers that are headed down, by at least 10 percent. You can see what is happening in the rest of the country. Hospitalizations, also rising nationwide. Experts worry, there will also be a rise in deaths in the next few weeks. The so-called lagging indicator. All of this, happening with a presidential election, of course, more than a week away. Friday President Trump, holding 2 big campaign rallies in Florida. As usual, just a smattering of masks and no social distancing. That is a scary sight. There was also a speech that did not square with the numbers, no matter how often he repeats this.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All he talks about his COVID, COVID, COVID. They want to scare people. We have done so well with it, now it is 99.8 percent. Look at what is going on and we are rounding the turn, we are rounding the corner. We are rounding the corner beautifully.</s>HOLMES: That is not true. Joe Biden's message could make you wonder if he and Trump are running for president of the same country. Have a listen to him.</s>JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I will go to every governor and mandate mask-wearing in their states. If they refuse, I will go to the mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place nationwide. As president, I will mandate mask-wearing in all federal buildings and all interstate transportation because masks save lives, period.</s>HOLMES: The president, of course, is not on board with mandatory masks. In fact, he has mocked Joe Biden for wearing one. For months, the nation's top infectious disease expert was not in favor of a nationwide mask mandate. But now, given these alarming trends, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN, it may be needed.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If everyone agrees that this is something that is important and they mandate, it and everyone pulls together and say, we will mandate it but let's just do it, I think that would be a great idea, to have everyone do it uniformly. One of the issues, though, I get the argument, saying, if you mandate a mask, then you will then have to enforce, it and that creates more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>HOLMES: With the number of new COVID-19 cases skyrocketing in the U.S., the surgeon general warns that this could be the worst week since the pandemic began. More than half of states now reporting infections, increasing by 10 percent or more, compared with the previous week. CNN's Nick Watt with more.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are now in the fall surge, virus spread accelerating.</s>ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We're in a very serious moment right now. We're seeing increases in cases. And what we're seeing is, through the Midwest, Upper Midwest and the Plains, a lot of cases occurring.</s>WATT: A dozen states are suffering all-time record high average daily case counts.</s>TRUMP: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The truth of the matter is that we're turning the corner into a tsunami.</s>WATT: Nationwide, the three worst days for new cases were all back in ugly, ugly July, coming in fourth, yesterday, 71,671 new infections. And the number of COVID patients in our hospitals has soared by a third in just three weeks or so.</s>AZAR: Then, we will see results from that.</s>WATT: Results means deaths, our average daily death toll already higher than it's been in a month. And another 160,000-plus Americans might die before the first day of February, according to influential modelers.</s>WATT (voice-over): They say, if 95 percent of Americans wore masks, 100,000 lives could be saved through the last day of February.</s>AZAR: This is being driven by individual behaviors at this point.</s>WATT: Like going maskless, family gatherings, public gatherings, three cases now confirmed at this Los Angeles mega-church, which defies public health orders, meets inside.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will obey God, rather than men.</s>WATT: Big Ten football kicks off tonight, very few fans. Still, "We are expecting some potential new obstacles as a result of the upcoming football season," says the mayor of East Lansing, home to Michigan State. We are in the fall surge. We know what we need to do.</s>REINER: Mask up and we can turn this around.</s>WATT (voice-over): Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>HOLMES: The final U.S. presidential debate this week, opened with exchanges on, yes, the coronavirus pandemic. Each candidate asked how he would tackle the next phase. Joe Biden and Donald Trump as far apart on that as they were on pretty much everything.</s>BIDEN: We are about to go into a dark winter. A dark winter. He has no clear plan.</s>KRISTEN WELKER, MSNBC HOST: He says you have no plan.</s>TRUMP: -- have a dark winter at all. We are opening up our country. I say we are learning to live with it.</s>BIDEN: People are learning to die with it.</s>HOLMES: The election could come down to the battleground states you see here in yellow. That is Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia and, as always, Florida. Now even without the current electoral college outlook, it does still give Joe Biden the edge. The magic number, 270 electoral college seats and, right now, it looks like 290 for Biden, 163 for President Trump. Of course, we must stress, anything can happen. Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst, joins me now from Los Angeles. Good to see you, my friend. Let's start with the, debate because why not. For Joe Biden, I think it is fair to say, the challenge was do no harm. But Donald Trump needed a home run or a pivotal moment, a course changer. What was your read? Did the dial move in any direction, in any substantial way?</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's hard at this point to move very much. Obviously, the president was more effective overall, that he was in the first debate where he might have well just have doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire. But I thought the key to the whole debate, was what you were showing before. It was the first 15 minutes of where the message the president sent to the country, as cases are spiking to the highest level ever, was unequivocal, that no matter how long he is in office, no matter how many get, sick no matter how many die, he's not going to take this any more seriously than he has so far. And he will continue to prioritize reopening the economy over safeguarding public health. Of course, in the long, run it openly undermines the goal of reopening the economy. He is playing, as he often, does to the short side of the field, to the minority of Americans who will oppose masks on ideological, grounds or want to open, up at all costs. That is, he is sending the country a very clear signal, he is not going to change course, even as the virus spikes. And as we said before, 60 percent of Americans, consistently, disapprove of the way he's handling this.</s>HOLMES: And there are signs of actual spikes in counties where he is holding these rallies, by the way. I wanted to ask you about polls, because you are our poll guy; 2016 versus 2020. We know they were wrong in 2016 but what changed in terms of methodology and also, the tangible things, changing demographics? A lot of Trump's numbers, in terms of core supporters, have dropped. Biden's have risen, so what do you make of that?</s>BROWNSTEIN: In 2016, Donald Trump surprised pollsters and won. He turned out more non-college and more nonurban voters than expected, in 3 key Western states, that determine the election, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The national polling was actually quite close. But in all of those states, the mix of the electorate was different than the pollsters and, for that matter, the Clinton campaign and their sophisticated election modeling, had anticipated, it. And that's how he won. That could happen again. That is probably the only path he has toward winning, given that he has alienated college educated white voters to the point where he likely will have the weakest showing ever among them for a Republican candidate. People of color are going to, vote overwhelmingly against him. He is looking at 2012 level deficits, maybe 2008 level deficits among young people. But he is still holding 60 percent of the non-college whites. If they again turn out in much bigger numbers pollsters are expecting, he may have a shot at tipping those states. Two problems. One, the polling has changed. Pollsters have now tried to wait for education they way they didn't in 2016, to avoid a repeat of that.</s>BROWNSTEIN: And the bigger problem the president faces, is one of the reasons why his turnout surge was so effective in 2016, was because turnout was depressed on the other side, particularly African American voters. Basically, everyone is voting this time. The turnout, in these big white-collar suburban counties, in the urban centers, it is enormous. Even if Trump turns out more voters, the denominator is bigger as well. He's trying to influence a bigger pool and that is harder to do.</s>HOLMES: To that point, in a way, some states or parts of the country will have topped the 2016 total voting numbers before Election Day. What does that sort of staggering early turnout tell you?</s>BROWNSTEIN: It is going to be an enormous turnout; 138 million people voted in 2016 and estimates are moving into the mid-150s, maybe as high as 157, 158; 20 more million people, the highest turnout as a share of eligible voters, since before women had the right to vote. Used to, you would, say automatically, that benefited Democrats. But President Trump -- and this is probably his greatest political skill -- has been able to turn out his base. There will be a lot of his voters turning out, as well but the turnout in the urban centers, in the metro counties, it is just enormous. Harris County/Houston, 1 million people have voted already, as of today. There was 1.3 million total in 2016. They are going to blow past that. Not only will they blow past it, Joe Biden will win a much higher share of the vote there than Hillary Clinton did. One of the things that is happening under Donald Trump, is he is exiling the Republican Party from the fast growing, economically dynamic, metro centers that are shaping America in the 21st century. He lost 87 of the hundred largest counties. He will probably lose 90- something I, think this time. He may lose them as many as 18 million votes. He has a lot of rural strength still but that is a big deal to overcome.</s>HOLMES: And he won three key electoral college states by 70,000 votes.</s>BROWNSTEIN: -- votes combined in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.</s>BROWNSTEIN: To your point earlier, in all those states, those states are much more heavily, white much more blue collar, than the rest of the country. Even there, from 2016, until now, the share of the vote cast by non-college writes, is going down. That is the inexorable demographic change. We're getting more educated, more diverse. Trump is locked into a strategy of trying to squeeze bigger margins from shrinking groups. It is a tough long term strategy for his party.</s>HOLMES: Ron, we will talk before this election, Ron Brownstein, thank you as always.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Michael.</s>HOLMES: Europe's second wave of coronavirus, seeming like it is getting worse, with more countries reporting record case numbers and new restrictions. We will be going live to Berlin. Scott McLean, he is waiting there. Also, a warning for Americans in Turkey. Why the U.S. embassy is telling them and other foreign nationals, be on guard. We will be right back.

Coronavirus Reaches New Peaks across Europe

HOLMES: Welcome back. The five countries with the highest rate of infections per capita are all in Europe. That's what a CNN analysis found using data from Johns Hopkins University. Those five countries? Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France. France is reporting its highest number of daily coronavirus cases ever. French infectious disease experts say the country is now paying the price for ending its lockdown too soon over the summer. Slovakia also reporting a record high of daily cases and announcing strict new rules for when people can even leave their homes. The country now undertaking a massive campaign of what it calls blanket testing. CNN's Scott McLean joins me now live from Berlin for more on the situation in Europe. Good to see you, Scott. Worrying trends in the U.S. But just as much as where you are in Europe.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are right. I'll give you an example. Last week, German chancellor Angela Merkel brought new restrictions in to hotspots like Berlin and other cities in the country that fall into the category, saying the government would wait about 10 days to see if those measures were enough to flatten the curve. Today, Germany recorded another record high case count. This weekend marks about 10 days since those decisions were made. So the government here is going to have to make decisions on whether or not they want to bring in even stricter measures than the ones they have in place right now. Next door in France, it is a similar picture. They're also seeing record high case counts. They expanded a 9 pm curfew to most of the country, now infecting some 46 million people. Again in Italy, also record case counts. One regional governor there is calling for a nationwide lockdown, arguing the partial measures in place right now simply have not worked. But things are worse by far in the Czech Republic which is seeing the most coronavirus cases per capita, more coronavirus cases per capita than any other major country on Earth. The Czech Republic has 5 times the rate of infection that even the U.S. has. Here is the really scary part. While in the first wave of infection, it was much more deadly for most of Europe, the United States for sure. Well, the Czech Republic, it's the opposite. The second wave of the virus is eight times more deadly than the peak of the first wave of infection. The country went back into lockdown this week and brought back an unpopular effective mandate for everyone, to have to wear masks outdoors. Now it's going through a political crisis. The health minister was caught yesterday, accused yesterday, of violating his own rules. The prime minister called on him to resign. He is refusing. The prime minister is vowing to replace him anyway. Next door, Slovakia, as you mentioned, they are watching the Czech situation with horror. Their cases are also rising. They're going to try to test every single person in the country and that's more than 5 million people over the next 5 weekends. It will take an effort of some 20,000 health workers, 5,000 different testing sites, to get it done. Michael?</s>HOLMES: Wow, Scott, good to see you in Berlin. Scott McLean, thanks. Manchester, England, also under new restrictions. Harsher in the U.K. The mayor of Greater Manchester had publicly fought the British government over the measures but talks with the government failed. Now pubs, among other businesses, are having to stay shut. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz went to the number one spot for Manchester United fans as it poured those last pints.</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): In an age of isolation, you can still find a little community here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just going to have a few drinks during this tough time.</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): For nearly two decades, Manchester United fans have flocked to this pub.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This place has all the pictures and a real heritage of United fans.</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): To meet friends, grab a pint. But nothing compares to game day.</s>JACK TENNANT, BARMAN: Every seat would be filled, everyone would have a pint. Everyone would be watching the match. And if we'd score on the day, noise like nothing you've ever heard before.</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Owner Jamie Flynn hoped the football rituals would return.</s>JAMIE FLYNN, OWNER: -- live to come out for those weekends and it's been</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): For days, local authorities refused to shut down businesses like this one in a bid to get more financial aid from the government.</s>ABDELAZIZ: Do you know what help you're getting for the government?</s>FLYNN: I have no clue, no. We're a bit in the dark a lot of the time.</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Prime minister Boris Johnson ordered the social restrictions saying the situation was grave.</s>ABDELAZIZ: The rebellion from city hall failed. But it showed the shortcomings of a regional strategy versus a nationwide one. The government can get locked into a dispute potentially for days with local authorities while businesses face uncertainty and infection rates multiply.</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, told us he had no regrets.</s>MAYOR ANDY BURNHAM, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: I'm confident beside myself that I did the right thing. In the end, politics is about representation, speaking up for people and particularly people on the lowest incomes.</s>ABDELAZIZ: Do you think that your decision will ultimately result in more lives being lost?</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): For now Flynn is pouring his last pints.</s>TENNANT: Everyone just needs to tighten, do what they need to do otherwise it'll be gone. And then that's all that history, all that, those memories are gone.</s>ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): A plea for politicians to find the right strategy that saves both lives and livelihoods -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Manchester.</s>HOLMES: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, President Trump says he scored a major foreign policy win, brokering a deal between Israel and Sudan. Up next, we'll find out how significant the deal really is. And as the coronavirus spikes in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, parts of Asia appear to be getting back to normal. What are they doing right? We'll discuss with an expert.

Israel and Sudan Agree to Normalize Relations

HOLMES: Welcome back. Less than 2 weeks before the U.S. election, President Trump is claiming a major foreign policy victory. On Friday announcing that, thanks to a U.S. brokered deal, Sudan and Israel have agreed to start normalizing relations. The 2 countries have agreed to start an economic relationship for the first time in decades although it's unclear if there will be full diplomatic ties. Trump signing an order removing Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list, one of Sudan's requirements for these talks to proceed. The country's acting foreign minister says the agreement is just the beginning of the process.</s>OMAR GAMARELDIN, SUDANESE ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is an agreement to normalize. It's not yet normalization. We must wait for Sudan's democratic institutions to be functional, including in the legislative council, so we can complete the ratification of this step so it can become, in reality, normalization.</s>HOLMES: Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for us. Good to see you, Oren. It's a diplomatic coup of sorts. But it's not full of diplomatic recognition. No mention of embassies or anything. What is the real world impact and significance regionally?</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are exactly right. There were few details offered either by the prime minister of Israel or president Donald Trump or the Sudanese government, the transitional government. The impact for the U.S. and for Israel is largely political. For Trump it's a major foreign policy victory with just a couple of weeks to go until the election.</s>LIEBERMANN: For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it is also largely political. He's under attack from his Right, public trust is down and his handing of the coronavirus and he's falling in the polls. So this is another victory for him. For Sudan it's a very significant agreement. Why? In removing Sudan from the state sponsors of terror list, it opens them up to financial institutions for a country in dire financial states. They needed international help. It was a U.S. that had the power to give it to them by removing them from the terror list. That's why U.S. had the leverage to push them towards normalization, saying, if you do normalize or agree to, we will remove you from the state sponsor of terrorism list and give you access to international financial help that the country desperately needs right now.</s>HOLMES: Good point. At the same time, it's a gamble in some ways for Sudan. It's a transitional government. You have Palestinians not happy about these moves. They feel abandoned again. There is widespread support among Sudanese on the street for the Palestinian cause. So there are risks on the ground. Right?</s>LIEBERMANN: There are and they are significant. The transitional government of Sudan which is scheduled to last for 2 more years, is a very fragile thing, made up of different parties with different interests. Some of them hold the Palestinian cause as very important. That's why something like this, a major step, could put pressure on the transitional government. Will it cause it to fall? That's a difficult question. But it certainly makes everything more fragile, more risky. That's what this was a big decision by the Sudanese. In the end, it looks like the transitional government decided the need for financial help, as of now, is more important or superseded the decision. But the Sudanese foreign minister, in the quote we heard, kind of poured water on the idea that it would happen quickly. He says it has to be approved by a full government. Does he mean after the transitional government? If he does, we're waiting a couple years. But it's clear the U.S. and Israel want it to happen quickly when the Sudanese are slow, careful because of the pressures it puts on the government.</s>HOLMES: Good points. As you say, not a lot of detail. Oren, good to have you there to break it down. Now the U.S. embassy in Turkey is warning Americans in the country to be on guard for a possible terror attack. They've issued a security alert, saying they have credible reports of threats to Americans and others in one of Turkey's biggest cities. CNN's Arwa Damon has the details.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. mission in Turkey has warned of potential terrorist attacks against its own facilities and the possible kidnapping and targeting not just of U.S. citizens but of foreign nationals. It has temporarily suspended all visa work, as well as all services provided to American nationals; for how long, we don't yet know. It's not necessarily the first time the U.S. has done this in Turkey. But this is what is interesting about this statement. It specifically said in Istanbul, and specified against the U.S. consulate general. What the U.S. embassy is telling people to do is to exercise caution and to avoid crowded areas like malls and other places, where many people, especially ,foreigners would be gathering, and to be vigilant. We don't exactly know the specific nature of what the threat was or what prompted it. We did ask U.S. embassy officials in Turkey as to whether or not this may have been linked to America's recent targeting of Al Qaeda in Syria and affiliate groups inside Idlib province recently. They have not responded to that at this stage. Worth noting that, back in 2015, '16, '17, when there were heightened security concerns because of the prevalence of both ISIS and PKK attacks in Turkey, the U.S. took the step of evacuating family members of its staff at its embassies and consulates. That's not what is happening just yet, America just urging everyone to exercise caution -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.</s>HOLMES: People in parts of Asia appear to be back to living a somewhat normal life. IN the fight for the coronavirus pandemic, they wore masks, tested, listened to experts. We'll talk more about their success after the break.

U.S. Reports One-Day High, over 83,000 COVID-19 Infections; Asia Managing Pandemic; Mexican Cities Report Fresh Outbreaks.

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Appreciate you doing so. Health experts are warning the worst is yet to come as coronavirus numbers spike in the U.S. Let's bring you up to date on our top story. The country reporting more than 83,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily numbers since the pandemic began. All the states in red on the map have seen increases of between 10 percent and 50 percent this week. That is more than half the country we're talking about. The president insists, as he likes to put it, the U.S. is rounding the corner on the virus. Here's how a former director of the CDC responded.</s>DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: We are turning a corner but into a tsunami of an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.</s>HOLMES (voice-over): This memorial in Washington, D.C., gives a stark visual of what the numbers look like. It features more than 200,000 white flags representing people who have died from COVID-19.</s>HOLMES: As coronavirus cases spike in the U.S. and Europe, life across much of Asia appears to have returned to some normalcy. In South Korea, a packed subway, the country relaxing restrictions on restaurants, gyms, cafes, other businesses. And it's worth noting the U.S. had its first COVID-19 case around the same time as South Korea. While doctors warn Americans of the dark winter ahead, in Japan, crowds of sports fans watching football matches together in a stadium. In Taiwan, high school students pose for a photo before class. The experts say these countries did what the U.S. did not. They followed the science. They wore masks, pushed testing and contact tracing early on. When comparing COVID 19 cases in the U.S. to those in parts of Asia from the start of the pandemic to today, that image there is jaw dropping. The U.S. has shown, by the red line, struggled to contain the virus while South and East Asia, the yellow and green lines have kept low case counts. Joining me now from Hong Kong to talk more about this is Dr. John Nicholls, professor at the University of Hong Kong. Good to see you. I was reading the Columbia University study.</s>HOLMES: It suggested the U.S. could have avoided as many as 200,000 deaths if it managed the pandemic the way other countries did. One comparison said if the U.S. did what South Korea had done, the death toll could have been under 3,000. That's staggering. What have Asian nations done right?</s>DR. JOHN NICHOLLS, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: We're looking at Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Sri Lanka. So a number of factors. Firstly, they're relatively well circumscribed. It means you can control the borders and ports of entry. Secondly those who arrive can be tested, isolated, monitored. Thirdly, they have a socialized form of health care. There's little disincentive for those infected to go and seek health care. Fourthly, there's a robust form of contact tracing. Fifthly, there's a central authority for isolation and treatment. So you don't get double messaging like from some big countries with individual states. Finally, we had experience with SARS. So we know about the values of things like masks, isolation wards. So a lot of factors.</s>HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. We've been playing video all day. We will play now for viewers of just one of Donald Trump's rallies. He's having them multiple times a day. People can see it at home, no social distancing, no masks. I'm curious. If countries in Asia that you're familiar with were going through what the U.S. is going through in terms of spikes, would that have ever happened? Would have been allowed?</s>NICHOLLS: I think even in February, when there was warning it was going to be transmissible and the value of masks, there were all the warning signs, as you know about. But it's difficult to actually change people's perceptions. Even now, from the debate, we talk about the masks. Yet there are still people who say masks have no value. One of the health secretaries in the U.S. said, masks, so what? Yet in Hong Kong and all parts of Asia, there's no stigma associated with wearing a mask. In Hong Kong, we've doing it for 8 or 9 months. So we've had about 4 or 5 cases. We wear masks. We social distance. It's not considered a bad stigma. And we haven't done too badly.</s>HOLMES: That's an understatement, compared to the U.S. Those cultural differences, how do they play into this Asian success? What other things are done? I suppose, in some places, government control as well.</s>NICHOLLS: I'm not a politician. But when you talk about government control, as I mentioned, when you have a central government with one policy, I think there's no double messaging. What we saw in Australia, we had the individual state governments who had their own policies, leading to some difference in standards between what happened between one state and another. And then the U.S., yet again, different authorities able to give different messages. In the U.K., Scotland, who has done better than the U.K., had different messaging. It comes down to where the authority is coming from and the messaging which comes from central authority versus a diversified form of government.</s>HOLMES: We're almost out of time. But I wanted to squeeze this in as well. Vaccines is the big talk. Only around half of Americans say they will take a vaccine because partly they fear it might be rushed. Others because of that anti-vaxer section of the population. I'm curious, in Asia, is there more trust in a vaccine when it is released?</s>NICHOLLS: Not necessarily. In South Korea, I think only 16 percent say they would get a vaccine. Lots of things going on. In South Korea recently, people worried about the influenza vaccine. So I think it's not the vaccine but that people realize it's a vaccine plus social distancing. So I don't think most of the Asian countries are relying on the vaccine, like other parts of Europe and the</s>U.S. HOLMES: Very true. Great to talk to you, fascinating stuff. Dr. John Nicholls, thank you.</s>NICHOLLS: Thanks, have a good day.</s>HOLMES: You, too.</s>HOLMES: Turning our attention to Mexico now. As that country looks ahead to seasonal festivities intended to draw hundreds of people, officials say there are fresh coronavirus outbreaks. There's also a rise in hospitalizations. CNN's Matt Rivers reports from Mexico City.</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Mexico, we are now approaching 900,000 confirmed cases of the virus. We're also approaching 90,000 confirmed deaths. Top health officials in the country are concerned about the number of new cases being seen across the country. If you look at the 7 day moving average of newly confirmed cases, you see the number has gone up over several days. Health officials are pointing to several different states where they say the number of cases are on the rise. Health officials specifically pointing out the state of Chihuahua. It borders the state of Texas, Texas' western side. It's a border state between the U.S. and Mexico. Officials in Chihuahua are concerned about the number of cases they have been seeing as a result of what officials say are not following the correct guidelines in public transportation. Also what they say are family gatherings leading to a rise. There is more modeling, more data, that shows things will get worse in Mexico. New data from a model from the University of Washington suggests the overall death toll in Mexico by February 1st could be nearly 130,000 deaths. Mexico already has one of the highest death tolls from the virus of any country around the world. Over the next several weeks, this is what we're watching. Where do the number of new cases go? Do they continue to rise? How do health officials respond? Mexico has been hesitant to put in strict quarantine measures. Different states have done different levels of quarantining. But if the number of cases rises in Mexico, the question is do the measures increase? That is something the government has been hesitant to do because of the economic impact that is so devastating to so many in the country -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.</s>HOLMES: On Saturday, scientists in the U.S. state of Washington plan to destroy the first nest of Asian giant hornets discovered in the country. These are the things you may have seen on social media. They're called murder hornets. Officials captured some of them last week and placed radio trackers on them. That led them to the nest in a tree on someone's private property. While they don't typically attack humans, experts say it's wise to stay clear of them. The hornet's venom is more toxic than a bee's and it can sting repeatedly. #2020. I'm Michael Holmes. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" starts after a short break.

U.S. Reports One-Day High, over 83,000 COVID-19 Infections

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.</s>KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For the first time since the pandemic began, more than 80,000 Americans were diagnosed with COVID-19 in a single day. Not only is that a record, it easily eclipses the worst days of July, when new cases topped 70,000 a day. This upward trend has been building steadily since early September and the U.S. surgeon general warns that the country can expect new daily records in the coming days as the virus spreads unchecked from Maine to California. Only 13 states, you can see them there on the map in yellow, are holding steady, compared to last week. And Nebraska, Arkansas and Mississippi are showing modest improvement. Now this new surge is putting an enormous strain on America's health care system. At least eight states are reporting their highest hospitalizations to date. For the first time since mid-August, the number of people being treated for COVID has topped 40,000 nationwide. Unless behavior changes quickly, forecasters say the U.S. death toll could reach 1 million by the end of February. And now the country's top infectious disease official says it may be time to make face masks mandatory.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If everyone agrees that this is something that is important and they mandate, it and everyone pulls together and say, we will mandate it but let's just do it, I think that would be a great idea, to have everyone do it uniformly. One of the issues, though, I get the argument, saying, if you mandate a mask, then you will then have to enforce, it and that creates more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>BRUNHUBER: Two converging issues threaten to accelerate the spread the coronavirus. Indoor activities brought on by colder weather and the upcoming holidays, when friends and family traditionally get together. Dr. Fauci says people need to be more vigilant than ever.</s>FAUCI: The reason I am particularly concerned, as we get deeper into the cooler months of the fall and the cold months of the winter, that activities, out of necessity, will have to be done indoors. And that is going to be a problem. So that is the reason why, I say, we really need to double down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long. Whenever I talk about amplify and just stressing the public health measures, people think that that means we're going to shut down. It doesn't mean that. It means there are some fundamental things you can do -- universal mask wearing, keeping a distance, avoiding congregate and crowded sessions -- sections, particularly indoors -- and wash your hands as often as you possibly can. They sound very simple but we're not uniformly doing that. And so that is the reason why, as much as I can, essentially plead with the American public to please take these things seriously. We can turn it around.</s>BRUNHUBER: During Thursday night's debate, American voters were able to see the stark differences Biden and Donald Trump toward the pandemic and those divergent views were on full display. Take a listen as they addressed the simple issue of face masks.</s>TRUMP: You got to lead your life. And you know what? Some people want to stay in and that's good, do it, do it. You know, I'm sort of like, lead your life, right? And some people agree with me, some people.</s>TRUMP: But if you want to stay in, if you want to do what you're doing, do it. If you want to get out, you want to be careful, and socially distance and all of the things, you could wear a mask if you can't socially distance, there's a lot of things you can do. But some people want to stay in and that's OK.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I will go to every governor and mandate mask-wearing in their states. If they refuse, I will go to the mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place nationwide. As president, I will mandate mask-wearing in all federal buildings and all interstate transportation because masks save lives, period.</s>BRUNHUBER: Positive developments for two COVID-19 trials in the U.S. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson paused their trials when there were illnesses. But the Food and Drug Administration greenlit AstraZeneca preparations to resume tests after determination its vaccine candidate was safe. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson said a study found no clear cause for its participant's illness. The company says preparations to restart are underway but couldn't say when the trial would resume. To discuss the resurgence of coronavirus crisis we're seeing in the U.S. and Europe, let's talk to Dr. Clare Wenham, who teaches global health policy. Thank you very much for being here with us. Here in the U.S., the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus has risen by 40 percent. The president is trying to convince us that the country is rounding the corner, when that is clearly not the case. From a public health perspective, how does that denial of reality have on a country and its residents to fight the virus?</s>DR. CLARE WENHAM, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE: I think it's concerning. If the president is putting out messages that people don't have to worry about it any more and that it's almost over, that's sending the wrong message. In Europe, we're in a second peak. In the U.S., numbers are going up, as well, as you said, so we need people to take it seriously, wear your mask, socially distance, work at home where you can. All these things add up. And the evidence around this is increasing every day. So to have a political leader saying you don't need to do these things, it's a dangerous precedent. The numbers will go up even further.</s>BRUNHUBER: We mentioned masks. Dr. Fauci says it may be time to call for a mask mandate. Is there any evidence that mask mandates generally work?</s>WENHAM: So I think anything we can do to get people to wear more masks is a good thing. It hasn't been politicized as much in Europe as it has in the U.S. Why not get people to listen and take this seriously? We know wearing masks reduces the transmission. Why wouldn't you do everything within your power to reduce transmission of this disease and stop people dying?</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes. As you said, much of this is political. The cases are rising here. And in the U.K. where you are. We're seeing field hospitals, national shutdowns, curfews, school closings. How did we get here again?</s>WENHAM: That is a really good question. We always knew there were going to be second waves as we started to come out of lockdown. Lockdown isn't the silver bullet. Lockdown just places pauses on everybody. We knew we were going to see more. But a lot of places didn't use that time, the last six months, to build up a trace and isolation system to allow us to go back to living normally. In the ideal world, you're going to ask those people who have got the infection to stay at home and everyone else can go back to some semblance of normality. The problem is systems aren't in place, people are not listening and not following the guidance and not staying at home when they've been asked to. So we're at a critical juncture to try and make sure we get the systems in place and make sure we get that risk communication right to people so they understand why they're staying at home and that they try to follow that guidance.</s>BRUNHUBER: And that is what the WHO has said. We're seeing some countries go back into lockdown. Wales, for instance. Are broader lockdowns inevitable?</s>WENHAM: I don't think anyone wants to get back into a lockdown. However, I don't see in the U.K., for example, how we're going to do it any other way. And effectively, we're in the tier system here in the U.K. But those levels of restrictions keep increasing every day. So I think eventually we will end up here in a more broader lockdown and elsewhere in Europe as well. And I think it's sort of inevitable because people haven't got the systems in place and people aren't being compliant with the guidance they're being given. So I don't really see another way out.</s>BRUNHUBER: I'm sure that's not what many of our viewers want to hear. But thank you very much. Dr. Clare Wenham, thank you. As COVID-19 cases soar in the U.S., many schools are opting for virtual learning. It was announced on Friday, in Seattle, Washington, most students will continue classes at home for at least the next three months. And now the city of Boston is closing its public schools to in-person learning.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was at the opening day of school October 1st. It was the first time many of these young people were in school since back in March. And making that decision was probably one of the hardest decisions I've had to make since the coronavirus pandemic began here.</s>BRUNHUBER: Boston will continue to give out thousands of meals a day to students who need them. There's just over a week to go before the U.S. presidential election. Both candidates are burning up the campaign trail and both are talking about COVID-19 but obviously in very different ways. Plus, we'll show you how governments in Europe are stepping up restrictions as coronavirus cases soar. Stay with us.

Coronavirus Reaches New Peaks across Europe

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): More than 200,000 tiny white flag blankets in a field in Washington, D.C., They represent American lives lost to coronavirus. The project is the brainchild of artist Suzanne Firstenberg, who says she wanted to visualize the scale of U.S. lives lost. Flags will be added as the death toll rises. The installation will stay up through November 6th, a stark reminder there.</s>BRUNHUBER: with virus numbers surging and only 10 days until Election Day in the U.S., the pandemic is dominating talk on the campaign trail. But the candidates are painting very different pictures. In Delaware, Democratic nominee Joe Biden hit out against President Trump's handling of the coronavirus and warned difficult months are ahead.</s>BIDEN: Tonight, we saw the president of the United States lie to the American people, repeatedly lie about the state of this pandemic. We saw him refuse to take responsibility for the crisis that should have been met with real presidential leadership. Instead, it has cost hundreds of thousands of Americans' lives, pushed millions into poverty. We saw him diminish the pain felt by so many Americans. President Trump said we're rounding the corner. It's going away. We're learning to live with it. There are quotes. But as I told him last night, we're not learning to live with it. We're learning to die with it. This is a dark winter ahead.</s>BRUNHUBER: By contrast, Mr. Trump claimed the pandemic was receding.</s>TRUMP: All he talks about is COVID, COVID, COVID, because they want to scare people. And we've done so well with it. Now it's 99.8 percent. I mean, you look at what's going on, and we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner, we're rounding the corner beautifully.</s>BRUNHUBER: So to talk about all this, we're joined now by Leslie Vinjamuri in London. She's the director of the U.S. and the Americas Programme at Chatham House. Thank you so much for coming on. Let's start with the two candidates and COVID. The president's confident sunny times are just around the corner, despite evidence to the contrary. And Joe Biden warning us of a dark winter. We're sick of COVID-19. The last thing we want to hear is that things are going to get worse and we might have to go back into lockdown. Will the president's message resonate in the election's waning days?</s>LESLIE VINJAMURI, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think for some voters it will. What we know is very few voters in the United States already know who they intend to vote for. Those people who are solidly in Trump's camp absolutely want to hear a good message. But I think as you look at the numbers, as Americans have now been living with this for eight months, what they want to know is that things are going to get better because there's a plan for making them better: because there's a vaccine on the way, because social distancing is working, because they can see the numbers coming down. And that's not what is happening right now. There's a surge in about 38 states. The numbers are devastatingly high, the death toil is extraordinary and tragic and people are very well aware of this. So they want to see a plan, the majority of Americans. And hearing that things are good without that second message as to why they are going to be good and what we can expect and how we're going to get there, that's the message that we're seeing from Vice President Biden. And if we believe the national polling, it's a message that's clearly working. He's many points ahead in the national polls. Of course, we know this election is going to be won in the battleground states.</s>VINJAMURI: And so that is a harder thing to call. But right now, it looks like the American people are much more inside the Biden message than they are in President Trump's message.</s>BRUNHUBER: You mentioned that most Americans know for whom they're going to vote. But maybe one of the last chances to change that was the debate, which at least matched the definition of the noun, unlike the first one. What was your take away? And will it make any difference, do you think, as we round the corner to the end of the campaign?</s>VINJAMURI: I don't think it will make a lot of difference. I found the debate somewhat disappointing. It was certainly better than the first debate, where President Trump spoke over the moderator, argued with the moderator, spoke over the vice president. Really very little could be heard by the audience and it was, frankly, a national embarrassment and I think the vice president felt that way. So you could see that President Trump had been coached, that he was thinking much more clearly about when to intervene. There were the new rules so it was marginally more civilized. But it started with the pandemic and it moved quickly on. There was so much light between the two and there is really very little to be won for the president. The economic conversation was interesting. The president is saying the vice president is a socialist; going to bring the American economy down. And the vice president says I'm worried about Main Street, not Wall Street. We need that fiscal stimulus, that government support so that schools and small businesses can stay open but they can do so in a way that's safe. So there were a number of very big divides. I think the question of those 500 -- more than 500 children hit the papers this week. The 500 children who we can't find their parents, it sort of brought back the question of immigration, which has to be tackled by the next administration. So that was a very interesting, pointed debate and, of course, the conversation about climate, where we have --</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes, let me ask you about that because that is one of the things that came out of the debate, Joe Biden now walking back comments he made at the end of the debate, in which he promised to "transition away from the oil industry," and, of course, the president was quick to jump on those comments at this rally. Listen to this.</s>TRUMP: Did you see him this morning? This morning -- I didn't really mean that. I didn't mean that. That was the last question that talked about that. I said, whoa, this is the big point of the evening, remember? I said, well, you want to get rid of oil and, yes, is that -- yes, well, we want to phase it out. I said, thank you. Texas, are you watching?</s>BRUNHUBER: And then he went on to name a couple of other states there. So now Biden and his camp are trying to walk those comments back, emphasizing they don't want to eliminate fossil fuels. But you heard Trump start to name check those states where fossil fuels are huge, including Pennsylvania. Will this hurt him in those swing states?</s>VINJAMURI: Yes. That was clearly a difficult moment in the debate. The vice president has a very serious and extensive plan for climate and it absolutely involves an energy transition to renewables over a significant period of time. It also involves 40 percent of a $2 trillion package being invested in disadvantaged communities and job creation. So it's a complex message to get across in a debate where there's a lot of intense politics and short moments. Whether the extent of the message, how it will be played in Pennsylvania, obviously, President Trump is trying to manipulate that language. Vice President Biden is trying to counter it, to clarify it. What we're seeing so far is it's not shifting votes on the ground in Pennsylvania. But we are 10 days away from the most important election of our lifetime. So there is a lot in play. But so far on the ground, people in Pennsylvania are trying to determine how they're going to vote. They're struggling to vote. There is a lot of effort being invested in getting out the vote, there's a lot of litigation still going on around the counting of the votes and the rules for voting. But again, I think there's a record turnout for voters. More than 50 million have voted. Young voters are turning out early like never before in the United States.</s>VINJAMURI: So I suspect people know what they want. They're following the issues more carefully than they ever have before. But again, it's difficult to predict.</s>BRUNHUBER: Leslie Vinjamuri, thank you so much. We appreciate it.</s>VINJAMURI: Thank you so much.</s>BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Scuffles broke out in Naples, Italy, over new restrictions imposed to help stem the spread of coronavirus. Police used teargas after hundreds gathered to protest the curfew. Cases across Italy have risen sevenfold since the beginning of October. They soared on Friday with the government reporting more than 19,000 new infections.</s>BRUNHUBER: Tens of millions of Europeans are facing tougher coronavirus restrictions going into this weekend. They come as new cases soar across the country. For more, let's go to Scott McLean in Berlin. Take us through the situation in Europe as the COVID situation becomes more and more dire there.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So despite new restrictions being brought in by German chancellor Angela Merkel last week, aimed at hot spots, today, this country just recorded a record high number of cases. It is a similar picture in Italy which is seeing record high numbers. One regional governor there suggested the whole country ought to go into lockdown because the sort of partial measures in place right now simply are not working. France, again, a similar story; more record case counts. The president there said he expects his country will be with the virus until at least next summer. Until then, countries across this continent are bringing in restrictions, curfews and, in some cases, even lockdowns.</s>MCLEAN (voice-over): A picturesque town with a special place on the map, Knighton straddles the border of England and Wales. As of Friday, parts of it are subject to a two-week lockdown imposed by Cardiff. However, just around the corner, on the English side of town, people still have the ability to move around. The mayor says residents are complying but admits these are confusing times.</s>MAYOR NICK JOHNS, KNIGHTON, WALES: There are some question marks, especially in rural areas like this, where we have almost no COVID or coronavirus. Why we have to shut down again --</s>MCLEAN (voice-over): Ireland is just days into its six-week lockdown. The streets there deserted, its citizens under a stay-at-home order. But exercise close to home is still allowed.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've just been able to walk around the streets and it is kind of eerie and poignant and there's just a kind of cloud of sadness again, the city's abandoned.</s>MCLEAN (voice-over): Quiet streets, curfews, people wearing masks that are no longer just an option. These are the new norms for many cities across Europe. And for those who don't like them, there is a growing presence in some places, like this town in Bavaria, where police are on the streets with fines if necessary. Portugal is one of the latest places to mandate face coverings in busy outdoor places, potentially unpopular move but a necessary one, officials say, as cases there reach record highs.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think it's good but many people won't agree with it. But it's good to follow in the footsteps of other countries to try to kill this bug.</s>MCLEAN (voice-over): And in Slovakia, a mass testing drive plans to do just that. It wants to test everyone over the age of 10, saying it may allow increased personal freedoms for those who test negative.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are all afraid. I'm worried because I see what's happening and it's terrifying. So I'm afraid. And that's why I'm here now.</s>MCLEAN (voice-over): Even Sweden, a country that rejects lockdown measures and has not mandated wearing face masks, has made some targeted adjustments this week. Nightclubs are limited to a capacity of 50 people. The prime minister saying it's time for the party to stop.</s>MCLEAN: And the worst affected country not just in Europe but on Earth right now is the Czech Republic. It has an infection rate five times higher than the United States. While many countries saw high deaths in the first wave and not in the second wave, it's quite the opposite with the Czech Republic. And on top of all that, the health minister has been accused of breaking his own rules, rejecting calls to resign. The prime minister is promising to replace him anyway.</s>MCLEAN: If that happens, that would be the third health minister in the Czech Republic in the last six weeks.</s>BRUNHUBER: Now we just heard some news out of Poland. What can you tell us from there?</s>MCLEAN: Sure. So Reuters is now reporting the Polish president was tested for the virus yesterday. Today that test came back and it is positive. The president says he is feeling good at this point. The Belgian deputy prime minister tested positive. She went into ICU and she does require constant monitoring at this stage. Also, the Czech Republic had its deputy prime minister test positive along with a cabinet member. Here in Germany, the health minister also tested positive.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you for that update, Scott McLean, in Berlin. Early voting is under away in the United States ahead of Election Day. We'll look at some possible pathways to victory for the candidates coming up after the break.

51+ Million Early Votes Cast in U.S. Election; Lizzo Campaigns for Biden in Detroit.

BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. There's just over a week to go for the election in the United States. What really counts, of course, are votes.</s>BRUNHUBER: Specifically the 200 electoral college votes needed to secure the presidency. There are many possibilities but most of them look better for Biden than Trump. Phil Mattingly has more.</s>PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The 2020 presidential debates are in the rear view, which means it's crunch time for both campaigns. I think the big question now for both of those campaigns is, what is the strategy to close things out in these final days? The campaigns themselves, you need to look at the signals, their money and their time. But first, let's take a look at where things stand at this moment. You will see Joe Biden above the 270 electoral votes he would need to win the presidency. Lighter blue, those are leans. The leans don't necessarily mean they are going to go Biden's way on Election Day. But right now, that's where things stand. So take a look. Where you see the gold, those are the tossups. And this time around, everything in gold was a state that president Donald Trump won back in 2016. So let's first pull up where the candidates and some of their top surrogates are going over the course of this past week and this weekend. And you get a sense of what the campaigns are really focused on. Joe Biden, obviously in Tennessee for the debate. Pennsylvania, keep Pennsylvania in mind. Bernie Sanders, now a top surrogate, once a competitor for Joe Biden, heading to Pennsylvania this weekend, as well. President Barack Obama heading to Pennsylvania earlier in the week and then Florida over the course of the weekend. You get a sense from that, Pennsylvania and Florida. I'll come back to that. But first, take a look at the enormous travel schedule of the president and the vice president. Obviously very active. Taking a different method of campaigning than the Biden campaign in the middle of the pandemic. They are going a lot of different places which underscores two things. One, they are defending the many states. Keep an eye on all of these states and focus on Pennsylvania, focus on Florida. Where else do you want to look at here? Look at what they're spending. Obviously, the spending matters a lot. And what comes up top here, first, Joe Biden with a significant advantage on the campaign level. Both campaigns spending big in the state of Florida. Both campaigns spending big in the state of North Dakota and North Carolina. That should give you a sense of the three or four key states that you're looking at over the course of the next couple of days, really the next 10, 11, 9. What does it all mean? I talked about Florida and Pennsylvania. Say you give the Trump campaign every single gold tossup here, except for the state of Florida. Joe Biden is still over 270 electoral votes. President Trump still below. What if you give Joe Biden the state of Florida? Obviously, he goes even higher there but President Trump breaks the blue wall in the Midwest just like he did back in 2016. Let's show how different things are for President Trump to win if Joe Biden wins Florida. It really underscores the point here. Say he takes Pennsylvania again. Joe Biden, still well over 270. Say he takes Michigan again, Joe Biden, still over 270. The reality for the Trump campaign is, without Florida, President Trump is almost certain not to be re-elected. And also, why do you go, if you're the Biden campaign, to Pennsylvania? We talked about how important the Midwest is, how important it was for Trump's re-election back in 2016. Let's say he wins all the tossup states, Joe Biden at 290. That creates significant problems for President Trump. He would have to win Wisconsin, Minnesota, difficult, difficult problem sessions if you're not winning Pennsylvania where he ran stronger in 2016. There are pathways for President Trump; there are probably more pathways for Joe Biden. But, again, look at where they're spending, look at where they're going. And as I noted earlier, keep an eye on North Carolina as well. A lot of things could happen. This is the map and it could change. Back to you.</s>BRUNHUBER: One group of voters that shouldn't be overlooked are American expats living overseas.</s>BRUNHUBER: For more on how they could affect the outcome, let's bring in Mark Kayser, a professor of politics in Berlin. Thank you so much for joining me. I saw a headline somewhere saying, if the election is close, it could potentially hinge on the expat vote. So let's table the question right now of whether that is realistic. But make the case for why the expat vote could matter.</s>MARK KAYSER, PROFESSOR, HERTIE SCHOOL OF GOVERNANCE: Yes. So in general, the expat vote doesn't usually have a large effect simply because the numbers are so small. There's about 5.5 (sic) non-military dependent Americans living abroad. Their turnout rate historically has been abysmal. In 2016, of the 3 million expats of voting age, only 208,000 cast a ballot; 6.9 percent, that's very low. So the numbers are usually too small to matter. But in a circumstance where it's a very close election in a state that has a very razor thin race, it is possible that maybe a state, most likely Florida or North Carolina, probably Florida because it has more expats, then it could matter in a very close race.</s>BRUNHUBER: And, in fact, we have to go back to 2000 for Bush-Gore. We saw it hinge on so few votes in that circumstance. If something like that happened, it could be crucial. And, you know, what role, if any, did the expat vote play there?</s>KAYSER: When a race is that close, basically anything can matter. Even things like ballot design. If Palm Beach County had not had a butterfly ballot that confused voters, that would have changed things. So you know, not all requested ballots are sent back, not all of those are validated because of errors. It will be higher in a presidential election but, ballpark, how many are counted and sent back, maybe something like 30,000. That is not peanuts. In a close election, it could matter.</s>BRUNHUBER: Typically which party should be waiting for those ballots to come in and anticipating?</s>KAYSER: Of Americans abroad, there are two groups. One is military. One is expats. And the military trends historically Republican. But you know, arguably less so this year. And the expats actually are usually professionals working abroad or living abroad because of family members, family connections. And they tend to be more educated on average than most Americans and they tend to be professionals. And these groups have been trending Democratic. So the two groups in a way historically canceled each other out. But this year the military is probably leaning less toward the Republicans than they have in the past. And the expat vote is probably leaning more Democratic than it has been in the past.</s>BRUNHUBER: Let me ask you one last question before we go, on that question. We are seeing record levels of early voting here. The enthusiasm seems through the roof. Any sense of whether the expat vote, we'll see that, as well?</s>KAYSER: Yes. Turnout is expected to be higher than it was in 2016. And there is only room to improve for the expat vote. So it's very reasonable to think that would actually increase. But the numbers, again, are not huge. These are small numbers. But in a close state like Florida, there is a chance it could matter.</s>BRUNHUBER: We'll see whether that comes to take place. Thank you so much, Mark Kayser, for joining us from Berlin. I appreciate it.</s>KAYSER: Thank you.</s>BRUNHUBER: Israel and several of its Arab neighbors have moved towards reconciliation. Now Sudan and Israel have taken the first tentative steps to improve their relations. We'll explain what they're agreeing to.</s>BRUNHUBER: And what they're not. Stay with us.

Israel and Sudan Agree to Normalize Relations

BRUNHUBER: Less than two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, President Trump is claiming a significant foreign policy victory. He announced on Friday, that thanks to a U.S. brokered deal, Sudan and Israel have agreed to start normalizing relations. The two countries have agreed to start an economic relationship for the first time in decade webs but it's not clear if there will be full diplomatic ties. Mr. Trump signed an order removing Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list, one of Sudan's requirements. The country's acting foreign minister says the agreement is just the beginning of the process.</s>OMAR GAMARELDIN, SUDANESE ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is an agreement to normalize. It's not yet normalization. We must wait for Sudan's democratic institutions to be functional, including in the legislative council, so we can complete the ratification of this step so it can become, in reality, normalization.</s>BRUNHUBER: Let's go now to Oren Liebermann. Potentially a big win for Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. But before we go to the political angle, if approved, what would this mean for the Sudanese?</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The country is in dire financial straits with a fragile three-year government trying to create an important democratic institutions to make Sudan a stable country. Part of that was being removed from the U.S. state sponsor of terror list so they could get access to financial institutions and help to get the economy and the country on stable footing. They needed the U.S. for that and it's because of that that the U.S. had the ability to say, if you want that, normalize relations with Israel. But Sudan made it clear -- and we heard it there from the acting foreign minister.</s>LIEBERMANN: This isn't happening quickly and that is because the Palestinian cause is very popular on Sudanese street. They have to deal with very carefully. There are political parties in Sudan who don't look upon this agreement favorably. As much as it helps Sudan economically and financially, it is still a destabilizing act that could put pressure on Sudan's very fragile government as it's trying to lead the country forward here.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much. Appreciate it. CNN NEWSROOM will be right back. Stay with us.

President Trump Votes Early In-Person in Florida; President Trump Promotes Security of In-Person Voting over Mail-In Ballots; President Trump to Campaign in Battleground States after Voting; Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Gives Speech on COVID-19 in Delaware; Heavily Armed 19-Year-Old in Federal Custody Researched Location of Joe Biden's Residence.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Christi Paul.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell. We're following breaking news this morning. President Trump at a polling location in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate. The president arrived there a short time ago. We heard that he walked out of his vehicle, here are the pictures, and walked into a polling booth to cast his ballot. We have CNN's Sarah Westwood nearby. Sarah, what are you seeing, what can you tell us?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Boris, President Trump is voting here today early at his polling location here in Florida. He's still a registered Florida voter. Because of Florida laws, we're not able to get a shot of him physically voting, but we were able to see the motorcade pulling up. The streets are lined with a lot of his supporters. A lot of people are here, not all of them wearing masks, but many of them gathered here to see him early vote. And this is ahead of a really busy day for him. He's continuing this blitz through battleground states. After this, he's heading on to North Carolina, to Ohio, to Wisconsin, three states that he carried in 2016 but where he is trailing in the polls to Joe Biden, so he does need to shore up support there. But this early voting is as much a symbolic gesture as anything else, because, as you know, President Trump has been encouraging his supporters not to vote by mail necessarily. He's been undermining confidence in that voting system and really encouraging people to vote in person. So now this is a high-profile way for him to demonstrate that he believes it's safe. That's what he's been trying to convince people to do, and he is casting his vote, presumably for himself, here in West Palm Beach this morning, Boris.</s>PAUL: Presumably, certainly, presumably. Hey, Sarah, we know that he spoke yesterday at campaign rallies in the Villages and Pensacola. We hear people yelling behind you. Are all of those people behind you people who may have attended his rallies there supporting him? Is there anybody there that is a protester?</s>WESTWOOD: There are a few Biden/Harris signs, but by and large the people here are Trump voters. As you mentioned, he did do those rallies yesterday in Pensacola and the Villages. And what we heard from him at those rallies was really this level of optimism about the end of the pandemic that isn't really rooted in the data that we're seeing right now. We are seeing coronavirus cases spike across this country, but that's really part of the president's closing argument. He is making a gamble, guessing that people are more concerned about returning to normal everyday life than they are about the virus, and so that's likely the kind of message we are going to see from him today as he heads off to battleground states and finishes casting his ballot at the library behind me.</s>SANCHEZ: Looking at the big picture, there are two important things that the president is trying to communicate here, not only that we're rounding the corner, as he says, and as you noted, Sarah, is not rooted in fact, but also that voting in person is key. A really suspicious message that we've heard from this president bashing the idea of voting by mail over and over, even though records indicate that he, himself, has voted by mail at least three times, twice in New York and once in Florida. So help us understand the symbolism here. He's trying to communicate a very important message to his supporters, and yet he's also casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election when he suggests that people who vote by mail, their votes might be manipulated.</s>WESTWOOD: Right, Boris. You mentioned the fact that he has voted by mail previously in New York, in Florida. The president has worked really hard to draw a distinction there between absentee voting and between voting by mail in the context of coronavirus. He hasn't wanted to support these expanded vote-by-mail policies that a lot of states are working to implement to make it easier for people to vote during the pandemic. It's very symbolic that his supporters here are seeing him vote in person. It's giving them confidence that perhaps it's safe for them, too, to vote in person on Election Day. And in the Villages yesterday we heard the president talk about how he described it as voting the old-fashioned way, how he prefers to wait in line, and how even if it takes two hours, it should be worth it. So we are hearing the president push people to vote in person. As we know, Democrats in many states do have advantages right now when it comes to mail-in voting, so Republicans and the Trump campaign, they are counting on a strong turnout when it comes to Election Day in-person voting.</s>PAUL: On the right-hand side of your screen there, we're waiting to see the president emerge after casting this ballot. I'm wondering, has there been any sighting of the first lady with him? Is she registered in Florida? Is she potentially still registered in New York? What is the expectation there, Sarah?</s>WESTWOOD: She is registered in Florida, Boris and Christi, but she is not with the president today. He came here off of a couple of rallies in Florida yesterday, so a day of complaining. He did not come straight from Washington. And he's going on to, like I mentioned, those three additional rallies later today, so the first lady did not accompany him. This is the president casting his vote in Florida, the first lady may vote at some point in the future. But clearly, there was a clear message that the president wanted to send by doing it in person, taking time out of his campaign schedule. Keep in mind, he only has 10 days left. It's a very finite amount of time. He's trying to make up the deficit with Joe Biden, but he is taking the time to do this ahead of these rallies today in order to send that message that voting in person is crucial and doing so here in Florida, a key battleground state, by the way, which he has been spending a lot of time in trying to make sure that he locks it down once again in 2020.</s>SANCHEZ: As we await for the president to emerge, I did want to point out something that you touched on, Christi. Melania Trump did vote by mail in 2017, but according to New York election officials, her mail- in vote did not count because she didn't sign the ballot. Perhaps she may want to actually vote in person. Of course, Sarah, focusing on what we're looking at today and the campaign moving forward for President Trump, he's not only stopping here to vote, he's also headed to North Carolina, a state that would be crucial for him to win, Ohio as well, and one that he won in 2016 in Wisconsin that isn't really trending in his direction right now. Give us a sense of where the campaign stands and what they envision moving forward with these campaign stops.</s>WESTWOOD: Yes, Boris, it's key to look at the states that he's spending the final days of his campaign in, right, because that's likely where the campaign is most concerned. His time is precious right now, so where he goes in this final week will send a message about where the campaign is hoping to make a stand, where the campaign is hoping to shore up support. All three of those states he did carry in 2016, but most of them by thin margins, Wisconsin especially. And those are states that he is trying to maintain in 2020. But Joe Biden is leading by sometimes big margins, sometimes smaller margins in some of those battleground states, and there are others that he did win in 2016 that have, as you mentioned, been trending away from him. So he's spending time in the Midwest. He's also been spending a lot of time out in Nevada, and of course turning his attention to Pennsylvania. He spent time this week. That is a big prize for either candidate as well. We know Joe Biden is spending time there today. It's 20 electoral votes. The winner of the presidential election is likely going to have to carry Pennsylvania. So we have seen the president really focus his attention on the half-dozen states or so that will really decide who is going to be the next president, Boris and Christi.</s>PAUL: And as we were talking about the symbolism of this, Sarah, the logistics for a president to vote, they can be complicated. You've got lines of people that we've been seeing out the doors as they wait to vote, and then we've got the president and his whole entourage and security team that is with him. Do you know, is the security team wearing masks? Do you know how much it costs to have this team with him? And they need to be with him, we're not questioning that. I want to make that very clear. But talk about the logistics of this president at this time, during COVID, walking into this polling station and casting his ballot.</s>WESTWOOD: Well, Christi, we know that law enforcement, Secret Service started securing this area hours ago. Before the sun was even up they were preparing this area for the president to arrive and to vote. Most of the law enforcement officers and Secret Service officers that we have seen are wearing masks, but we're not seeing universal mask wearing of the supporters of Trump who have come out to gather along the road to watch him. There are a lot of Trump flags. There's been a lot of music, some buses wrapped in the Trump logo here. So people knew that he was voting here. There's a large turnout. There's sort of a hometown element because the president has spent a lot of time in West Palm Beach. And obviously he has his Mar-a-Lago club here. You can hear them in the background. They're very enthusiastic, and they are here just waiting to get a glimpse of the motorcade which drove past us a little bit earlier Boris and Christi.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, and we're waiting to get a glimpse of the president. He's due to walk out at any moment of that polling booth. We'll listen for what he says. Very quickly, I want to pivot to M.J. Lee, who is in Pennsylvania with the Biden campaign. M.J. is in Philadelphia. This is just one of several battleground states where Biden and his surrogates are going to be campaigning. Biden is especially focused on Pennsylvania, though, because as we heard Sarah say, it could make or break both campaigns.</s>M.J. LEE, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. This is the second to the last weekend before Election Day, so it tells you a lot, that Joe Biden is choosing to spend his day campaigning in this state, in Pennsylvania. His first stop is going to be here behind me, Bucks County Community College. And I should note this is going to be a drive-in rally. This has almost become sort of a signature Joe Biden campaign event. You might be able to see behind me there are some cars still coming in, waiting to get swept by security. This is obviously such a stark contrast from the recent Trump campaign rallies where we have seen big crowds, big rallies full of people that are not socially distanced, who are often not wearing masks. So this is just one important visual in which we have seen the contrast between Biden campaigning and how Trump has campaigned out on the campaign trail. And in terms of what we are expected to hear when Biden speaks later this hour, we've not gotten a full detailed agenda from the campaign other than that he wants to talk about the economic recovery. But I can guarantee you, he is going to lean into COVID-19 as a central issue. He has made abundantly clear that this is going to be so key to his closing message in these final days. And yesterday, for example, he gave a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, solely focused on COVID-19. He first laid out what his own plan is to deal with the virus if he is elected president. He talked about enforcing mask wearing across the country, how he thinks he would distribute vaccines and PPE. And then, of course, he went after the president for what he said he saw as his failures in dealing with the virus, and even saying that he feels like the president has quit on the American people. And one thing that was interesting was that he consistently and repeatedly asked the American people to imagine a better future under a Biden presidency. Take a listen.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path. Imagine a day in the not too distant future when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and family, maybe even go out to a movie, when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduations, surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends.</s>LEE: And we will see a number of top surrogates and celebrities also out on behalf of the Biden campaign, former president Barack Obama, Kamala Harris will of course be out as well, and Jon Bon Jovi is going to be campaigning with the Bidens later today in Luzerne County. Guys?</s>SANCHEZ: M.J. Lee, thank you so much for that. I want to head back out to Sarah Westwood and the scene in south Florida where President Trump at any moment is going to emerge in this polling location after casting his ballot in the 2020 election. Do we have those live pictures?</s>PAUL: No, but we have Sarah.</s>PAUL: And Sarah -- there she is. And, Sarah, do we have any expectation that the president will stop for the cameras and that he'll make any sort of announcement or give any sort of even mini- speech in front of the library?</s>WESTWOOD: That's always a possibility, Christi. He has the traveling press pool with him, so there are reporters inside the Secret Service bubble with cameras if he wants to make any kind of statement when he emerges from the polling location, he will be able to do so. We heard him talk a little bit about the idea of voting in person here yesterday at the Villages. As he was on the way here, he said this was the whole purpose of his trip down to Florida, even though he did fit in those rallies in Pensacola and in the Villages. And he was saying that he's looking forward to waiting in line, looking forward to voting in person. He's been pushing that on supporters for weeks now, pushing on them that any wait is worth it, to get out to their polling locations, that it's safe. And he's had administration officials and surrogates also pushing that same message, so we could see him emerge from the polling location and say something to really hammer home the symbolism of today and demonstrating that he does believe that it's OK for people to gather. And we've seen lines across this country as people have already been doing that in states that are allowing in- person early voting. We'll see that on Election Day as well.</s>SANCHEZ: Just to point out from a factual perspective, the president changed his residence from New York to Florida in 2019, and this is, I believe, his second chance to vote in the sunshine state. And, Sarah, back out to you, I'm curious about who he's traveling with at Mar-a- Lago. As you know, Mar-a-Lago is sort of this closed-knit community on the waterfront in south Florida, and with a pandemic upon us, there are a lot of questions about safety. It was shut down in March shortly after COVID-19 restrictions came on in the sunshine state.</s>WESTWOOD: That's right, the president hasn't traveled down to Mar-a- Lago to stay since March 6th, so it's been a long time. Obviously, a lot has changed since the last time we were all down here. A lot of changed in the town of Palm Beach but also within Mar-a-Lago. It is not the same resort that he left in March when he was still downplaying the virus at that time. There are restrictions in place within the resort, obviously. The main dining room wasn't even set to be open until November. So it's not the same experience that the president used to have where he could go around and interact with anyone that he wanted. There's obviously continuing to be a protective bubble of COVID testing around the president, even though that proved ineffective in preventing him and his inner circle from getting the virus before. So this is a different trip down to Mar-a-Lago for the president. And he's not spending the whole weekend here. When he would normally come down on a Friday, he would stay until Sunday afternoon and treat it as sort of a working weekend, hit the golf course. That's not happening now. Obviously, he doesn't have an entire day of leisure to waste. He needs to hit the campaign trail. He's doing three rallies today, and we expect him to continue hitting multiple states a day during this 10-day sprint to Election Day.</s>PAUL: We have to assume that part of what might be taking him so long to emerge is that there could be people in there who are talking to him. I would think this is a moment where people and poll workers have this moment where the president of the United States walks in, they may want to say something. They may want to talk to him. And, Sarah, we know the president likes his audiences. So it would not be unusual for him to take some time to speak to them, would it?</s>WESTWOOD: Absolutely not. We've seen him do that at events before, certainly before COVID. That was something we frequently saw him do. And as you can probably hear from the people behind me, this is a very Trump-friendly area, a very Trump friendly crowd who has gathered. He did not drive past all of the signs because of the way the motorcade came in. But certainly it's a possibility that the delay is due to the president talking to people inside of the polling station. Obviously, because he was so heavily promoting the fact that he was coming here, this is a big moment for him as well. So he's not rushing through it, it seems. But he was running behind schedule when he arrived, so it's unclear if that could push back the timing of his other rallies. He left Mar-a-Lago about 30, 45 minutes late. So the president already running behind schedule for his day of campaigning and is taking his time inside the polling location, which is the library here in West Palm Beach.</s>SANCHEZ: It looks like some Secret Service agents are walking out. The president has yet to emerge, though. And, Sarah -- for a second, I thought he was about to walk out. I'm curious about -- and there he is, the president of the United States emerging from this library in West Palm Beach not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he just cast his ballot in the 2020 election. Let's listen for a moment and see if he makes remarks before the cameras.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not much. It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect, very strict, right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, it could never be secure like that. It could never be secure like that. They've done a fantastic job over here. Great people inside. But it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area, which I know so well. And we're going to make three stops today, big ones, big rallies, three big ones. Crowds have never been -- I don't think there's ever been anything like this, this tremendous spirit. I hear we're doing very well in Florida, and we're doing very well, I hear, every place else. So thank you very much, and you're going to be very busy today, because we're going to work you hard.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, who did you vote for today?</s>TRUMP: I voted for a guy named Trump.</s>TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When is the first lady voting?</s>SANCHEZ: President Trump with a smile after a reporter asked him who he voted for, saying that he voted, as we expected, for himself. The president now departing that library in West Palm Beach. Two things, two really key things to think about here. First, the president saying that he loves this area, a wink at Florida voters. As we know, those 29 electoral college votes critical for either campaign. And also the president, as soon as he emerged and got to the cameras, talking about the security of the vote, again, trying to sow doubt in the electoral process, saying that voting in person is more secure than voting by mail, something that there isn't really evidence to back up. Sarah, what did you take from the president's comments?</s>WESTWOOD: Yes, Boris, I think that you nailed it right there. It's important to stress that there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are any less secure than voting in person. And in fact, many states have taken additional steps this year to ensure that the mail-in vote is secure because so many states have expanded it in order to make it easier for people to vote during the pandemic. So that's a bit of a misleading claim from the president there, but it's in keeping with what we've heard from him before. He's really pushed the in-person vote, obviously that's what he wanted the takeaway to be from today, because it was the first and really only thing that he said when he emerged from the polling location. And I just don't think we can really stress enough that any way you vote is safe. It's just important that people do get out and vote, and no one method is any less safe than another, Boris and Christi.</s>PAUL: All right, Sarah Westwood, thank you for walking us through all of that, as we watch the president leave, and as he's on his way to the airport now to move on to North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin for three, as he called them, very big rallies with tremendous spirit, as he characterized them just a little while ago there, just a second ago. All right, so coming up, we are learning that a 19-year-old, heavily armed man in federal custody researched Joe Biden and came within miles of his Delaware home. We have more details on that.</s>SANCHEZ: Plus, more than half the country seeing a surge in new COVID- 19 cases, and experts warn those numbers could only get worse as we head into the winter months. A live report next.

U.S. Record Highest Single Day Number of COVID-19 Infections at More than 83,000

SANCHEZ: The U.S. recorded its highest single day number of COVID-19 infections Friday at more than 83,000.</s>PAUL: And listen to this, hospitalizations have increased by 33 percent this month. Right now there are 41,000 people in the hospital fighting this virus this morning. CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is in New York. He has got the very latest as we continue to follow this on the virus that just keeps evolving. I think when we started to cover this in March the way that we did, I don't know that anybody really had a grasp that we would be talking about these kinds of numbers eight months later.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And then Christi, when you think about it, we saw similar numbers, obviously, over the summer, and now here we are again, as you and Boris just mentioned, 83,000 confirmed cases. And the forecast is really quite sobering, especially when you're hearing from some of those experts, including one from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy who said yesterday he easily sees a situation where we will begin to see six-figure daily numbers.</s>SANDOVAL: This DCR display is a visual representation of the lives taken by a virus that seems to be surging again. Over 223,000 dead and counting. More than eight months into the COVID crisis, hospitalizations and infections are at an all-time high in many states across the country. This week marked the first time since late July that the number of daily new cases exceeded 71,000.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you look at the numbers of the daily infections, the upticks on the map of more than 30 states that are having upticks, it's not going to spontaneously turn around unless we do something about it.</s>SANDOVAL: As the president claims, we are rounding the turn on the pandemic, his opponent and many medical experts are warning we are only headed toward a dark winter.</s>DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The reality is that the worst could be yet to come, and that the beginning has been more or less the warm-up act for what is about to hit. And we're already seeing that across the northern states. If you look at COVID-19 heat maps, the whole northern part is lit up.</s>SANDOVAL: With hope hanging on a safe COVID-19 vaccine, drug maker AstraZeneca said Friday that it has a green light from the Food and Drug Administration to resume its trials in the U.S. it had been on pause since September after a volunteer in Britain developed a neurological condition. The head of the National Institutes of Health is growing increasingly worried that even after a safe vaccine is approved, a growing number of Americans may not be willing to take it. A recent CNN poll found 45 percent would not try to get a vaccine even if one was widely available, possibly allowing the virus to stick around for years, says Dr. Francis Collins.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I've been talking so optimistically about how we are likely to have a vaccine by the end of the year, but if only 50 percent of Americans are interested in taking it, we're never going to get to that point of immunity across the population where this COVID-19 goes away.</s>SANDOVAL: This week, an updated model published in the journal "Nature" forecasts some possible grim scenarios, suggesting that we could see up to a million COVID deaths in the U.S. by the end of February if social distancing mandates are eased and only about half the population wears masks in public. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, tells CNN he thinks the U.S. should just mandate mask use.</s>FAUCI: I get the argument, to say, well, if you mandate a mask, then you're going to have to enforce it, and that will create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>SANDOVAL: This weekend, Big Ten football is back, prompting some of the mayors in college towns involved to ask the conference for help fighting the spread of the virus. The mayors wrote that football games, quote, "Generate a lot of activity, social gatherings, and the consumption of alcohol. These activities within our communities have also been associated with an increased spread of COVID-19."</s>SANDOVAL: And this leads to the question of what and who could potentially be behind this latest spike. We've talked on this program before about recent search that suggests that the behavior of young adults has been directly linked to an increase in infections among some of the older people. Meanwhile, as far as the what could be behind it, experts do say that some of the smaller gatherings, those backyard barbecues likely contributing to that, especially some of those family events, too, Boris and Christi. In fact, Maryland's governor saying that was the number one source of transmission in his state, followed by house parties.</s>SANCHEZ: A critical message to get out, especially as we approach the holiday season and so many families are wanting to get together after so much time apart. Probably better to stay safe. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much for that. A man who was arrested in North Carolina on child pornography charges also apparently researched Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.</s>PAUL: This man is 19-years-old Alexander Treisman. He searched or Joe Biden's address online, we're told, and eventually ended up within four miles of Biden's home in Delaware. Federal court documents say police found Treisman's van filled with multiple guns and explosive materials.</s>SANCHEZ: He hasn't been charged yet in relation to the weapons in his possession. It's still unclear if he's going to face any additional charges related to that research that he was doing on the former vice president.</s>PAUL: So still ahead, we are testing the mood of voters to find out what they really want from their candidates, as early voting begins in New York. I'm sure that based on what you hear, you might be able to relate or not.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, definitely. Our Evan McMorris-Santoro is there for us. Good morning, Evan.</s>EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

U.S. Reports One-Day High, Over 83,000 COVID-19 Infections; Experts: Masking Could Save 100K Lives By March 1

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.</s>KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello, I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta with breaking news this hour. For the first time since the pandemic began, more than 80,000 Americans were diagnosed with COVID-19 in a single day. Not only is that a record, it easily eclipses the worst days of July, when new cases topped 70,000 a day. This upward trend has been building steadily since early September and the U.S. surgeon general warns that the country can expect new daily records in the coming days as the virus spreads unchecked from Maine to California. Only 13 states, you can see them there on the map in yellow, are holding steady, compared to last week. And Nebraska, Arkansas and Mississippi are showing modest improvement. Now this new surge is putting an enormous strain on America's health care system. At least eight states are reporting their highest hospitalizations to date. For the first time since mid-August, the number of people being treated for COVID has topped 40,000 nationwide. Well, unless behavior changes quickly, forecasters say the U.S. death toll could reach 1 million by the end of February. And now the country's top infectious disease official says it may be time to make face masks mandatory.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If everyone agrees that this is something that is important and they mandate, it and everyone pulls together and say, we will mandate it but let's just do it, I think that would be a great idea, to have everyone do it uniformly. One of the issues, though, I get the argument, saying, if you mandate a mask, then you will then have to enforce, it and that creates more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>BRUNHUBER: Two converging issues threaten to accelerate the spread the coronavirus. Indoor activities brought on by colder weather and the upcoming holidays, when friends and family traditionally get together. Dr. Fauci says people need to be more vigilant than ever.</s>FAUCI: The reason I am particularly concerned, as we get deeper into the cooler months of the fall and the cold months of the winter, that activities, out of necessity, will have to be done indoors. And that is going to be a problem. So that is the reason why, I say, we really need to double down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long. Whenever I talk about amplify and just stressing the public health measures, people think that that means we're going to shut down. It doesn't mean that. It means there are some fundamental things you can do -- universal mask wearing, keeping a distance, avoiding congregate and crowded sessions -- sections, particularly indoors -- and wash your hands as often as you possibly can. They sound very simple but we're not uniformly doing that. And so that is the reason why, as much as I can, essentially plead with the American public to please take these things seriously. We can turn it around.</s>NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are now in the fall surge, virus spread accelerating.</s>ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We're in a very serious moment right now. We're seeing increases in cases. And what we're seeing is, through the Midwest, Upper Midwest and the Plains, a lot of cases occurring.</s>WATT: A dozen states are suffering all-time record high average daily case counts.</s>TRUMP: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The truth of the matter is that we're turning the corner into a tsunami.</s>WATT: Nationwide, the three worst days for new cases were all back in ugly, ugly July, coming in fourth, yesterday, 71,671 new infections. And the number of COVID patients in our hospitals has soared by a third in just three weeks or so.</s>AZAR: Then, we will see results from that.</s>WATT: Results means deaths, our average daily death toll already higher than it's been in a month. And another 160,000-plus Americans might die before the first day of February, according to influential modelers.</s>WATT (voice-over): They say, if 95 percent of Americans wore masks, 100,000 lives could be saved through the last day of February.</s>AZAR: This is being driven by individual behaviors at this point.</s>WATT: Like going maskless, family gatherings, public gatherings, three cases now confirmed at this Los Angeles mega-church, which defies public health orders, meets inside.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will obey God, rather than men.</s>WATT: Big Ten football kicks off tonight, very few fans. Still, "We are expecting some potential new obstacles as a result of the upcoming football season," says the mayor of East Lansing, home to Michigan State. We are in the fall surge. We know what we need to do.</s>REINER: Mask up and we can turn this around.</s>WATT (voice-over): Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>BRUNHUBER: To discuss the resurgence of coronavirus crisis we're seeing in the U.S. and Europe, let's talk to Dr. Clare Wenham, who teaches global health policy. Thank you very much for being here with us. Here in the U.S., the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus has risen by 40 percent. The president is trying to convince us that the country is rounding the corner, when that is clearly not the case. From a public health perspective, how does that denial of reality have on a country and its residents to fight the virus?</s>DR. CLARE WENHAM, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE: I think it's concerning. If the president is putting out messages that people don't have to worry about it any more and that it's almost over, that's sending the wrong message. In Europe, we're in a second peak. In the U.S., numbers are going up, as well, as you said, so we need people to take it seriously, wear your mask, socially distance, work at home where you can. All these things add up. And the evidence around this is increasing every day. So to have a political leader saying you don't need to do these things, it's a dangerous precedent. The numbers will go up even further.</s>BRUNHUBER: We mentioned masks. Dr. Fauci says it may be time to call for a mask mandate. Is there any evidence that mask mandates generally work?</s>WENHAM: So I think anything we can do to get people to wear more masks is a good thing. It hasn't been politicized as much in Europe as it has in the U.S. Why not get people to listen and take this seriously? We know wearing masks reduces the transmission. Why wouldn't you do everything within your power to reduce transmission of this disease and stop people dying?</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes. As you said, much of this is political. The cases are rising here. And in the U.K. where you are. We're seeing field hospitals, national shutdowns, curfews, school closings. How did we get here again?</s>WENHAM: That is a really good question. We always knew there were going to be second waves as we started to come out of lockdown. Lockdown isn't the silver bullet. Lockdown just places pauses on everybody. We knew we were going to see more. But a lot of places didn't use that time, the last six months, to build up a trace and isolation system to allow us to go back to living normally. In the ideal world, you're going to ask those people who have got the infection to stay at home and everyone else can go back to some semblance of normality. The problem is systems aren't in place, people are not listening and not following the guidance and not staying at home when they've been asked to. So we're at a critical juncture to try and make sure we get the systems in place and make sure we get that risk communication right to people so they understand why they're staying at home and that they try to follow that guidance.</s>BRUNHUBER: And that is what the WHO has said. We're seeing some countries go back into lockdown. Wales, for instance. Are broader lockdowns inevitable?</s>WENHAM: I don't think anyone wants to get back into a lockdown. However, I don't see in the U.K., for example, how we're going to do it any other way. And effectively, we're in the tier system here in the U.K. But those levels of restrictions keep increasing every day. So I think eventually we will end up here in a more broader lockdown and elsewhere in Europe as well. And I think it's sort of inevitable because people haven't got the systems in place and people aren't being compliant with the guidance they're being given. So I don't really see another way out.</s>BRUNHUBER: I'm sure that's not what many of our viewers want to hear. But thank you very much. Dr. Clare Wenham, thank you.</s>BRUNHUBER: Positive developments for COVID-19 vaccine trials in the U.S. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson paused their tests when volunteers became sick but the Food and Drug Administration greenlit AstraZeneca to resume its test after determining its vaccine candidate was safe. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson said a study found no clear cause for its participant's illness. The company says preparations to restart are underway but couldn't say when the trial would resume. U.S. federal officials want a vaccine to be available as soon as possible. Under their Operation Warp Speed, a top HHS official said, quote, they expect shots within arms within 24 hours after FDA approval. He warned states against trying to impose extra safety checks on what he called life-saving treatment treatments. Both presidential candidates worked the campaign trail Friday. And they're both hitting at comments made by the other at the presidential debate. We'll hear from them coming up.

Israel And Sudan Agree To Normalize Relations; No Clear Path To Reelection For Trump Without Florida.

BRUNHUBER: Well, there's little more than a week to go until the U.S. presidential election. But tens of millions of early voters have already cast their ballots. President Donald Trump plans to be one of them. The White House says he will vote in person Saturday in West Palm Beach, Florida. At a campaign stop Friday, Mr. Trump mocked Democratic nominee Joe Biden, accusing him of sowing fear about the coronavirus pandemic.</s>TRUMP: All he talks about is COVID, COVID, COVID, because they want to scare people. And we've done so well with it. Now it's 99.8 percent. I mean, you look at what's going on, and we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner, we're rounding the corner beautifully.</s>BRUNHUBER: He also hammered Biden's comments about oil, which Biden says he wants to transition away from as America embraces renewable energy. But Trump is hoping that will hurt Biden in oil-producing states such as Texas.</s>TRUMP: One of the most stunning moments last night is when Joe Biden admitted that he wants to abolish the oil industry. Did you see him this morning? This morning -- I didn't really mean that. I didn't mean that. That was the last question that talked about that. I said, whoa, this is the big point of the evening, remember? I said, well, you want to get rid of oil and, yes, is that -- yes, well, we want to phase it out. I said, thank you. Texas, are you watching?</s>BRUNHUBER: Democrat Joe Biden, meanwhile, campaigned in Delaware. The coronavirus pandemic was front and center in his remarks. He had plenty of criticism for some of the president's debate comments. M.J. Lee has that plus plans for the coming days.</s>M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: At this point in the 2020 election, at every Joe Biden speech and campaign event, he is talking about COVID-19 and the pandemic. And it is very clear at this point that he plans on making this a central part of his closing message as we get closer and closer to Election Day. Earlier in the week, at the final presidential debate, we saw the very starkly different visions between President Trump and Joe Biden when it comes to the pandemic. Trump almost painting a rosy picture of what is happening across the U.S.; whereas, Joe Biden warned about a dark winter that is coming. Yesterday in Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden kind of pulled all of the different threads together and gave one comprehensive speech about the virus; first, laying out his own plan for what he would do to combat the virus, talking about enforcing mask wearing, the distribution of PPE and vaccines and pointing out the failures he sees from President Trump in handling the pandemic, even saying that the president has quit on the American people. And one important running theme that we saw was Biden basically asking American voters to imagine a better future as it pertains to the pandemic. Take a listen to this.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failure. We can choose a different path. Imagine a day in the not too distant future, when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and your family and maybe even go out to a movie, when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduations, surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends.</s>LEE: Now the Biden campaign has said that, in these final days, we should expect to see a very robust campaign schedule for the former vice president. Today, he is going to be campaigning in the state of Pennsylvania, including in the Philadelphia suburbs. This, of course, is a state that President Trump very narrowly won back in 2016. But a recent CNN poll showed that Biden has a 10-point lead over the president in this critical state -- M.J. Lee, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.</s>BRUNHUBER: So to talk about all this, we're joined now by Leslie Vinjamuri in London. She's the director of the U.S. and the Americas Programme at Chatham House.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much for coming on. Let's start with the two candidates and COVID. The president's confident sunny times are just around the corner, despite evidence to the contrary. And Joe Biden warning us of a dark winter. We're sick of COVID-19. The last thing we want to hear is that things are going to get worse and we might have to go back into lockdown. Will the president's message resonate in the election's waning days?</s>LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD OF THE U.S. & THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think for some voters it will. What we know is very few voters in the United States already know who they intend to vote for. Those people who are solidly in Trump's camp absolutely want to hear a good message. But I think as you look at the numbers, as Americans have now been living with this for eight months, what they want to know is that things are going to get better because there's a plan for making them better: because there's a vaccine on the way, because social distancing is working, because they can see the numbers coming down. And that's not what is happening right now. There's a surge in about 38 states. The numbers are devastatingly high, the death toil is extraordinary and tragic and people are very well aware of this. So they want to see a plan, the majority of Americans. And hearing that things are good without that second message as to why they are going to be good and what we can expect and how we're going to get there, that's the message that we're seeing from Vice President Biden. And if we believe the national polling, it's a message that's clearly working. He's many points ahead in the national polls. Of course, we know this election is going to be won in the battleground states. And so that is a harder thing to call. But right now, it looks like the American people are much more inside the Biden message than they are in President Trump's message.</s>BRUNHUBER: You mentioned that most Americans know for whom they're going to vote. But maybe one of the last chances to change that was the debate, which at least matched the definition of the noun, unlike the first one. What was your take away? And will it make any difference, do you think, as we round the corner to the end of the campaign?</s>VINJAMURI: I don't think it will make a lot of difference. I found the debate somewhat disappointing. It was certainly better than the first debate, where President Trump spoke over the moderator, argued with the moderator, spoke over the vice president. Really very little could be heard by the audience and it was, frankly, a national embarrassment and I think the vice president felt that way. So you could see that President Trump had been coached, that he was thinking much more clearly about when to intervene. There were the new rules so it was marginally more civilized. But it started with the pandemic and it moved quickly on. There was so much light between the two and there is really very little to be won for the president. The economic conversation was interesting. The president is saying the vice president is a socialist; going to bring the American economy down. And the vice president says I'm worried about Main Street, not Wall Street. We need that fiscal stimulus, that government support so that schools and small businesses can stay open but they can do so in a way that's safe. So there were a number of very big divides. I think the question of those 500 -- more than 500 children hit the papers this week. The 500 children who we can't find their parents, it sort of brought back the question of immigration, which has to be tackled by the next administration.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be following along. Leslie Vinjamuri, thank you so much. We appreciate it.</s>VINJAMURI: Thank you so much.</s>BRUNHUBER: Iran is slamming a U.S. brokered deal that could lead to normalized relations between Israel and Sudan. The Iranian foreign minister called the agreement "phony" and suggested Sudan paid a ransom to be taken off the U.S. list of countries that sponsor terrorism. The agreement establishes trade ties between Israel and Sudan that stopped short of full diplomatic relations. U.S. president Trump says even more countries will follow.</s>TRUMP: We have many countries wanting to come in. We're doing them one by one. We did Sudan. They wanted to do a deal that was, in particular, nice because they were essentially at war with Iran. I don't know if it was fighting or for many years they've been officially at war with Sudan.</s>TRUMP: Not only was the deal signed but it's peace. That's official. That's nice. We have at least five that want to come in. And we'll have more than that very soon.</s>BRUNHUBER: Sudan's acting foreign minister cautioned that the deal can't move forward until the country's legislative -- body council votes on it. Now we're going to go to Oren Liebermann who's in Jerusalem for us. Oren, big win for Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Before we get to the political angle, if approved, what would this mean for the Sudanese?</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For Sudan, it means they get desperately needed financial help and humanitarian help. Remember they're in dire financial straits. Part of the agreement was to get help them out of that, to get them off the U.S. state sponsor of terror listing and make sure they have access to financial institutions that can help them. That's why it's so important to Sudan's leaders. That's why the U.S. had leverage to push them towards normalization, in exchange for what the country needed to try to hold them together with its fragile transitional government. As you pointed out, for President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a political win. For Trump, a week before an election. And for Netanyahu, who faces falling popularity over his handling of the coronavirus, he was sure to hype this up in his statement.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): Whereas today, Khartoum says yes, yes to peace with Israel. Yes to recognition of Israel. Yes to normalization with Israel. This is a new era. The era of true peace. This is a peace that is expanding, to include other Arab countries. 3 of which, having made peace with, us in recent weeks. Sudanese and Israeli delegations will meet soon, to discuss cooperation, in many fields, including agriculture, trade and other important areas for our citizens.</s>LIEBERMANN: Unlike the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Israel and Sudan have had a state of war in the past, back in 1948 and 1967 wars. That looks like it will be soon done away with, as this moves forward in a process that both the White House and the Israelis have pushed for quite a bit of time. The Palestinians say this is a serious stab in the back as once again, Kim, they are on the outside looking in at a changing Middle East.</s>BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Thank you so much. CNN's Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll go to Europe to see how governments across the continent are stepping up restrictions as coronavirus cases soar. Stay with us.

Coronavirus Reaches New Peaks Across Europe

BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to you our viewers in the United States and around the world. The U.S. confirmed a record 83,000 cases of COVID-19 on Friday. The biggest one-day spike ever. Health experts have been warning for weeks a rise in new cases would accompany the arrival of colder weather. But Friday's shocking figure is far higher than the daily peak set back in July. The U.S. surgeon general predicts the coming week could be the worst yet for the country, especially worrisome is the increasing number of patients needing hospitalization, the highest it's been since mid- August. Tens of millions of Europeans are facing tougher coronavirus restrictions this weekend. They come as new cases soar across the continent and countries scramble to find ways to bring the surge under control, especially in the Czech Republic, where daily COVID cases have surpassed 15,000 for the first time. And those new measures aren't going over so well in parts of Italy. Scuffles broke out in Naples over new measures imposed to help stem the virus' spread. Police used tear gas after hundreds gathered to protest a nighttime curfew. Cases across Italy have risen sevenfold since the beginning of October. They soared on Friday. The Italian government reported more than 19,000 new infections. CNN has reporters across Europe covering the coronavirus surge. CNN's Nina dos Santos in Wales. Salma Abdelaziz is in Manchester, England and Scott McLean is in Berlin. Scott, the big picture, more cases, more restrictions. Take us through the situation as COVID is becoming more dire there.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim. Well, I think it's safe to say that the global epicenter of the resurgence of the coronavirus is in Europe right now. You can see the number of cases per capita in Europe has really shot up, surpassing the United States. And the trajectory really shows no signs of slowing down, at least at this stage. I want to show you one other one. The top five infection rates on Earth, all of them are in Europe, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and France. If you compare them to the U.S. on the bottom of the graph in red, you can see they're not even close. Things are especially bad in the Czech Republic. The infection rate is five times higher than the U.S.; their death toll is eight times higher than their peak of the first wave of the epidemic. And on top of all of that, the health care system in the Czech Republic is on the brink of collapse. They're also dealing with a political crisis. The health minister in that country was accused of breaking his own coronavirus rules. He's refusing to step down, though. The prime minister is vowing to replace him anyway. If that happens, Kim, that would mean that the Czech Republic would have a third health minister installed in just the last six weeks, all at the height of the worst outbreak on planet Earth. You can understand why in nearby Slovakia, they're watching the Czech situation with horror as their own cases begin to rise. They're try about to try to test their entire population to try to tamp down their situation, over 5 million people over the next three weekends. And in nearby Poland we've just gotten confirmation that the 48-year- old president has tested positive for COVID. He took a test yesterday; results came back today. He says he's feeling good. He's not the only high-profile politician in Europe to test positive. The Belgian deputy prime minister, the Czech deputy prime minister and the German health minister have all tested positive within the past week. Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: A worrisome situation across the continent there, Scott McLean in Berlin. Let's go to Nina dos Santos in Cardiff, Wales.</s>BRUNHUBER: Explain how people are coping with the idea of another lockdown.</s>NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Well, first before I get into that, Kim, take a look at the street behind me. I want to point out this is what a national lockdown in one of the devolved nations of the U.K. have a right to set their health care policy and they can effectively shut streets like this and major retail outlets on a Saturday morning in the streets of Cardiff. For the next 16 days to come, we've got 3 million people in the U.K. who live in this part of the British Isles, Wales, they can't go out. They can only go out for essentials like pharmacy and food items. This is why on a street like this, we do have shops open but they have to sell only those items. And other items are cordoned off. It's a very stark picture of some of the most stringent restrictions anywhere in the country. It also speaks to the difference in strategy that the Wales government is taking here. What they're doing now is imposing what they call a national lockdown for the whole of Wales, despite the fact that there are hot spots in some parts of Wales that haven't yet transferred to other small villages in other parts of the country. Nevertheless, here on the streets of Cardiff yesterday evening, just before things shut down, there was real support for measures taking place here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about time that somebody took this bull by the horns and got on with it and locked us down for 16 days.</s>DOS SANTOS: Do you think it's better than what's being done in other parts of the United Kingdom?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard to say, hard to say. Other parts of the United Kingdom have had three or four tiers. I think the whole country needs to go into lockdown.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think as a student, it's necessary. There's a lot of activities that came back. And that's just should keep us out for two weeks, I think.</s>DOS SANTOS: Well, Kim, it is quite a confusing picture across the British Isles. Remember there are parts of this country, like Scotland and Wales like I said, that have their own assemblies and latitude to set rules on education and health care. This is a prime time to do a lockdown like this because it is during a holiday fall break for students and also for people who are going to schools. But everybody around the country, Wales, Scotland, England, wants to avoid shutting down schools. They're just shutting down the economy for two weeks. They won't know for a month whether or not it worked, Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: Those empty streets you showed us is just a dramatic illustration of what many countries might be facing down the road. CNN's Nina dos Santos joining us from Cardiff, Wales. Let's go to Salma Abdelaziz in Manchester. Businesses, they're feeling the pinch. I know you talked to some Manchester businesses, local leaders there fighting the resistance of the restrictions. How are they coping now that they've essentially lost that battle that they were waging?</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Kim. There was essentially an outright uprising against prime minister Boris Johnson from the local government here. For 10 days, they were in a standoff over the tier three restrictions, the highest level under the regional lockdown system that shuts down pubs, bars and essentially bans all households from mixing together. The mayor said it's one of risk versus reward, that these measures are too limited. They're sort of half measures that will not actually bring enough case numbers down to justify them. I actually interviewed him yesterday, the first day the restrictions went into effect. Take a listen to what he said.</s>MAYOR ANDY BURNHAM, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: We as a city region always stood up for people, for fairness. And we've often challenged the London establishment if you like, in sort of the ways it treats the north England. This argument became a fight about that. In my view, if you're going to lock down someone's life or lock down somebody's job, it can't be done on terms dictated from 200 miles away. And actually, you know, on a week like this, though it's been tough, I look back and say, I'm doing what I said I would do. And you get a sense of fulfillment from doing that. My message to Westminster is I'll do it every single time again if you come back and try to treat us in this way.</s>ABDELAZIZ: Now his act of resistance did ultimately fail. He was not able to reach the deal he wanted. And the prime minister unilaterally set restrictions on the city. But the mayor, Andy Burnham, set a precedent. He said he was happy to do so.</s>ABDELAZIZ: He wants to place on the government the burden of understanding how these measures hurt businesses. He said make them effective, make them quick, make them sharp and make sure you get a grip on the virus as soon as possible. Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Thanks for your reporting there, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in Manchester. Let's go to Mexico now, where seasonal festivities draw hundreds of thousands of people. Officials say there are fresh coronavirus outbreaks and a rise in hospitalizations. CNN's Matt Rivers reports from Mexico City.</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Mexico, we are now approaching 900,000 confirmed cases of the virus. We're also approaching 90,000 confirmed deaths. Top health officials in the country are concerned about the number of new cases being seen across the country. If you look at the 7 day moving average of newly confirmed cases, you see the number has gone up over several days. Health officials are pointing to several different states where they say the number of cases are on the rise. Health officials specifically pointing out the state of Chihuahua. It borders the state of Texas, Texas' western side. It's a border state between the U.S. and Mexico. Officials in Chihuahua are concerned about the number of cases they have been seeing as a result of what officials say are not following the correct guidelines in public transportation. Also what they say are family gatherings leading to a rise. There is more modeling, more data, that shows things will get worse in Mexico. New data from a model from the University of Washington suggests the overall death toll in Mexico by February 1st could be nearly 130,000 deaths. Mexico already has one of the highest death tolls from the virus of any country around the world. Over the next several weeks, this is what we're watching. Where do the number of new cases go? Do they continue to rise? How do health officials respond? Mexico has been hesitant to put in strict quarantine measures. Different states have done different levels of quarantining. But if the number of cases rises in Mexico, the question is do the measures increase? That is something the government has been hesitant to do because of the economic impact that is so devastating to so many in the country -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.</s>BRUNHUBER: Countries in South America are also struggling with the virus. Colombia is fast approaching 1 million cases and 30,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The country's vice president, Marta Lucia Ramirez actually says she has tested positive for COVID- 19. She's under quarantine and is urging people to follow the safety measures in place to stop the spread. Well, millions of voters have already been cast ahead of the U.S. presidential election. After the break, we will look at possible pathways to victory for the candidates. Stay with us.

Biden Holds Campaign Rally In Pennsylvania; Trump Holds Campaign Rally In North Carolina; U.S. Records One-Day Record With 83,000-Plus New Coronavirus Cases.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour with the U.S. trending in the wrong direction and a frightening new milestone just ten days before the election. On Friday, new coronavirus cases hit a new single day record with 83,757 -- that's even higher than the last pandemic spike back in July. The death toll now over 224,000 Americans and counting. And to put that in perspective, an artist created this grim memorial in the nation's capital, one white flag for every American life lost in the crisis. And right now, President Trump is on his way to a rally in North Carolina. It's one of several stops he's making today in some of the key battleground states needed for his re-election. Moments ago, Trump voted in person in his home state of Florida, something he is encouraging his supporters to do as well -- early voting. Meanwhile, Joe Biden holding a drive-in rally in Pennsylvania. The former vice president focusing his attention on the Keystone State during the final stretch, a clear sign of the role he expects Pennsylvania to play come election day. We have reporters across the country covering the latest in the coronavirus, as well as on the campaign trail. Let's begin with the Biden campaign and M.J. Lee in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. So M.J., the former vice president holding a drive-in rally in the suburbs of Philadelphia. What are his closing arguments with just ten days now to go?</s>M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it tells you a lot that Joe Biden is kicking off his second to last weekend before election day here in the state of Pennsylvania. This is such a critical state and both campaigns know it. We saw him give a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday, where he sort of previewed what he might be talking about here today. His speech is set to begin in a few minutes and I should just quickly note it is a drive-in rally. This kind of event has become sort of a signature Joe Biden campaign event where people are basically watching him speak from their cars. Such a contrast from the kinds of rallies that we have seen from President Trump where they're often crowded, there's no social distancing, and very few mask wearing that we see in the crowds. And in terms of just the closing message that we are going to be hearing from Joe Biden, we know that he is probably going to talk about COVID-19 because at this point, every single speech, every single campaign event held by Joe Biden centers around the virus. And yesterday in that speech I mentioned, you know, he sort of laid out his own vision for how he plans on dealing with the virus if he is elected president. He talked about things like how he would enforce mask wearing across the state. He talked about how he might distribute vaccines and PPE. And of course he has been going after the president as well on what he says are his failures in dealing with this virus. Yesterday he even said in Wilmington, you know, this is a president who has simply quit on the American people and he has also just repeatedly asked the American people to imagine that the future could be different under a Biden presidency. And before I go, I will just note, too, this is just the first stop for Biden in Pennsylvania today. Later today in Luzern County, he is going to be joined by Jon Bon Jovi. That is just one celebrity, one high-profile surrogate, that we are going to see out on the road for him this weekend. The singer Cher is going to be performing in Las Vegas for the Biden campaign and we're going to see others like former president, Barack Obama in Miami. Kamala Harris, of course, will be out. She will be in Ohio. And Bernie Sanders is going to be in western Pennsylvania. So a busy weekend ahead for the Biden campaign, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Taking no real estate for granted. All right. M.J. Lee, thank you so much. All right. Meantime, we are just moments away from the first of three campaign rallies planned for President Trump. The president is focusing his attention on several key battleground states, but he's also visiting states facing surges in coronavirus cases. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is standing by for us in North Carolina. Dianne, what is expected there?</s>DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well Fred, look, this is no accident that President Trump is visiting North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin today. States that he won in 2016, but polls show it may be a little bit more of a difficult trip for him in 2020. These are also all states that are facing surges in COVID-19. Here in the state of North Carolina, the state set a record yesterday for the highest number of reported cases in one day. They've been experiencing and breaking records over the past week here.</s>GALLAGHER: But this is the president's second trip to North Carolina this week alone. Now, here in Lumberton, North Carolina this is a much smaller crowd than the one that we did see on Wednesday night in Gastonia, North Carolina. But people are still starting to come in here. We're seeing a smattering of masks, if you will. But another difference is that we're in Robson County. So it's not just about the swing state of North Carolina, but President Trump is visiting the pivot count of Robson County. Robson went for President Obama in 2008 and 2016 -- I'm sorry, 2008 and 2012 -- and then switched to President Trump in 2016. And he's been working hard to continue that and see if he can get them in 2020. A key vote there the Lumbee Indian nation, the tribe has extreme clout in Robson County. It's the largest non-federally recognized tribe east of the Mississippi. President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden have both pledged support for them to become federally-recognized, a key factor in winning the Lumbee vote.</s>WHITFIELD: Dianne -- people have been voting, you know, for some time now. Today the president cast his in-person ballot in Florida. Talk to us about why he decided to do it this way.</s>GALLAGHER: So the president chose to go and vote in person, along with his members of security, Secret Service, and others that travel along with him, and then chose to cast doubt on other forms with no evidence whatsoever. Take a listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a very secure vote. Much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect. Very strict, right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, it could never be like that. It could never be secure like that. They've done a fantastic job over here. Great people inside. But it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area, which I know so well.</s>GALLAGHER: So it's secure to send your ballot in by mail. Almost three million people in the state of North Carolina have already voted early, more than half a million of those voted by mail in this state, Fred. And when the president was asked who he voted for, he said "some guy named Trump" so --</s>WHITFIELD: Yes, that's to be presumed. All right, Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much. We'll check back with you there in North Carolina. All right. Joining me now to discuss the 2020 race, David Swerdlick. He is an assistant editor for "The Washington Post" and a CNN political commentator. David, good to see you.</s>DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, let's start with the president's comments there. I mean he is, you know, voting in person and then he would still disparage any kind of, you know, mail-in voting saying it could never be secure. That's a strange message coming from the president just ten days away from election day, isn't it?</s>SWERDLICK: Yes. Good morning, Fred. It's not only a strange message, it's a damaging message. Mail-in voting is legal, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Many studies have been done on this. Five states, I believe, do only mail-in voting. I worked on a story earlier this year about mail-in voting in Oregon and even the Republican secretary of state there is thumbs up on it. President Trump basically had to go vote in person if he wanted to drive home this message that there was something wrong, this wrong message that there was something wrong, with mail-in voting or absentee voting even though it's something that he and members of his team have done in the past. It is part of a strategy of trying to undermine faith in the vote and at this point it's hard to say how this is going to play out by November 3rd. But it is clearly antithetical to the way his predecessors have approached this and most politicians approach this to suggest that there is some fundamental flaw in our voting system. Of course, there's always individual instances of voter fraud or, you know, irregularities, but the major studies simply say that most voting takes place without widespread fraud in this country.</s>WHITFIELD: Right now, the president on route from Florida to North Carolina. We saw the live pictures, people gathering there in Lumberton, North Carolina for this rally. Let's talk about the president's strategy down this homestretch, continuing to ignore the dangers of the pandemic, encouraging people to come out to these rallies, people in close proximity. And at the same time, you know, the president falsely -- continuing to falsely claim that we're rounding the corner of the virus, when now we're looking at, you know, a record in the number of cases in a single day. The president continues to kind of traverse in this alternate reality.</s>SWERDLICK: It is alternate reality. When you have a global pandemic that's hitting hardest in the United States, when every day there are tens of thousands of new cases and every day there's plus or minus about a thousands.</s>SWERDLICK: The idea that we are rounding the corner is not only wrong and it's not only misinformation, it's an insult to the people who have contracted the disease or to people who died from the disease. To the extent that this campaign is about the response of the government to the coronavirus, the federal government, this is territory that vice president Biden wants to be campaigning on. To the extent that it's about some other issues that aren't affecting people as widely, I think that is something that President Trump wants to be campaigning on. We're past the point of the national polls. Every state poll is what the campaigns are looking at. That's why you see Trump in North Carolina and Florida. If you look at polling averages, those states are within the margin of error and it's why vice president Biden, even though he's the Scranton guy, is making two stops in Pennsylvania today. It's a must-have for Biden and Democrats if they want to reverse 2016, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: And on Biden's side, President Obama back on the campaign trail today, holding another rally for Biden. And, you know, we've already heard from Obama saying, you know, Trump lives in reality TV world, but the reality is, you know, this coronavirus is very serious. How potentially impactful is Obama's case for the seriousness of coronavirus and this is a referendum on the current administration?</s>SWERDLICK: Right, Fred. President Obama came out with those two events in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Both the sit-down with various elected and community leaders and the speech that he gave later in the day. I took three messages from President Obama coming out. One, the fact that it was in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, emphasizing that that is a must-win state. Democrats want to pick off North Carolina or Florida, but they have to have Pennsylvania. The second thing, as you say, was that President Obama was out there emphasizing the message that, hey, he said any president would have had a tough time with this, but basically in his view President Trump didn't even try. President Trump gave up. And then lastly is that if there's one thing about President Obama in sort of all facets of his political career, it's that he was a run through the tape guy, if you'll pardon the sports metaphor. His message out there is finish to the end. Just because if you're a Democrat you feel like you've got high turnout or a good lead, that's not sufficient. You've got to go all the way through election day. Meanwhile on the side, with President Trump is doing so many events because he wants to put his coronavirus diagnosis and being air-lifted to the hospital in that rearview mirror. I mean think about it. He's doing so many events, Trump in the hospital seems like a hundred years ago now, Fred. And that's what Trump wants.</s>WHITFIELD: Right. I mean traversing something like four states today and, you know, Biden and his camp, or at least Biden trying to, you know, maintain, you know, the attention of voters in one state. All right, David Swerdlick, thank you so much.</s>SWERDLICK: Thanks Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Ok. So the pandemic is getting worse. A record 83,000 new cases in a single day. And now the nation's chief epidemiologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says now might be time to mandate masks. But is it too late to curb yet another spike? Plus, Joe Biden and Donald Trump competing for votes in North Carolina, but the vote could come down to black voters fed up with both parties. And, new today, law enforcement now bracing for election day violence as the country falls deeper into a partisan divide. Their new gear, laser blocking sunglasses and more. We're live coming up.

U.S. Records Highest Single-Day Number Of COVID-19 Infections At More Than 83,000; President Trump Campaigns In North Carolina; Former President Obama To Campaign For Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden In Florida; President Trump Votes Early In-Person In Florida; President Trump Promotes Security Of In-Person Voting Over Mail-In Ballots

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We being this hour with the U.S. trending in the wrong direction and a frightening new milestone just 10 days before the election. On Friday, new coronavirus cases hit a new single day record with 83,757. That's even higher than what we saw when the pandemic spiked back in July. The death toll now over 224,000 Americans and counting, and to put that in perspective, an artist created this grand memorial in the nation's capital, one white flag for every American life lost in this crisis. This new spike in cases come during a critical time on the campaign trail. Right now, President Trump holding a rally in North Carolina. It's one of several stops the president is making today in states being hard hit by coronavirus. This morning, the president voted in person in Florida, saying it is much more secure than voting by mail. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden is campaigning in Pennsylvania, holding a drive-in rally this morning. It's a state critical for his chances to win the White House, holding two events in Pennsylvania today. We have a team of reporters covering the campaign trail and the spikes in coronavirus cases across the country. Let's turn first to North Carolina where President Trump is still speaking. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is there. Dianne, what is the president's message?</s>DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, so far, the message from the president has kind of playing the hits. He's been criticizing former Vice President Joe Biden, talking about Senator Kamala Harris. But specifically here in Lumberton, North Carolina, located in Robeson County, North Carolina where they have the third highest infection rate of COVID-19 in the state, which saw its highest number of one-day cases yesterday. He has railed against coronavirus, COVID-19, and even talked about conspiracy theories saying testing more people is foolish, and claiming that unnamed world leaders told him they don't test people who aren't sick. He then went on to criticize Biden for holding distanced rallies. Take a listen.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You turn on the television -- COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. COVID, COVID, COVID. COVID. By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore. I just watched Biden making speech and he goes, thank you, thank you for everybody, thank you. People in cars. I don't get it. They're in cars. There were so few cars, I've never seen an audience like this. And he's going, he's going, oh, thank you, all those people out there. There's like few cars.</s>TRUMP: And the cars weren't in a little circle. They were too close together, I think. They weren't socially distanced, but there were so few of them, it didn't matter.</s>GALLAGHER: And there was a lot during this speech sort of poking fun at COVID-19. Again, the county we're in right now where there are plenty of people who are sitting and standing very close to each other, not wearing masks, has nearly double the state rate of infection here. And they are here in the sun waiting and cheering for the president for hours on end now. He's kicking in at about an hour in this speech at this point, Fred. I will say that something unique to this particular speech is talking about federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe, which has home here in here in Robeson County. He came out on Wednesday saying he supports the federal recognition. Former Vice President Joe Biden said back on the 8th of October that he supports federal recognition. This is a key group in North Carolina. Robeson County went for President Obama in 2008 and 2012, swung to President Trump in 2016. He is trying to see if he can keep that magic going. He has basically told them here at this rally and win North Carolina again. Later today he is going to be heading to Ohio and Wisconsin, two other states that are also dealing with COVID-19 surges at this time, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much, in Lumberton, North Carolina. We'll check back. And any moment now, former President Barack Obama will be back on the campaign trail stumping for Joe Biden. This comes after Joe Biden once again lammed President Trump's handling of the pandemic during a speech in Pennsylvania today. For more on this, let's bring in Arlette Saenz in north Miami where President Obama is set to speak in the next hour. Arlette, the war of words, it's heating up as we enter this home stretch now, just 10 days away until Election Day.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, it really is, Fred. And today, the Biden campaign is focusing on Florida and Pennsylvania, two states that could be critical to deciding this presidential race in November. Joe Biden held a drive-in event a little bit earlier today in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he once again took aim at President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden really making this a central focus of his closing pitch to voters in these final weeks. Take a listen to what Biden had to say a bit ago at that drive-in event in Pennsylvania.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He tried to claim he didn't want to panic the American people, but the American people don't panic. He panicked. And he still has no plan. All he can do is double down on his Park Avenue way of looking at the world. I'll shut down the virus, not the economy. And we can walk and chew gum at the same time.</s>SAENZ: And that is a message we could rely on Vice President Biden to continue to press in these closing days of the campaign. In just a short while, he's holding another drive-in event in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. This time he will be joined by Jon Bon Jovi. He will be participating in that campaign event. And here in north Miami, President Obama is expected to speak in just a short while as early voting in underway in the state. This is an area of the state that has a significant black and African-American population as well as Hispanic population. As the Biden campaign really feels that the president could help turn out those voters in these critical states that the president won back in 2016 that they're hoping to bring to the blue column in November.</s>WHITFIELD: And then Arlette, I understand that there are a number of Trump supporters that showed up at Biden's event, the drive-in rally today in Pennsylvania. What more do you know about that?</s>SAENZ: So Joe Biden held this drive-in event, socially distanced to adhere to that coronavirus protocols that the campaign has been following. But a short distance from that event in a parking lot, there was a group of Trump supporters who showed up trying to support their candidate. Dozens and dozens of cars were out there during the former vice president's speech cheering on their own candidate, President Trump. And take a listen to a bit of the reference that Biden made to them earlier today.</s>JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And by the way, we don't do things like those chumps out there with the microphones are doing, the Trump guys. It's about decency. Look, we've got to come together.</s>SAENZ: And that's something that we have seen at other Biden campaign events where Trump supporters assemble outside of the perimeter. Oftentimes, there's also Biden supporters offering that counterbalance, just both sides of these campaigns getting very heated as Election Day nears, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Arlette Saenz in north Miami, thank you so much. So these spikes in COVID-19 cases come at a critical point in the race for the White House. With just 10 days now to go before America makes its choice, how will this new surge impact the race? Here with me now is Reid Wilson. He is a national correspondent for "The Hill" and author of the book "Epidemic." Reid, so good to see you. Congrats on your book. So more than 30 states now reporting higher cases this week than last, and if you look, it's happening in many states vital to President Trump's reelection bid. He's in North Carolina right now. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida are the other places he plans to go. Yet you just heard him at that rally in North Carolina. He's being critical of the idea of social distancing, criticizing and making fun of his opponent for the format of the drive-in. How could this surge intersect with what the president is saying as well, not taking the coronavirus seriously?</s>REID WILSON, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE HILL": Right, this is coming at exactly the wrong time for President Trump. He wants to be talking about an economic comeback. He wants to be talking about his plans for the second term. He wants to be talking about his recent foreign policy achievements in the Middle East. And this is just reminding us over and over and over again that the pandemic is here, the next spike is coming. And by the way, consider the first spike, the first outbreak that really hit in April and May. That was contained in a few places, in New York City, in Louisiana, in Detroit. The second wave was really concentrated in the sun belt in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, places like that. This wave is everywhere. It started in the upper Midwest, it's moved into Salt Lake down into Arizona, down into parts of the country where the weather is getting colder and people are moving indoors. So this is just a constant reminder at exactly the wrong moment for President Trump that this virus is still here 10 months later, and the administration has not gotten its hands around it.</s>WHITFIELD: Even though he continues to say we're rounding the corner on it. Meantime, the president voted in person in Florida, encouraging his supporters to do the same, and at the same time casting doubt on mail-in voting yet again. There's no evidence that there's anything insecure about mail-in voting. So we are seeing this record early turnout voting, 50 million Americans already taking advantage of this period. Does the president still believe that he could influence his supporters, voters, to either stand in line on Election Day or cast their early ballot voting, refrain from mail-in?</s>WILSON: Yes, we've seen some mixed messages from President Trump because he's heard from some prominent Republican strategists and people around him about the importance of mail-in voting, not just for people to get their ballots in the mail, but for Republican campaigns. Consider it like this. If you have an electorate that's 100 people, and 20 of them vote early by mail, you, as the campaign, you don't have to talk to those 20 people anymore. You can focus all your resources on the 80 who have left to vote. So it's even more efficient for the campaigns if people are voting early or voting by mail, because then the campaigns don't have to send them mail, they don't have to call them or knock on their door, anything like that. So it's a benefit for everybody.</s>WHITFIELD: And then what's the message that the president is sending that he's going to states that are being hit hard, particularly hard, seeing these daily surges in coronavirus cases, and these are the states that he's going to and holding these rallies, not encouraging any distancing among people, and continuing to make fun about the whole idea of these recommendations?</s>WILSON: Well, I think President Trump wants Americans to accept that the coronavirus is going to become endemic, it's going to circulate widely among the populous for many years, just like the flu does, which is troubling. The fact is, this is multiples more deadly than the flu. We're seeing the new spike. We're seeing more hospitalizations. And in some places like Wisconsin and Idaho, even Salt Lake City, they're starting to literally run low on hospital beds. So the fact is, we all have to take this virus as seriously as possible. President Trump may not want to do that because he can convince us that we're on the brink of turning a corner. The problem is, right now, we're turning the corner the wrong way.</s>WHITFIELD: Reid Wilson, thank you so much. Good to see you.</s>WILSON: Thanks, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, as the United States shatters a coronavirus record, Dr. Anthony Fauci is now trying to make masks mandatory. Plus, live pictures from Capitol Hill where the Senate is debating Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation, but what about those stimulus talks? Americans and businesses are struggling, including the motor coach industry, which furloughed 80,000 workers.

Long Lines Form In New York For Early Voting; Director Of National Intelligence States Russia And Iran Have U.S. Voter Registration Information.

WHITFIELD: Ten days to Election Day, and already early voters are breaking records. Thousands lined up for hours in Queens, New York, for the first day of early voting there. Across the country, more than 52 million Americans have already cast their ballots for president. CNN's Paul Vercammen is tracking California's turnout for us, and Evan McMorris-Santoro joins us from Queens, New York. So Paul, you first. You're in Los Angeles. What kind of turnout are you seeing?</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Far brisk here at Staples Center. This is the first in-person voting early here at this arena. It was put on, this event, by the Lakers, the Kings, the Sparks. Look behind me, you can see there are plenty of voting stations. We saw more than 100 people before 10:00 this morning coming on out. We know right now that more than 6 million Californians have cast their ballots. AEG also helping to put this on, this event, for free. And you may recall, this is the home of the now world champion Lakers, and LeBron James, the popular Laker figure, had said that he sees something in the African-American community that he wanted to alter, and that's not enough African-Americans going to the polls.</s>LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: And we're just trying to change that narrative and let them know that this is important. You are wanted, you are needed. Because we always talk about we want change, we want to create change, and the only way to create change is to be heard and to be seen and do the things that need to be done.</s>VERCAMMEN: And the people that we have talked who have left Staples say that the process is extremely smooth. They're applauding it. And they're making things easier on these voters in many ways. If you look over here, here's a truck, "Democracy is Delicious." These are set up, more than 200 of them across the country, non-partisan. Amirah, you're running the show here. Why did you set this up?</s>AMIRAH NOAMAN, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, PIZZA TO THE POLLS: Americans are very eager to vote. We've noticed the lines have been forming the last few weeks in such a historic election. We don't want anyone to ever leave polling stations because they're hungry. So whether you're a poll worker, whether you're casting your ballot for the first time, or you're just passing by, we're here to feed anyone and everyone at polling stations.</s>VERCAMMEN: Great, thank you so much, Amirah. So, as you can tell, Fred, things very, very smooth here, and turnout so far brisk in California. We may see a record broken before all is said and done in the number of ballots cast in California. Back to you now, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: And that will come as no surprise given the trends that we've been seeing so far. Thanks so much, Paul. Evan, to you. First day of voting in New York, and what's been the turnout?</s>EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. I've been here at the Jackson Heights, Queens, library since the polls opened here at 10:00 a.m. And there's a two-plus hour line to vote here that entire time, and it continues now. We're hearing reports like that from across the entire city. But here in Jackson heights, people have been waiting a long time to vote. This is one of the hardest hit areas by the coronavirus, and also by some of the economic impacts of the coronavirus. And I spoke to a lot of voters in line and they said, look, this is our chance to make our voice heard and to say what we really think about what this year has been like.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had some friends say we complained to God knows where, and yet they wouldn't vote. I said, what are you complaining about? You gave up your right to complain when you don't vote.</s>MCMORRIS-SANTORO: And so you're not giving up your right to complain?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no. This is a God given gift, and I'm not going to throw it away.</s>MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Now, the right to complain might be the most New York City reason to vote, but it's a sentiment that we're hearing from all over the country and all over here in the city. People are really interested in making sure their voice is a part of this election, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: OK, indeed. Speak loudly, right? Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much. Voters continue to turn out in record numbers to cast their ballots early for this 2020 election, and so far more than 52 million Americans have already voted. And many have waited in long lines for hours. Millions of others have mailed in their ballots as well. Well, today, President Trump cast his ballot early, voting in person in Florida, and in the process, he cast doubt on the security of mail-in ballots without any evidence that they are not secure.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very secure vote, much more secure than what you send in a ballot. I can tell you that. Everything was perfect. Very strict, right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, it could never be like that.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, again, that's being disputed. So with me now to discuss, Erin Banco, she is the national security reporter for "The Daily Beast," and Matthew Rosenberg is an investigative correspondent for "The New York Times" and a CNN national security analyst. Good to see you both. So Erin, you first. Once again, the president, without evidence, questioning the security of mail-in ballots. What is the impact of questioning the security of American elections as millions of people put their ballots in the mail, and this criticism coming from the president of the United States?</s>ERIN BANCO, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, "THE DAILY BEAST": I think the concern among intelligence officials and national security officials is that the president's rhetoric is, or will sow distrust among Americans and make them feel less secure in their vote. I think that there are concerns that whatever the president says about these votes, the mail-in ballots will perhaps dissuade people from going to vote. And that seems to be the real concern here. Of course, we've seen a couple of things come into the news this week about actual security concerns regarding election infrastructure, but none of those concerns have to do with mail-in ballots.</s>WHITFIELD: Matthew, early this week, the Director of National Intelligence said that both Russia and Iran have gotten their hands-on U.S. voter registration information, and have even sent threatening emails to some voters. Should this be a bigger concern than the security of mail-in ballots, especially on the mind of the president?</s>MATTHEW ROSENBERG, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely. Look, the voter registration information is mostly public. They got their hands on it. There's no evidence they've changed it. Iran sending threatening emails claiming to be Proud Boys and threatening voters is of huge concern. And the thing is, in the view of most intelligence officials, the Iranians are like double-A, may single-A baseball. They're a minor league team. The Russians are the major leaguers. And the concerns with them run the gamut. Russian hackers have breached a number of systems in the U.S. over the years, from election systems to electoral grids and other vital systems. And the fear always has been that they will do something on Election Day to disrupt the voting, or they will simply leave the impression they have hacked the voting, that they have somehow changed something, or altered something. And in that situation where you have the president stirring up doubt, that you create this idea of a perception hack, that you don't actually need to hack the election. You just need people to believe it. And that sows enough mistrust, enough disbelief, that it throws the election aftermath into chaos.</s>WHITFIELD: So Erin, the president was asked about this new election interference during Thursday's debate. This is what he had to say.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: About your thing last night, I knew all about that. And through John, who is -- John Ratcliffe, who is fantastic, DNI, he said, the one thing that's common to both of them, they both want you to lose.</s>WHITFIELD: And then Erin, do you see any evidence that shows that Russia and Iran would want this president to lose?</s>BANCO: So look, Bill Evanina came out with a pretty clear statement back in August about what the intelligence community viewed, having viewed China, Iran, and Russia playing their part in terms of meddling in 2020 election. And what Bill Evanina said is that Russia is actively working to denigrate Joe Biden, and that Iran prefers Biden over Trump, would rather not have Trump in office. And so I think what the president was saying there on the debate stage was a little bit misleading in the sense of what we know about Russia is that the disinformation campaign has been ongoing for the past year-and-a-half, if not more, has specifically targeted Biden and not President Trump.</s>WHITFIELD: And so Matthew, the president says Iran, Russia wouldn't want him to be the one in office, but the track record demonstrates that at least Russia would certainly want this president to remain in office.</s>ROSENBERG: That's absolutely the case. As Erin said, our intelligence officials have been very clear they believe that Russia, which is the main actor here, is working to denigrate Joe Biden, which, of course, helps Donald Trump. There is another concern here, which is that Americans themselves are so divided, between all the domestic disinformation we have flowing around from Qanon to other fake news situations. Foreigners don't actually need to do that much. They need to simply amplify American voices, which is incredibly hard to stop and incredibly hard to protect against. And so that is a major thing we're contending with that is going to get more intense as the election approaches in the coming week.</s>WHITFIELD: We'll leave it there for now. Matthew Rosenberg, Erin Banco, thanks to both of you, appreciate it.</s>ROSENBERG: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: After a race like no other, it all ends here. Join us for special live coverage the way only CNN can bring it to you, from the first votes to the critical count, understand what's happening in your state and across the country. Election night in America, our special coverage starts Tuesday, November 3rd, at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. Up next, bus drivers struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic.</s>CLARENCE E. COX III, PRESIDENT AND CEO, GEORGIA COACH LINES: It's ridiculous. I make jokes, but I make jokes because I'm so angry, I have to laugh to keep from crying. It's just, it's sad.</s>WHITFIELD: Plus, President Obama is expected to campaign for Joe Biden in north Miami next hour. We'll bring you his remarks, live.

Biden: Trump Quit On America With His Mishandling Of Pandemic; Trump And Biden Must-Win States 10 Days Until Election; Trump Hits Biden On Fracking In Midwestern Battlegrounds; Rep. John Garamendi (D- CA) Is Interviewed About The Trump And Biden Race

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He hasn't done a thing. But ladies and gentlemen, we're going to build roads, bridges that are crumbling. Climate change is accelerating more frequently and extreme weather events. Just look at the wildfires in California, the hurricanes along the Gulf coast. My state Delaware, one of the lowest lying states above sea level on the verge of being flooded. According to the best data we have, southeast Pennsylvania including Bucks County is warming faster than any part of the state. How long before a flood start picking up along the Delaware River? We can do something about this and we better get it done. We better get it done. And by the way, we don't do things like those chumps out there with the microphone are doing, the Trump guys. It's about decency. Look, we got to come together. I was reminded that earlier this month when I went to the sacred ground of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln told us a house divided cannot stand. But remember what Donald Trump said when COVID-19 deaths reached 200,000 in America, he said if you look at the blue states with the Democratic governors and just look at the red states with Republican governors, we're doing well. Well, first of all it's not true. The great rises have been in most of the red states. But that's not the point. Think of what he's saying about what's going on in America. He's saying if you live in Pennsylvania, you're not his problem. If you live in a red state, Alabama, he may think about you. He's not responsible to your family's wellbeing if you're in a blue state. Folks, I don't see the president that way. I don't see it that way. I don't see America that way. I'm running as a proud Democrat but I will govern as an American president for everybody. I'll work as hard for those, I'll work as hard for those who don't support me as those should do including those chumps with the microphone out there. Look, that's the job of a president, the duty to care for everyone, the duty to heal and you too have a sacred duty and that's to vote. It matters. Pennsylvania matters. So please vote. Help, get out the vote. Visit iwillvote.com/pa. Return your ballot as soon as possible, make sure everyone you know does the same. Folks, as Bobby Case, you know as I've served with the senate can tell you, my colleges would always kid me as I remember one sentence from President Kennedy's speech about going to the moon. He answered the question that wasn't asked but was implied. He said we're going to do it because we Americans, we refuse to postpone, I refused to postpone the work we must do. There's nothing beyond our capacity. There is no limit to America's future. The only thing that can tear America apart is American itself. Look folks everybody knows you Donald Trump is, let's show him who we are. We choose hope over fear. We choose unity over division, science over fiction, truth over lies and yes, honor and integrity over lying. So it's time to stand up. Let's take back our democracy now. We can do this. There's nothing we cannot do. God bless you and may God protect our troops. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.</s>FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, Democratic nominee Joe Biden there at a drive-in rally there in Bucks county, Pennsylvania focusing on the hardships that have come from coronavirus and the need for a new plan to tackle it. Promising tax relief to the middle class, preserving or perhaps even resurrecting the medical care plan that he and President Obama he said worked so hard to get. And saying with just 10 days until Election Day, it is go time. Joining me right now CNN Political Correspondent M.J. Lee and CNN business lead writer Matt Egan. M.J., let me begin with you to the crowd there and Joe Biden, kind of reiterating much of what we have been hearing from him particularly since debate night but talk to me about the importance of where he is with this message.</s>M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes Fred, let me just help, set the scene for a second. We are at Bucks county community college and where the former Vice President was speaking is actually a little ways behind me, behind this parking lot. And if you hear any honking, if you see any Trump flags, it's because some 20 to maybe 30 minutes ago, a bunch of folks who are clearly Trump supporters and Trump voters have driven into this parking lot to show their show of support for the president, waving a lot of flags and so, this is kind of emblematic of the kind of state and area that we're in, right? And it is the reason that we heard Joe Biden as you mentioned off the top, saying it's go time, it's game day and this election might come down to the state of Pennsylvania as we have been talking about all morning. This is a state that President Trump won and won narrowly back in 2016 and this time around, Joe Biden and Democrats are hoping that they can shift that state back into the win category for Democrats. Recent polls have shown Biden with a lead in this state but as you can tell, even just with visual force of support from Trump supporters again just goes to highlight that this is a critical state and is an important battleground state for Biden and as far as just what we heard from the former Vice President, you're absolutely right, that his focus - the focus of his speech of what was central to his speech was the coronavirus pandemic. And it was really a blistering repudiation of what he believes has been sort of the failures from the president. You know he said we have had some 200,000 - more than 200,000 people die from the virus across the country. He noted that in recent days we have seen a record number of new cases per day and yet, the president is out there saying, we are turning a corner. I thought it was also interesting that Biden said we don't want this to be a superspreader event, clearly a jab at the kinds of events that President Trump has been holding. Again, a very stark contrast from this kind of drive-in rally that we're seeing Joe Biden holding Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: Right. So not to be confused, folks just now joining in M.J. Lee is actually at the drive-in rally for Joe Biden even though the backdrop, now you have a lot of people who've driven up who have Trump signs and Joe Biden making reference to them, calling them the chumps with the microphones you know in the back, not to be distracted by. All right, so Matt well Joe Biden covered a lot. For a moment it sounded like he was not going to go in the area of the fracking which is what you and I were talking about, you know right before going to Joe Biden but he did. He tried to offer some clarity instead saying you know, I'm not banning fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else. Instead he'll make the effort to protect jobs. Why was that important for him to offer that kind of clarity particularly after President Trump has made fracking and Joe Biden's position on that an issue?</s>MATT EGAN, CNN LEAD WRITER: Right Fred, so Joe Biden had to do some clean up there as you mentioned, he said let me be clear, I am not banning fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else and he had to address this because fracking is a really big deal. It's a big employer in Pennsylvania and Joe Biden has kind of confused his message here. Remember, climate activists they want to ban fracking to save the planet and some leading Democrats who ran for president including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, they did run on a plan to ban fracking. Joe Biden however his plan never included that. He has taken a more moderate stance. He's talked about banning new drilling on federal lands but during the debate, he sort of confused the message so it was important that he addressed that. He also and I think this is also important as you know he's got a sort of balance the jobs' impact here with the climate crisis and so he did bring that up. He said you know climate change is accelerating extreme weather events. He talked about wildfires out in the west and flooding and then he brought it home to Pennsylvania. And he said, listen, you know how long until the Delaware River starts flooding. He talked about warming in Bucks County, so I think he's trying to thread the needle here and he also talked about the importance of jobs. He brought up how his great grandpa was a coal mining engineer in Pennsylvania and he learned that you know a job is about more than paycheck, it's about dignity and respect. And he said that's a lesson is never going to forget so he's clearly trying to balance the jobs impact with the climate crisis.</s>WHITFIELD: All right Matt Egan, M.J. Lee, thank you so much. Appreciate that. So you see Joe Biden is really going to be crisscrossing the state of Pennsylvania while the President of United States is kind of crisscrossing the map from the south east to the Midwest. He is about to arrive right there in North Carolina where he's set to speak at a rally. Dianne Gallagher is there. The stage is set. Lot of people in that kind of arena setting. What's the expected message? What's the expectation there?</s>DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the expected message is he needs these people in North Carolina to come out and vote for him but they're also dealing in North Carolina much like the other states that are on his hattrick if you will, today, Ohio and Wisconsin with record number of COVID-19 infections. Yesterday was the highest number of one-day totals of new infections in the state of North Carolina and so you can probably see behind me, there are plenty of people sitting very close together, there's a smattering of masks here but not a whole lot of social distancing. Now look Fred, there's another message here and it's very specific to the county that we are in. Robson county North Carolina is one of the most diverse counties in the entire nation and it is a swing county in a swing state. Robson County went for President Obama in 2008 and 2012 but went for President Trump in 2016. And he's trying to see if he can recreate that magic. A big push is the recognition, the federal recognition that he now says he supports for the Lumbee Indian tribe. They're the largest non-federally recognized tribe in the west - east of Mississippi. He says he supports it now. Fred, Joe Biden said that he supported that back on October 8.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, we will see whose voice seems to resonate loudest among that tribe so Dianne, President Trump also you know casting his own ballot today in person instead of mailing it in as he did it in the spring during the primary so why did, what's the explanation behind why the President chose this manner?</s>GALLAGHER: The president said he chose this manner because he thought it was more secure. I'm going to let you listen to what he says but I want to make it very clear, voting by mail is very secure.</s>DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect, very strict. Right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, could never be like that, could never be secure like that. They've done a fantastic job over here. Great people inside so but it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area which I know so well.</s>GALLAGHER: Yes, just no evidence to back up what the president says. Voting by mail is very secure. Here in North Carolina, more than half a million people have already voted by mail, Fred. More than 16 percent of those are Republicans registered in this state and so was they're dealing with the surge in COVID-19 cases, many people are still considering voting early in person like the president but also sending in both mail-in ballots.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, 50 million and counting have already taken advantage of the early voting opportunities. Mail and in person across the country. Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much. All right, coming up two drug makers restart vaccine test in the U.S. but we still don't know how the volunteers developed a serious health issue. Dr. Mathew Heinz will offer his perspective straight ahead. Also ahead, long lines and early voting records shattered across the country so are coronavirus prevention message working at the polls. Then later, as Americans await for a stimulus deal, two teachers take matters into their own hands, creating a community fridge to make sure families don't go hungry. They'll join me live next.

More Than 52 Million Americans Across The Country Have Already Cast Their Ballots In Early Voting

WHITFIELD: Hard to believe but Americans have just ten more days to choose who they want to lead the country out of a worsening coronavirus crisis. The U.S. is now reporting its highest number of new infections in one day since the pandemic started. More than 83,000 new cases added yesterday and as we near Election day, both presidential candidates are taking polar opposite approaches to how they plan on dealing with the pandemic.</s>TRUMP: We're rounding the turn with or without the vaccine. We have the vaccines, they're going to be great but with or without, we're rounding the turn. Normal life, that's all we want, fully resuming.</s>BIDEN: We're not learning to live with it. We're learning to die with it. This is a dark winter ahead. Already more than 220,000 people in the United States of America have lost their lives to this virus. 220,000 empty chairs at dinner tables all across this country.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now Congressman John Garamendi of California. He was one of the first members of Congress to endorse Joe Biden and is now working as a surrogate for the Biden campaign. Congressman, good to see you.</s>REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): Good to be with you Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: So Joe Biden you know is warning of a "dark winter ahead" you know for American voters want to be inspired at election time. Is there a danger with using language that may scare Americans or is that the type of straight talk needed?</s>GARAMENDI: Every successful president in a crisis talking straight to the public, giving them the facts is going to be successful and that's precisely what Biden during that debate. We are headed into a dark winter. 83,000 today and the hospitalizations are going up. Yesterday and here's where real leadership is shown. Yesterday Biden gave in the remarkable and critically important speech about how he will crush the virus beginning the day after he wins the election, bringing together the governors, putting in place the full power of the president of the government, all of its administrative pieces and on the Inauguration Day sign the legislation to make it happen. The virus can't be crushed. If we all work together and when it is, we can restart the economy. The economy isn't going to get going again as long as this virus is raging across the country so Biden's plan was clearly laid out yesterday and every detail that is necessary. Unfortunately, the President is going exactly the opposite direction, bouncing around the country spreading the virus. It's unconscionable, but it is his reality. And his reality, unfortunately, is that we're going to live with the virus. And all of the deaths we got to have -- we've got to have the Biden plan in place right now.</s>WHITFIELD: The President is dotting the map within person, you know, rallies today, along the east coast, southeast, and even the Midwest. But earlier in South Florida, he cast his in-person, you know, ballot today, early voting. 50 million Americans have cast their ballots early. What's the impact, in your view of the President of the United States, planting seeds of doubt about the safety and security of mail- in ballots? He did that today, he's done it before, but he did it today, just prior to casting his ballot.</s>GARAMENDI: Well, he didn't do the same thing last -- earlier this year when he cast his vote by mail in the primary in Florida. The reality is he's playing a horribly dangerous game, bringing into doubt the sanctity of the American election. Putin could not be happier. Putin has been trying for four or five years now to cast doubt about the American election. And now, Iran is also piling on. And the President is simply there helping them along the way. In fact, in fact, mail-in ballots are a secure, safe and appropriate way to vote. You can go to the polls and millions of Americans are doing that also, both are secure. Both are neither are subject to fraud in any significant way. The fact of the matter is mail-in ballots work. Now, President with the Post Office, with his rhetoric over the last several months, is casting that doubt. And as I said a moment ago, Putin is delighted, Putin doesn't have to do it. The fact of the matter is the President is doing it for Putin. The American democracy is at stake in this election. And we need to power through, we need to do everything we can so that every vote counts. And when we get a new president, a new Senate and House, we must pass voter security laws so that every person has -- that has the right to vote can vote safely and securely and every vote be counted. We just cannot have this democracy disrupted as the President is doing right now.</s>WHITFIELD: Congressman Garamendi, the President on the campaign trail, you know, continues to, you know, accuse Biden of wanting to get rid of fossil fuels, such as oil and fracking, after Biden said during the debate that he wants to transition away from fossil fuels. And then Biden said just moments ago in Pennsylvania that he's not banning fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else. But is the damage already done giving Trump an opening to, you know, slam Biden?</s>GARAMENDI: Well, certainly Trump's going to try to do that. But the reality is Biden has been very, very clear and the Republicans and the President have distorted his position. Now, Biden's position happens to be the position of the major American auto manufacturers. They are transitioning to electric vehicles. Certainly we talk about Tesla, but we're not. But we need to talk about the fact that G.M., Chrysler, and Ford are all transitioning. In fact, the entire world is transitioning to electric vehicles. If we stay with the gas guzzlers, we will lose our auto industry. We're going to have to move to a different transportation economy. And that's what Joe Biden recognizes and understands, and that's where his policy is driving us.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Before I let you go, any update on any hope for a stimulus plan for so many Americans who are suffering, who are desperate for some assistance? We certainly see an urgency in the Senate for confirmation of the next Supreme Court justice. But is there urgency on this stimulus plan?</s>GARAMENDI: Well, you just pointed out a very significant dichotomy as to who thinks what's important. The Senate thinks it's important to confirm a Supreme Court justice, the House of Representatives, the Democrats, we want a stimulus plan. We voted out two stimulus plans already. Our Speaker Pelosi is negotiating every day with the White House. The Senate is absent. Nevertheless, what we have to do is do it right. We don't need more money going to the corporations to the wealthy. We need that money to go to Main Street, to the small businesses, to mom and pop out there. And we need money for local governments so that they can actually do the testing, tracing and provide the health care and the money for the first responders. All of that is necessary. That's what we need. We've got to get this done. Can we do it before the election? Yes, if the Republicans and if the White House would agree to the basic things that I just said. Take care of the people, families first.</s>WHITFIELD: Congressman John Garamendi, thank you so much. Continue to be well. Appreciate it.</s>GARAMENDI: And you too. All right, Election Night in America, and our special coverage starts Tuesday November 3rd at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and we'll be right back.

Community Fridge Feeds Hungry New Yorkers During Pandemic.

WHITFIELD: All right, right now, two major issues are dominating the debate on Capitol Hill, but only one of them is actually getting traction and seeing urgency this hour. This weekend, lawmakers are preparing for a vote on Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court confirmation. Republicans want her on the bench before Election Day. But with millions of Americans unable to pay rent, mortgage and put food on the table, the need for new stimulus help is desperate.</s>STEVEN MNUCHIN, TREASURY SECRETARY: We've made lots of progress and lots of areas but there's still some significant differences that we're working.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: We put pen to paper, we're writing the bill. And, hopefully, we'll be able to resolve some of the attributes (ph). We could do that before the election if the President wants to.</s>WHITFIELD: My next guests see the struggle firsthand. They created a community refrigerator in the Bronx, New York so families can get food for free. Daniel Zauderer and Charlotte Alvarez are also teachers. Good to see both of you.</s>DANIEL ZAUDERER, CO-CREATOR, MOTT HAVEN COMMUNITY FRIDGE: Thank you so much for having us.</s>WHITFIELD: So Daniel, you first, what inspired this act?</s>ZAUDERER: Sure. So, this act was really inspired by witnessing firsthand the suffering of the families that we work with in the Mott Haven community of the Bronx. So, our communities are mostly undocumented. 80 -- about 80 percent of our families are undocumented. 95 percent of our students are not only reduced price lunch, but are completely free lunch. So, we live in a community with so many struggles. And when the pandemic hit, it was just crisis mode for so many of our families. And because they're undocumented, many of them felt like they had nowhere to turn, they feared reaching out to pantries and these other sources of food. So, Charlotte and I just knew that we had to do something.</s>WHITFIELD: Wow. And Charlotte, you know, thank goodness, children are honest, they will tell it like it is. So, clearly, a lot of kids, I mean, you all are teachers, you're hearing it firsthand from these kids, what their worries are, what their needs are, and is that also in part, what inspired this, what let you know, you know, how great the need was?</s>CHARLOTTE ALVAREZ, CO-CREATOR, MOTT HAVEN COMMUNITY FRIDGE: Thank you again so much for having us on the show. We've been so moved by all the support that we've gotten in the past three weeks. As teachers, yes, we talk a lot with our students, and they are feeling the brunt of this pandemic. They're -- you know, a lot of them are just concerned, and it affects the way that they're learning and the way that they're interacting in school. And we just saw the need for providing food as our biggest need right now. You know, we work in a middle school, South Bronx, and it really</s>WHITFIELD: So, Daniel, tell me how it works. You've got this refrigerator. You know, where is it? How is it that families can come and either get food out or perhaps even put food in to help other people? What's the system that you created?</s>ZAUDERER: Yes. Sure. So, the first thing that I really want to emphasize here is that it's a total community partnership. So, it wasn't just me and Charlotte, I brought it to the Bronx Community Foundation and they introduced me to a community advocate named Amanda Septimo. And together, the three of us reached out to a local bodega, called Chickie's (ph) Mini Market. They've been in the local Mott Haven community for 50 years. They're a Dominican family. And they decided to host our refrigerator outside of their store. Now, their refrigerator is literally open 24/7, it's chained to the street. And it's a freestanding 24/7 access to food, no questions asked. So, anybody can take produce (ph) or food inside the refrigerator. And anybody can also leave and donate to the refrigerator. And it's completely all access.</s>WHITFIELD: Charlotte, how do you know it's making a difference? What kind of stories have you heard? What have you seen in people who are benefiting from this free fridge?</s>ALVAREZ: Right. So, something that has moved us incredibly as we spend time with the fridge is the agency and self-advocacy that it's cultivated within the community. There's a lot of members that love being around the fridge. And I spoke with one lady who actually collects food for a neighbor fresh produce, who's the neighbors currently battling some health issues with her kidney, and she relies on this fresh produce so that she can make her health sheets every morning, and I was just so moved by the neighbor coming to provide that for her neighbor. And, yes, so there's a lot of people just coming together around the fridge and helping other neighbors that are in need as well.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, thanks to the generosity of you and your entire team making this happen. I know a lot of folks are incredibly grateful. Charlotte Alvarez, Daniel Zauderer, thank you so much for what you're doing. Appreciate it.</s>ZAUDERER: Thank you so much for having us. We just really hope that people can get involved in their own local community fridge movements. If they want to learn more about the fridge movement, they can go to our website at motthavenfridge.com and donate to our fundraiser. We just need to spread the word and help each other, help neighbors, keep feeding neighbors.</s>WHITFIELD: Great. Give that website one more time, because I know there's also a GoFundMe page, but give me give us that name again.</s>ZAUDERER: Yes, so it's motthavenfridge, M-O-T-T H-A-V-E-N F-R-I-D-G- E.com. And there, you'll get information about the community fridge movement as a whole. So --</s>WHITFIELD: Great.</s>ZAUDERER: -- we want to just encourage people out there that anybody can start a community fridge. All it takes is a local business willing to host a fridge outside.</s>WHITFIELD: So nice.</s>ZAUDERER: And that means there were more hungry families, so.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Daniel, Charlotte, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Of course, we've got more news in a moment. But first, California is struggling with its worst wildfire season on record for the thousands of people who lost their homes. 2019 CNN Hero, Woody Faircloth is working to provide them with RVs a shelter.</s>WOODY FAIRCLOTH, DONATING RVS TO CAMP FIRE SURVIVORS: Unfortunately, this fires really affected a lot of first responders, six of the seven volunteer firefighters and Berry Creek, California lost their homes, including the chief. And so, Luna (ph) and I did what we do. We sourced a couple of donated RVs and we headed out to California. We delivered one to Chief Reed Rankin.</s>CHIEF REED RANKIN, BERRY CREEK VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER: I just can't say thank you enough, but thank you. I deeply appreciate this. We won't be coming on here another month and a half, and at least we got somewhere to be.</s>FAIRCLOTH: You know, he loves his community.</s>RANKIN: It's huge. I mean, I just don't have much words, but it's huge.</s>FAIRCLOTH: A couple thousand of his neighbors are left homeless. 15 people were killed in the fire. And, you know, they've been through a lot but the Chief is still out there every day on the line fighting the fire.</s>RANKIN: I can start over somehow and I just got to get everything done up here and get the fire completely out, get people back in and see the stuff, then I can start trying to figure out what I'm going to do. But I'm definitely standing Berry Creek, I'm definitely going to somehow rebuild. Hopefully, FEMA will help us out.

Trump's Saturday Sprint: North Carolina, Ohio And Wisconsin; Barack Obama Campaigns For Joe Biden In Battleground State Of Florida.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Any minute now, we will hear from Obama there in Miami. We'll bring you that live. Also happening this hour, Biden is holding a drive-in rally with rock and roll superstar John Bon Jovi. That is happening in Pennsylvania, another state that is hotly contested this election season. President Trump, meantime, is trying to hit not one, not two, but three key states today. He's already been to North Carolina, now it's on to Ohio, and then later, Wisconsin. The president predicting a comeback even as he is trailing in the polls and running out of time. But his rallies, which attract crowds of mostly maskless supporters, are happening just a day after the U.S. reported its highest number of coronavirus infections in one day since the pandemic began, more than 83,000 new cases. The U.S. surgeon general now warning hospitalizations are also going up. In fact, they're up in 75 percent of jurisdictions across the country. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Arlette Saenz in Miami, Florida, where former President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak any moment now. And at the same time, Biden is scheduled to speak in Pennsylvania. Arlette, these are two crucial states.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. And Joe Biden's campaign really trying to put the focus today on Pennsylvania and Florida, two states that could help determine the fate of this election. Both of those states that President Trump narrowly won back in 2016, that they are trying to bring back to the Democratic column in November. And you saw Joe Biden a bit earlier today, speaking in Bucks County, talking about the importance of turning out to vote, saying that Pennsylvania could be crucial to this election. And he also once again took aim at the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic, an issue Biden has been hammering away over the past few months and will be a central focus of his messaging in these final days before the election. Take a listen to what Biden had to say earlier today in Pennsylvania.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He tried to claim he didn't want to panic the American people. But the American people don't panic. He panicked, and he still has no plan. All he can do is double down on his Park Avenue way of looking at the world. Donald Trump can't get his own party to deliver real economic relief for working families. I don't think he wants to.</s>SAENZ: And along with his messaging, Biden is trying to present that contrast visibly with the types of events that he is holding. These outdoor drive-in rallies where people are socially distanced at their cars, at that event earlier today, he said that he doesn't want to have super-spreader events, referencing some of the larger packed rallies that the president has been holding himself. And then here in North Miami, Florida, in just a short while, President Obama is hitting the stump once again for his former vice president. You heard him earlier in the week in Philadelphia. It would be quite critical of President Trump's four years in office. We will see if he comes with that same level of force here today. But another focus for president Obama today is early voting, specifically telling Biden supporters to get out there and make plans to vote early in a state like Florida, where early voting has already been under way. And, in fact, in Florida, more than 5 million people have already voted, just showing the power of early voting, both in person and mail-in ballots as this Election Day is getting closer and closer. Ana?</s>CABRERA: We see those lines, images of all cars awaiting the remarks from the former president, Barack Obama, there in Miami, where you are. Arlette, we'll check back. Thank you. And as we await Obama's event in Miami, the day began with President Trump also in Florida, where he cast his ballot.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect, very strict, went by the rules. When you send in your ballot, it could never be like that. It could never be secure like that. They've done a fantastic job over here, great people inside. But it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area, which I know so well. I hear we're doing very well in Florida and we're doing very well, I hear, every place else. So thank you very much and you're going to be very busy today, because we're going to work you hard.</s>REPORTER: Who did you vote for today?</s>TRUMP: I voted for a guy named Trump.</s>CABRERA: Joining us now, former Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang. He has been hitting the trail for Joe Biden and he's also part of the campaign's advisory council on small businesses and entrepreneurship. Andrew, so glad to have you back. And as I mentioned, we're awaiting remarks from Biden as well as former President Barack Obama, so I may have to interrupt you at any moment. But let's talk about what we're seeing today already. The former vice president is in Pennsylvania. He has Obama in Florida. Are these the two states you think the campaign should just stay parked in for the next ten days?</s>ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, they're certainly two key battleground states and you can see it with the way the campaign is directing biggest assets, which are Joe himself and President Obama. I was in Philadelphia myself last week. There's a lot of energy there. I love the early voting, Ana, because you can just keep driving votes and the total just keeps going up and up. Pennsylvania and Florida are going to be key, but the great thing about Joe's position right now is that there are actually multiple paths to victory for Joe. His map just keeps getting bigger and better.</s>CABRERA: And when you talk about early voting, I just want to add some context, already, about 36 percent of the people who cast a ballot in 2016 have voted in this election and they, of course, are voting early, and that's of the 50-plus million ballots cast so far. You know, right now, President Trump is hitting the trail hard. He was in Florida last night. As I mentioned today, it's North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, tomorrow, it's New Hampshire. He is talking about all the enthusiastic support he is seeing at these rallies. Do you ever worry that the same Trump who really shocked the world in 2016 might be able to capture lightning in a bottle again with all these big rallies in the final days of the campaign?</s>YANG: Democrats can't take anything for granted. We have to run through the tape. But I think it's a very, very different race this time, Ana, than 2016. And I talked to thousands of Trump supporters while I was running for president and over the past number of days and weeks, and there are many, many people who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 who feel let down by him, disappointed by him and are ready to turn the page and vote for Joe or Kamala or not vote. And so I think it's a very different dynamic. I don't think that we're going to see a recreation of 2016 because, at that time, we didn't have 2016 in our rear view that we could learn from.</s>CABRERA: And as we get ready to hear from Former president Obama, it is worth noting that President Trump has been mocking Obama's return to the trail for Biden in these final days. Take a listen.</s>TRUMP: You know, Obama's now campaigning. Even though refused to support Biden, I mean, he'd never -- and then even after Biden sort of semi-won, he semi-won, he wouldn't do it. He just -- it took forever. But now he's campaigning for him. There was nobody that campaigned harder for Crooked Hillary Clinton. He said, he will not be our president, but before that, he said, he will not run. He didn't know me. Then I ran. Then he said, you will not get the nomination. But I got the nomination.</s>CABRERA: Andrew, what do you say to that?</s>YANG: Trump loves running against Hillary. He loves running against all sorts of people. Barack Obama remains a beloved and popular figure around the country, not just among Democrats. And the fact that he is campaigning for Joe in Florida, in Pennsylvania is an enormous boost and asset for the Biden campaign. Trump knows this and so he's doing everything he can to distract and undermine, which is his playbook. But millions of Americans have had enough of this president. They're exhausted by it. They don't believe he can actually help address and get the coronavirus under control that's driving millions of job losses around the country that are driving many Americans into deprivation and desperation. That's what most Americans care most about right now.</s>CABRERA: And yet Congress can't seem to get its act together. I want to talk to you about the stimulus talks at this point. It seems really to have zero chance of passing before the election, barring a miracle of some sort. I know you felt Speaker Pelosi should have taken the $1.8 trillion deal the White House offered the other week. So what would you say to her right now?</s>YANG: The negotiations seem like they're ongoing, and Speaker Pelosi said recently that, look, they're just going to keep grinding away, trying to come to an agreement. And if it passes quickly, it might not pass before the election next Tuesday, but she's hoping that they can still get relief out to families to pay rent in November. She said it's going to be retroactive. I'm not sure what she means by that, but that's exciting. And the fact they're still talking means there's still hope, even though I agree with you, Ana, it might not be realistic to get it passed by Election Day, but if they can come to an agreement any time in the coming week, that process can still take place quickly enough to help millions of struggling American families.</s>CABRERA: And that's what matters most, instead of the politics of all of this. The bottom line is people need the help desperately as soon as possible. During the final debate, the president and the former vice president also laid out differing positions on the federal minimum wage. Biden wants a $15 minimum wage, a federal minimum wage, while Trump says individual states should decide. Take a listen.</s>KRISTEN WELKER, MSNBC HOST: Do you think this is the right time to ask them to raise the minimum wage? You, of course, support a $15 federal minimum wage?</s>BIDEN: I do, because I think one of the things we're going to have to do is we're going to have to bail them out too. We should be bailing them out now, those small businesses. You've got one in six of them going under. They're not going to be able to make it back.</s>TRUMP: We have to help our small businesses by raising the minimum wage? That's not helping. I think it should be a state option. Alabama is different than New York. New York is different from Vermont. Every state is different. It should be a state option. I know different places. They're all different. Some places, $15 is not so bad. In other places, other states, $15 could be --</s>CABRERA: When you were running, Andrew, I believe you opposed a federal minimum wage in favor of hourly wage minimums set by the states. So, do you actually agree with President Trump on this one?</s>YANG: I am for anything that gets money into the hands of American families and American workers, and I, as you know, champion the universal basic income that would have put money directly into the hands of workers at every level and would have recognized homemakers and stay-at-home parents and caregivers. But I'm for getting more money into Americans' hands. And the fact is a federal minimum wage has fallen way behind the cost of living, rate of inflation. So Joe has it right on this, and he's also right that small businesses are struggling and we need to do everything we can to help workers, families, small businesses and just turn the page on the fact that we think this economy is somehow going to snap back into its previous form, pre-coronavirus, because it's not. Economists are saying, 42 percent of these jobs are gone for good.</s>CABRERA: The economy has been a strength of President Trump when voters are polled on this issue. And as you bring up in the primary, I think everyone knew your big economic plan, the universal basic income and those payments of a thousand bucks a month. Everyone probably recognized Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders for their plans to tax the ultra-rich. Can you articulate Joe Biden's economic plan? What is it?</s>YANG: One reason why I think Joe is the nominee, Ana, is that Joe is not particularly ideological. He's pragmatic and solutions-oriented. He has been talking to people, including some of the people he beat, like me, about various ways we can forgive student loan debt, address climate change, get money into people's hands, build an infrastructure plan that's going to employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. That's Joe's style. Joe looks around the table and tries to figure out what the best solution is, and then he gets behind it. And one of the great things about Joe is that if he gets behind something, it becomes mainstream awfully quickly.</s>CABRERA: However, for people to get behind him, doesn't he need to present his vision? And, again, when it comes to the economy, which is right now, a big, big issue for so many Americans who are feeling personally in the dumps, who are struggling to put food on the table, who maybe can't pay their rent or far behind and are getting, you know, on the verge of getting kicked out of their homes. I've talked to voters who are saying the economy is what keeps them thinking they're going to vote for Trump, those who have been on the fence, even up to this point. So wouldn't it be beneficial for Joe Biden to say, here's exactly what I'm going to do to get your life back on track and make this economy stronger?</s>YANG: Joe has released detailed economic plans. As you said, I'm on small business and entrepreneurship council, and he's released $150 billion aid plan that would put not just credit lines and loan but forgivable grants in the hands of small business owners. So the plans are there. And everyone knows that Joe cares about us, cares about families and communities and wants to help rebuild our economy from the ground up and people up. I think that there's some confusion on the economy in part because Trump has beaten this drum for so long that he's a businessman, even though now we know that his businesses often lost a lot of money and he didn't pay any meaningful taxes. So if you look at the plans that Joe has released, he has a very detailed set of proposals on the economy that are going to help tens of millions of Americans.</s>CABRERA: Finally, Andrew, there's been some speculation about your political future in 2021. Do you see yourself running for the mayor of New York or would you want to roll perhaps in a potential Biden administration?</s>YANG: Right now, I'm laser-focused on helping Joe and Kamala win. Again, I was campaigning for them this week and I may be back out on the trail for them pretty soon, because that's the biggest way we can put our country back on the path to recovery. And after Joe and Kamala become the next president or vice president, then I'll see what roles are available to help solve problems of the American people that I ran on. But right now, business number one is getting Joe and Kamala into the White House.</s>CABRERA: Andrew Yang, always good to have you with us. Thank you so much for joining us.</s>YANG: Thanks, Ana.</s>CABRERA: Now back to Miami where former President Barack Obama will speak any minute in that allimportant state of Florida. We're going to squeeze in a quick break but we will bring you his speech just as soon as it begins. Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

U.S. Reports Its Highest Number Of Coronavirus Infections In One Day; Sen. Kamala Harris Speaks Live At Ohio Voter Event

CABRERA: You are looking at live pictures right now from Miami where former President Barack Obama is set to speak any minute in the all- important state of Florida. We will bring you his remarks as soon as he begins. But, first, let's go live to Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris. She is speaking live in Cleveland, Ohio, at a voter mobilization event. Let's listen in.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: -- what Donald Trump knew. But he didn't tell anybody. Instead, he lied. He lied to the American. He mocked the seriousness of it. He called it a hoax. He suggested that he keeps an agenda that determines which side of the ledger you're on based on whether you wear a mask or not. If you don't wear a mask, you're with him. If you wear a mask, you're not. Can you imagine the president of the United States who is also the commander in chief, who has, as his highest and most important responsibility, to concern himself with keeping the American people safe? But yet, we had a person who looks in the mirror and that is where he informs his priority instead of looking in the faces of the American people. And so we find ourselves in the moment of crisis. We're in Ohio. We're looking at one in ten families who is concerned that they don't have enough food to put on the table to feed their family, where in Ohio, we are looking at one in six families that either could not or concerned they cannot pay the rent by the end of the moment, where in Ohio, one in five businesses has shut with no prospect of being able to reopen. We are looking a failure of an administration like we have never seen in the history of presidential administrations in our land. And from the public health crisis, we also have endured an economic crisis that is being compared to the great depression. Over 30 million people in just the last several months had to file for unemployment. Folks in Ohio and across the country have been driving to or standing in food lines for hours, praying that by the time they get to the end of the line, there will still be food left. In America today, one in five mothers is describing her children under the age of 12 as being hungry. We're not covering it enough in the press, but we're in the midst of a hunger crisis in America. We're looking at the fact that almost half of American workers either work for a small business or own a small business. And those doors have been shuttered. But we have a Donald Trump who walks around and says, oh, we're turning the corner on this. He just said that this week. The nerve for him to think the American people aren't smart enough to see what's going on in their own families and neighborhoods much less than what's going on in the country. And on the economy, as on every other issue, there are two clear choices in this election. On the one hand, you have Joe Biden who says, the way I measure the economy, if you want me to tell you how the economy is doing, then tell me how our working people doing in America. That's how Joe Biden measures the economy. How are working families doing in America? Which is why, in a Biden/Harris administration, one, taxes will not be raised on anyone making less than $400,000 a year, but it doesn't stop there. There will be middle class tax cuts. But in addition, we know folks need support, that working families should not and therefore, will not in a Biden/Harris administration pay more than 7 percent of their income in child care. We know that one of the greatest ways that any American family achieves economic help and intergenerational wealth is through homeownership. So we will have, for every first time home buyer, $15,000 tax credit to help you with down payment and closing costs to be able to help you buy a home. We know for our college students, so many of our students cannot graduate because they can't afford tuition, which has nothing to do with their God-given capacity to be national and international leaders. So Joe Biden and I say and commit, if you come from a family that makes less than $125,000 a year, you go to a four-year state college for free or an HBCU public or private for free. And when you graduate, if you go on to take a job that is about public service, community service, the kind of jobs that pay less than $125,000, we will erase your debt. Because we understand that's how you build up the economy. So you have Joe Biden on the one hand, and then you have Donald Trump. And when you ask him, how is the economy doing, you know what he says, the economy is great. The economy is great, he says. And then you ask him, well, how so are you measuring this so-called greatness of this economy of yours? And he talks about the stock market. Because you see, Donald Trump measures how well the economy is doing based on how rich people are doing. That's why he passed that tax code, but that tax bill benefitting the top 1 percent in the biggest corporations in America. Let me tell you something.</s>CABRERA: Now I'm going to take you from Cleveland, Ohio, with Kamala Harris, to Miami, Florida. And you can see there on the left side of your screen. Former President Barack Obama is walking on stage where he plans to make some remarks on behalf of the Biden/Harris ticket. Let's listen in.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Hello, Florida. It's good to be back in Florida. Can everybody please give it up for George? What an outstanding young man. He is the number one senior in Miami Northwestern with a perfect GPA. Let me just say that when I was George's age, I did not have a perfect GPA. What a remarkable young man. We're so proud of him. That's the future. Give it up for your representative, Frederica Wilson. We've also got Debbir Mucarsel-Powell, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and your state agricultural commissioner, Nikki Fried, there in the house. You got that horn honking good. So ten days, Miami. Ten days until the most important election in our lifetimes. But the good news is, you don't have to wait for November 3rd to cast your ballot. You've got two ways to vote right now. Number one, you can vote early in person right now through next Sunday. Number two, you can vote from home with a mail-in ballot. Do not wait. Put it in the mail today. Or drop it off at a drop box location in Miami-Dade County. And if you need more information, just go to iwillvote.com to find out where to early vote in person or to drop off your ballot. And if you've already voted, what do you need to do? You've got to go help make your friends and family make a plan to vote, because this election requires every single one of them. What we do in these next ten days will matter for decades to come. Now, I sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. They're very different people. You know, Donald Trump, I knew he would not embrace my vision. I knew he wasn't going to continue my policies, but I did hope that for the country's sake, he'd show at least a little bit of interest in taking the job seriously. That's not how it worked out. He hasn't shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody except himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show, to give himself more attention. And as we noted the other day, his T.V. ratings are down. But listen, listen, Miami, the rest of us have to live with the consequences of what he's done. At least 220,000 Americans are dead, more than a hundred thousand small businesses have closed, half a million jobs are gone right here in Florida, half a million jobs. And I understand the president is coming to Florida today. You think he's hard at work coming up with a plan to get us out of this mess? Well, I don't know because I know he's had a tough week. Everybody has been very unfair to Donald Trump this week. In his debate with Joe on Thursday night -- and, by the way, I thought Joe Biden was unbelievable this week. He was fantastic this week. But during the debate, Trump was asked: What is your plan for the new phase of COVID? Which is a pretty good question, considering we just saw the highest number of cases spike up yesterday. So you'd think he'd be ready for a response. Instead, he just said, it wasn't his fault and he didn't have one. He said, it's now gone in a bunch of states. Just as states are reaching new record highs nationwide. He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't even acknowledge the reality of what's taking place all across the country. And it gets better because he also sat down with "60 Minutes." He was asked: What's your priority in your second term? I've run for president, Miami. I just want you to know, it's a good idea to have an answer to this question. It's a good idea if you're running for reelection to say, here's what I want to accomplish. What did Trump say? He got mad and walked out of the interview.</s>OBAMA: He thought the questions were too tough. Too tough? Miami, listen, if he can't answer a tough question like, what would you like to do in your second term, then it's our job to make sure he doesn't get a second term.</s>OBAMA: And that's why over the next 10 days, we've got to work hard to elect Biden and Kamala Harris, the next president and vice president of the United States.</s>OBAMA: I love the creative honking. It's fantastic. Now, listen, you delivered twice for me, Florida. Now I'm asking you to deliver for Joe and deliver for Kamala.</s>OBAMA: Twelve years ago, 12 years ago, when I chose a vice president, I didn't know Joe that well. We served in the Senate together, but we come from different places. We're part of different generations. But I quickly came to admire and love Joe as a man, who early on learned to treat everybody with dignity and respect. Somebody who lives by the words his parents taught him, nobody's better than you, Joe, but you're better than nobody. And that sense of empathy, that sense of decency, the belief that every single person counts, that's who Joe is. That's who he'll be. The presidency doesn't change who you are. It just reveals who you are. It amplifies who you are.</s>OBAMA: And for eight years, I saw Joe up close. He was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president. He's got the character and experience to make us a better country. And he and Kamala are going to be in the fight not for themselves but for every single one of us. And that's what you need right now, somebody who cares about you and is thinking about you. Listen, I understand that the president, he wants full credit for the economy he inherited. And zero blame for the pandemic that he ignored.</s>OBAMA: As a general rule, this is not a person who likes to take responsibility for anything. But the job doesn't work that way. Just like George said, tweeting on television doesn't fix things. Inventing conspiracies don't make people's lives better. You've got to have a plan. You've got to do the work. And along with the experience of getting things done. Joe Biden has concrete plans and policies that are going to turn our vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality. We literally left this White House a pandemic play book that showed them how to respond before a virus reached our shores. It must be lost along with the Republican health care plan. We can't find it.</s>OBAMA: Eight months into this pandemic, eight months into this pandemic, new cases are breaking records. Donald Trump isn't going to suddenly protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself.</s>OBAMA: There's no sense that he's coming up with a new approach, with a new plan. He doesn't even acknowledge that there's a problem.</s>OBAMA: Just this week, he complained that the pandemic was making him go back to work. If he had been working in the first place, we never would have seen the situation get this bad.</s>OBAMA: Listen, I have said this before. I'm going to say it again.</s>OBAMA: This pandemic would have been tough for any president because we haven't seen something like this in a hundred years. But the idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this thing up is nonsense. We can compare what happened in other countries to what happened in this one. So South Korea identified its first case at the same time as the U.S. got its first case. Their per capita death toll -- what that means is the number of people who die, let's say, out of 100 people, how many people die. Their death toll is 1.3 percent of what ours is. Nowhere near the number of people have died in South Korea because their government took care of business. Closer to home, Canada. Their per capita death rates, just 39 percent of what ours is. Their government, faced with a difficult situation, same pandemic, they said, let's take steps to minimize the damage and harm to ordinary people and they saved lives. So we can compare directly what happened in the United States and what happened somewhere else. What happens when a government is paying attention and what happens when a government is not.</s>OBAMA: And then earlier this week, when he --</s>OBAMA: -- when the president was asked would you do anything different, anything, he said, not much. Not Much? He couldn't even acknowledge maybe we should have taken some steps earlier to start testing people. Maybe taken it more seriously and not pretend like it didn't exist. Maybe we shouldn't have had the president get on television and say, if you put some bleach in you, that might clean things out.</s>OBAMA: Just maybe that might have made a difference.</s>OBAMA: And the mismanagement would be comical and ridiculous if it didn't mean people losing lives, if it didn't mean the economy not recovering. And the pandemic has hit African-Americans and Latinos harder than anybody in Florida.</s>OBAMA: I'll bet you could think of some things you would have liked for the government to do differently.</s>OBAMA: So just a baseline is that Joe and Kamala take this seriously. Joe understands how much it hurts for grandparents to not be able to see their grandkids or hug each other.</s>OBAMA: They understand you can't effectively get the economy moving again as long as people are afraid of getting a disease.</s>OBAMA: He's not going to screw up testing. He's not going to call scientists idiots.</s>OBAMA: He's not going to host a super-spreader event at the White House the way this current president did.</s>OBAMA: So Joe is going to get this plan under control in a way that makes testing free and widely available, which we should have been doing months ago. He's going to get a vaccine to every American cost-free. And he's going to make sure our front-line heroes never have to ask other countries for the equipment they need to keep themselves safe while they're taking care of us.</s>OBAMA: His plan will guarantee paid sick leave for workers and parents affected by the pandemic. And he's going to make sure the small businesses that hold our communities together and employ millions of Americans can reopen safely. Now Donald Trump likes to claim he built this economy. Some people actually give him credit for it. Listen, America created 1.5 million more jobs in the last year of Obama/Biden administration than in the first three years of the Trump/Pence administration.</s>OBAMA: So unemployment was steadily going down during the Obama/Biden presidency. And then he gets elected and it keeps going down during his, and he says, look what I did. Their first three years fell short of our last three.</s>OBAMA: And that was before he could blame the pandemic.</s>OBAMA: He did inherit the longest streak of job growth in American history that we got started. But just like everything else he inherited, he fumbled it.</s>OBAMA: The economic damage he inflicted by botching the pandemic response means that Donald Trump will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to actually lose jobs.</s>OBAMA: And, you know, he loves talking about black unemployment. Says he's the best president for black folks since Abe Lincoln.</s>OBAMA: What? Listen, listen. Black unemployment almost hit 17 percent during the great recession 10 years ago. And through a lot of hard work, Joe and I helped get it down to 7.8 percent by the time we left office. And it just kept on going down like all the unemployment rate was going down, not because Donald Trump did anything.</s>OBAMA: This year, it went way up. Back to 17 percent right here in Florida.</s>OBAMA: And he hasn't had an answer for it. The only people truly better off than they were four years ago are the billionaires who got Trump tax cuts.</s>OBAMA: And meanwhile, he won't even extend relief to the millions of families who can't pay the rent or put food on the table in this pandemic. And the fact he can't make that happen, won't make that happen, it's hard to understand because it's not like it's his money. He barely pays income taxes.</s>OBAMA: He had no problem paying a ton of money in taxes to China from his secret Chinese bank account.</s>OBAMA: I mean, who is --</s>OBAMA: Hold up a second. Let me just see a show of hands. How many people here have secret Chinese bank accounts?</s>OBAMA: Who's got a secret Chinese bank account? First year of the White House, only paid $750 in federal income tax.</s>OBAMA: You got secretaries, you've got construction workers, you've got health care workers, nurses who pay a lot more income taxes than that.</s>OBAMA: Listen, I'm not saying that I -- on tax day, I'm just so happy about all the taxes I'm paying, but I pay more than 40 cents on every dollar I earn. So does Michelle.</s>OBAMA: And we do it proudly because what I know is that this country has blessed me and that I want to make sure that folks like George can get a scholarship and go to college.</s>OBAMA: I want to make sure that a senior is properly taken care of. I want to make sure that we're repairing roads and bridges and helping folks who need help and that our veterans are getting the disability rights that they have earned.</s>OBAMA: I - I -- I'm proud to contribute and to give back, because I believe we're all in this together as Americans, as one American family.</s>OBAMA: But apparently, that's not how this man thinks.</s>OBAMA: He thinks that's for suckers, I guess. But you know what? That's not how we built this country. We built this country by looking out for one another and believing in one another.</s>OBAMA: And that's what Joe Biden believes.</s>OBAMA: Joe Biden's got a plan to create 10 million good jobs in the energy sector, in the clean energy sector right here in America.</s>OBAMA: And it's part of his plan to protect Florida from climate change and secure environmental justice.</s>OBAMA: And he'll pay for it by rolling back Trump tax cuts for billionaires.</s>OBAMA: And Joe sees this as a moment, not as a chance to get back to where we were but to finally make some of the long-overdue changes so that our economy actually makes life a little easier for everybody.</s>OBAMA: For the waitress trying to raise her kid on her own.</s>OBAMA: For the student still figuring out how to pay for next semester's classes.</s>OBAMA: For the ship worker who is worried about getting laid off. For the cancer survivor who's worried that her preexisting condition protections will be taken away.</s>OBAMA: Let's talk about health care for a second.</s>OBAMA: I know George and I share something. We lost our mothers at a way too early age. Republicans love to say, right before an election, that they'll protect your preexisting conditions. Now, listen, Joe and I actually protected them ten years ago with the Affordable Care Act.</s>OBAMA: Which made sure that anybody with a preexisting condition could get health insurance.</s>OBAMA: It protected everybody. It protected folks who already had health insurance. It protected folks who might have to buy health insurance in the future. Hispanics saw the biggest gains in coverage of anybody. Almost 93 percent of Hispanic kids got covered, an all-time high. And yet, under this administration, Hispanic kids have lost coverage.</s>OBAMA: And throughout this process, when we were getting folks health care, Republicans fought us every step of the way.</s>OBAMA: They've tried to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, more than 60 times.</s>OBAMA: And when they're asked about it, they say, look, we're going to have a great replacement. It's coming. It's going to be there two weeks. They say they've got a replacement and haven't come up with nothing.</s>OBAMA: They've never had a replacement. I promise you I've asked. I asked back when I was president. I said, show me your replacement, and we can talk. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.</s>OBAMA: The reason they don't show you their plan to actually provide people protections when it comes to preexisting conditions is because they don't have one and they never have. And that's just a fact.</s>OBAMA: And instead of just fessing up that they don't want people to have health insurance, they've attacked the Affordable Care Act at every turn. They've drove up costs. They're driving up the uninsured. Now they're trying to get the Supreme Court to take away your health care as we speak.</s>OBAMA: In the middle of a pandemic.</s>OBAMA: With nothing but empty promises to take its place. Why would you want to take people's health insurance just at the very moment when people need health insurance the most? What's the rationale in that?</s>OBAMA: And think about what that would do to families right here. Miami-Dade has the highest enrollment of any county in Florida. Florida has the highest enrollment of any state in America. Nobody has a bigger stake in making sure those protections stay in place than folks right here in Florida. Just this week, Trump flat-out said he hopes the Supreme Court takes your health insurance away, said it out loud. Miami, Joe and Kamala will protect your health care. They will expand Medicare.</s>OBAMA: They will sign up more folks on Medicaid and make insurance more affordable for everybody. That's what they stand for and that's why you've got to get out there and vote.</s>OBAMA: Joe understands that the first job of a president is to keep us safe from all threats, domestic, foreign, and microscopic. When the daily intelligence briefings are flashing warning lights about a virus, the president can't be AWOL. When Russia puts bounties on the heads of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan, the commander-in-chief can't be MIA. He can't be somebody who doesn't read the briefings.</s>OBAMA: Joe Biden would never call the men and women of our military suckers and losers.</s>OBAMA: He knows those troops are somebody's husbands, somebody's wife, somebody's kids, somebody's spouse, somebody's father. And when a hurricane devastates Puerto Rico, a president's supposed to help it rebuild, not toss paper towels, withhold billions of dollars in aid until just before an election.</s>OBAMA: We've got a president who actually suggested selling Puerto Rico.</s>OBAMA: Believe it or not, it could have been worse. He once asked our national security officials if he could nuke hurricanes.</s>OBAMA: I mean, at least he didn't do that. A nuclear hurricane seems like it would have been bad. I mean, it would be funny if it wasn't. Look, some of the rhetoric you're hearing down here in south Florida, it's just made up. It's just nonsense. Listening to the Republicans, you'd think Joe was more Communist than the Castros.</s>OBAMA: Don't fall for that garbage. Don't fall for that okey-doke.</s>OBAMA: Joe Biden is not -- Joe Biden is not a Socialist. He was a Senator from Delaware. He was my vice president.</s>OBAMA: I think folks would know if he was a secret Socialist by now.</s>OBAMA: What is true is he'll stand up for ordinary people. What is true is he'll stand up for workers. What is true is he'll stand up for a higher minimum wage. What is true is he'll stand up for affordable housing. What is true is he'll go promote human rights in Cuba and around the world. And he won't coddle dictators the way our current president does.</s>OBAMA: And let me tell you something else about Joe Biden. Joe Biden's tough.</s>OBAMA: You know, something that you can't really say about this president. He likes to act tough and talk tough. He thinks scowling and being mean is tough. And being rude is tough. But when "60 Minutes" and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. If you got to walk out of a "60 Minutes" interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator.</s>OBAMA: If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to Putin.</s>OBAMA: Joe Biden will restore our battered standing in the world. Because he knows that our true strength comes from setting an example that the world wants to follow. A nation that stands with democracy, not dictators. A nation that can inspire and mobilize others to overcome threats, like climate change and terrorism and poverty and disease. And here's another thing. With Joe and Kamala at the helm, you won't have to think about them every single day. There might be a whole day where they don't be on TV. There might be a whole day where they don't tweet some craziness. You won't have to argue about them every day. It won't be so exhausting.</s>OBAMA: Just having a normal president. You'll be able to go about your lives, knowing that the president's not going to suggest injecting bleach or retweet conspiracy theories about secret cabals running the world or claiming that -- or retweeting that the claim that Navy SEALs didn't actually kill bin Laden. We're not going to have a president that goes out of his way to insult anybody who he doesn't think is nice enough to him. We won't have a president who threatens people with jail for just criticizing him. That's not normal behavior, Florida. You wouldn't tolerate it from a coworker. You wouldn't tolerate it from a high school principal. You wouldn't tolerate it from a coach. You wouldn't tolerate it from a family member. A Florida man wouldn't even do this stuff.</s>OBAMA: Why are we accepting it from the president of the United States?</s>OBAMA: It's not normal behavior.</s>OBAMA: It frays the fabric of all of our lives. It affects the way our children see things. It affects the way our families get along. It affects the way the world looks at America. And in the meantime, it distracts us from the truly destructive actions that the cronies he's placed all across the government are taking, actions that are affecting your lives every single day, even when it's not reported on, even when you're not paying attention to it. The Environmental Protection Agency that's supposed to protect our air and water, that's run right now by an energy lobbyist that's giving polluters free reign to dump polluted air and poison into our water. The Labor Department that's supposed to protect workers right now is run by a corporate lobbyist who's declared war on workers, guts protections to keep essential folks safe during a pandemic, makes it easier for big corporations to shortchange them on their wages. The Interior Department that's supposed to protect our public lands and wild spaces and wildlife for future generations right now is run by an oil lobbyist who's just fine selling that American treasure off to the highest bidder. The Education Department that's supposed to give every kid a chance, young -- amazing young people like George -- right now, that's run by a billionaire who's gutted the rules designed to protect students from getting ripped off by for-profit colleges. And stiff-armed students looking for loan relief in the middle of an economic collapse.</s>OBAMA: The person who's running Medicaid right now is not trying to sign up more people for Medicaid to help them out. They're trying to kick them off of Medicaid so that they've got to fend for themselves at the very moment that they need protection the most.</s>OBAMA: So, here's the thing. When Joe and Kamala are in charge, they're not going to surround themselves with hacks and lobbyists. They're going to surround themselves with qualified public servants who actually care about looking for you --</s>OBAMA: -- who are going to work hard to make sure that you've got a job that pays a living wage and that your family is protected and your health is protected and you've got some security and that we're protecting our planet. And that, more than anything, is what separates them from their opponents. They actually care about every American. Even the ones who aren't going to be voting for them. And they're going to be in the fight on your behalf every single day. They care about you, and they care about our democracy. Deeply. They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred. We shouldn't be making it harder for people to vote. We shouldn't ask people to wait 10 hours to vote standing in line. We should be making it easier for everybody to cast their ballot. Joe and Kamala believe that no one, especially the president, is above the law. They understand the protest isn't un-American. Our country was founded on protests against injustice.</s>OBAMA: And they understand we don't threaten to throw our political opponents in jail just because we disagree with them.</s>OBAMA: We don't call them un-American just because they're of another political party.

Obama: Even "Florida Man" Wouldn't Behave The Way Trump Does; President Trump Speaking To Reporters In Ohio; Trump On Rally Blitz As COVID Cases Spike; Jon Bon Jovi Campaigns For Joe Biden In Pennsylvania; Polls Show Tight Race In Battleground Ohio

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PPESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't call them un-American just because they're of another political party. Joe and Kamala understand that our ability to work together to solve big problems like pandemic depends on more than just photo-ops. It depends on more than just spin or making stuff up. It depends on a fidelity to science and logic and facts. And these are not Republican or Democratic values, Florida. These are American values. This is what we learned from our parents and our grandparents. They're not black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American values. They're American values. And we have to reclaim them. We can't just say, oh, it's fine if a president lies 50 times a day. No. My mother would whoop me if I was lying once a day. Once a week. These are American values that we have to reclaim and in order to do that, we are going to have to turn out like never before. We have to leave no doubt, Florida. We can't afford to be complacent. We can't afford to sit back and wait for somebody else to do it. It's on us. In this election, at this moment, we all have to do our part. And I understand why there are Americans who get frustrated by government, who sometimes feel that it doesn't make enough of a difference. And I'm the first one to admit, government's not going to solve every problem. Government's never going to be perfect. And in a country that right now is somewhat divided, you know, there are going to be times where we don't get everything we want, even when we have folks in power that support what we care about. You know, I've got experience firsthand watching how Republicans in Congress abused the rules to make it easy for special interests to stop progress, but just because government's not perfect, doesn't mean we can't make it better. And we sure can stop it getting worse. A president by himself can't solve every challenge of the global economy, but if we elect a House and a Senate and a State House and a State Senate that are focused on working people and getting you the help you need, it can make a difference and put millions of people back to work. A president by himself can't eliminate all racial bias in our criminal justice system, but if we elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and also at the local level, district attorneys and states attorneys and sheriffs that are focused on equality and justice, we can make things better. That's what's vote -- that's what voting is about, not making things perfect, but making things better, putting us on track, getting the ball rolling. So that we can look back years from now and say, you know what, that was the moment when we turned the corner. That was the time when we started bringing the country together. That was when we once again began to move together to create a better future for our children and our grandchildren. But it's got to start now. Voting is about using the power we have and pooling it together to get a government that's more concerned, more responsive, more focused on you. And if we don't get 100 percent, we just get 50 percent of what we want, then that's good and then we keep on going. We vote some more. And we get more done. And that's how progress is made. And when I hear folks say, well, voting doesn't make a difference, because I voted last time and look, you know -- listen, we've never come close to seeing what it would be like if everybody actually voted. In 2008, that was the highest vote totals in recent elections, in modern (ph) presidential year. But when I was running, we had the highest voting rates that we've seen. You know how -- how many people out of the eligible folks who could vote voted? Sixty-one percent. That was the highest. That means 39 percent of folks who were eligible to vote did not vote. Imagine if 65 percent of people vote. Imagine if 70 percent of people vote. Because the folks who tend not to vote, a lot of times, it's black folks and brown folks and poor folks and young folks and women. So imagine if all those folks actually turned out to vote, and imagine January 20th, when we swear in a president and a vice president who have a plan to get us out of this mess, who believe in science, who got a plan to protect this planet for our kids, who care about working Americans, who are thinking about you. A president and a vice president who believe in racial equality and are willing to do the work to bring us closer together, to bring us closer to the ideal where no matter what you like or where you come from or who you love or how much money you got, you can still make it if you try, and you still get justice before the law. All that is possible. All that's within our reach. For all the times over the last four years that we have seen our worst impulses revealed, we've also seen what's best in our country. People ask me, they said, how have you been putting up with watching your successor do all this stuff? I say, yeah, it can be frustrating. I don't watch a lot of TV. But you know, what I tell people is what I've also seen is folks of every age and background, packed city centers and airports and town squares just so that families wouldn't be separated. Or just so another classroom wouldn't get shot up. Or just so we could make sure our kids don't grow up in an uninhabitable planet. We've seen amazing essential workers and healthcare workers risk their lives day in, day out to help somebody, to save somebody else's loved ones. We've seen people contribute and volunteer. For those who were especially having a difficult time right now. We've seen Americans of all races joining together to declare, in the face of injustice and brutality that black lives matter. No more but no less. To proclaim that no child in this country should ever feel the continuing sting of racism. We've seen young people like George who introduced me ask us, do we not breathe the same air? Do we not bleed the same blood? Do we not deserve safety, belonging, and mattering? That's true in Miami, and it's true all across the country. I know this has been a tough and sometimes discouraging time, but I'm here to report to you, America's a good and decent place. We've just seen so much noise and nonsense, sometimes it's hard for us to remember. But I have been all across this country. I've been all across this state. There are a lot of good people here. There are a lot of folks who share the values of looking out for one another and doing right by one another. And we've just got to make sure that our politics reflects that. And we do that by voting. Miami, I'm asking you to remember what this country can be. I'm asking you to believe in Joe's ability and Kamala's ability to lead this country out of these dark times and help us build it back better. We can't abandon the Americans who are hurting right now. We can't abandon the kids who aren't getting the education they need right now. We can't abandon those protesters who inspired us this summer. We got to channel their activism into action. We can't just talk. We can't just imagine a better future. We've got to go out there and fight for it. We got out to out-hustle the other side. We got to vote like never before, and we've got to leave no doubt. So make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved to vote. Do it as early as you can. Tell your family and friends how they can vote too. Don't stop with Joe and Kamala. Make sure you vote all the way down the ticket. And if we pour all our efforts into these ten days, if we vote up and down the ticket like never before, we will elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And we will leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for and what we believe in and who we are as a people. So let's get to work, Florida. Let's bring this home. I love you, Miami. Honk if you're fired up. Honk if you're ready to go. Are you fired up? Are you ready the go? Are you fired up? Are you ready to go? Let's make this happen. Thank you, everybody. God bless.</s>ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: There you see the former president, Barack Obama, those live remarks in Miami, Florida, this afternoon, and you heard him end on his sort of infamous or famous lines, "fired up, ready to go," trying to get the voters in Florida to the polls to vote early, he said, to vote by mail and to ultimately cast their ballots for his friend and former vice president, Joe Biden, and his running mate this time around, Senator Kamala Harris. I want to bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz live in Miami, CNN senior political analyst and chief Washington correspondent for "Politico", Ryan Lizza, and national political reporter for "The New York Times," Lisa Lerer. Arlette, let me start with you. The former president, again, did not hold back as he went on attack against President Trump, on everything from the pandemic and healthcare to the economy to America's standing in the world.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Ana. This speech was just as much about promoting his own vice president as it was taking on the current president. President Obama didn't hold back in his criticism of President Trump, taking on his approach to the coronavirus, and he even talked about the president's behavior, comparing it to an Internet meme, saying that Florida man doesn't even act that way, that the president's behavior is not normal. And you also heard President Obama kind of mock the president for his "60 Minutes" interview that ended, that he walked out of, and also some of that anti-media rhetoric that you have heard at times from the president. President Obama today essentially saying that if you walk out of a "60 Minutes" interview or you're complaining about the type of coverage you're getting, you're not going to be able to stand up to dictators and people like Vladimir Putin. Take a listen to a bit more of what Obama had to say here in Florida.</s>OBAMA: During the debate, Trump was asked, what is your plan for the new phase of COVID? Which is a pretty good question. Considering that we just saw the highest number of cases spike up yesterday. So you think he'd be ready for a response. Instead, he just said, it wasn't his fault and he didn't have one. He said, it's now gone in a bunch of states, just as states are reaching new record highs nationwide. He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't even acknowledge the reality of what's taking place all across the country. And it gets better, because he also said now with "60 Minutes" he was asked, what's your priority in your second term? And let me say, I've run for president, Miami, so I just want you to know, it's a good idea to have an answer to this question. It's a good idea if you're running for re-election to say, here's what I want to accomplish. What did Trump say? He got mad and walked out of the interview. He thought the questions were too tough. Too tough. Miami, listen, if he can't answer a tough question like, what would you like to do in your second term, then it's our job to make sure he doesn't get a second term.</s>SAENZ: So, this is the second time this week that President Obama really issued another scathing rebuke of his successor, and you also heard the former president kind of take on these arguments from President Trump and Republicans painting Joe Biden as a socialist or a communist, particularly here in the state of Florida. Obama said that Biden is not a secret socialist, that they shouldn't believe that type of garbage that is coming from Republicans, is the way that the former president took it as he is trying to defend his former vice president. Now, one of Obama's central messages here today in Florida was to make a plan to early vote. The Biden campaign really believes that President Obama can help mobilize black men, Latinos, and young voters to get out there in these next ten days before the election. The former president telling everyone to make a plan to either vote early in-person or by mail-in ballot as this election gets closer and closer -- Ana.</s>CABRERA: Ryan, as the former president pointed out, he won Florida twice before President Trump won in 2016. We heard him urge people to vote right now. And he said, you delivered for me, now deliver for Joe and Kamala. Of what we just heard in that speech, what do you think will resonate most with voters there in Florida?</s>RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, a number of things. I mean, he was talking to a number of different constituencies. There's obviously a very large Puerto Rican population in Florida and he talked to -- he hit Trump on his -- on once talking about wondering if he could sell Puerto Rico, and you know, Florida has been trending away from the Democrats since Obama's success there, so it would be a big breakthrough for Joe Biden to win there. I was also struck by how personal and how much he really just hit Trump hard. You know, Obama does it with a smile. He has a very light touch. But you know, he hit him on being cruel, on not paying enough in taxes, on having a secret Chinese bank account, on spreading conspiracy theories, refusing to condemn white supremacists, putting lobbyists in charge of the government and, quote, lying 50 times a day. It was just line after line of this attack and we have not really heard that kind of aggressive attack from one former president to a current president. Trump's given him a lot to work with, and he really weaved it together in a pretty powerful speech there.</s>CABRERA: And we also heard him take President Trump in an area in which the president has seen strength in the polls. Lisa, we're -- you know, we're told President Trump's going to be focusing his message on the economy in these closing days because he thinks that's what's going to resonate with his voters and perhaps some of the undecided or independent voters. But President Obama went right after Trump on this, saying Trump's trying to take credit for the economy that he and Joe Biden built. Do you think that's going to move voters on this issue of the economy?</s>LISA LERER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I mean, look, the economy, for a long time, has been sort of the one remaining bright spot for President Trump. I'm not even sure it's all that bright anymore. We had a poll -- a national poll last week that said that Biden had sort of brought Trump to a tie on economic issues. And Republicans have wanted the president to focus his message on the economy since basically he was elected. And he's been unable to show that kind of discipline. So, I think a lot of whether voters move on this depends in large part whether Trump is able to defy everything we've seen from him for the past four years and focus on that message. I wouldn't be holding my breath for that. The thing that struck me the most was sort of what Ryan was saying, which was this was -- it felt like President Obama had been keeping these feelings about President Trump bottled up for four years and now finally, in the 11th hour, he's able to let them all out. It was a strikingly personal speech. At one point, I believe he said -- he said that president Trump's behavior was not normal behavior. I mean, it was just intensely personal, and it was really striking coming not only from a former president but a former president like President Obama who's someone who's been known for his restraint, not knowing for causing a lot of drama. He's definitely been keeping score over the past four years. That seems very clear today.</s>CABRERA: Already, Ryan, more than 50 million Americans have voted. This is according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research and Catalyst, so record early voting across the country is what we're seeing. And so, when it comes to the impact of these final ten days of campaigning, how much of it could be diminished compared to previous election years given how many people have already voted?</s>LIZZA: That's a good point. Both sides have banked a lot of votes already, but most predictions are that it is going to be record turnout, so there's still a lot of people who have a habit of voting on Election Day or if they're doing early voting, waiting until the final weekend. So, you know, there are a lot more votes out there and so Barack Obama was the most popular person in the Democratic Party, so he's one of the most important surrogates out there. They really kind of waited to use him to the final couple of weeks here. And, you know, he's won these states. They can send him pretty much anywhere. There aren't too many Democrats where you can send to the swing states in the Midwest, in the -- and across the Sun Belt that are popular in all those places. So, part of Obama's popularity is he hasn't been in the political fray for a long time, and he waits, you know, he did this in 2018 as well. He didn't say much in 2017 or the early parts of 2018, and he waited right until the end, right before election day, to just let out all of his fire power against Trump and Republicans and obviously that was a big Democratic sweep that year. And so that's how they're deploying him again now.</s>CABRERA: And, Lisa, we heard Obama hit Trump on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his lack of a plan right now, saying he can't even take the steps to protect himself. He won't even acknowledge there's a problem. Here's what President Trump said today on this issue.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's all I hear. You turn on the television, COVID, COVID. COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. A plane goes down, 500 people dead. They don't talk about it. COVID, COVID, COVID. COVID, COVID. By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore. It's true. COVID. COVID, please don't go and vote, COVID.</s>CABRERA: Lisa, what does it say that even with his presidency on the line in just over a week, this is his message, just the day after the U.S. recorded its highest number of COVID cases in one day since the pandemic started?</s>LERER: Well, look, I think the president has a major problem with the coronavirus issue, which really is the dominant issue of this campaign. And that problem is reality. I mean, he can get out there on his campaign speeches and say that the virus is going to go away, but I think for most people, it's fundamentally changed their lives. It's hard to imagine anyone in the country whose life has been completely untouched by this pandemic. So, you know, I think you have people looking at their lives and seeing that maybe their kids aren't in school in the same way, they're not working in the same way, they're worried about their parents getting sick, they're worried about themselves getting sick, and it's hard to see -- and we know from polling, of course, that most people think that the pandemic is only going to worsen as we get into the winter. So it's hard to see this message resonating with people whose lives have been upended by this virus, and we know, at least from what we have seen for polling for months, that it's not resonating with people.</s>CABRERA: And the reality is cases are going up. Hospitalizations are on the rise. Across 75 percent of jurisdictions, according to the surgeon general, and unfortunately, if history is our guide, the deaths will follow, sadly. Thank you all for here being with us, Lisa Lerer, Ryan Lizza, and Arlette Saenz. Let me take you live to President Trump speaking live in Ohio.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The numbers are coming in unbelievably well. I don't believe the media's talking about them. I'm not sure the media knows exactly what's happening yet. But in Florida, we're doing very well. North Carolina, doing very well. Iowa, doing very well. The governor was just telling me that in Ohio, we're doing great. I think they pulled back -- pulled out. Something happened. But they seem to have pulled out. And we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens.</s>REPORTER: Mr. President --</s>TRUMP: Well, we have ten days, and you know, nothing worries me. It's -- I think we're doing just very well. You look at the numbers in Florida. We're way ahead of where we were four years ago, right? Way ahead where we were four years ago. And I think I can say that everywhere else. In North Carolina, we're way ahead where we were four years ago. I think it's very good. I don't know if it's a hidden vote. I don't know exactly what it is. But we've had some polls come out, very strong polls and Trafalgar, he's one -- he called it very accurately last time, that we're two points up in Michigan, in the Trafalgar poll, which has been a very accurate poll. And so, we'll be going up to Michigan very soon. But we're leaving, as you know, from here, we're going to Wisconsin. And tomorrow, we have a full day.</s>REPORTER: Mr. President, what specific indicators are you looking at in Florida and North Carolina?</s>TRUMP: Well, if you look at the vote, the early vote, it's not nearly what they thought it would be. Just not what they thought -- we're going to have a great red wave. It's going to be a red wave like you've never seen before, because people are tired of looking at the anarchists and all of the things taking place in Portland, Chicago, New York, with crime. They're tired of it. But you're going to have a red wave the likes of which you haven't seen. And everybody knows it. And they -- you know, I don't think they're doing very well. They have no enthusiasm. Look, Obama shows up for a speech and nobody shows. What did he have yesterday? Thirty-two people showed up? We've got 35,000 or 45,000 people half the time. What's my smallest rally crowd been? Twenty thousand? Twenty-two thousand people? Right, Steve? You know?</s>REPORTER: Mr. President, there are some coronavirus cases rising in Wisconsin.</s>TRUMP: You used the word, cases. You know why there are so many cases? Because we test. Because we test more than any -- any country in the world, nobody tests like us. Cases, everybody uses the word cases. Mortality, way down. Way down. And a lot of those cases that you're talking about are young people. Very young people that get better 99.9, they get better almost immediately. No. You use the word case because you're trying to scare people. Don't scare people. Don't scare people. The fact is, that we're doing very well. The vaccines are coming out. The therapeutics are coming out. But we have more testing than any country in the world. That includes India with 1.5 billion people. Nobody tests like us. We test more. Now, the good news is, we know where it may be. The bad news is, any time you test, you're going to come up with cases. But you just used the word. It's cases.</s>REPORTER: Well, I just wanted to ask, sir, if there's any concern about bringing people together.</s>TRUMP: Say it? Say it?</s>REPORTER: People</s>TRUMP: I don't -- I don't -- I can't hear you with your mask on. Thank you very much.</s>REPORTER: Did you vote for Laura Loomer today when you voted?</s>TRUMP: Did I vote?</s>REPORTER: Did you vote for Laura Loomer?</s>TRUMP: I voted straight Republican.</s>REPORTER: OK.</s>TRUMP: Thank you.</s>CABRERA: The president in Columbus, Ohio, as he prepares to head to another rally after his campaign stop in North Carolina earlier today, and as was just referenced there at the last question, he started his day in Florida where he cast an early ballot before he's hitting these three other states today. Let me bring in Ryan Nobles, who is standing by where President Trump is headed next, a rally there in Circleville, Ohio, just outside of Columbus, and Ryan Lizza's also hanging tight with us. Ryan Nobles, it looks like a pretty big crowd there. Set the scene.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, exactly right, Ana. This is a very big crowd in Ohio. Of course, a very important state for President Trump. This is a state that he won in 2016. It's a state that has trended Republican, and when you look at the map, Ohio is a state that he's got to have in the win column if he has any hope of winning on Election Day. Now, it's been trending in the direction of Joe Biden over the last couple of weeks, and so that's why you see President Trump coming here to try and shore up the support that he has in a critical state like Ohio. And it's interesting, Ana, the message that he's going to send at this particular rally is a very specific one. I don't know if you can see here behind me, but there are flags on either side of me that represent all of the schools from the Big Ten football conference, and of course, the big signs behind me say, Big Ten football is back. Of course, Columbus, Ohio, in particular, the entire state of Ohio is a college football hot bed and of course the Big Ten football season started back up this weekend. Now, president Trump was very critical of the Big Ten when they initially decided not to conduct a season because of concerns about the coronavirus and put a lot of public pressure on the presidents of these colleges to start things back up again. They ultimately ended up doing that. It's -- you know, some question as to whether or not President Trump played any significant role in that. But no doubt, he's going to take a victory lap here. And just to emphasize just how important college football is to voters like this in a state like Ohio, there was a pretty big crowd here about three hours or four hours before the event even started and on these big screen TVs they were playing that Ohio State football game and the attention on those screens was paid very close attention to that football game. Ohio State won, by the way, Ana. But that just shows how the president is specifically tailoring his message and it goes beyond Ohio. You know, states like Nebraska where the president's going to be in the very near future, Wisconsin, these are all Big Ten states where college football's very important, and he's making a very direct appeal to those voters -- Ana.</s>CABRERA: As I look behind you, I don't see too many masks but it is hard to tell because people's backs are to us in your live shot there, Ryan. But stand by with me because I want to give a quick fact check on what we heard from the president as he walked away from reporters saying they're doing very well in Ohio when it comes to the coronavirus. Ohio just saw its highest daily case count. It was the third day in a row in which it topped its previous record. And so, you know, Ryan Lizza, when we talk about the reality check here for the president, he's walking into this rally, states where he's defending that turf that he won back in 2016, we heard him say he's expecting a red wave which made me think of something you wrote just recently this week. You said that it's kind of the worst kept secret in Washington and that is that everyone's thinking Trump's going to lose in this election by a large margins, but no one wants to say it out loud. And you write this, I quote: A growing number of insiders, including many Republicans, are starting to venture privately that this outcome is likely to be clear on election night, not days or weeks later, and Trump's collapse is likely to take Republican control of the Senate with him. Do you still believe that, or do you think that Trump may be getting some momentum?</s>LIZZA: I think he has a path to victory. He does. This is an unusual election because the extreme -- the outcomes are cut on these two extremes, a narrow Trump victory all the way to a 400-plus electoral vote landslide for Joe Biden.</s>LIZZA: I think most people, most analysts are being very conservative because of what happened in 2016. And the polls could be wrong. And so we should not discount the possibility that Trump does indeed have a path to victory. No doubt about that. And a lot of Democrats are very nervous to, you know, talk about this big blowout that Biden could have. But look at where Ryan Nobles and I am right now. The reason I'm in Santa Fe is because I'm going from Arizona to Texas. The fact that Arizona and Texas are competitive states, the fact that Ryan Nobles and President Trump are in Ohio right now and that's competitive, that's really bad news for an incumbent Republican president. Joe Biden has really pushed into deep-red territory this year and he's -- he has a path to a pretty big blowout. Having said all that, a lot of state-level polls were wrong in 2016. And I think we, you know, we need to be cautious. And let the public know that this is not over and that the president does have a path to re-election, despite the fact that the -- most of the polling and data we have is pointing to a pretty big Biden victory.</s>CABRERA: And we heard that from Andrew Yang earlier this afternoon in our 3:00 hour, saying Democrats can't get complacent and they can't take anything for granted. Thank you both so much, Ryan Lizza and Ryan Nobles. And, Ryan, we'll check back with you there in Ohio following the president's remarks at that rally. Meantime, the Biden team has a whole who's-who list of surrogates spread out across eight battleground states today. And that includes Jon Bon Jovi in Pennsylvania. Let's listen in.</s>JON BON JOVI, SINGER, BON JOVI & BIDEN SURROGATE: I think that Joe Biden believes in a United States of America.</s>BON JOVI: These days, on the radio and at the rallies and on the TV, I always hear a lot of "me, me, me," but I do believe that Joe believes in the power of "we." I believe that Joe knows that masks are not a sign of weakness. They're a sign of strength and respect. Respect for your elders, for your neighbors, for your families, for your friends, and for a stranger that you might not have met yet.</s>BON JOVI: If you want to effect change and you can't do what you do, you can do what you can. Something as small as wearing a mask starts the ripple. Something as important as casting your vote next Tuesday is about the future of these United States that I so believe in.</s>BON JOVI: After we get Joe into office, that's when the healing starts. Because we all have to come together and remember that under the great stars and stripes, we are all one United States of America.</s>BON JOVI: This is called "Do What You Can."

Interview With Georgia Senatorial Candidate Jon Ossoff (D).

CABRERA: Happening today, more voters in Georgia lining up to cast ballots in the 2020 election. Early voting there both by mail and in person has surged with more than 2.6 million votes cast so far in that state. And more than half of those ballots have been cast in person. I want to bring in Jon Ossoff. He's the Democratic candidate for Senate in Georgia. He's running against incumbent Senator David Perdue. Good to have you here with us, Jon. Georgia has not supported a Democratic candidate for president since 1992. Can you explain to America why you believe Georgia might go blue for the first time since voting for Clinton in '92?</s>JON OSSOFF (D), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA: Thanks for having me, Ana. Look, first of all, Georgia becomes younger and more diverse by the day. And the investment in voter registration, 800,000 new voters added to the rolls here since just two years ago when Stacey Abrams narrowly lost the governor's race by 50,000 votes. That has changed the game in Georgia. But I think even more significantly, I was just listening to the president's comments while I was waiting to come on the show. Continuing to downplay and deny the severity of a pandemic that's claiming nearly a thousand American lives per day. People's lives have been upended. People have lost loved ones and are still losing loved ones. Here in Georgia, so many still out of work, struggling to get by. Families unable to provide for themselves and get their kids into schools in a regular way. We need leaders who unite us to confront this crisis, not who deny it and downplay it. And I think that's why Georgia voters are undeterred in the face of voter suppression and turning out in record numbers.</s>CABRERA: Your campaign hauled in nearly $2 million in fundraising just a couple of days after your opponent, Senator David Perdue, mispronounced and mocked Vice-Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris's name at a Trump rally in Macon, Georgia. How are you going to spend that money?</s>OSSOFF: We are laser focused on voter protection and turnout efforts. Because even though it has been this inspiring sight to see so many Georgians coming out, in particular, black voters and low-income voters are still being made to wait in outrageous lines. So we have to have the resources necessary to protect ballot access in this state in the face of voter suppression. And I urge folks who want to help to log ton to electjon.com and support the effort.</s>CABRERA: Let me ask you more about that. Do you feel confident the 2020 electoral process in Georgia is going to lead to a result that you can accept in terms of the integrity of the process and the vote?</s>OSSOFF: Look, my team and I spend a lot of time addressing the issue of voter suppression, expanding our voter protection efforts and doing everything in our power to protect ballot access. It is a fact that Georgians still face threats to the franchise. It's also a fact that the people are undeterred. They're turning out in record numbers. People are willing to wait in line to vote. It's a travesty that they are made to. But when the stakes are this high, when nearly a thousand Americans are dying per day from an out of control pandemic, when we have leaders who are dishonest and incompetent and putting themselves and their own self-enrichment ahead of the own public interest. I believe there's such a demand and desire for change to turn the page on this dark chapter in our history and rebuild, reunite this country, that we will be able to overcome voter suppression in Georgia and win.</s>CABRERA: OK, so, let me ask you. If you are elected, if Democrats win the Senate and Joe Biden is elected president, should Congress expand the Supreme Court?</s>OSSOFF: I don't support expanding the court just because you don't like the politics or policy or ideology of a recently confirmed justice. But the reason that this Supreme Court fight right now is so important is that the health care of millions of American families is on the line. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act just days after this election. My opponent, David Perdue, and Donald Trump are obsessed with getting rid of the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with preexisting conditions. They're working for the insurance companies who don't want to be encumbered by regulations that protect the health of ordinary people by ensuring that if you have asthma or diabetes or heart disease you can't be denied coverage. These protections for preexisting conditions are on the line. That's why they are rushing to confirm this justice. And it's why the Senate matters as a check against this kind of hasty confirmation of a judge who may pursue a partisan ideological agenda rather than impartially uphold the law and defend the public interest.</s>CABRERA: Jon Ossoff, senatorial candidate in Georgia, thank you very much for joining us. And I should note that we did invite his opponent, Senator David Perdue, on, and they declined.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>CABRERA: Thanks so much for staying with me. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

U.S. Shatters Single-Day Record With 83,000-Plus New Infections; President Trump Votes In Person In Florida; Trump Baselessly Claims We're Going To Quickly End This Pandemic; Wisconsin Breaks Record On Early Voting.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me on Fredricka Whitfield. All right. We begin this hour with the U.S. trending in the wrong direction. And a frightening new milestone just 10 days before the election. On Friday, new coronavirus cases hit a new single day record with 83,757. That's even higher than what we saw when the pandemic spiked back in July. The death toll now over 224,000 Americans and counting to put that in perspective and artists created this grim memorial in the nation's capital, one white flag for every American life lost in the crisis. This new spike in cases comes during a critical time on the campaign trail. Moments from now, President Trump will hold a rally in North Carolina. It is one of several steps he is making today and states being hard hit by the coronavirus. This morning the President voted in person in Florida saying it is much more secure than voting by mail. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden is campaigning in Pennsylvania holding a drive-in rally this morning. It's a state critical for his chances to win the White House holding two events there today. Let's start in North Carolina where President Trump just wrapped up a rally. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is there. Diane, this campaign stop is one of many the President is making.</s>DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Fred, we're actually waiting for the President to come out right now in Lumberton, North Carolina. Something that all three of the campaign stops today have in common. They are all seeing massive surges in COVID-19 infections in their state. Both North Carolina and the next stop, Ohio saw record high one-day infections yesterday. And Wisconsin has an infection rate in the nation right now. And so, all the people who are here sitting very close together in Lumberton North Carolina, are putting their health at risk to come and see the president of United States. But he won all three of those states in 2016. And the voters are not looking as good for him his time around. So, he's making this last move on these finals days through the election to come and ask for their votes. Now, he is in Lumberton North Carolina and what's very key about the location here, and we've heard from each of them even speaking so far is the Lumbee Indian Nation. And that's because in early October, former Vice President Joe Biden said that he is supporting Federal recognition for the Lumbee Indian tribe. Donald Trump, a few days later, a few weeks later, indicated that he also had support for that tribe. This is a very diverse crowd form a Trump rally, at least those that I have attended. And there's a large tendency of Lumbee Indians here waiting to hear what the President has to say to them. Now, it's also a county that has the third highest rate of COVID-19 in North Carolina. The president before he decided to go on tour of the nation today, voted himself. He did so in person in Florida and managed to spread some disinformation at the same time.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect, very strict, right by the rules, when you send in your ballot could never be like that, and they've done a fantastic job over here. Great people inside. So -- but it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area which I know so well.</s>GALLAGHER: Yes. There's nothing to indicate whatsoever that voting by mail is any less secure than what the President did today. One more thing, Fred, about this particular location here. Robson County, North Carolina voted for President Obama in 2008 and in 2012, it swung for President Trump in 2016. He's trying to see if he can convince them to do the same thing. You can hear President Trump is now arriving</s>WHITFIELD: OK. And right on cue there. Dianne Gallagher, the president there arriving in Lumberton, North Carolina. We're getting paid to monitor his remarks and bring them to you. All right. Let's talk right now. As we watch the live pictures of the president taking to the stage there and you see packed rally there. Even this as the country tries to make sense of the largest spike of coronavirus cases across the country. North Carolina also hard hit. Joining me to discuss right now, Sabrina Siddiqui, a CNN political analyst and a national politics reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Jessica Malati Rivera, microbiologist and science communicator for the COVID-19 tracking project. And Nathan Gonzales is CNN political analyst and the editor and publisher of Inside Elections. Good to see all of you.</s>JESSICA MALATY RIVERA, SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR, COVID-19 TRACKING PROJECT: Thanks for having me.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Jessica, you first, you know, how concerned are you about this record spike in new cases with the backdrop of the president who is crisscrossing the country today holding rallies where we know customarily people are not always honor -- honoring all the recommendations during this pandemic?</s>RIVERA: Right. I mean, you're absolutely right, that the data is trending in the wrong direction. Yesterday's case count was incredibly alarming. There were a few states that had some backlogs that led to that inflation. But even still, it's been trending upward, not the right direction. We want to be going with flu season right upon us. And our daily average or weekly average now has just gone up to 60,000. A few weeks ago, we were steady in the 40s. Last week, we went to 50. And now we're well over 60,000 average per case -- per week.</s>WHITFIELD: Nathan, President Trump, you know, is these campaign rallies not just in North Carolina, where this one's just now getting underway, Ohio, Wisconsin, three states that are all considered coronavirus hotspots. Do you think among those voters who are undecided? Is this enough to turn them off?</s>NATHAN GONZALES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, if this election comes down to the presidential response on coronavirus, then he's not going to win. I mean, that's not the issue that the President I think wants at the forefront. And with the rising number of positive cases, what that does is it crowds out time that the media could be talking about other issues, you know, talking about a big Middle East peace deal. But instead, we're talking about these the alarming number of rising cases. And we have to remember that there are no accidents when it comes to the President's schedule. You know, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, all states that the President won four years ago. And he is on defense, he needs to win those states once again. And I have to add, Fred, that it was amazing in that stand up we got both the President's arrival and the incredible drum solo of that song. So, what a great state.</s>WHITFIELD: I know. That was -- that was quite crafted, wasn't it? All right. So, Sabrina, you know, let's listen to what President Trump supporters in Florida said 1about the pandemic last night.</s>TRUMP: We're going to quickly end this pandemic, this horrible plague that came in from China and you look at what's going on. And we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner. we're rounding the corner beautifully.</s>WHITFIELD: So, you heard the applause there from people who were in the audience, who seemed to be in step with. Believe what the President is saying we're rounding the corner. But most scientists in the medical community as well are saying that is not the case, Sabrina. Why does the President continue to do this? And why does he think it's effective?</s>SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, from the outset we have of -- from the outset we have of course seen the president downplay the threat of the virus as well as send these mixed messages about basic public health guidelines. His rallies, of course, have drawn a lot of criticism for flouting local health guidelines. In fact, local officials have at times implored the Trump campaign to at least abide by some of the restrictions they have in place on the ground around the limit on crowd sizes, and other social distancing rules. Of course, you know, in trying to get people to wear a mask, but the Trump campaign has largely ignored that. You haven't seen any of that in practice at his rallies. And I think if the President obviously were to acknowledge that there are a rising number of cases across the country, as well as a death toll that has surpassed 220,000, it would then require him to take some responsibility for how the country got here in an election that has largely been defined by his handling of that same pandemic. And so, he may have his core base of supporters with him. As he said -- who buy into this idea that we're rounding a corner but that does not comport with what most Americans are experiencing at home and what we've seen reflected in pulling over the course of the last few months, which is of course, that the pandemic is one of the top issues for voters as they cast their ballots on Election Day. We've already seen a record number of people cast their ballots in early voting. Of course, that could be people who are cast their ballots early because of the pandemic. We don't know if there will be a surge in turnout among Republicans on Election Day. That's what the Trump campaign is banking on. But if this election is ultimately the pandemic election, it's not looking good for the President as he faces an uphill climb for a second term.</s>WHITFIELD: Yes. So far, record numbers more than 50 million Americans taking advantage of early voting already. So, Jessica, President Trump. he's promised that a safe vaccine will be announced within weeks but then some experts are warning that a vaccine may not be authorized or even available until next year.</s>WHITFIELD: So, you've dedicated your career to vaccine advocacy. Do you think voters will interpret this mixed messaging? You know, that the President is saying one thing, but the scientific community is saying another?</s>SIDDIQUI: You know, it's really unfortunate because it's just fueling a ton of distrust in science and distrust and distrust in the clinical process. The only thing that should be driving the timeline of phase three clinical trials is safety and efficacy data, not politics. Pfizer, just last week announced that they were going to expect a major safety milestone about the third week of November which is obviously after the election. And that's the only thing that should be driving and approval, they said that they will apply for the emergency use authorization after the fact. But it's going to be based on the data, not on election dates.</s>WHITFIELD: So, Nathan, President Trump, you know, he cast his own ballot today in person instead of mailing it in, in Florida. At the same time, he said that, you know, voting in person is much safer than voting by mail. There's no evidence that says mail-in voting is not secure. But the President, again continues to have the bully pulpit, how influential is he, you know, to cast doubt and mistrust on people who might want to opt for mailing in their ballots even now?</s>GONZALES: Well, I think he has a level of influence over his supporters. It's, you know, he I guess, is maybe setting an example that it's OK to vote early in person, instead of just on November 3rd in person. So maybe some of some Republicans will take his cue in that way. I mean, what's -- I guess what's ironic about his comments is that he has voted by mail in the past, you know, this is -- this is not --</s>WHITFIELD: As early as this past Spring.</s>GONZALES: I mean, this is -- this is -- this is not his regular -- his regular way of doing things. And, you know, it'll be interesting to see, as you know, as more Republicans are waiting until November 3rd, you know, if those lines are long, you know, will those voters be committed to standing in line and making sure that their ballots are counted? We've seen long lines for people getting -- wanting to get into the President's rallies. But if it's just to vote for him, will they stand alive? Right now, we know Democrats will stand in line for days, they're bringing in lawn chairs and whatever to make sure that their vote is cast, but we'll see if Republicans have the same level of commitment.</s>WHITFIELD: Right. Fascinating. All right. Thank you to all of you, Jessica Malaty, Rivera, Sabrina Siddiqui and Nathan Gonzales. Appreciate it. Or Nathan actually, Sabrina, you're going to stick around. So, I'll see you in a little bit. Don't go far.</s>GONZALES: Sounds good.</s>WHITFIELD: Okay. All right. Next, Joe Biden and Donald Trump competing for votes in North Carolina. But the vote could come down to black voters fed up with both parties. Plus, a record 83,000 new cases in a single day. Now the nation's chief epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci says it might be time to mandate masks, but is it too late to curb yet another spike?

Top Al Qaeda Member Killed In Afghanistan; Appeals Court Blocks Wisconsin Limits On Gatherings

WHITFIELD: All right. We're following this breaking news out of Afghanistan. A top al Qaeda member has been killed in Afghanistan during an operation by Afghan Special Forces. According to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, Abu Muhsin al Masri, a national from Egypt, was killed in an operation conducted by NDA Special Forces in eastern Afghanistan. Al Masri is also on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list and faced several charges, including conspiracy to kill United States nationals. The U.S. has just recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic. Over 83,000 new infections reported nationwide on Friday as Dr. Anthony Fauci says it might be time to mandate masks.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If everyone agrees that this is something that's important and they mandate it and everybody pulls together and says we're going to mandate it, but let's just do it, I think that would be a great idea to have everybody do it uniformly. And one of the issues, I get the argument, well, if you mandate a mask, then you'll have to enforce it and that will create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>WHITFIELD: CNN's Polo Sandoval joining me from New York. Polo, what are you learning?</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, just a few moments ago, President Trump at a campaign rally in North Carolina took some jabs at his opponent's recent warning that we're in for a dark winter when it comes to the pandemic. But the reality is there are many experts right now, Fred, that seem to be echoing that. Especially one in particular that just last night said, if we continue on these trends and these numbers that really do speak for themselves, then we could possibly, according to him, see six-figure daily COVID numbers. That's, obviously, deeply concerning. Look at the map right now. This will give you an idea of what the country is looking like in terms of these new cases. Right now, at the seven-day average, about 63,000 a week here. That's actually a 50 percent increase over just a few weeks ago. And then you also have to consider deaths as well. We have to point out that we are not close to what we were experiencing, for example, in July and in August during the spike. But they are beginning to climb again. Just yesterday, 943 COVID related deaths that are now added to that other number that you see on your screen that sadly continues to go up. And as if this weren't enough, take a look at pictures from Washington, D.C. It's an art exhibit, a display here that really does symbolize how much of a loss we've experienced across the country. You see local artists here. Susan Furstenberg paying homage to those who died, planting those small white flags, representing those people who have died from the virus here. When you look at these pictures, it's clear why health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, are pleading with the public to take this seriously, particularly those that perhaps may not necessarily be considering this a serious threat. When you look at the numbers coming from authorities, when you look at the CDC, and of course, even certain members of the White House and those Trump appointees, it does seem to show that there's a spike throughout much of the country right now.</s>WHITFIELD: Polo Sandoval, in New York, thanks so much.</s>SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: As the Midwest continues to be the epicenter of the latest national surge of coronavirus cases, one of the states hardest hit is Wisconsin. But there's major opposition to restrictions put on by the state's governor. A state court of appeals Friday ruled capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants are on hold at least for the time being. CNN's Brian Todd takes a look at the toll the virus is taking there.</s>GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WISCONSIN): And 1,681 Wisconsinites have lost the battle against this virus.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coming off his state's highest single day coronavirus death count, Wisconsin's governor says he is saddened to announce that this facility is taking in its first patients, a field hospital for overflow patients at a state fair park near Milwaukee.</s>EVERS: Make no mistake about this. This is an urgent crisis.</s>TODD: The surge in cases in Wisconsin is overwhelming health officials in the state's second most populous county.</s>JANEL HEINRICH, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, MADISON AND DANE COUNTIES, WISCONSIN: Right now, we cannot keep up with this sustained rise in cases. We cannot quickly contact trace cases and let the people they came in contact with know that they should quarantine. We are struggling with a constant and unending rise in cases just as everyone else in the state is.</s>TODD: Wisconsin is one of more than 30 states where the reporting of new daily coronavirus cases is still going up.</s>DR. DEBORAH BIRX, COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: Wisconsin is number four in the country with the number of cases per 100,000. Also concerning is 41 percent of the long-term care facilities in Wisconsin have at least one positive staff member that shows how broad the community spread right now in Wisconsin is.</s>ANNOUNCER: Electricity.</s>TODD: The surge in Wisconsin comes as the University of Wisconsin hosted the first Big-120 football game of the season last night against the University of Illinois. The conference had delayed the season for almost two months because of COVID worries. The mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, signed a letter with other Big-10 school city leaders saying they are worried the universities are not doing enough to protect the populations against the coronavirus, especially at football games. (on camera): Wisconsin is the most populous state in the country, ranked in the top five of coronavirus cases. The numbers show that Wisconsin is suffering one of the worst outbreaks in the country behind the Dakotas and Montana. And the data shows the surge is showing no signs of slowing there -- Fredricka?</s>WHITFIELD: Brian Todd, thank you so much for that. Next, the pandemic spurring turnout at the polls. Americans are voting early in record numbers for fear their mail-in ballots may not be counted. We're live next.

Georgia Records Over 2.5 million Early Votes Cast

WHITFIELD: Right now, in Georgia, voters are turning out for what is the final weekend of early voting. And the state is already breaking records with more than 2.5 million early votes already cast. CNN's Natasha Chen is following this in Marietta, Georgia. Natasha, what kind of turnout are you seeing today?</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we're seeing a great turnout today as the lines never got as long as it did here last weekend. But I can show you where the line starts is right over there. And it really wraps around and goes all the way down this corridor and back again. This is a really big contrast from Atlanta at one of the mobile voting sites where I was at earlier this morning where there was no wait at all. There can be quite a discrepancy from location to location. This is Marietta, a suburb north of the city. We were talking to a voter who is actually naturalized. She had immigrated from Jamaica. She took one look at this line and decided to drop off her absentee ballot instead. Here's what she said about seeing all these voters out here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED VOTER: This is not so bad. But just seeing so many people in Georgia just taking the time whereas I think four years ago, a lot of people that I know stayed home. A lot of people that I know decided, you know, it's not worth it. So I'm glad to see so many people.</s>CHEN: We're seeing similar things from other people talking about how important they felt it was for them to make sure their ballot was cast in this election. And 2.6 million Georgians have now voted, according to the secretary of state's office. That's as of noon. And when you compare that to this point in the 2016 election, that's 114 percent higher turnout when you combine the in-person early voting and absentee ballots -- Fred?</s>WHITFIELD: Wow. Those are huge numbers, 2.6 million Georgians. Thank you so much, Natasha Chen. Appreciate it. Let's go to the battleground state of Wisconsin where early voting is breaking records there as the number of COVID-19 cases also explodes. CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Milwaukee.</s>OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just about every day since early in- person voting began here in Wisconsin, this has been the scene to at least start the day in many locations as people have lined up, usually before the doors even open. And then when those doors open, they are just trying to basically fix the lag and get into these actual polling locations. And when you look at the enthusiasm we've seen just here in Wisconsin, it mirrors what we've seen in places across the country as well. Just since early in-person voting began this week, we've seen around 100 -- at least 150,000 ballots that have been cast. And that folds into the already more than a million absentee ballots that have been returned in the state of Wisconsin. And when you compare that to November 2016, by the way, in that election, throughout that entire voting session and season, a little more than 800,000 absentee ballots were returned. And again, we're already well past that. When you look at the debates we've seen, they are all now over, of course. But there were questions as to whether they'd sway people's minds. And voters said, when it came time for them to show up and vote, they already had their minds made up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They both tried to impress the peoples. So, really, I don't really pay attention to that. I like to see when they are in the office and then I'll see what it's going to be and what they say is going to happen and what not they said is not going to happen. So what they said last night really don't mean nothing to me because you're going to tell me what I want to hear anyway just so I can vote for you.</s>JIMENEZ: Your mind wasn't changed because of the debate?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course not.</s>JIMENEZ: And in the run up to the general election, the election commissioner for the state of Wisconsin, Meagan Wolfe, is looking for workers to meet the enthusiasm of the voters we've seen here in this state. Let's remember, all of this is happening within the context of a pandemic that has hit Wisconsin especially hard. They've set death records, single-day death records for themselves here in the state just this week. And it's a record that they broke and eclipsed from the one they set from the previous week as their positivity rate soared above 20 percent as well. But it's not affected voter enthusiasm as people show up, rain or shine, to make their voices heard. Omar Jimenez, CNN, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.</s>WHITFIELD: This programming note. Join CNN's Randi Kaye as she talks with voters for CNN's special report, "DIVIDED WE STAND, Inside America's Anger." That's tonight at 10:00. Up next, a North Carolina man with guns and explosives accused of planning to assassinate Joe Biden. We'll take a look at the key evidence in the case.

Trump, Biden Storm Campaign Trail With 52-Plus Million Votes Already Cast; Biden Campaigns In Battleground Pennsylvania; Trump Downplays Virus As Cases Surge Nationwide; Trump And Biden Blitz Must- Win States 10 Days Until Election; Trump Campaigns In Ohio; Interview With Former National Security Advisor John Bolton; Trump Claims U.S. Rounding Turn As Cases Spike; NIH Director Warns If Only 50 Percent Of Americans Get Vaccine, Virus Will Remain Problem For Years.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Thanks so much for staying with me. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Ten days now until Election Day, 52 million, and counting, already cast, and two candidates are on a sprint across the country to gain the support of what very few undecided voters are left. Now, last hour, Biden's star surrogate, former President Barack Obama, stumped in Florida, a state that has sided with the winner in all but one presidential election since 1964.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We're not going to have a president that goes out of his way to insult anybody who he doesn't think is nice enough to him. We won't have a president who threatens people with jail for just criticizing him. That's not normal behavior, Florida. You wouldn't tolerate it from a coworker. You wouldn't tolerate it from a high school principal. You wouldn't tolerate it from a coach. You wouldn't tolerate it from a family member. Florida man wouldn't even do this stuff. Why are we accepting it from the president of the United States? It's not -- it's not normal behavior.</s>CABRERA: And President Obama is as far from alone on the Biden trail. Team Biden is holding events all across battleground America right now, including the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania, where the former vice president is holding a drive-in rally with Jon Bon Jovi. Let's listen in.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: -- and he is (ph) from the country. But here is what he did. Remember, when he decided he was going to convince Bob Woodward what a smart guy he was. So he went on -- yes, smart guy, stable genius. But folks, here is what he did. He went on record as saying that he knew how dangerous it was, knew seven times dangerous than the flu. But what did he do? Did he tell you? Did he tell us? Did he warn the American people? No, he didn't. But I'll tell you what his administration did. They gave Wall Street heads-up, according to The New York Times. He didn't tell us, but they told his Wall Street friends, that's why they made so much money by, quote, selling short because he knew what was coming. He sold us short. That's what happened. And then he tried to claim that he didn't want to panic the American people. The American people don't panic. Donald Trump panicked. Folks, he still had no plan. All he can do is double down on his Park Avenue way of looking at the world. Before the pandemic, he handed out $1.5 trillion in tax giveaways to the super wealthy and large corporations. And now, even when 30 million Americans have lost their jobs or lost hours, he thinks the way to get the American economy back on track -- and you probably don't even know this -- is to give gigantic multimillion dollar tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, and he wants to do it again. Since the start of this pandemic, and this even startled me, according to Forbes, since the start of the pandemic, billionaires in America made another $600 billion. Actually, it's $700 billion. But Donald Trump can't get his own Republican Party to even deliver for hard working folks, folks he thinks $15 an hour minimum wage is too much for essential workers. He thinks unions don't matter. He stopped -- no. He stopped overtime pay, costing hourly workers $200 million last year. He says you can no longer deduct union dues. And he talks about being for the working guy? Four years in, he still hasn't gotten legislation passed to protect pensions or working people. Ladies and gentlemen, this guy doesn't get it. He's proposed a plan that would set social security as the social security act where he said would bankrupt social security by 2023, if you re-elect him, he says. He's been weak and chaotic with China on trade. All he's ended up doing is opening the doors to big banks and China for American banks to be able to do business in China. He contributed to the surge of bankruptcies and American farmers. Look, I'll do what he's unable to do. I'll lead an effective strategy to mobilize true international pressure, isolate and punish China. Folks, we've lost more manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania and across the country than any time in recent history. And if President Trump and Republicans don't have time to deliver an economic relief for working families and small businesses, then why in the middle of a crisis do they have time to confirm a Supreme Court justice so they can knock out Obamacare? I'll tell you why. He wants to wipe it off the books because his nominee has said that they're going to strike down the law before she was picked. Look, if they get their way, more than 20 million of you, 20 million Americans will lose their coverage, including nearly 1 million Pennsylvanians. 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, including 5.3 million in Pennsylvania, will no longer be covered. Complications from COVID will become the next pre-existing condition, allowing insurance companies to jack up your coverage. And women are going to be charged a hell of a lot more for their health care just because they're women. Look, Donald Trump thinks healthcare is a privilege. I think it's a right. Look -- but nothing is more offensive than the way he's spoken about those who served our nation in uniform. He calls them losers and suckers. Well, how many of you have served? How many of your parents served? Luzerne and Lackawanna County have a proud, proud history of defending this nation. Folks, my son, Beau, was a major, served in Iraq, won the bronze star and the distinguished service medal. He came home decorated. He wasn't a loser. He wasn't a sucker. He was a patriot, just like your sons and daughters, your parents and grandparents. I can't believe it. No wonder six generals who worked in his administration left him and said he doesn't deserve to be commander in chief of the United States. No president has ever had that happen. Frankly, I've dealt with guys like Trump my whole life, so have you, guys that look down on you because they have a lot of money, guys who think they're better than you, guys who inherit everything in life and then squander it, guys who stiff electricians and plumbers and contractors, working on their hotels and casinos and golf courses, guys who avoid paying their own taxes they owe because they figure, as he said last time out, it's because he's smart. He's able to play the system, pay $750 in taxes, being a billionaire. Well, I'm sick and tired of smart guys. They need the rest of us to pick up the tab. Now, we find Trump has secret bank accounts in China. I didn't make that up. That comes right out of The New York Times, secret bank accounts in China, where he paid 50 times more in taxes in Beijing than he did in the United States of America. Look at his hundreds of millions of dollars, $400 million in debt in the coming few years. Who does he owe it to? Why is it? I released 23 years of my tax returns. Why hasn't he released one of his? What in the hell is he hiding? Look, you know, I got to admit, maybe it's the Scranton in me, I got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. I read about -- you know, I read that if I got elected president, I'd only be the second guy in this century, in the last century, that, in fact, didn't go to an Ivy League school. Well, what the hell does that say about my state school I went to? Like it didn't mean I don't belong? My guess is a lot of you felt the same way in your lives. I say it's about time a state school guy gets to go to the Oval Office. Because you know what, if I am sitting there, you'll be sitting there with me. You and I know who really built this country. It wasn't Wall Street. It wasn't CEOs. The working people, middle class people built it and unions built the middle class. Look, we know we're so much better than this, so much better. And we can do anything in this country. Look, it starts with my plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly, bringing the country together around tracing, testing, masking, social distancing, not politicizing the race for a vaccine, but planning for a safe and equitable distribution, providing funding and protective gear for national centers and schools and businesses to open safely, bringing together Republicans and Democrats to deliver relief to working families and schools and businesses. As I've said before, I'm not going to shut down the economy. I'm going to shut down the virus and build the economy. Folks, this is all within our power. We can build back better than before. We can build back better than before. That's who we are. You know, an independent analysis on Wall Street, of all places, Moody's, a Wall Street firm, projected that my economic plan will create 18.6 million jobs in four years, 7 million more than his and a trillion dollars more in economic growth. Look, it's pretty basic. I'm not going to raise taxes on anybody that makes less than $400,000 a year. But I tell you what, I'm going to start asking the wealthy and corporations to begin to pay their fair share. It's time working people and middle class people got tax relief to help them buy their first home, pay for the healthcare premiums, child care, carrying for their aged loved ones. We'll do more than just praise our essential workers. We will pay our essential workers. We're going to make healthcare affordable for every American. We're going to build on the Affordable Care Act, keep your private insurance if you like it but make sure everybody, the 20 million people who got health insurance that they didn't have before because of it, are able to keep it. We're going to increase the ability for you to be able to have much lower drug prices. We're going to lower drug prices by 60 percent. You know how you do that? Just allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. That will bring them down by 60 percent. We're going to make sure you keep your prescriptions and pre-existing conditions, I'll protect your social security and Medicare, and if I keep going, you're going to freeze your fingers off. Well, look, we can create a million new -- a million new union jobs, union jobs,</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make college affordable.</s>BIDEN: We're getting there, man. Hang on. Hang on. Here is the deal. Look, we're going to move in a position that we can change a lot. And by the way, let me get something straight here, in coal country. I will not ban fracking, period. I'll protect Pennsylvania jobs, period, no matter how many times Donald Trump says it. Unlike Donald Trump, I don't think big oil companies need a handout from the federal government. We're going to get rid of the $40 billion fossil fuel subsidies and we're going to invest in clean energy and carbon capture. Look, going back to schools, if we just make the 91 corporations that didn't pay a single penny in taxes pay 15 percent, that raises $40 billion. That allows us to send every single person qualified to community college free. It allows us to send every single person who can get into a four-year state university go free if they make less than $125,000. Look, Donald Trump hasn't delivered on a damn thing he said he'd do. He hasn't delivered on infrastructure. He talked in 2017, '18, '19, '20, he's going to give us an infrastructure plan. He hasn't done a damn thing. Our roads, our bridges are crumbling, just as climate change is accelerating and more frequent extremes and weather events, not just wildfires in California and hurricanes along the coast. But here in Luzerne County, flooding along the Susquehanna, we can do something about it. But we've got to come together, which gets me to the last point of this election. The stakes are high. Barack and I worked hard to earn and win your votes in 2008 and 2012. And I tell you what, it wasn't -- I thought it was great to see him again out on the trail for me, quite frankly. But understand why. Some people voted for Donald Trump. They believed they weren't being seen or respected or heard. Trump ran around saying he represents the forgotten man and woman in this country. I get it. But then he got elected and immediately forgot the forgotten man. Remember what Donald Trump said when COVID hit, 200,000 deaths, he said, if you take out the blue states with Democratic governors and just look at the red states with Republican governors, we're doing quite well. First of all, that's not true. And, secondly, what in the hell would a president say, I'm not going to do anything for Pennsylvania or Michigan or Wisconsin, Democratic states, I'm only going to help red states. Where does this come guy from? Look, folks, I don't see the presidents that way. I don't see America that way. This has to change. It will change with me. You know, you'll be seen and you're heard and respected by me. Our campaign is a broad coalition. It welcomes Democrats, Republicans, independents. If elected president, there will be no red states or blue states, only the United States. I was reminded of that earlier this month when I went to the sacred ground at Gettysburg to speak. Abraham Lincoln told us a house divided can't stand. Well, folks, today, trust is ebbing. Hope seems elusive. Instead of healing, we're being ripped apart. I refuse to let that happen. I'm running as a proud Democrat but I'll govern as an American president. I'll work as hard for those who don't support me as those who do. That's the president's job, a duty to care, a duty to heal. And you too have a sacred duty. That's to vote. It matters. Pennsylvania matters. So, please vote. Get out the vote. Visit iwillvote.com/pa. Return your ballot as soon as possible. And make sure everyone you know does. Folks, you know, I'm more optimistic about America's future than I've been since I've been involved in politics. We're the only country in the world that's come out of every crisis stronger than we went in. There's not a damn thing America can't do when we decide to do it together. Folks, John Kennedy said, when he promised to send us to the moon, he said, answered the unasked question, why? He said, because we refuse to postpone. This is the United States of America. There is nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. There's no limit to our future. The only thing that can rip America apart is America itself. Look, folks, I'll close by saying everybody knows who Donald Trump is. We got to show him who we are. We choose hope over fear, unity over division, science over fiction and truth over lies. Folks, it's time to stand up and take our democracy back. May God bless you, and may God protect our troops. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Go vote. Vote. Thank you.</s>CABRERA: Joe Biden speaking live in Pennsylvania, just a huge weekend for campaigning for both Joe Biden and President Trump today. President Trump also crisscrossing battleground states, starting his day in North Carolina, now in Ohio, and will end his day in Wisconsin. So as we look at these live images of Joe Biden, I want to turn to our reporters out on the trail. Arlette Saenz is with the Biden campaign in Miami, where we brought you former President Obama's remarks a short time ago. Ryan Nobles is in Ohio with President Trump. Let me check real quick in with Arlette in Florida first. Arlette, talk to us about the Biden camp and President Obama's message there today, and does the Biden camp think Florida is a must-win?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, Florida is not necessarily a must-win for Joe Biden but a win here would certainly make his path to the presidency a lot easier. President Obama stopped here in Miami Springs nearby, talking to supporters earlier today, and said that if they bring Florida home for Joe Biden, that this election is essentially over. You heard President Obama here in North Miami making his case not just for his former vice president but also issuing another scathing rebuke of President Trump. This is the second time that President Obama has been out on the campaign trail on behalf of Joe Biden and has just torn into the president for everything from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to his behavior, the president -- the former president calling President Trump's behavior not normal. And you heard Obama also taking on Trump over a recent interview he did with 60 Minutes. Take a listen to a bit of President Obama's critique.</s>OBAMA: He also sat down with 60 Minutes. He was asked, what's your priority in your second term? And let me say, I've run for president, Miami, so I just want you to know, it's a good idea to have an answer to this question. It's a good idea if you're running for re-election to say, here is what I want to accomplish. What did Trump say? He got mad and walked out of the interview. He thought the questions were too tough, too tough. Miami, listen, if he can't answer a tough question like, what would you like to do in your second term, then it's our job to make sure he doesn't get a second term. When 60 minutes and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. If you got to walk out of a 60 Minutes interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator. If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to Putin.</s>SAENZ: So, just another round of critiques from the former president for his successor. And you also heard the former president here in Florida, a state that has a very diverse population, including a diverse Hispanic population speaking to concerns of Hispanic voters, calling out the president's response to Hurricane Maria down in Puerto Rico. Also, you know, really pushing back on this suggestion from the president and Republicans that Joe Biden is a socialist. President Obama called that garbage and said that Biden is not a secret socialist. So you heard these messages from the former president. He was also here to encourage Floridians to get out there and to vote early. You know, more than 5 million people have voted early right now in the state with still ten days to go. He was advocating, telling them to make a plan to either go in person or to send in mail-in ballots. But the Biden campaign is very clearly believes that Obama can be an encouraging surrogate out there, trying to get their supporters out, particularly black men and Latino voters and young voters in these closing days of the election.</s>CABRERA: Okay. Arlette Saenz in Miami, thank you. Now to President Trump in Ohio, Ryan Nobles is there. President Trump won that state in 2016. Is there a path to 270 that doesn't include Ohio?</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, you could probably find a path for President Trump without Ohio but it would be very difficult for him to win the race without it. Ohio is a very important state for President Trump. It is a state that he won in 2016. It's one that Republicans have had good success with since he was elected and it's one he would definitely like to have in the win column this time around. And President Trump is spending a lot of time on the campaign trail. His campaign, promising that he could spend two, three, four, maybe even five events a day between now and Election Day. And today is an example of that. He started the day in Florida, made a trip to North Carolina, he's now here in Ohio and will go to Wisconsin later today. And we're seeing a bit of a trend from the president in his speeches today. He seems to be somewhat annoyed with the fact that he still has to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and he's also unhappy with the way his response to the coronavirus has been treated and responded to by members of the media and the public. Listen to what he said earlier today in North Carolina.</s>DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's all I hear, turn on the television, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, a plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore. It's true. COVID, COVID, please don't go and vote, COVID.</s>NOBLES: As he landed here in Ohio, the president spoke to reporters for a little while and again was complaining about the way that people have been responding to his -- the way he's handled the coronavirus pandemic and suggested that the country is testing too much. He suggested that during a speech in North Carolina as well. And you can tell the president doesn't really want to talk about the coronavirus despite the fact that more than 200,000 Americans have died from it. Here in Ohio, his message to this crowd here isn't about the coronavirus, it's not about the pandemic. Obviously, we are in another rally with people shoulder to shoulder, very few masks in a state that is still dealing with this virus, still dealing with a lot of cases. And, Ana, the president's focus has been about college football, bragging about the fact that the Big Ten football season is back up and running and Ohio State getting a win here today just outside of Columbus. There's a lot of football fans here. Of course, Ana, I'm sure that resonates with a lot of them. But there's also a lot of Americans and a lot of Ohioans who have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic and the president just doesn't seem to want that to be the focus in the closing days of this election. Ana?</s>CABRERA: Yes, Ohio just had three days in a row of the highest number yet in their daily case count. And the U.S., as a whole, just hit its highest case count in one day since the pandemic began just yesterday. Thank you both, Ryan Nobles and Arlette Saenz. Joining us now is CNN Political Analyst Michael Shear. He is also the White House Correspondent for The New York Times. And also with us is A.B. Stoddard, the Associate Editor and Columnist for RealClearPolitics. Michael, President Obama threw some punches at his successor, attacking well-known sore subjects like ratings. Do you think Obama is more effective in rattling Trump or is he better at drumming up Democrats to get to the polls?</s>MICHAEL SHEAR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, look, I think the Biden campaign is hoping that he'll do both and it seems like, you know, if you listen to President Trump in his speeches today, he has made mention of the fact that President Obama is out on the trail campaigning against him. He sort of brushes it aside and says that he thinks that it will actually help him more than hurt him. But I think the truth is probably not that. The truth is probably that it does get under his skin. This is obviously, you know, a guy who won re-election himself and this is something that, you know, President Trump would -- wants to achieve as well. And so I think that is part of the Biden strategy. I think they obviously want President Obama to appeal to the constituencies that he was most successful with himself and turn those constituencies out, young people, African-Americans, Hispanics, and so there's that hope as well, you know, among the Biden strategists. But I think it's both, really.</s>CABRERA: Of course, the former president is just one of many surrogates across the country right now. A.B., we have the president and his team ping-ponging across the country as well. How critical is this weekend for both candidates?</s>A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Well, it's always critical when you're this close to the final day for everyone in both campaigns, but for President Trump, who is going to be making, you know, four states visits in one day, and trying to replicate that from now until November 3rd. You know, he is -- he's running from behind, and he really needs to try to turn out his vote in these critical places. He has not governed or campaigned to voters that did not support him in 2016. He has a coalition that is eroding. It's quite narrow. And he has lost white non-college women and he's losing seniors most critically to Joe Biden, who he won nationally by seven points in 2016. So, every voter at those rallies who is already going to support him, he needs to go out and excite other ones or he's not going to be able to overperform the polls and enjoy enough polling error to replicate what he did in 2016.</s>CABRERA: And the president, meantime, continues to downplay the pandemic. In fact, at a rally today, Michael, he called increased testing for coronavirus foolish. You caught COVID during the outbreak at the White House while you were covering this president. First, how are you doing? And are you surprised the president hasn't changed his tune about the virus?</s>SHEAR: So, thank you for asking. I feel much, much better. I'm essentially recovered. I'm a little tired sometimes but that's to be expected. And, look, I am not surprised at all that the president -- the president's experience himself of personally contracting COVID didn't change his outlook at all on his handling of this. He has essentially shrugged off the threat from this virus from the very beginning. He and his administration have sought to, in his own words, turn the corner, turn around the corner for months now. And I think that the -- they recognize, the president and his aides recognize that the pandemic, his response to it, and the public's kind of gut level understanding of how bad things are and why those -- the things are so bad is because of his handling of this. I think they recognize that that's the biggest single threat to his chances of re-election. And you know, he's desperate, I think, to change the subject. As A.B. said, he doesn't want to talk about that. He wants to talk about anything else. And that's what they're going to do for the next 10 days.</s>CABRERA: In fact, he's been trying to change the subject to Joe Biden and the oil industry and fracking. A.B. Those comments that Biden made at the debate the other night, the president has pounced on. We heard Biden just moments ago as we were playing his remarks live here on our show say, "I will not ban fracking," but that he wants the oil industry to transition into renewable energy and that he would get rid of the oil subsidies. Do you think that lost Biden some votes in a state like Pennsylvania?</s>STODDARD: I think we'll find out later. I don't. Because he's made a real point of clarifying that over and over again since the morning after the debate. I think down-ballot it puts some pressure on some Democrats who are in swing districts, districts Trump won in 2016 and who will be pressured by Trump, the Republican Party, their challengers, to try to explain away that. But I think that Biden has a better platform to continue to pound home that he doesn't intend to actually ban fracking. I think that people who have less of a microphone are feeling the pressure from those comments, and they appreciate the fact that he continues to clarify them. At this point, there are so few undecideds, I think that the people who have yet to make their decision are unlikely to be people who have focused on the issues -- on a specific issue like fracking.</s>CABRERA: A.B. Stoddard and Michael Shear, really appreciate both of you. Thank you so much.</s>SHEAR: Thank you.</s>CABRERA: President Trump cast his ballot in Florida today in person.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very secure vote. Much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect. Very strict. Right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, could never be like that.</s>CABRERA: And that's just not true. Why is the president's message on mail-in voting identical to Russian disinformation? Let's ask a man who was in the room when President Trump met with Vladimir Putin. Former national security advisor, John Bolton, joins us live next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

U.S. Sets New Daily Record for Coronavirus Cases; Illinois Health Official Tears Up as She Reports State's Death Toll

CABRERA: President Trump tonight heads to the battleground state of Wisconsin for his third massive campaign rally of the day. That state also happens to be a COVID hotspot with one of the worst outbreaks in the country right now. CNN's Brian Todd reports.</s>GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WI): One thousand six hundred eighty one Wisconsinites have lost the battle against this virus.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Coming off his state's highest single day coronavirus death count, Wisconsin's Governor says he is saddened to announce that this facility is taking in its first patients, a field hospital for overflow patients at a State Fair Park near Milwaukee.</s>EVERS: Make no mistake about this, this is an urgent crisis.</s>TODD (voice over): The surge in cases in Wisconsin is overwhelming, health officials in the state's second most populous county.</s>JANEL HEINRICH, PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR, MADISON AND DANE COUNTIES, WISCONSIN: Right now, we cannot keep up with this sustained rising cases we cannot quickly contact trace cases and let the people they came in contact with know that they should quarantine. We are struggling with the constant and unending rise in cases just as everyone else in the state is.</s>TODD (voice over): Wisconsin is one of more than 30 states where the reporting of new daily coronavirus cases is still going up.</s>DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Wisconsin is number four in the country with the number of cases per hundred thousand. Also concerning is 41 percent of the long-term care facilities in Wisconsin have at least one positive staff member. It shows how broad the community spread right now in Wisconsin is.</s>TODD (voice over): The surge in Wisconsin comes as the University of Wisconsin hosted the first Big Ten football game of the season last night against the University of Illinois. The conference had delayed the season for almost two months because of COVID worries. The mayor of Madison, Wisconsin signed a letter with other Big Ten school city leaders saying they are worried the universities are not doing enough to protect the populations against the coronavirus, especially at football games.</s>TODD (on camera): Wisconsin is the most populous state in the country ranked in the top five of coronavirus cases. The data shows that Wisconsin is having one of the worst outbreaks in the country behind the Dakotas and Montana, and the data shows that the surge shows no signs of slowing there. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>CABRERA: Wisconsin is definitely not alone. Just three states are seeing a downward trend in cases right now. Most are experiencing a significant uptick. Illinois, for example, today reporting more than 6,000 new cases, the most there, since the pandemic began. And the overwhelming numbers and the lives lost bringing the Illinois Public Health Director to tears.</s>DR. NGOZI EZIKE, ILLINOIS PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR: Since yesterday we lost an additional 31 lives for a total of 9,418 deaths. These are people who started with us in 2020 and won't be with us at the Thanksgiving table.</s>CABRERA: Joining us now, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Esther Choo. She's also a Professor of Emergency Medicine in Oregon Health & Science University. Doctor, what's your reaction when you see the top public health official in Illinois getting choked up over the spike in COVID deaths in cases? Meanwhile, you have the President hopping state to state in some of these states where there is such a significant surge right now in hosting these massive rallies.</s>ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I mean, listening to her I get emotional myself, because I think as the case counts rise, we get a little numb to all the additional deaths. We just see this huge number and we forget to recognize that each one is someone lost, who didn't have to die from this because our public health messaging has been so inconsistent and our administration's response has been so weak. So I feel the same often and I certainly feel exactly as she is feeling in that moment. Here's both candidates today talking about their plans to combat coronavirus.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The cases are up. But listen to this, they all talk about cases. You don't see death, death, cases, cases. You know why we have cases, because we test so much and in many ways it's good and in many ways, it's foolish.</s>JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're so much better than this. We can bring back this economy and start with my plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly. Bringing the country around to testing, and tracing, and masking, social distancing, not politicizing the race for a vaccine.</s>CABRERA: So you have President Trump on one hand arguing it's 'foolish in many ways', he says to increase testing. Biden on the other hand arguing it's essential to safely reopen the economy. Who has the right strategy?</s>CHOO: If there's one thing that should be really clear, it's the importance of testing that has been true since day one of this epidemic for a number of reasons. First of all, we don't have to guess where the disease is. If we actually test at high rates, we can feel confident in regions that are able to open for people who want to get their lives back, get their kids back in school, having a robust and rapid testing program is so key to that. So why wouldn't we want to know for sure, rather than having to guess. The other thing is specific to this disease, because it passes around the country so quickly from asymptomatic people going out and not knowing to self-isolate. It's so critical to test people even before they're symptomatic so they can make the right decisions. One of my best friends was about to leave the state got a test even though she was feeling completely asymptomatic and avoided contact with about a dozen family members, including several elderly family members, because she had that test and all of us can modify our behaviors. So testing is really the key to this, knowing less is not going to help us get out of this.</s>CABRERA: A new report from Columbia University found that the U.S. COVID-19 response resulted in 130,000 to 210,000 avoidable deaths, citing insufficient testing, a lack of national mask mandates, a delayed overall response and outright mocking of basic public health practices by the administration. I've had some people tell me given how historic this pandemic is, it would have been impossible to not end up where we are, what do you tell those people?</s>CABRERA: That Columbia report really lays down what the issue is. I mean, I hear those messages too saying, well, this is a terrible disease. It is what it is kind of messaging. But that report was so helpful, because it really compared the U.S. against other wealthy countries and even among other less wealthy countries to show what can happen if you have consistent public health messaging, a really aggressive and coordinated plan up front. And also communities that have a high level of buy into the fact that you may need to give up some personal liberties in order to save lives around the world. And so it really is quite embarrassing when you read that report to think of the other countries that we compare ourselves to and that we think of ourselves as leaders among and see how poorly we've done in comparison.</s>CABRERA: In fact, I do want to provide even more information on that perspective, because it did catch my eye as well. When measured by deaths per 100,000 people, the U.S. mortality rate is 50 times higher than Japan's. More than twice as high as Canada's, according to this report. The U.S. and South Korea, don't forget, both confirmed their first case of coronavirus on January 20th. But South Korea, they instituted aggressive testing and isolation strategy and that has led to a mortality rate today that is 78 times less than the U.S., why such a difference?</s>CHOO: It is not subtle at all. Yes. Those are not subtle differences. Those aren't like you tease out these tiny little differences. They're dramatic, you can see them from across the room. And remember, Japan actually has an incredibly high rate of elderly people. And even so, even with that huge vulnerable population, they did so much better than we did. And of course, South Korea only about 400 some deaths. And it really is such a big difference to do simple things early. I mean, South Korea instituted a really aggressive testing and contact tracing program, and also had a very different culture around mask wearing. I mean, I am South Korean and when I visited even when I was young, if I was about to go out and the air pollution wasn't good or I had a little cold and I was about to get on a bus, my grandmother would put a mask on me just saying that it wasn't polite to go out and expose others in that way. So I think there wasn't any of this kind of American silliness around resisting masks and feeling that it's such a great imposition. It was something you did as a courtesy to those around you. So just very different cultural attitudes towards simple things like maybe mask wearing.</s>CABRERA: And again, it just makes me think of the old saying treat others the way you want to be treated. We wear the mask to protect others, not necessarily ourselves, especially mentioning that asymptomatic spread. You never know if you could be carrying the virus. Dr. Esther Choo, good to see you here. Thank you for all you do.</s>CHOO: Thank you.</s>CABRERA: Coming up, the CNN investigation how the President's former chief strategist Steve Bannon is pushing a conspiracy theory about the origins of the coronavirus.

Steve Bannon Pushes "Shoddy" Research Claiming Coronavirus Made in a Chinese Lab as a Bioweapon.

CABRERA: Now, to a CNN investigation. A key Trump ally fanning the flames of a conspiracy theory and this one is about the origins of the coronavirus. CNN's Drew Griffin reports.</s>DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT(voice over): It is a right-wing fueled conspiracy theory pushed to millions of Americans.</s>TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS: Li Meng Yan.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): Dr. Li Meng Yan, a Chinese scientist in hiding but appears everywhere on right-wing media and claiming her two research papers prove the virus that causes COVID-19 was created in a Chinese lab and is a Chinese bioweapon.</s>DR. LI MENG YAN, M.D. PHD, VIROLOGIST, WHISTLEBLOWER: It is modern bioweapon in unrestricted way.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): But a CNN investigation has found shoddy citations, questionable sourcing and so many scientists who say it's bunk, Yan's paper is not a credible, scientific work. But it is directly linked to one of Donald Trump's former top strategists, Steve Bannon.</s>STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Do you believe that a super spreader or some - was actually sent and somehow has been focused on the White House or focused on President Trump?</s>MILES GUO: One hundred percent.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): That 100 percent comes from Chinese billionaire and exile Miles Guo, who's using his money and Bannon's media expertise to try to discredit the Chinese government. Bannon and Guo appeared together on Bannon's podcast, fill the pages of a website called "G News" and began two non-profits together, The Rule of Law Society and Rule of Law Foundation. These are the groups who say they support Dr. Li Meng Yan and appear on the top of her research reports. Columbia University virologist Angela Rasmussen says the papers are scientific junk.</s>ANGELA RASMUSSEN, VIROLOGIST, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Anybody with an actual background in virology or molecular biology who reads this paper will realize that much of it is actually nonsense.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): CNN spoke to a half dozen scientists who say Yan's papers are filled with half-truths, not scientifically tenable. One who even met with Yan and said her first study wasn't plausible. University of Michigan Professor, Anna Mapp, says the paper lacked a basic obligation to scientific practices.</s>ANNA MAPP, PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: I was also really disturbed to see such a shoddy piece of work.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): And CNN could find no trace of Yan's three co- authors in the U.S. or China. Yan didn't respond to tell us why, but a source tells us that those three co-authors are pseudonyms for U.S.- based Chinese scientist who fear using their own names, but the source offered no proof. Miles Guo told us Yan's work is Yan's work, independent of any editorial control by me. Steve Bannon offered no response. Yet there is more about Yan's work. Some of the sources of her research appear not to be credible. Amanda Peiffer, who's getting a Ph.D. in chemical biology, first alerted CNN to issues with the citations at the very end of Yan's paper.</s>AMANDA PEIFFER, CHEMICAL BIOLOGY PH.D. CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: People who aren't experts, people who aren't scientists, people who really haven't done anything, these are not coming from credible sources. I think that's really concerning.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): A CNN analyst finds Yan's citations include a paper that appeared only as a post on a LinkedIn, a report written by a person that CNN cannot locate, running a company that does not seem to exist. Three of the citations that linked to posts on a website opposed to genetically modified food, then there is citation 23, which links to anonymous blog posts published back in March. Parts of Yan's papers appear to be pulled directly from these anonymous blogs.</s>GRIFFIN(on camera): I don't want to say copied and pasted, but it almost has that same effect.</s>PEIFFER: They took the exact same figures, the exact same phrasing, and the exact same captions and put those into the report that was Yan's paper. And that does not happen in science.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): And guess where one of those blogs first appeared months before Yan's paper? "G News," the disinformation news site linked to Steve Bannon and Miles Guo.</s>RASMUSSEN: And as much as I hate to think of the idea of component scientists using their work for political propaganda, to me that's what this seems to be.</s>GRIFFIN(voice over): Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.</s>CABRERA: A quick break, we'll be right back.

Divided We Stand: Inside America's Anger.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Dr. Chandra leaves behind a wife and two children. Warren Bowe was a beloved high school English teacher in Wisconsin. Recently retired, he passed away Sunday from coronavirus complications. His teaching career spanned more than 20 years and impacted thousands of students who remember him as a true inspiration. He was just 57 years old. May they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The following is a CNN Special Report.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With its 29 electoral votes, Donald Trump wins Florida.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a stunning defeat.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He won this battleground state right here, Florida.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN HOST: Four years later.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're still supporting Donald Trump, you're a racist. You're a bigot.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My students are very aware of what is happening.</s>AUDIENCE: Breonna Taylor!</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're very aware of police killings.</s>KAYE: When you do meet people who are supporting Joe Biden, what's that conversation like?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very short.</s>KAYE: The political divide, wider than ever.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're literally talking in different realms of fact.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just now nasty.</s>KAYE: And in Florida.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are expecting a record number of people to mail-in vote millions of ballots.</s>KAYE: The anger and unrest are driving voters to the polls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to do something. I wanted to get out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What made you switch parties?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like the party has moved in a different direction.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only solidified my position.</s>KAYE: The difference, who wins this swing state often wins the White House. Is Florida a must win for Donald Trump?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There really is no map. He really has to win here to have any chance of being president.</s>KAYE: Why it matters for Biden?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the most important election in our lifetime.</s>KAYE: And for Trump.</s>TRUMP: My administration is focused on delivering real results.</s>KAYE: How would you describe this part of Florida?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10,000 kilowatts of red state debate.</s>KAYE: Tonight on a CNN special report, Divided We Stand: Inside America's Anger. Here in Central Florida, Trump won Sumter County by nearly 70 percent. In the retirement community, the villages, Republicans outnumber Democrats two to one.</s>KAYE: How are things of the villages these days?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tense.</s>KAYE: Has it always been so divisive in the villages?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Trump. You know, all the people that hated Obama, there were a lot and they've turned into Trump supporters. My girlfriend is big Trump supporter.</s>KAYE: And you're still together?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barely. I don't know if we're going to make it through the election.</s>KAYE: Is there a political divide in the villages? Do you feel it as Trump supporters?</s>DIANA HAMMOND, PRESIDENT, VILLAGERS FOR TRUMP CLUB: My husband and I are golfers and my husband, in fact, I think he's out golfing today with three of his friends who are very, very strong Democrats.</s>STAN SWIES, ELECTIONS DIRECTOR, VILLAGERS FOR TRUMP CLUB: We don't see a lot of fights arguing here. Everybody gets along here. It's the friendliest hometown in the United States.</s>KAYE: In June of 2020, Donald Trump retweeted a video from a Trump rally that had taken place here. The White House is in damage control again. A guy in his golf cart chanting white power. The White House is defense. The President didn't see it. What was that like?</s>ED MCGINTY, ANTI-DONALD TRUMP VOTER: Well, I was across the street. I just thought that guy scream white power, was just the tip of the iceberg. I believe after almost four years of fighting these people, arguing with these people, if you're still supporting Donald Trump, you're a racist. You're a bigot. You're a greedy sob, or you're stupid. I was going in public grocery store yesterday. And this one guy comes up to me and he started screaming at me, you know? And what I do now is the after a minute or two screaming, I say to him, I said, I'm going to give you the first shot free. You punch me in the face, and then I'm going to send you to the hospital. I'm not going to be intimidated by these SLPs (ph).</s>MCGINTY: How do you like my side?</s>KAYE: You have been out and about protesting in the villages, protesting Donald Trump for years now?</s>MCGINTY: Yeah, one of my favorite spots, because I get so much traffic, yeah, yeah.</s>KAYE: You say you were physically attacked by a Trump supporter?</s>MCGINTY: He jumps in front of my golf cart. I had to hit the brakes. And he grabbed me by my neck and dug his fingernails in my neck and he dragged me out onto the pavement and I got to my feet and I punched him in the face as hard as I can punch her as his first throat. This is the first punch I thrown in 50 years, but I nailed them.</s>KAYE: But, you know, you look at what you're doing. I mean, you have your signage, you've called people here in the villages racist bigots, Nazis. KKK, do you think that you're adding to the divisiveness?</s>MCGINTY: Well, I didn't make them be bigots and racists? I'm just pointing it out.</s>KAYE: Do you feel it all you've done has changed any minds.</s>MCGINTY: I never intended to. That's where people get me wrong. Trying to just point out to the Democrats around here, you don't have to hide from these people anymore.</s>CHRIS STANLEY, PRESIDENT, THE VILLAGERS DEMOCRATIC CLUB: When I moved here, six years ago, you didn't see a democratic bumper sticker, you didn't see a democratic shirt, people would whisper to you, I'm a Democrat too. There are a lot of people who I've asked if they would publicly talk about why they voted for Trump in '16. And what's changed their opinion and why they're voting for Joe Biden in '20. And while they'll talk to me, they're afraid to talk to the press. Politics is a big part of life, and the villages, and you can lose your social group.</s>STEPHEN STARUCH, VOTED FOR TRUMP IN 2016 & VOTING FOR BIDEN IN 2020: And might fall into the camp of those who voted against Hillary Clinton versus voted for Donald Trump. She had her missteps and it's kind of like trying to make a tough choice. And I said, Well, I'm going to vote. And that end up being the vote, and I could have never anticipated, you know, what has transpired since then.</s>KAYE: Did you have confidence in Trump when you voted for him?</s>STARUCH: Yes, to some degree, I had this belief that a business person could take over the world's largest, most complex business called a $4 trillion plus government and kind of make some sense of it.</s>KAYE: What happened over the past four years that changed your mind?</s>STARUCH: The answer is starting with the inaugural if you have to start lying to people about the number of people showed up, and it's just been the series of lies ever since.</s>KAYE: There's more than 100,000 people that live here. Have you been able to find other people like yourself who regret their decision to vote for Trump?</s>STARUCH: Not very many, very few actually. I respect people's right to vote for Donald Trump just as much I hope they respect my right to vote for Joe Biden. Can we keep it civil? That's what our democracy is all about, which is not necessarily the case, if you've seen some of the YouTube videos.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell Donald Trump to come down here, I want to punch him right in the nose.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You won't punch him in the nose.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would punch him right in the nose.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? OK.</s>JOHN CALANDRO, PRO-TRUMP VOTER: This idea that we're out feuding in the streets because nobody can get along is nonsense. We've seen one terrible incident of eight seconds, that the national media and international media has tried to blow out of proportion.</s>KAYE: Are you talking about the guy at the Trump rally who, on his golf cart was chanting white power and that the President retweeted?</s>CALANDRO: I'm more than happy to talk about the video. Because what led up to that unfortunate incident was provocative, it was vulgar. It was just nasty.</s>KAYE: We talked to Ed McGinty, and he says he's been attacked, at least two times.</s>CALANDRO: I wasn't there. I can't respond. I would say this. So, I think the fact that we have large numbers of people who are willing to go out and express their support is good.</s>KAYE: How do you think the pandemics been handled by President Trump?</s>CALANDRO: If you listen to what the Democrats are saying, what is it that they would do that was different? You know, even if you go back and look at the early reporting on the pandemic.</s>KAYE: He probably won't put mask mandate.</s>CALANDRO: The President had a mask -- The President had recommended the wearing of mask back in March.</s>KAYE: It's not a mandate.</s>CALANDRO: Yeah.</s>KAYE: But then he also didn't wear one.</s>CALANDRO: But he was also surrounded by people who were tested every day.</s>KAYE: But he did hold this indoor rally, several indoor rallies.</s>CALANDRO: Sure. Let's see what happens.</s>TRUMP: I hear from your two great senators and your governor that we're doing very well in Oklahoma. That's the word.</s>KAYE: Coming up.</s>BIDEN: Where you talk about them be losers?</s>KAYE: Do you see yourself as an outlier in terms of the community of veterans?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a devastating hit from a category four.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need is more support, and not to feel abandoned.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one ever thinks something so traumatic and terrible is going to actually happen to you until it does.</s>KAYE: Towards the Northeast Duval County has voted for a Republican presidential candidate every election since 1980, but in 2018, a sign of a possible demographic shift when Democratic nominee for Governor Andrew Gillum won this Republican stronghold.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some monumental movement in the Deep South.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Jacksonville, Florida Confederate statue has been removed without warning in the middle of the night.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The guy that was at the very top of it was Charles Hemming. He fought to maintain the status quo of slavery. I was raised here in Jacksonville. Did you find him babe?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told you they weren't in there. Throughout my life, I have definitely noticed how conservative it is even driving down the street, walking down the street as a child. My sister, I would count the amount of Confederate flags that we would see. Even in elementary school, I remember walking to school and then a pickup truck drives by and shouts the N word at us.</s>MONIQUE SAMPSON, SCHOOL TEACHER, VOTING FOR BIDEN: I teach seventh grade exceptional student education. I teach American histories. It's just very interesting because children are very aware of what's going on. In fact, we had -- I had other students drew about Black Lives Matter. They know exactly what it is. They know exactly what's going on. They're very aware of police killings. If I can teach them how to become individuals, but this route has to be safe enough for them to grow up to become individuals. Sorry, I cannot go back to school after the election, look my kids in the face in good conscience if Donald Trump is reelected and I didn't vote. I definitely look at voting for Kamala and voting for Joe Biden as a vote against Trump. In my opinion, seeing his response to COVID, seeing his response to the uprisings, he has to be defeated.</s>APRIL NUBIAN ROBERTS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAM ORGANIZER, NEW FLORIDA MAJORITY & FIELD ORGANIZER, FLORIDA RIGHTS RESTORATION COALITION: In 2018, there was a lot of voter registration happening in Duval County. When I was out on the streets, registering folks to vote, I noticed that a lot of people didn't know where they eligible based off of felonies, sometimes even misdemeanors. Probably in a day I would speak to 40 to 50 young black men, and out of the 40 to 50, I may register two to three. COVID-19 has stalled us actively being out doing grassroots movements, being out and talking to folks hasn't really been a thing.</s>KAYE: In 2018, during the midterm elections, amendment four was passed into law.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Voters in Florida decided to restore voting rights to felons.</s>KAYE: This is restoring voting rights for more than a million people.</s>DESMOND MEADE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA RIGHTS RESTORATION COALITION: Florida held on to 150-year-old Jim Crow law that permanently barred American citizens from voting for the rest of their life, right?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An appeals court ruling that could favor Republicans and the November election.</s>KAYE: The governor's office argued that a complete sentence means all fines and fees and restitution would be paid. On September 11, 2020, less than a month before the deadline to register to vote for the election, this federal appeals court blocked hundreds of thousands of felons from voting. What happened with that?</s>MEADE: At the end of the day, should our elections be free and accessible by American citizens? And the 11th circuit said no.</s>ROSEMARY MCCOY, RETURNING CITIZEN, PRO-BIDEN: Who needs the vote more than underserved? I moved here in 1987. Africa America already distressed this voting system. I was in the military. I've been in Jacksonville, Florida ever since my discharge from the military. I was arrested in 2013 for racketeering, scheme to defraud, and theft. I believe I started out with $6,007. And I believe the interest continue to accrue on it. So this is why you never you never can end this thing. It's crazy. It's madness. I can't vote because I'm too poor to vote. I had to pay to vote.</s>KAYE: You've had past felony convictions, now you're able to vote. Who are you voting for in this presidential election?</s>MEADE: At the end of the day, I have to live with this internally. And I keep it to myself.</s>KAYE: So you don't want to tell us.</s>MEADE: Because it's so sacred.</s>KAYE: I understand.</s>MEADE: It is so sacred because the minute I say that, right, what it does, it defiles the sacredness of my vote. Voting is something that's higher than politics. This is not a political battle. This is a battle about human rights and by human dignity.</s>KAYE: Down South Miami Dade has more voters than any other county in Florida. And in 2016 the county had the highest turnout for a presidential election in 12 years.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): They are practicing witchcraft, the darkness.</s>DANIELA FERRERA, FOUNDER, CUBANOS CON BIDEN: It's really crazy what's going on in the media markets here in South Florida in Miami Dade County, in particular.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): They are vibrating with the devil.</s>FERRERA: There's a lot of misinformation, disinformation on Spanish language radio in particular. The number one show for Spanish language radio recently compared Black Lives Matter to (foreign language), which is witchcraft. My own family members unfortunately have been impacted by the lies and misinformation that they're listening to on Spanish language radio. And it's led to some really difficult conversations between us because it's really tough to have a political conversation or discussion when you're literally talking in different realms of fact. My mom was a doctor in Cuba. My dad was a small businessman. He was constantly jailed by Castro's Thugs. And as a result, my family and I decided to leave Cuba. You know, the whole socialism communism, Boogeyman that these Republicans have created to win over, you know, Cuban American voters and Venezuelan Americans, and Nicaraguan Americans in South Florida, it's ridiculous. Joe Biden was vice president for eight years and to the country become a socialist country? Did we become a communist country? Absolutely not. And, you know, I think a lot of folks are really waking up to the reality that the Republican Party and Donald Trump especially have exploited our trauma.</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Latinos will be the largest non-white voting group in 2014.</s>DARIO MORENO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FIU'S CUBAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE: The truth is what's key about Dade County is not, who's going to win it but the margins. In fact, Obama wins Florida in 2012 because he's able to increase his margin among Hispanics in Dade County and African Americans in Dade County. And although he did worse in the rest of the state than he did in 2008, the increase in margin in Dade County wanted for him.</s>KAYE: Trump earned more than half of the Cuban American vote in 2016. Do you think anything has changed in the last four years?</s>MORENO: I think he's going to do significantly better among Cuban Americans. He spent a lot of time working the community. He's made a lot of trips to South Florida. And he's also moved to West Palm Beach.</s>MIKE GARCIA, CUBAN AMERICAN VOTING FOR TRUMP: My family, they're Cuban immigrants. They fled Cuba, when Castro took over. They came here, had to start all over again with nothing.</s>KAYE: What do you think of Donald Trump as a person?</s>GARCIA: Well, as a person, I'm not so fun of him. I think he can tweet a lot less, but I didn't hire him for him as a person. I hired him to get the job done.</s>KAYE: So nothing has changed for you over the last four years that you've seen that would make you hesitate to support him again?</s>GARCIA: It's only solidified my position because, you know, as a Catholic, I'm very proud of the fact that Donald Trump was the first president in U.S. history not only to attend a mature life, but the speaker one. And that's something that, you know, being pro life that that really made me proud. But it's not just that, he protects our right to bear arms, lower taxes.</s>KAYE: You don't think you need to raise taxes to try and help people through the pandemic financially?</s>GARCIA: Absolutely not, I think that, you know, first of all, as an American, I want to keep more of my hard-earned money. I made that money. Not the government.</s>KAYE: On the issue of assault weapons, Biden's gun control plan does outline a buyback program for assault weapons and high capacity magazines, but the program isn't mandatory. So you're OK with that?</s>GARCIA: No. Any law for gun control is an infringement. You ban assault weapons, you're only banning for the good people because of that people aren't going to all of a sudden say, oh, I guess it's bad now, let me turn on my assault weapon.</s>JOHN BARNITT, MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS SHOOTING SURVIVOR & FIRST TIME VOTER: We had to start wearing lanyards after the shooting to like make sure that you were student. These are some of my hall passes and stuff. I was in my fourth period a student swung open the band doors, and like screeched, code red, code red, everyone inside now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School here in Parkland, Florida. We're about an hour north of Miami.</s>BARNITT: You could hear a pin drop, everyone was silent.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another school shooting in the U.S. and expelled students opens fire on his former classmates.</s>BARNITT: I heard what sounded like firecrackers.</s>KAYE: Did you know any of the 17 students and teachers that were killed?</s>BARNITT: One of the students, her name was Carmen (ph). She also was in drama. We talked like we had a little friend group.</s>KAYE: Parkland is still one of the 10 deadliest shootings in U.S. history. It happened about two and a half years ago in the middle of Donald Trump's presidency. How would you say President Trump handled that shooting?</s>BARNITT: Terribly. He did basically nothing. We need to find new solutions because my generation is disproportionately affected by gun violence. No one ever thinks something like so traumatic and terrible is going to actually happen to you until it does. That's the reality of America. And that's why we have to vote. I know that if I do not vote, that's a vote for Donald Trump.</s>KAYE (voice-over): The panhandle of Florida is historically Republican. Here in Escambia County, Trump won by more than 20% in 2016.</s>JAY WELLS, VETERAN FOR BIDEN: You have a president that hasn't just publicly disparaged John McCain, but disparage his service. Come over here if you need a towel. The statements of him calling people losers. When you look at this president, and you're trying to figure out what the truth is, it gets harder and harder to defend that maybe it's not the truth.</s>KAYE (voice-over): How would you describe this part of Florida?</s>WELLS: 10,000 kilowatts of red state debate. You know, being a Marine, I try to focus on the common ground.</s>UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Four more years, four more years.</s>KAYE (on-camera): As we approach Election Day here in 2020, do you see yourself as an outlier in terms of the community of veterans? Are there other veterans that are voting Biden, are you on your own?</s>WELLS: No, I find that it's pretty much just about as divided as the rest of the United States.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Why are there so many veterans and military here in the panhandle?</s>LISA NELLESSEN SAVAGE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL: We have hundreds of thousands of military in the panhandle that come through a Pensacola or Destin Fort Walton Beach. I mean look around the quality of life here is just fantastic. You can't beat it.</s>KAYE (on-camera): How does that high concentration of military and veterans play in the political demographic here?</s>SAVAGE: Santa Rosa was 74% of the registered voters voted for Donald Trump. If you go further, you get all the way to Holmes County where it was an 80 percentile.</s>MATT BARTZ, VETERAN FOR TRUMP: I heard that report about the Trump said that the veterans were losers and suckers. Two best flags right there. But honestly, that's just like, like everybody wants to say it's fake news.</s>KAYE (on-camera): What made you join the Marines?</s>BARTZ: When I was 18. I work with a police officer and he kept told me that I didn't have the courage or the strength to go into the Marine Corps. So, one day I decided, you know, I'm going to prove you wrong. What you doing girl? I served 21 years in the United States Marine Corps,</s>KAYE (on-camera): And then you came down to the panhandle about 2014?</s>BARTZ: That's correct.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got a partial order to fired off fuel tank</s>BARTZ: I received orders when I was in Afghanistan, to come down here and be an instructor at the schoolhouse to Naval Air Station Pensacola, and been here ever since.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Let me ask you about the Veterans Choice Program. Because critics are saying that privatizing the VA has actually led to longer waits for appointments and a new analysis of the VA claims data by ProPublica and PolitiFact says there are higher costs for taxpayers actually. So, despite all that, you are still supporting Donald Trump in 2020.</s>BARTZ: Absolutely. And I believe that once COVID gets over with, the pandemic is over with. I believe that the VA health care system is going to start working a lot better. My friends that I know, we're all military, and they all believe the same thing that Donald Trump is going to be the person who's going to help us with the next four years.</s>KAYE (on-camera): When you do meet people who are supporting Joe Biden. What's that conversation like?</s>BARTZ: A very short. It's usually turned into a political battle.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Do you have any family or friends who are voting for Joe Biden?</s>BARTZ: No.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Not a single one.</s>BARTZ: I have a single one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time and money are running out for small business owners with coronavirus cases on the rise and states rolling back their reopening plans recovery looking bleak here.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: We've given a lot of money to a lot of small businesses all over the country in itself.</s>JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Too much of the money in these programs has gone to big business. Most people don't think 500 employees is a small business.</s>COLLIER MERRILL, PRO-TRUMP BUSINESS OWNER: We have a thing in football called gulfarium, which is something my grandfather got involved with 60 years ago. We have about 300,000 people come through a year. I have five restaurants here in the Pensacola area and the one we're at now fish house opened a 21 years ago.</s>KAYE (on-camera): How is the pandemic impacted this area directly?</s>MERRILL: We were trying to keep everybody employed that we could.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Has the President's handling of the pandemic changed your support at all for him? Have you wavered at all?</s>MERRILL: No, against no. I think I think he's done a pretty good job with everything's done with it.</s>SAVAGE: In 2019, $930 million was put into our economy just from tourists. So, when, you know, March hit April, May. It just devastated they lost upwards of 50% of their tax revenue.</s>SHEILA GREEN, OWNER, IT'S PERSONAL BY SHEILA GREEN, BOTIQUE & VENUE: I own a retail women's shop. And I also have a banquet hall. This right here are the contracts that were set up. Either they canceled the date, or they moved it to next year.</s>KAYE (on-camera): How have things changed business wise since the pandemic?</s>GREEN: There is no business period.</s>KAYE (on-camera): So, tell me why as a small business owner, you're planning to vote for Joe Biden.</s>GREEN: I know that he's been a politician all his life. And he's probably never stepped into small business shoes. But I'm hoping that I feel like he has the heart.</s>KAYE (on-camera): What was it like for you to get your business off the ground here? Were there challenges?</s>HUDSON: It seemed like I was climbing the biggest mountain I could ever in my life. That's a fresh milk cream. I didn't have access to resources. I -- not coming from a family that's fluent.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Tell me about this organization that you've started for small business owners.</s>HUDSON: Biden show of hands. Who here plans in the Business Roundtable for this coming up election to vote for Mr. Trump? There's many more people like me who weren't born into money and we wanted to help, we wanted to assist.</s>KAYE (on-camera): As a small business owner, why are you voting for Joe Biden?</s>HUDSON: Why wouldn't I? I have to, I feel compelled to. We're not just talking about personal preferences here. We're talking about my safety.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Here in the center of Florida, interstate four runs 130 miles from Daytona Beach through Orlando to Tampa, one in four Floridians live in this region. A region Trump won by over 200,000 votes in 2016.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurricane Maria is rapidly intensifying.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Millions of Americans are being hit right now by catastrophic storm.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a devastating hit from a category four.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire island is without power.</s>KAYE (voice-over): What did it sound like?</s>MARIO ROSA, BIDEN VOTER: Oh my god. What woke me up was a like a banging. Right. Most of them remember was looking out the window just seeing a white haze of wind.</s>KAYE (on-camera): It was one of the strongest storms in recorded history.</s>ROSA: Yes. My house was 100 days without power. We felt like disconnected. There was barely any signal for cell phones.</s>KAYE (on-camera): In June of 2018, you and your mother decided to move here to Davenport, Florida in Polk County. What brought you here?</s>ROSA: Yes, after the storm hit. I definitely felt that my future was limited. And it hurts me to say it. It really hurts me to say because I love my island and I love Puerto Rico.</s>KAYE (on-camera): What did you make of President Trump's response to the hurricane hitting Puerto Rico?</s>ROSA: Well, not sufficient but putting it lightly. The lease, things that we want our paper towels (ph). What we need is much more support and not to feel abandoned.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Are you going to vote?</s>ROSA: Definitely.</s>KAYE (voice-over): So you have the opportunity to try and help vote Donald Trump out of office?</s>ROSA: I'm definitely hoping that that's going to be the case come November.</s>KAYE (voice-over): The University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research estimates that as many as 50,000 Puerto Ricans move to Florida following Hurricane Maria back in 2017, the majority of who moved here to Orlando and the surrounding counties, how many of them would you say stayed?</s>FERNANDO RIVERA, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA: That's obviously a hard number to track. One pattern of population movement with Puerto Ricans is circular. So basically, people come stateside, and, you know, see if things go well, and then might return to the island.</s>KAYE (on-camera): In general, Hispanics now make up a record 16.4% of Florida's registered voters. What does that mean for the presidential election this year?</s>RIVERA: Well, it means that a large segment of the electorate comes from a Hispanic background. Hearing the I-4 Corridor, that stretch from the west of the state all the way to the east of the state. That's where the -- a lot of Hispanics are concentrated. It's about 40% of all Puerto Ricans live in this area.</s>KAYE (on-camera): What is it about the I-4 Corridor that makes it so unique?</s>SUSAN MACMANUS, FLORIDA POLITICAL EXPERT: The fact of the matter is it's the most divided part of the state from a partisan perspective. A state is divided into media markets. Florida has 10 media market, along the I-4 Corridor or two media markets, and they are the two largest media markets in Florida from a registered voter perspective. 45% almost half of all Florida's current registered voters watch television or could watch television in those two media markets.</s>KAYE (on-camera): In 2016, there was upwards of $100 million spent on ad campaigns in those media markets. What does that say about the efforts by the candidates to win these voters?</s>MACMANUS: They'll go to any cost but it also says that television particularly local television is a way that you can reach the broadest swath of voters quickly.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The radical left wing mob agenda take over our cities, defund the police.</s>BIDEN: Fires are burning, and we have a president who fanned the flames. He can't stop the violence, because for years he's formed.</s>MACMANUS: Generational divides are the deepest we've ever seen in Florida's politics. 30% of millennials and Gen Z-ers are registered.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Do you find that people are afraid to say whether or not they support Donald Trump or maybe even Joe Biden?</s>ERICA DIANGELO, SWING VOTER: Yes. Actually, when people found out that I voted for Trump in 2016, I actually had people find me on social media, and find a number to my company and reach out and say nasty things like even one person was like, I hope you die of cancer.</s>KAYE (on-camera): And how are you feeling about Trump in 2020?</s>DIANGELO: Well, it didn't go exactly as planned. And there's, of course been moments where I'm like, yikes. I don't like that representation of our country. I mean, if I were to go back in 2016, I would still vote for Trump. But now that we're in 2020, I'm still undecided. I have not committed to voting one way or another.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Why do you think we're so polarized, and so divided?</s>DIANGELO: Well, I mean, I hate to say it to you guys, but I think in part is the media and you see one headline, and doesn't really match up with the story. And then you see on a different media outlet, the same story with a completely different headline, and kind of like pointing fingers and placing blame.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Up next.</s>STEVE SCHALE, FLORIDA-BASED POLITICAL STRATEGIST: It's got a lot of those Deep South rural white voters who just it just kind of gone away from us.</s>KAYE (on-camera): You were a registered Democrat. What made you switch parties?</s>IMANI THOMAS, STUDENT, FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY: I remember calling my mom I was like, Mom, I'm going to protest and said, in a middle of pandemic. No, you're not.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Just miles away from the capitol of Florida, Jefferson County went twice for Obama and flipped to Trump in 2016.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is definitely Trump country. But you know what country goes all the way across this country.</s>UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: The people united, but never be divided.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to sit at the table and we all got to be looked at as equal.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Why is Florida historically such a close call in the presidential election?</s>SCHALE: It's an accident. It's almost kind of like God is playing a joke on our politics.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States has a new President.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gore campaign was folded the margin isn't 6,000 which is what our board is showing, but in fact, 600.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN cannot project that the President of the United States will carry the state of Florida.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama won Florida.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN can now confirm the President Barack Obama has won the state of Florida.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With its 29 electoral votes, Donald Trump wins Florida.</s>SCHALE: You'll see one trend that looks like it should benefit Democrats. So for example, Puerto Ricans moving in mass to Central Florida, registering Democratic should really help Democrats around the state. At the same time, Democrats are struggling with white working class voters who live in that part of the state. Older voters are moving here that are more conservative and they kind of balance each other out that I don't see it stopping anytime soon.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Back in 2016, there were huge upsets in this area, in Jefferson County next door that was a pivot county.</s>SCHALE: You saw those non college educated white voters, Southern Democrats who probably had sort of had a toehold in the Democratic Party, just go to Trump and you saw that really all across North Florida.</s>KAYE (on-camera): You show any signs of flipping back do you think?</s>SCHALE: I doubt it. I mean, it just again, I think it's got a lot of those deep south rural, frankly, white voters who just I think it just kind of gone away from us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're listening to the faith radio network</s>KIRK REAMS, CLERK OF COURT, JEFFERSON COUNTY FLORIDA: This is for my offices here. Morning</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.</s>REAMS: Not bad. What you all got going on today?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh nothing much.</s>REAMS: Nothing much. Hanging out. I remember growing up, I would ask my parents who they voted for, and they would say, it was not.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Your parents and your grandparents grew up here.</s>REAMS: Right.</s>KAYE (on-camera): And they were registered Democrats.</s>REAMS: They were. Yes, we go back about 10 generations in this county.</s>KAYE (on-camera): And you were registered Democrat as well.</s>REAMS: I was.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Up until June 2019, you were a registered Democrat.</s>REAMS: Right.</s>KAYE (on-camera): What happened? What made you switch parties?</s>REAMS: I just kind of felt like the party that was my great, great grandparents and my grandparents, you know, that they were Democrats. And I feel like the party kind of left, you know, kind of left them.</s>KAYE (on-camera): In your circles, do you know of other people who switched parties?</s>REAMS: Yes. Actually, before the pandemic, and we only have about 10,000 registered voters in this county and I switched over around 50 at that point in time.</s>KAYE (on-camera): How do you feel about Donald Trump, the candidate himself?</s>REAMS: I'm not a huge Donald Trump fan, but he's our president. And, you know, he represents the Republican Party. And that party is more closely aligned with my values related to abortion, gun control and, and fiscal areas.</s>KAYE (on-camera): So nothing that Donald Trump has done over the last four years is his response to things like the pandemic or uprisings or racist events? Nothing would change your mind?</s>REAMS: I'm not going to sit out there and hold a sign for him. But no one's perfect. Everybody has their faults.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Critics say he's a racist.</s>REAMS: I don't really, you know, I honestly don't follow a lot in national politics.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Critics say he lies.</s>REAMS: I don't really have an opinion on that either. I think that no matter who's in power, they're going to have critics. And that's just how it goes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What in your bypass triple because it is not being use? For this man is what his hand. But for some of us it is faith. Lord have mercy.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Has the pandemic impacted you personally?</s>THOMAS: Yes. I say Sundays are really hard because I don't have interaction with people other than my family members. My older sister had tested positive for COVID. It was definitely scary seeing her like that she could barely get out the bed and eat food without her feeling just frail.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Wow. It's amazing. She's lucky she survived.</s>THOMAS: It was scary.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blue lives matter.</s>UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Blue lives matter. Blue lives matter.</s>TRUMP: What do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name.</s>TRUMP: Proud Boys stand back and stand by.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This debate was an embarrassment for the United States of America.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he was asked to condemn white supremacists, he said he could but he didn't do it.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Just six months really before Election Day, 46-year- old George Floyd was killed in police custody. That video.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want our body cam</s>KAYE (on-camera): It sparked millions of people to start protesting around the country, they still are. You were one of those people.</s>THOMAS: I remember on Instagram scrolling and seeing the video and how much it affected me just to treat somebody so terrible, like treat a person like an animal and I wanted to do something I wanted to get out. And I remember calling my mom and I was like, Mom, I'm going to protest. She said, in the middle of a pandemic. No, you're not. And I said, Mom, I'm going to protest.</s>KAYE (on-camera): Do you think that black lives matter? And the pandemic will be driving forces to get people to the polls to vote?</s>THOMAS: Absolutely. I definitely have some friends. They're like, well, why should I go to go vote because it doesn't matter. He's going to win anyway. And I'm like, no, that's not thing.</s>KAYE (voice-over): In 2016, black voter turnout fell for the first time in 20 years country wide. In terms of changing the outcome of the 2020 election here in Florida. What does that say to you?</s>KATRINELL DAVIS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: I'm more concerned with the issues or the constraints that may be put in place to impact their participation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: We want peace, we want peace.</s>DAVIS: I'm not concerned about their willingness to vote or their drive to vote.</s>UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: The people united, will (ph) never be divided.</s>DAVIS: My concern is for our republic. But I have hope in the youth in what they are capable of achieving.

More Than 83,000 COVID-19 Cases Recorded on Friday, the Single Highest day Since the Outbreak of Virus; Trump Voting Today Before Heading to Rallies in Three COVID Hotspots

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN. More people get their news from CNN than any other news source</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some breaking news. The U.S. reporting more than 80,000 new COVID-19 cases.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are now in the full surge.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth of the matter is that we're turning the corner into a tsunami.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As president, I'll mandate mask wearing in all federal buildings and all interstate transportation because masks save lives. Period.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We really need to double down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures.</s>CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you on this Saturday, October 24th. I'm Christi Paul. We got somebody else up early with us this morning.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Christi. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell. Always a pleasure to see you. We haven't gotten a chance to do this together in about a year. It's crazy to think about how much the world has changed since then.</s>PAUL: Oh my gosh. And look at where we are now, Boris.</s>SANCHEZ: Right.</s>PAUL: No kidding. Look at where we are now. Ten days until this election and while we are rounding the final turn of the 2020 race, you just heard what the President said there, we are not, as he insisted again yesterday, rounding the turn of this pandemic.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes. The U.S. now reporting its highest number of new coronavirus infections in one day since this pandemic started. Again, the highest number of new infections in a single day. More than 83,000 new cases added just yesterday.</s>PAUL: So I want to let those numbers sink in for you and pull out some of these numbers that are so important. Hospitalizations, for example, have increased by 33 percent this month which means, right now, there are 41,000 people in the hospital fighting this virus.</s>SANCHEZ: CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval joins us now live from New York with the latest and part of the concern here, Polo, is that we really haven't hit the apex of this fall surge. The next few months are going to be worse.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christi, you keep hearing it from those medical experts that the worst potentially is still ahead here and that number that you just mentioned, we cannot say it enough, 83,000 new cases, that is the highest number of new confirmed COVID cases in the country ever. Those are over 83,000 people that are just starting their fight against COVID. Here in New York, there is concern about hospitalizations as well, the highest since June.</s>SANDOVAL: This D.C. art display is a visual representation of the lives taken by a virus that seems to be surging again. Over 223,000 dead and counting. More than eight months into the COVID crisis, hospitalizations and infections are at an all-time high in many states across the country. This week marked the first time since late July that the number of daily new cases exceeded 71,000.</s>FAUCI: If you look at the numbers of the daily infections, the upticks on the map of more than 30 states that are having upticks, it's not going to spontaneously turn around unless we do something about it.</s>SANDOVAL: As the President claims that we are rounding the turn on the pandemic, his opponent and many medical experts are warning we are only headed toward a dark winter.</s>PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE: The reality is that the worst could be yet to come and that the beginning has been more or less the warm-up act for what's about to hit and we're already seeing that across the northern states. If you look at a COVID-19 heat map, the whole northern part is lit up.</s>SANDOVAL: With hope hanging on a safe COVID-19, vaccine drug maker AstraZeneca said Friday that it has the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to resume its vaccine trial in the U.S.. It had been on pause in September after a volunteer in Britain developed a neurological condition. The head of the National Institutes of Health is growing increasingly worried that even after a safe vaccine is approved, a growing number of Americans may not be willing to take it. A recent CNN poll found 45 percent would not try to get a vaccine even if one was widely available, possibly allowing the virus to stick around for years, says Dr. Francis Collins.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I've been talking so optimistically about how we are likely to have a vaccine by the end of the year, but if only 50 percent of Americans are interested in taking it, we're never going to get to that point of immunity across the population where this COVID-19 goes away.</s>SANDOVAL: This week, an updated model published in the journal "Nature" forecasts some possible grim scenarios, suggesting that we could see up to a million COVID deaths in the U.S. by the end of February if social distancing mandates are eased and only about half the population wears masks in public. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, tells CNN he thinks the U.S. should just mandate mask use.</s>FAUCI: I get the argument saying, well, if you mandate a mask, then you're going to have to enforce it and that'll create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>SANDOVAL: This weekend, Big Ten football is back, prompting some of the mayors in college towns involved to ask the conference for help fighting the spread of the virus. The mayors wrote that football games, quote, "Generate a lot of activity, social gatherings and the consumption of alcohol. These activities within our communities have also been associated with an increased spread of COIVD-19."</s>SANDOVAL: And health officials believe that small gatherings largely to blame for many of these increases, specifically some of those family events, Boris and Christi. In fact, yesterday we heard from Maryland's governor -- at least this week we heard from the governor who says that that was one of the main causes of transmission in the state, followed by house parties, guys.</s>PAUL: All righty. Polo Sandoval, great wrap up for us. Thank you so much.</s>SANDOVAL: Thank you.</s>SANCHEZ: The pandemic is going to be a major challenge for whoever wins the election and a record number of Americans are handing down their verdict early. More than 52 million ballots have already been cast. That's according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research and Catalist.</s>PAUL: Now, that figure eclipses 2016's pre-election total in 38 states. That's where data were reported at that time. It's more than 38 percent of the 136 million total ballots cast in 2016.</s>SANCHEZ: That is an incredible figure and today both campaigns are busy in the battleground states. President Trump is heading to North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. Vice President Pence, he's hitting two stops in Florida. The Democratic nominee meantime, Joe Biden, has two events in Pennsylvania and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, will be in Ohio. Notably, former President Barack Obama is stumping for Biden in South Florida.</s>PAUL: And President Trump begins his day there in Florida. CNN's Sarah Westwood's there in West Palm Beach right now. So the President's got big rallies. I mean -- I mean his schedule today, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, the point is those are also three COVID hot spots. So what do we expect from him on the trail today?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Good morning, Boris and Christi. And yes, President Trump waking up this morning at his Mar-a-Lago Club here in Florida for the first time since before the pandemic. He has not traveled down there since March 6th, so obviously a lot has changed since the last time we were all here, but he's got a very busy day today 10 days out from Election Day in this final sprint. And first off is voting, presumably for himself, here in Florida. He's registered here in Florida. Voting in person, which is the method, obviously, that he has been aggressively pushing his supporters to take when it comes to voting over the option of mail-in voting. Then he heads off to those trio of campaign rallies in North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, all states that he won in 2016, but all states where the margin is either very thin or where he's trailing Joe Biden, so clearly trying to shore up support in states that will be crucial come 10 days from now. In rallies yesterday, we saw the President continue to promote this optimism about the end of the pandemic that really just isn't rooted in any facts as, of course, we are seeing spikes in new infection cases just across this country. Let's take a listen to what he said in Pensacola.</s>TRUMP: A safe vaccine that quickly ends this horrible pandemic and we're rounding the turn with or without the vaccine. We have the vaccines, they're going to be great, but with or without it, we're rounding the turn. Normal life, that's all we want, fully resuming. We want normal life to fully resume and that's happening.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, images of the President's rallies have often shown people not wearing masks, some of them not adhering to social distancing guidelines. Local officials have often cautioned the President against holding these rallies in their cities and in their states, but yesterday in the villages and at another campaign event here in Florida, the President continued his sort of ambivalence about following the social distancing guidelines that his own administration has been putting forward.</s>TRUMP: You know what? Some people want to stay in and that's good. Do it. Do it. You know, I'm sort of like lead your life, right? And some people agree with me, some people -- but if you want to stay in, if you want to do what you're doing, you do it. If you want to get out, you want to be careful and socially distance and all of the things and you can wear a mask if you can't socially distance, but there are a lot of things you can do, but some people want to stay in.</s>WESTWOOD: The President's closing argument clearly seems to be based on, in part, a gamble that people are not as afraid of the virus as they used to be and that's even as the death toll in this country is continuing to climb and today his rally is packed with multiple visits to multiple states. That's the kind of aggressive schedule that we do expect him to keep up over the next 10 days in this final sprint to Election Day, Boris and Christi.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, Sarah. I think you hit the nail on the head saying that it's not rooted in fact. We have the highest number of new COVID infections in one day and yet the President says that we're leaving it behind, that COVID is something in the past. Sarah Westwood with the President in Florida. Thanks so much.</s>PAUL: So we just kind of ran through where the President and Joe Biden are going to be today. We know that there's this who's who of Democratic party leaders who are going to be on the ground for Biden in eight battleground states today.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes. The former vice president and his wife, Jill Biden, are campaigning in Pennsylvania. CNN's MJ Lee has more.</s>MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, Christi and Boris. At this point in the race at every Joe Biden speech or campaign event, we are seeing him talk a lot about the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis. It is clear at this point that this virus is going to be so central to his closing message as we get closer and closer to Election Day. Of course earlier this week on Thursday night, we saw the very different visions presented by President Trump and the former vice president, President Trump at some points even describing the situation as almost a rosy situation, whereas the former vice president, Joe Biden, said that a dark winter was ahead of us. And in a speech yesterday here in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden sort of pulled all of these threads together into one comprehensive speech and laid out his own vision for what he would do with this virus if he were elected president, talking about the enforcement of mask wearing, what he would do with the distribution of vaccine and PPE and also went after what he sees as the failures of President Trump in handling this virus and even said that he believes the President has quit on the American people. Now, an important running theme that we saw in that speech yesterday from Biden was basically asking Americans to imagine a better future when it comes to this pandemic. Take a listen.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path. Imagine a day in a not too distant future when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and your family and maybe even go out to a movie, when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduations surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends.</s>LEE: Now, the Biden campaign has said that we should expect to see the former vice president with a robust schedule in these final days. Later today, we are going to see him campaigning in Pennsylvania, including in the Philadelphia suburbs. And this is a state, I should remind you, that President Trump narrowly won in 2016, but a recent CNN poll showed that Biden had a 10-point lead in the state against President Trump. Christi and Boris, back to you.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes. It may all wind up coming down to Pennsylvania. MJ Lee, thank you for that reporting. Still to come, Dr. Anthony Fauci says a considerable number of lives could have been saved if public health measures had been followed. Our medical expert, Saju Mathew, weighs in on what needs to be done as we head into the winter months.</s>PAUL: And we're also learning that a 19-year-old heavily armed man in federal custody now researched Joe Biden and came quite close to his Delaware home. We have more details for you on that. Stay close.

Heavily Armed man Charged With Possessing Child Pornography Researched Joe Biden, Judge Says; Joe Biden Holds Big Cash Advantage 10 Days From Election; Biden Holds Big Cash Advantage 10 Days from Election

SANCHEZ: A man who was arrested in North Carolina on child pornography charges also researched Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.</s>PAUL: His name's 19-year-old Alexander Treisman. He searched for Biden's home address online and eventually ended up about four miles of Biden's home in Delaware. Here's CNN's Josh Campbell with more.</s>JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It was an abandoned van full of weapons in a North Carolina bank parking lot that would ultimately lead FBI agents to a man who allegedly researched and traveled near the residence of former Vice President Joe Biden. According to a new filing in federal court, that man, 19-year-old Alexander Treisman, was initially arrested in May on a weapons violation and later indicted by a grand jury for possession of child pornography after authorities searched his phone and computers. Now, according to the detention order signed by a federal magistrate judge, Treisman had conducted online searches of Biden's residence and traveled within four miles of the Democratic presidential nominee's home. According to the judge, authorities also found a checklist believed to have been written by Treisman which included the word execute and he allegedly posted an online meme posing the question, "Should I kill Joe Biden?" In addition to numerous firearms belonging to Treisman, authorities also seized drawings of swastikas and planes crashing into buildings, downloaded images of the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand as well as a note on Treisman's cell phone describing plans for a mass shooting. CNN is attempting to reach Treisman's attorney, but according to the new court document, his attorney indicated that his client has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and the court noted that Treisman had no prior criminal history. Although a grand jury indicted Treisman for possession of child pornography, he has not been charged in relation to the weapons in his possession nor his research or writings on Joe Biden. Prosecutors declined to talk about any potential future charges.</s>PAUL: Josh, thank you so much. So we are down to the final 10 days. Can you believe it? Ten days until the presidential election and a new round of FEC filings show just how big Joe Biden's cash advantage is right now over President Trump. Take a look at the cash on hand here. The former vice president has $162 million in the bank. Look at that comparatively to President Trump who has $43 million on hand. Now, if you include money raised by political action committees, Biden's lead is still there. Altogether, there is a lopsidedness here, $107 million advantage for Joe Biden heading into the final days of this campaign. I want to bring in CNN political commentator and host of the podcast "You Decide," Errol Louis. Errol, good morning to you. Ten days, buddy.</s>ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Christi.</s>PAUL: Ten days to go.</s>LOUIS: Good.</s>PAUL: And we're just -- good. Listen to him. Good. Let's get this done, he's saying. $107 million cash advantage for Biden. What exactly does that equate to at the end of the day?</s>LOUIS: Well, at the end of the day, it amounts to resources. It doesn't really take off the Biden campaign the pressure and the obligation to figure out where they're going to go. You can spend that money very quickly in television ads in Florida for example or in Ohio or in Arizona or Michigan or Pennsylvania. The question becomes, which states are you going to target? And how much will be ground game? How much will be online? The kind of direct appeal that you can reach people through Facebook, for example, or traditional television ads, and trying to figure that out. Believe me, right now, there are a bunch of strategists who stayed up all night and are still trying to figure this out. So, a $100 million advantage is a great thing to have in the last ten days, but not if you use it incorrectly, Christi.</s>PAUL: Yes, a very good point. So, let's look at where the candidates are going to be in the next couple of days. President Trump starting today in Florida. He is expected to vote before he leaves that state, to go to North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. That's just today. Vice President Biden is going to be in Bucks County and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, we know that. Those are all battleground states. What do you read from these travel schedules?</s>LOUIS: The fact that the candidate is in Wisconsin for President Trump tells you that they're trying to make a serious move there, that the different places that they found success four years ago which gave them the victory, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin is still in play. That's what his travel schedule tells me. The fact that Obama, by the way, is going to be in southern Florida, it means that the Biden campaign wants to at a minimum tie up Trump's resources in Florida. They may not be able to win the state, but they certainly want to make a fight of it. And here again, it's something like ten media markets, Christi. It's really expensive to try and compete in Florida and to try and push the Trump campaign to spend its dwindling hours and its dwindling resources in Florida, means that the Biden team may be trying to sort of tie them down there, shore up what they're doing in the Midwest and bring home a victory that way.</s>PAUL: So, we're talking about, you know, the money they have, how they're spending it, where they're spending it. But let's talk about the message here. David Gergen, last night, I was listening to him and he pointed out that these Trump rallies don't help Trump necessarily reach any new voters that he needs to win. I mean, they're talking about how the rallies don't equate to really giving the public an answer on COVID and how you're going to tackle it. They don't seem to be extracting support from Biden. So, maybe these rallies for the president, he says are miscalculation. He believes that if Biden wins, it's likely going to be because he believes the science behind COVID. Do you think that will be Vice President Biden's ticket?</s>LOUIS: Well, that is a very astute observation. The problem that Trump has encountered over and over again is that, this is the issue. He doesn't want people to let, as he's put it, COVID dominate their lives. Well, it is dominating all of our lives, and not just because of the media. It's cold-heart reality that he's running against, and reality seems to be winning. So, yes, a message that Joe Biden can bring, saying that we have to do something different, that over 200,000 deaths is a catastrophic toll that these sitting president cannot be expected to be forgiven on. And so, yes, it's a really effective message because everybody, I think is looking for some plan and some way out of this. If the message from the Trump campaign is, hey, just ignore it and go about your life, well, we've tried that. It doesn't work. And so politically, Joe Biden really starts out with a huge message advantage there, and Trump's decision to, you know, kind of mobilize his base rather than try and persuade others to come to his side is going to be something that may leave him short by the time we finish counting all the votes.</s>PAUL: There have been several conversations about the importance of the African-American vote in North Carolina. The African-American vote is important anywhere, but why North Carolina specifically is it so imperative?</s>LOUIS: Well, it's a very large percentage of the vote in North Carolina. And that's just the -- you know, the long and short of it. And you also, by the way, you find it in rural counties as well as the cities. So it's not just, you know, Raleigh and Durham and Charlotte. You've got a lot of other places where there's a big black community. When you -- when you start to sort of go through it though and look at what's happening with early voting, you know, North Carolina is a place where they've been doing sort of rallies and voter registration on a weekly basis. You know, they've been doing this moral Mondays crusade for years and years and years. So, you've got a highly activated base. And that's what brought narrow victories for Barack Obama. They're going to try and reproduce that now. You can't write off that many electoral votes. So, the Trump campaign has got to really sort of focus on it, and it's going to make North Carolina a very serious battleground in these last ten days. Christi?</s>PAUL: Very good to know. Errol Louis, always grateful to have your perspective with us, thank you, sir.</s>LOUIS: Thank you.</s>PAUL: Absolutely. You can count on CNN to bring you coverage of the 2020 elections throughout the entire day. Tonight, join CNN's Randi Kaye. She's talking with voters for a special report, "</s>DIVIDED WE STAND: INSIDE AMERICA'S ANGER". That is tonight at 10:00 p.m.</s>SANCHEZ: And still ahead, a second grand juror now says that homicide charges were not offered for the jury to consider against the officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor. Your "LEGAL BRIEF" with Joey Jackson is up next after a quick break.

Second Breonna Taylor Juror Confirms Homicide Charges Were Not Offered; Ghislaine Maxwell Loses Appeal to Keep 2016 Deposition Sealed.

PAUL: So uncertainty is defined so much of this year, hasn't it? There's one call that's been repeated over and over around the world though at protests and on social media, and that is justice for Breonna Taylor. She was a black medical worker. She was killed by Louisville police officers in March in a botched raid on her apartment. Well, now, two grand jurors in the case have confirmed the jury was not offering homicide charges to consider against those officers involved. But the comments challenged statements previously made by Kentucky's Attorney General. CNN's legal analyst Joey Jackson here to explain why this is so significant. Joey, thank you so much for getting up early for us, we always appreciate your expertise here. Talk to us about -- will you please, what the reason would be not to include homicide charges in this, the defense?</s>JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, so, you know, this is -- this is very concerning, Christi. Good morning to you. And it is for a number of reasons. We know we have a process, and just backing up. What grand jury, just to be clear, unlike a trial jury is not there to determine proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, they're not even there to, you know, do anything with regard to voting unanimously or anything like that. What the grand jury simply does is number one, assess whether there's reasonable cause to believe a crime was committed, and number two, whether the subject of the proceeding committed it. That proceeding is largely run by the district attorney or the state's attorney or the person from the state who's presenting. In this case, you have the state attorney acting as special prosecutor. We all heard the expression, Christi, that a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich, why? Because they're largely controlled by what the prosecutor wants them to consider. Here it was common knowledge and understanding, obviously, that there was a death, a homicide. So why not put before them the ability and give them the ability with the facts and information to vote on that? So, now, we're hearing from grand jurors that what the state attorneys general said he did is far different from what he did do. And so as a result of that, you have the release of this grand jury transcript and the release of the grand jurors allowing them to speak, which is suggesting that you told the public that you presented charges, there was no justification, the grand jury was about trying to do justice. And they said, wait a minute, we didn't get any of that stuff. And so homicide to your initial point would be something clearly you would think they would consider. They did not. Justification in terms of self-defense, Christi, something they should consider, clearly, they did not. So, this is troubling and problematic, and I think it's all coming out, and really goes against the trust that the public has for the process and that is a shame.</s>PAUL: Yes, we know we'll keep up on that and let you know how that progresses, let our viewers know here. We do want to get to Ghislaine Maxwell as well real quickly here because this deposition of her connected to this 2015 defamation case was brought up today. It was unsealed this week. This was a civil case that was settled in 2017, it's 418 pages. It's a transcript. Apparently, she refused to answer a lot of questions. This was about Epstein's former -- she's Epstein's former girlfriend and allegedly sex trafficking accomplice. What stood out to you in the unsealed papers that we now have some knowledge of?</s>JACKSON: So quite a bit. To your point, Christi, we're talking about 418 pages. Just to back up in a deposition, what happens is, there's no judge there, it's an attorney who is asking questions of a person who has to answer them, in this case Miss Maxwell. At that time, you're sworn to tell the truth, you know, ask specific questions as to your conduct here, what did you know about Jeffrey Epstein? What his activities were? What he was doing? Who he was employed by? Was he bringing in underage women? At any point in time, did you have any awareness of this? Was he giving massages to anyone who was underage? What was his activities? Were you giving massages? So, there were a lot of questions that were posed to her under oath. We do know, Christi, as a result of the indictment that you're facing and the criminal charges, that while it may be unsealed to us, that prosecutors had, in fact, this deposition and used that for the perjury charges he's facing. And so what stood out to me, to your initial point was, I don't know, don't recall, don't remember, wasn't there. That's number one. And number two, the specifics of the question she's asked which seems to have maligned the truth with regard to what Jeffrey Epstein was doing, when he was doing it and who he was doing it with. Everyone's innocent until presumed guilty. The public will make its determination in reviewing the transcripts whether she was fair or accurate. But when she's prosecuted, she'll have to answer for, was she truthful or was she not?</s>PAUL: OK, yes, that trial for her coming up in July of 2021. Joey Jackson, always good to see you. Thank you so much.</s>JACKSON: Thank you, Christi. Have a great day.</s>SANCHEZ: So, what happens when you lose one of the best home field advantages in college football? You bring it home. Check out all the fans dancing, Big 10 football is back.

More Than 83,000 COVID-19 Cases Recorded Friday, Single Highest Day Since Outbreak Of Virus; President Trump: We're Rounding The Corner Beautifully; Coronavirus Pandemic: Adjusting To Our New Reality.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The next hour of NEW DAY starts right now.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The truth of the matter is that we're turning the corner into a tsunami.</s>JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president, I'll mandate mask wearing in all federal buildings and all interstate transportation because masks save lives, period.</s>ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, DIRECTOR: We really need to double-down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures.</s>CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: Good morning to you I'm Christi Paul on this Saturday morning and look who's here?</s>SANCHEZ: Always a pleasure to be with you, Christi. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell.</s>PAUL: Absolutely. Good to have you as always. So listen, Americans, all of you, we have ten more days to decide who you want to lead the country out of this worsening Coronavirus crisis that we're watching. The president insists that we're, "Rounding the final turn of this pandemic" but the reality, it looks more like a u-turn, because cases are surging yet again.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, the U.S. now reporting its highest number of new Coronavirus infections in one day, since the pandemic started again, the highest number of new infections in a single day. More than 83,000 new cases added just yesterday.</s>PAUL: And I want to get these numbers right. Make sure that they're really sinking in here. Look at the hospitalizations. They've increased by 33 percent this month. Right now, there are 41,000 people in the hospital who are fighting this virus.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This D.C. art display is a visual representation of the lives taken by a virus that seems to be surging again over 223,000 dead and counting. Eight months into the COVID crisis, hospitalizations and infections are at an all-time high in many states across the country. This week marked the first time since late July that the number of daily new cases exceeded 71,000.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you look at the numbers of the daily infections, the upticks on the map of more than 30 states, that are having upticks, it's not going to spontaneously turn around, unless we do something about it.</s>SANDOVAL: As the president claims that we are rounding the turn on the pandemic, his opponent and many medical experts are warning we're only heading toward a dark winter.</s>DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICCAL MEDICINE: Reality is that the worst could be yet to come and that the beginning has been more or less the warm up act for what's about to hit. We're already seen that across the northern states if you look at our COVID-19 heat map. The whole northern part is lit up.</s>SANDOVAL: With hope hanging on a safe COVID-19 vaccine, drug maker AstraZeneca said Friday that it has a green light from the Food and Drug Administration to resume its vaccine trial in the U.S. that had been on pause since September after a volunteer in Britain developed a neurological condition. The Head of National Institutes of Health is growing increasingly worried that even after a safe vaccine is approved, a growing number of Americans may not be willing to take it. A recent CNN poll found 45 percent would not try to get a vaccine even if one was widely available possibly allowing the virus to stick around for years says Dr. Francis Collins.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUES OF HEALTH: I've been talking so optimistically about how we're likely to have a vaccine by the end of the year but if only 50 percent of Americans are interested in taking it, we're never going to get to that point of immunity across the population where this COVID-19 goes away.</s>SANDOVAL: This week, an updated model published in the journal nature forecasted some possible grim scenarios suggesting that we could see up to million COVID deaths in the U.S. by the end of February if social distancing mandates are eased and only about half the population wears masks in public. Anthony Fauci the nation's top infectious disease expert tells CNN he thinks the U.S. should just mandate mask use.</s>DR. FAUCI: I get the argument, say, well, if you mandate a mask, then you're going to have to enforce it and that will create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>SANDOVAL: This weekend, "Big Ten Football" is back prompting some of the Mayors in college towns involved to ask the conference for help fighting the spread of the virus. The Mayors wrote that football games, "Generate a lot of activity, social gatherings and the consumption of alcohol". These activities within our communities have also been associated with an increased spread of COVID-19. Any way you look at it, that 83,000 numbers is certainly high, when you hear from experts, Boris and Christi, it certainly does not look good either. In fact, one expert from the Centers for Infectious Disease Research and Policy who spoke last night says that we may easily begin to see three-figure daily numbers very soon. Especially as we go through the fall and obviously going into the winter as well Boris and Christi.</s>PAUL: That's frightening. I don't know if anybody even suspected we'd get to as high as we are right now. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, startling numbers. And the approach to the coronavirus pandemic is really at the crux of this election. Today, both the Trump and Biden Campaigns are busy in the battleground states President Trump heading to North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin Vice President Mike Pence hitting two stops in Florida.</s>PAUL: Now, Joe Biden has two events in Pennsylvania. His running mate Senator Kamala Harris of course is going to be next door in Ohio. And Former President Barack Obama is stumping for Biden in South Florida today.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes. The pandemic ultimately will be a major challenge for whoever wins this election. And a record number of Americans are handing down their verdict early. More than 52 million ballots have already been cast in this election. That's according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalyst, a data company that provides data, analytics and services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit advocacy organizations.</s>PAUL: So I want to go back to that figure, 52 plus million votes already cast that figure eclipses 2016's pre-election total in 38 states where data were reported at that time, and it's more than 38 percent of the 136 million total ballots cast in 2016. We've got our reporters on the trail this morning. CNN's M.J. Lee is following the Biden Campaign in Philadelphia. CNN's Sarah Westwood is with the president in West Palm Beach.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, Sarah, we want to get you first the president starting his day in Florida. He has big rallies planned in three COVID hotspots but he's ticking off an important item of his agenda to start, he is casting his ballot this morning, right?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Boris. It's a very busy day for President Trump today waking up in his Mar-A-Lago club here in West Palm Beach for the first time since early March obviously a lot has changed since the last time we were all here. But the first thing on his agenda today is voting presumably for himself at his early polling location here in Florida. He's still a registered Florida voter. And he has encouraged his supporters to do the same, to vote in person, rather than casting their ballots by mail. He's frequently been undermining the vote by mail system so perhaps this is as much as anything a symbol so that the president can be seen casting his ballot in person. Now speaking yesterday at the villages, the president said essentially he prefers to stand in line, he likes to vote what he described as the old-fashioned way. He urged voters to do the same.</s>TRUMP: I'm voting early tomorrow in Florida. Do you believe it, I'm coming to vote. I came down here to vote. I actually came down here to see the villages. And tomorrow morning, I'm voting here, as opposed to sending it in you know that mail-ins. I like being able to vote. I'm old-fashioned, I guess. I like to get in on line I'll have to stand there for two hours may be they'll move you up a little bit, but I like to vote. So I'm coming to vote. I'm going to be voting here tomorrow. I urge every one of you to go and vote. I don't think I have to urge too many. How many people here have already voted? That's incredible. Thank you.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, with just ten days to go before Election Day, the president is continuing his blitz of battleground states with a trio of rallies today in North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. Those are three states that he carried in 2016. But right now, he's either trailing Joe Biden in the polls there or his margin is very, very thin. So it's crucial from the president's perspective that he shore up support in those battleground states and that's where he'll be going today. Now yesterday at campaign events we heard the president promote a level of optimism about the end of the pandemic that's simply not supported by the data as we're seeing Coronavirus cases spike across the country. Let's take a listen to what the president said in Pensacola.</s>TRUMP: A safe vaccine that quickly ends this horrible pandemic, and we're rounding the turn, with or without the vaccine. We have the vaccines. They're going to be great. But with or without it, we're rounding the turn normal life. That's all we want fully resuming. We want normal life to fully resume. And that's happening.</s>WESTWOOD: Again, the facts just don't support this notion that the country is rounding the turn when it up comes to Coronavirus. At the president's rallies we have seen images of people not necessarily always wearing their masks. Not necessarily always social distancing. Yesterday on the campaign trail, we also heard from the president some ambivalence about hearing about to those social distancing guidance from his own administration. But it seems the president's closing argument here is betting that people are more concerned about returning to normal life than they are about the virus. That's a gamble from the president but it seems to be his closing argument as he keeps up this aggressive schedule of campaign events on this sprint to Election Day Boris and Christi.</s>PAUL: All right, Sarah Westwood it's quite a wrap up thank you so much. So we want to go to M.J. Lee she is in Philadelphia right now. We know that Pennsylvania is a pivotal battleground state here. President Trump won it in 2016, though, as I remember, it was somewhat narrow. And I wanted to touch on the fact that somebody tweeted me already, a viewer tweeted me and said did I hear you say Jon Bon Jovi was going to be campaigning. So let's go through all the people that are kind of campaigning and really the significance of Pennsylvania today,</s>M.J. M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right that this is an incredibly critical state and the Joe Biden Campaign knows it. He's going to be starting out today by campaigning here in the suburbs of Philadelphia. As you said, this is a state that Donald Trump did win in 2016. But it was a narrow victory. And the Biden Campaign is clearly looking at this state and hoping that this could be in the win category for them. Remember a CNN Poll out of the state this week showed that Biden had a ten-point lead in the state. So, clearly, they're trying to capture this very important state. And as far as his closing message is concerned, guys, it is abundantly clear that it is going to have everything to do with COVID-19. We heard the former vice president make a speech yesterday in Wilmington, Delaware, where he sort of pulled on all of the different threat that he had been talking about over the last couple weeks. He first laid out what his own plan and vision is for trying to contain the virus if he were to win in November. And he said that he wanted to make sure that he can enforce mask wearing across the country. He also talked about how envisions distributing important things like PPE and a free vaccine. And he also of course, went after the president for what he said he saw as his failure in trying to contain this virus. And even used some very critical and sharp language saying that he believes the president had simply quit on the American people. And one thing I found pretty interesting yesterday was that in his remarks, Joe Biden said that he wanted American people to try to envision a better future under a Biden Presidency. Take a listen.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path. Imagine a day in the not too distant future when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and your family. Maybe even go out to a movie when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduations surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends.</s>LEE: And a clear sign that we are just days away from Election Day. We have some of Joe Biden's biggest surrogates and even celebrities who are going to be hitting the trail for him this weekend. Former President Barack Obama as you mentioned is going to be campaigning today in Miami. Obviously, the Biden Campaign believes there is not really anybody else who is better at making a compelling case for a Biden Presidency. You're also going to be seeing his running mate, Kamala Harris in Ohio, Bernie Sanders in Western Pennsylvania. And Christi, you heard right, Jon Bon Jovi is going to be joining Joe and Jill Biden in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, later today.</s>PAUL: All right, we'll now get viewer knows, I told him, yes, that's what she said though we just needed confirmation. Thank you so much.</s>SANCHEZ: We also can't forget Cher in Las Vegas.</s>LEE: That's right.</s>SANCHEZ: Really important name here. M.J. Lee, thank you so much. It is a race like no other. And it all ends here. Join us for special live coverage only the way CNN can bring it to you. Election night in America our special coverage starts Tuesday, November 3rd at 4:00 pm eastern right here on</s>CNN. PAUL: Also a state to watch this election by the way is Georgia it's a Democratic Presidential Candidate he has not won in Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, CNN Correspondent Natasha Chen is in Atlanta where voting has just started. It is unexpectedly going to be a close this time around, Natasha?</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and here at this mobile voting site, polls have just opened so we're starting to see a little bit of a line with people coming in. This type of mobile unit is really to supplement the polling locations where you've been seeing some very long lines. Coming up, we're going to talk to the voter who was very first in line to cast her ballot about why it was important for her to get out here?</s>PAUL: All right. We'll talk about that more. Thank you so much Natasha. Also, the crisis across America with the country reporting its highest number of Coronavirus infections in one day since the start of the pandemic, that's happening now. Utah hit particularly hard. We're talking to a Chief Nursing Officer at a Utah Hospital about what she's seeing firsthand.</s>SANCHEZ: Plus, the U.S. election may be only ten days away, but you shouldn't necessarily expect clarity on the outcome immediately. Coming up, we speak to Lawyer Benjamin Ginsburg about why he doesn't see the election being called before December?

Georgia Voters Line Up To Cast Early Ballots

PAUL: So, you know people are voting early, already in Georgia specifically even this morning. A Democratic Presidential Candidate hasn't won in Georgia, by the way, since Bill Clinton back in 1992.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes. And the electorate has changed a lot since then. A new, younger, more diverse electorate has emerged in the peach state. The big question, of course is could that be enough to turn Georgia blue and change the dynamics of this race.</s>PAUL: CNN Correspondent Natasha Chen is at a polling station in Atlanta. It's a mobile polling station. And this is actually the kind that I vote in, where I voted, Natasha, and it's helpful.</s>CHEN: Yes, Christi, we're being told that Fulton County really brought two of these in at a cost of $750,000 to supplement these polling locations where they know that there could be extremely long lines like we've seen all around Georgia. What we're seeing this morning, polls just opened at 8:00, is a little bit of a line. You can see young families coming in. They're bringing their children to vote with them. We've got with us here the woman who was very first in line. Sheila King, tell me how early you got here to do this.</s>SHEILA KING, GEORGIA VOTER: I got here at 10 to 7:00.</s>CHEN: OK, so more than an hour before?</s>KING: Absolutely.</s>CHEN: And that's because you saw long lines and were concerned about that.</s>KING: That is correct, that is correct. I work and I normally get off at 5:36 and I just didn't think that during the evenings, it was going to work for me. So, I went online last night and I found this location which isn't very far from my house. I thought, I'm going to be there and I'm going to be the first to vote. And I was.</s>CHEN: That is called making a plan, as they say. So, this was a pretty easy process for you. I hear there are nine machines in there.</s>KING: Correct.</s>CHEN: And you pit in your vote and then you scan it in a different machine?</s>KING: Yes. You put in your election in one machine. Take your card and your pen to where they accept the ballot. Put that into the ballot, and it registers to the right when it's been accepted and you'll get to go.</s>CHEN: And you told me you just wanted to see that in front of you.</s>KING: Yes.</s>CHEN: To see it's been accepted no questions.</s>KING: Absolutely.</s>CHEN: Tell me about why it was really important for you to come out here early and to make sure you vote would cast this time around?</s>KING: Well for one, I didn't want to wait in long lines. So I wanted to be relatively if not the first very close to it. Secondly, I wanted to do it because I'm a factual person. And I like to see how things, you know, experience. So it's the experience for me and how you feel. I'm 60 years old. My forefathers thought for us to vote. So, I always want to make my voice be known. I'm the one that's going to go stand in the line, no matter how long it takes to make sure that it's heard.</s>CHEN: And real quickly, just that you were talking to me about the most important issue that brought you here.</s>KING: Right. The most important issue was change. I want to see a change in the United States. So we have to be about the change that you want to see. We can talk about it all day, until you are about it, when you exercise your right, that's when it makes a difference.</s>CHEN: Sheila, thank you so much.</s>KING: You're welcome.</s>CHEN: And that she is among the 2.5 million Georgians who have already cast their ballots and as of 8:00 pm last night, that turnout, when you combine both early in-person voting as well as absentee ballots, it's 114 percent over this time during the 2016 election so that just goes to show the enthusiasm that we're seeing out here.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, enthusiasm, first chance she got, she made a plan, she went and she voted. Ad s she said, you can talk about it all day, she put her money where her mouth was and cast her ballot. Natasha Chen reporting from Atlanta, thank you so much. Many states have implemented additional security measures this year due to increase in voting by mail but some skeptics have questioned the reasons behind the additional restrictions. Our next guest writes "Legions of Republican lawyers have searched in vain over four decades for fraudulent double voting. At long last they have a blatted example of a major politician urging his supporters to illegally twice; the only hitch is that the candidate is President Trump". Joining me now is Benjamin Ginsberg, a Republican Election Lawyer and Chair of the Center Advanced Governmental Studies Mr. Ginsberg thank you so much for taking time out of your weekend to offer your perspective. I want you to talk about the comment that President Trump made in North Carolina about having his supporters vote twice. It played it off as being sarcastic. It's not just that, though there are a lot of others things that Trump his surrogates and the campaign are doing that are questionable at least. I want to talk about Pennsylvania and the Trump Campaign filming voters as they dropped off their ballots. Officials in Pennsylvania were concerned that this might be some form of voter intimidation and accusation that the Trump Campaign calls categorically false. What do you make of that situation?</s>BENJAMIN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: Well, the Pennsylvania situation, it's not clear that the voters knew they were being filmed. So I'm not sure it could be voter intimidation if the voters didn't know. But the incident itself speaks to a much broader problem. And that is, for the first time, we have a President of the United States saying our elections are fraudulent and the results rigged. And that casts doubt on one of the basic tenets of the democracy. The problem is that there's no proof of widespread fraud. So what the Philadelphia example and why it should set off alarm bells is that when the president to take his broad rhetoric about the election being fraudulent and actually also dust off and cast doubt on election results, they have to have proof of many incidents. It isn't clear what the activity of the Trump Campaign and the polling place will be, whether they'll challenge voters. Whether they'll try and contest ballots that are cast.</s>GINSBERG: This Philadelphia activity could be the tip of the spear on a broad effort to try and delay, disrupt the voting process itself.</s>SANCHEZ: I'm curious about your assessment as to why the president is doing this? He's been doing it for a long time, going back to 2016, when he incorrectly made the statement that there was some 3 million undocumented immigrants who voted illegally. Zero proof of that. Why do you think he keeps suggesting that voting is rigged in this country?</s>GINSBERG: Well, I'm just a humble lawyer and not a psychologist. So, I'm not sure I know the answer to that. But I think what his reasons are not as important as the fact that he is the first president to cast such doubt on our elections and their being fair. And that causes people in the country, according to the polls, to have some doubts about the accuracy of the elections. And that's a bad place to be. And there is a requirement, you would think, on the President of the United States going to make that statement, to have some proof of it. All right and that's not there.</s>SANCHEZ: Right. There was this commission set up by the White House that Vice President Pence was overseeing to come up with all of these illegal votes. That commission came and went with nothing. Nothing came of that investigation. I want to make sure our viewers understand you have a long resume of dealing with contested elections, notably, in Florida, in 2000, something that wasn't decided for several weeks. You have said that you believe we may not know the outcome of this election until December. Why is that?</s>GINSBERG: Well, there are a number of reasons. There are far more absentee ballots being cast. And they take longer to process. I do think that since I made that statement, a number of states have either improved the machines that they're going to use to count absentee votes or moved up their deadlines. So, I think that actually the way this will work, we've got a pretty good indication, not a final call, but an indication on election night. Election officials will not call their state officially. And I think the networks will responsibly not call the states officially until many, many votes are counted and few are left. That will take a little longer. It always does, before results are certified. You want to be right as opposed to fast. Which is not to say there are not a number of states that will vote, officially get their votes in early on election night that will be a pretty good leading indicator of whether one candidate has won or lost or whether it's going to be very tight and headed for a Florida situation.</s>SANCHEZ: And, sir, I did want to ask you about the news this week that both Russia and Iran - more so Russia than Iran, but nevertheless, had plans to obtain voter information. And were able to successfully, in some cases, for the average American voter, what would you say to them to instill confidence in them in the process, despite attempts at foreign meddling.</s>GINSBERG: Well, the fact that the press conference took place would indicate that our officials who are charged with stopping Russians and Iranians are on top of the situation. And there's obviously a very diligent effort to be sure that our ballot places are not being hampered. You know, this went to voter registration lists. And voter registration lists are actually public records. You can go to your Secretary of State's office and gets the names of people on a voter registration list. So what is unclear and why the scale of the damage of this may not be so great is you don't know what lists they were.</s>SANCHEZ: Right. Benjamin Ginsberg, I'm sure we'll be talking again probably multiple times after Election Day. Let's hope that process runs smoothly, though, Ben Ginsberg, thank you.</s>GINSBERG: I hope it's quick. Thank you.</s>SANCHEZ: Thanks.</s>PAUL: I think everybody is hoping for that. So still ahead, there's a deal that could be historic for two countries involved. We're talking about Sudan and Israel taking a major step towards normalizing relations.

Sudan, Israel Work To Normalize Relations

PAUL: 44 minutes past the hour. And President Trump is claiming a foreign policy victory. He's announcing that Sudan and Israel have agreed to start normalizing relations thanks to a U.S. brokered deal.</s>SANCHEZ: And as Oren Liebermann explains this is just the start of the process.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Surrounded by the White House Peace Team in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump claimed another foreign policy victory in the Middle East, a peace agreement between Israel and Sudan.</s>TRUMP: They essentially have been in war with Israel for a long time. I don't know if it was fighting, I don't know that but probably there has been a little bit but certainly it's been for many years you've been officially at war with Sudan and now it's not only the deal was signed but it's peace. So that's official. And that's nice.</s>LIEBERMANN: The White House was eager to build on a momentum of other peace deals it pushed forward. Israel normalized relations with first United Arab Emirates and then Bahrain it is part of the White House led Abraham Accords. Sudan is now the third Arab state in three months to make peace with Israel, unlike the other two, Sudan has been in a state of war with Israel in the past.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: In Khartoum, the Capital of Sudan, they put forward in 1967 the three no's of the Arab League, no to peace with Israel, no to recognition with Israel and no to recognition with Israel and today, Khartoum says yes to peace with Israel, yes to recognition with Israel and yes to normalization with Israel.</s>LIEBERMANN: Trump turned the announcement into election politics leading to this awkward exchange with speaker phone exchange with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</s>TRUMP: Do you think sleepy Joe would have made this deal baby? Sleepy Joe, do you think he would have made this deal? Somehow I don't think so.</s>NETANYAHU: Well, Mr. President, one thing I can tell you is, we appreciate the hope for peace from anyone in the America, and we appreciate what you've done enormously.</s>LIEBERMANN: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sudan in recent months urging normalization with Israel in exchange for removing Sudan from the state sponsors of terror list. Sudan agreed to pay $335 million in restitution for terror attacks in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the U.S. will now deliver hundreds of millions in humanitarian aid and forgive $3 billion in debt two senior Sudanese sources told CNN.</s>ABDALLA HAMDOK, SUDANESE PRIME MINISTER: This decision qualifies Sudan to get relief from debt. We are today more than $60 billion in debt. With this decision, doors open that allow for the release of Sudan's debt.</s>LIEBERMANN: But if Trump wanted another White House signing ceremony in the future. Sudan's Foreign Minister part of a fragile transitional three-year government poured cold water on that idea.</s>OMAR GAMARELDIN, SUDANESE ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER: This is an agreement to normalize. It's not yet normalization. We must wait for Sudan's Democratic Constitutions to be functional including in the Legislative Council.</s>LIEBERMANN: Palestinian leaders called the agreement a serious of stab in the back as they found themselves once again on the outside looking in. President Trump saying there are more Arab and Muslin countries who will soon make peace with Israel even perhaps one day, Iran, he claimed as he looked to turn a foreign policy victory into a domestic election win. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.</s>PAUL: Still ahead, in a year that may at times felt like a nightmare, obviously, how did we find the courage to dream big? We're speaking to the man who literally wrote the book on it as part of our series "The Reset".

U.S. Reports Record Number Of New Cases As Election Looms; Trump And Biden Blitz Must-Win States 10 Days Until Election; White House Officials Blame Democrats For Stimulus Delay

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's still moisture at the end of the day. So, it can still help combat a lot of the fires that are ongoing in numerous states, but especially in Colorado, guys, we're still be dealing with these two huge fires right here and hoping that that extra moisture will help contain these fires a little bit better.</s>CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Allison Chinchar, always appreciate you. Thank you. Second hour of NEW DAY starts now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some breaking news, the U.S. reporting more than 80,000 new COVID-19 cases. We are now in the full search.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner. It's going away.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth of the matter is, that we're turning the corner into a tsunami.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president our mandate mask- wearing at all federal buildings and all interstate transportation because masks save lives, period.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really need to double down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failure.</s>PAUL: Well, good morning to you on this Saturday. It is October 24th. I'm Christi Paul. And look, we woke up early.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Great to see Christi. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell. We're now just 10 days until the election, and while we are, are rounding the final turn of the 2020 race, we're not, as the President continues to insist, and again on Friday, rounding the turn of the pandemic.</s>PAUL: Yes, the U.S. is reporting now its highest number of new coronavirus infections in one day since this pandemic started. Again, the highest number of new infections in a single day. It was more than 82,000 new cases yesterday. Well, let these numbers sink in for you for a minute here and break out some of the most important ones: hospitalizations have increased by 33 percent this month, and right now there are 41,000 people in the hospital fighting the virus. CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval is with us from New York with the very latest. Polo, good morning to you.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys. You mentioned hospitalizations. Here in New York, the situation isn't that much better, really. In fact, hospitalizations the highest they've been since the summer. And when you hear from experts have forecast certainly does not look good. In fact, we heard from one last night from the Centers for Infectious Disease Research and Policy who says, we can easily hit six-digit daily figures very soon.</s>SANDOVAL: This DCR display is a visual representation of the lives taken by a virus it seems to be surging again. Over 223,000 dead and counting. Within eight months into the COVID crisis, hospitalizations and infections are at an all-time high in many states across the country. This week marks the first time since late July that the number of daily new cases exceeded 71,000.</s>DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: If you look at the numbers of the daily infections, the upticks on the map of more than 30 states that are having upticks, it's not going to spontaneously turn around, unless we do something about it.</s>SANDOVAL: As the president claims that we are rounding to turn on the pandemic, his opponent and many medical experts are warning we are only headed toward a dark winter.</s>DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The reality is that the worst could be yet to come and that the beginning has been more or less the warm up back for what's about to hit, and we're already seeing that across the northern states. If you look at a COVID-19 heat map, the whole Northern part is lit up.</s>SANDOVAL: With hope hanging on a safe COVID-19 vaccine, drug maker AstraZeneca said Friday that it has the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to resume its vaccine trial in the U.S. It had been on pause in September after a volunteer in Britain developed a neurological condition. Ahead of the National Institutes of Health is growing increasingly worried that even after a safe vaccine is approved, a growing number of Americans may not be willing to take it. A recent CNN poll found 45 percent would not try to get a vaccine even if one was widely available, possibly allowing the virus to stick around for years as Dr. Francis Collins.</s>DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I've been talking so optimistically about how we are likely to have a vaccine by the end of the year. But if only 50 percent of Americans are interested in taking it, we're never going to get to that point of immunity across the population where this COVID-19 goes away.</s>SANDOVAL: This week and updated motto published in the Journal Nature forecasts some possible grim scenarios, suggesting that we could see up to a million COVID deaths in the U.S. by the end of February if social distancing mandates are east, and only about half the population wears masks in public. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top Infectious Disease Expert tells CNN, he thinks the U.S. should just mandate mask use.</s>FAUCI: I get the argument say, well, if you mandate a mask, then you're going to have to enforce it and that'll create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.</s>SANDOVAL: This weekend, big 10 football is back, prompting some of the mayors and college towns involved to ask the conference for help fighting the spread of the virus. The mayors wrote that football games "generate a lot of activities, social gatherings and the consumption of alcohol. These activities within our communities have also been associated with an increased spread of COVID-19."</s>SANDOVAL: And this morning, still a lot of theories about who or what could be feeling this latest spike. As for the who, we've previously discussed that research that directly links the behavior of some young people to increase infection rates among older adults. As for the what, well, it does seem to be that small gathering certainly could be feeling this, specifically those family events, Boris and Christi. In fact, Maryland's governor this week said that that was their number one source of transmission, second was house parties.</s>PAUL: All right. Polo Sandoval, great wrap up for us there, thank you.</s>SANDOVAL: Thanks, guys.</s>SANCHEZ: No question that the pandemic is going to be on the minds of voters in just a few days as they cast their ballots, many of them early. Today, both campaigns are busy in the battleground states; President Trump heading to North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. Meantime, Vice President Mike Pence hitting two stops in Florida.</s>PAUL: And Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, has two events in Pennsylvania today. His running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, is going to be next door, in Ohio. And Former President Barack Obama is stumping for Biden in South Florida. Our reporters are out on the trail this morning: CNN's M.J. Lee, following the Biden campaign in Philadelphia. We do want to start with CNN Sarah Westwood, though, she's with the President in West Palm Beach.</s>SANCHEZ: And good morning, Sarah, the president starting his day there in Florida, his big rallies planned, coincidentally in three COVID hotspots later, but he has a big item on the agenda first.</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Boris and Christi. And yes, a very busy day for President Trump starts here in West Palm Beach where he'll wake up at his Mar-a- Lago club for the first time since early March. So, the pandemic has kept him away, obviously, for months, a lot has changed since the last time we all were here. But the first item on his agenda is voting, presumably for himself here in Florida, where he is still registered to vote. And he's encouraged his supporters to vote in person, and not necessarily trust the vote by mail system. So, perhaps a symbolic gesture from the President going to his early voting polling location in person, then he has a very busy campaign schedule with rallies in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Ohio. As you mentioned, those are three crucial battleground states and three states that the President did carry in 2016. But where he's either trailing Joe Biden or where the margin for him is very, very thin. So, he's working to shore up support it in those key states. Now, at rallies yesterday, we heard the President promote a level of optimism about the end of the pandemic that just isn't rooted in the data, because we are seeing infections spike across this country. Let's take a listen to what he said in Pensacola.</s>TRUMP: A safe vaccine that quickly ends this horrible pandemic, and we're rounding the turn. With or without the vaccine we have the vaccines, they're going to be great. But with or without and we're rounding the turn. Normal life, which all we want, fully resuming. We want normal life to fully resume, and that's happening.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, of course, we've heard local officials and public health experts warn against the president convening gatherings of this size across the country in, as you mentioned, Boris, COVID hotspots. And we have seen images of a few guests wearing masks and few guests adhering to social distancing guidelines at some of these events. But at a different campaign event here in Florida yesterday, the President expressed some ambivalence about adhering to social distancing guidelines.</s>TRUMP: Know what some people want to stay in, and that's good. Do it, do it. Don't -- you know, I'm sort of like, lead your life, right. And some people agree with me some people, but if you want to stay in, if you want to do what you're doing, you do it. If you want to get out, you want to be careful and socially distance and all of the things, and you can wear a mask if you can't socially distance, but there are a lot of things you can do. But some people want to stay in.</s>WESTWOOD: Now, as we've kind of seen the President's closing argument here appears to be based on trying to put a rosy spin on the virus, trying to promise a return to normal life, even though we are still seeing those rising cases of coronavirus. And we're seeing the death toll in the U.S. continue to climb. And we do expect the President to pursue a similarly packed schedule basically every day from now until Election Day. We're 10 days out and the President has been hitting multiple states a day in that final sprint for us and Christi.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, you've got to lead your life, is pretty much how you wind up with a record number of new infections in a single day, months after the pandemic began. Sarah Westwood with the President in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thanks so much.</s>PAUL: We'll go from Sarah, M.J. Lee, she's with us from Pennsylvania, whereas we said Jill and Joe Biden are going to be campaigning today. So, we know M.J. that winning Pennsylvania is a priority for the Biden campaign. What do you know is going to happen today?</s>M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in these final days, guys, the Biden campaign is promising that the Former Vice President will have a robust campaign schedule. And that brings them here to the state of Pennsylvania today, they're first going to be campaigning in the Philadelphia suburbs. And you're absolutely right, everybody would acknowledge that this is a critical state. Keep in mind, this is a state that President Trump narrowly won back in 2016. And these days, the polls coming out of the state have looked very good for the former Vice President, a CNN poll earlier this week show the vice president, former vice president, with a 10-point lead over the president. So, clearly, this is a state that they want to put in their victory column. And very important to note too, that in terms of just his, his closing message that we are seeing in these final days, clearly COVID- 19, and what Biden plans on doing to contain this virus is going to be so central to what he wants voters to hear from him in these final days. Yesterday, we saw him make a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, it was sort of a comprehensive speech that hit on all the different topics that we've heard him talk about in these final weeks. He talked about sort of what his plan would be to try to keep this virus in check if he were to be president, including talking about the enforcement of mask wearing, how he would hand out vaccines and PPE. And of course, going after what he sees as the President's failures in dealing with this virus, or even pointedly saying that he believes the President has quit on the American people. And one thing that was kind of interesting was that Biden over and over again, sort of ask the American people to imagine a better future under his own presidency. Take a listen.</s>BIDEN: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path. Imagine a day in the not too distant future when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and your family, maybe even go out to a movie; when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduation surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends.</s>LEE: Now, we get a sense of just how close we are to election day just by seeing what kinds of surrogates are campaigning this weekend for Joe Biden. We have former President Barak Obama, as you mentioned in Miami today; and we also have Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate, campaigning in the state of Ohio. We have Bernie Sanders in Western Pennsylvania and celebrities too. We are going to be seeing Cher in Las Vegas. And finally, Jon Bon Jovi will be campaigning with Joe and Jill Biden later today in Luzerne County, guys.</s>PAUL: All right. M.J. Lee. It's quite a lineup. Thank you so much.</s>SANCHEZ: We have plenty to discuss. Unfortunately, we have a great voice to share some perspective. Let's bring in the Washington Post's White House Reporter and CNN Political Analyst Toluse Olorunnipa. Toluse, good morning. Always great to see you, sir. I want to pull up that map of where all the candidates are going, the candidates and their surrogates because the map often tells the story of where things are in the campaign. We heard from M.J. there, Biden is camping out in Pennsylvania today. A lot of projections have Pennsylvania essentially deciding the winner of this election. President Trump, though, blitzing the campaign trail rallies in three different swing states. When you look at this map, what does that say to you to live?</s>TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it shows that Biden has a large number of paths to victory, while Trump needs to essentially play defense for the map that he won four years ago. The President needs to win Florida. If he loses Florida, essentially, that means this race is over. He needs to do well in the upper Midwest and Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. He's spending some time in some of those states. But the fact that states like Ohio and Georgia and even Iowa are in the mix shows that President Trump is playing defense and he would really need to draw an inside straight and beat the polls in order to win again. Right now, it seems like his, his path to victory is incredibly narrow, while Joe Biden and a lot of his surrogates are looking at a widening path to victory, including looking at some of these conservative and red states like Georgia, even Texas, where they see things in the early voting numbers that show that they may be competitive there. So, it does show that the race continues to trend in Biden's favor. But the you know, what's going to happen on election day with a lot of President Trump's voters coming out could ultimately shape the, the outcome of the race, but right now it seems like President Trump is fighting an uphill battle.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, certainly the polls have been showing that they've been remarkably consistent throughout this race, especially in key swing states, many of them not even within the margin of error the way that they were in 2016. And nationally, Biden, looks to be up some 10 points. Is there anything right now in this race with so many ballots already cast that you think might change the dynamic?</s>OLORUNNIPA: Well, the debate earlier this week was really the last time for either candidate to speak to a large, large national audience of tens of millions of people. And I don't think that debate really changed the trajectory of the race. So, right now, President Trump is trying to recreate what he did in 2016, which was barnstorming the country, trying to stay on message in the final days of the race, and meet as many voters as possible to try to shave down the margins and see if he can eke out of victory. But in terms of major national events, you know, you know, you always have to expect the unexpected, especially this year, and especially under this presidency. But in terms of changing the actual contours of the race. It does seem like this race has been incredibly steady over the past several months.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, expect the unexpected. That's, that's certainly an understatement, as you all know. I want to zoom in on, on Georgia very quickly. It hasn't gone for a democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992. And yet, it appears it will be competitive in this race, ultimately, what is it going to take for Biden to win?</s>OLORUNNIPA: Well, if you look at 2018, there was a relatively competitive governor's race and it really energized Democrats Biden needs to build on that he needs to do slightly better than Stacey Abrams did with white voters. And he needs to juice turnout in the Atlanta suburbs and do incredibly well when it comes to people coming out to vote in this early voting period. And on Election Day, and make sure that he holds down the margins in the rural parts of the state. So, he has a shot at winning Georgia, it seems like the early vote numbers show that Democrats are fired up if, if Biden can keep it very close on Election Day, then he could eke out a win there and if he wins Georgia, it's hard to see President Trump winning re-election.</s>SANCHEZ: And even if he doesn't win, just having to have the Trump campaign dedicate resources there is sort of a victory in itself. Toluse Olorunnipa, thank you so much for joining us and sharing part of your weekend with us.</s>OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.</s>PAUL: So, still to come. Dr. Anthony Fauci says a quote considerable number of lives could have been saved if public health measures had been followed.</s>SANCHEZ: Plus, we're learning that a 19-year-old heavily armed man is in federal custody after he researched Joe Biden's home and came within miles of his doorstep. More details ahead.

Filmmakers Behind "Rigged" Say There's A Well-Organized Effort To Block Certain Groups From Ballot Box

SANCHEZ: A man who was arrested in North Carolina on child pornography charges also research Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden.</s>PAUL: We're talking about 19-year-old, Alexander Triesman. He searched for Biden's address, apparently online, and eventually ended up within four miles of Biden's home and Delaware. Now, federal court documents say police found Triesman's van filled with multiple guns of explosive materials.</s>SANCHEZ: Yes, so far, he's not been charged in relation to the weapons that were in his possession. It's also unclear if he's going to face additional charges related to his research on Biden. Meantime, Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that mail ballots cannot be challenged or rejected for signatures that don't match versions that are already on file. And the Texas Supreme Court this week ruled the drive through voting in the state's largest county where Houston is located can continue. The Republican Party of Texas argued those Harris County polling places were violating election law. Election law experts have counted over 200 lawsuits filed in the lead up to the start of early voting,</s>PAUL: The filmmakers behind Rigged: The Voter Suppression handbook as it's called, say there's a well-organized effort to block certain groups from the ballot box. Take a look.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: '08 was the beginning of the whole demographic tide. The first election where we could see the demographics impacting. And if we continue to underperform in this multi-racial world, that is going to be America, the white voters are going to be clear minority. The Republican Party will cease to exist.</s>PAUL: Tim Smith is with us. He's the executive producer of the film. Tim, we're glad to have you here. Thank you very much.</s>TIM SMITH, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, RIGGED: Thank you.</s>PAUL: So, we have record numbers of people voting by mail already, and that is because in large part of this pandemic, people afraid to go to the polls. I know that you say some of the additional security measures are a form of voter suppression. What evidence do you have of that?</s>SMITH: Well, we sort of started our detective work in 2016. And back then, president or then-candidate Trump was talking about rigged elections, as he is talking now, President Trump, about rigged elections. Back in 2016, when we started our filming, he focused on the polling places that -- you know, it would be rigged in the polling places. Now, he's talking about vote by mail fraud. The reality is there is no, you know, justification, there's been a lots of studies done that, you know, vote by mail, it is -- has any fraud, and it's just, you know, it's just totally fallacious. But, you know, it's the same sort of tactics he used back then. You're also seeing it in number of states. You mentioned Texas. There's only one drop-off box per county in Texas. Now, some counties only have a few thousand people, but Harris County in Houston has more than 2.5 million voters. So, you know, it's just -- in Ohio, there's only one polling place per county -- early polling place. So, they really are looking for ways to sort of, you know, impact the growing demographic tide of black and brown voters, you know, which has really sort of started as we made clear in our film in 2008 when Obama won. And the Republicans had to sort of -- you know, had to -- one of two choices. Either they could suppress these new voters or they could kind of appeal to them in terms of policies. They, you know, chose the former route and they have been doing it ever since. It is sort of spread across, you know, not only the legislatures with, you know, restricted voting laws but also increasingly in the courts where, you know, The Republican Senate and Trump have appointed, appointed a number of Republican -- or not Republican but judges. And 25 percent of the new federal judges are, you know, Trump appointees.</s>SANCHEZ: Tim, you talk specifically about Texas and the situation there, so I want to ask you about that. The governor, Greg Abbott, he's still fighting in court to keep ballot drop boxes to one per county. He's argues that he's expanded access and opportunities to voting in different ways, by expanding early voting by six days and allowing hand delivering of mail-in ballots. Do you not see that as a fair tradeoff?</s>SMITH: Well, the other thing he did for -- they've kept that only people over 65 and people who have, you know, what they call legitimate illnesses, and they don't qualify COVID as legitimate illnesses, can do vote by mail. So, you know, he's kind of trying to play it both ways. And you know, they also have voter I.D. in Texas which, you know, that Supreme Court has struck down, and then it came back, you know after Shelby versus Holder was passed. So, people in Texas, for instance, college I.D.s can be used. But, you know, gun permits can for your I.D. to vote. So, you know, they're sort of focusing on the type of voters, you know, via this voter I.D. that they want to get to the polls.</s>PAUL: So, if somebody feels like they're being held back or that there is some sort of voter suppression in their area, is there anything they can do about that?</s>SMITH: Yes, there's this wonderful organization. 1-800-our-vote, which you can call. And they have 24-hour lawyers on call. And they -- and they have call centers, one of them, we actually shot during the 2016 in Washington, D.C., where they'll take your call, and, you know, try and resolve your issue. You know, whether your poll has been closed, there have been 21,000 polls closed since 2016 that it won't be open this year. So, if you go to your old polling place and it's closed, you can call this number and, you know, they'll tell you, well, where do you live? And you'll say, you know, XYZ Street. And they'll say, well, you're polling place is now here.</s>PAUL: Alrighty, Tim Smith, good to have you with us this morning. Thank you, sir.</s>SANCHEZ: Thanks so much.</s>SMITH: Thank you.</s>SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead, earlier this year, they helped keep families afloat, but can Washington agree to a new deal on stimulus checks? We'll be right back after a quick break.

Win Black Works To Fight Disinformation Targeting Blacks, Latinos.

PAUL: So, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have made these efforts to dismantle disinformation campaigns online during this election. One organization says they just aren't doing enough to fight against the disinformation that specifically targets black and brown communities. So, now, they're using their own tactics to identify where disinformation starts and stop the spread. I want to bring in, co-founder of Win Black, Andre Banks with us now. Mr. Brank - Banks, thank you for being here.</s>ANDRE BANKS, CO-FOUNDER, WIN BLACK: Thank you for having me.</s>PAUL: Absolutely. So, what specifically are you doing to do your part to try to stop some of this disinformation?</s>BANKS: You know we're doing the best that we can to make sure that voters are informed all across this country. So, we've built a network of more than 100 organizations working to educate and turn out voters for this election. And we've also been working with researchers monitoring misinformation, looking for the worst misinformation that's happening, and finding, and creating great content to counter it on people's feeds all over the nation.</s>PAUL: So, I want to look at what happened in 2016. There was this fake community page allegedly created by the Russians, it's an activist group called Blacktivist -- is what they call themselves. We've got to full screen up in here that we can show you what it looks like. How many examples of something like this are you seeing now in 2020?</s>BANKS: You know, we're seeing quite a few. And you know -- you know, Blacktivist was one of the biggest in 2016, but, you know, you have to remember when the Senate did a report on Russian interference in 2017, after that election, it found that the number one target of Russian interference were Black Americans. So, you know, there is been a lot of misinformation. Since then, and we see a lot of that popping up: bots, trolls, other bad actors doing everything from putting up billboards to making confusing communities online, and even masquerading as Black or Latino people in order to confuse or misinform voters.</s>PAUL: Have they evolved in any specific way from 2016 to 2020?</s>BANKS: Oh, absolutely. They've become much more sophisticated actually. And, you know, one of the things you said at the top of the segment, you know, the platforms you know, where we are -- where we are every day are just not doing enough to actually catch up to how clever these groups have become. So, they always seem to be one step behind actually, and that's why we have to do so much on our own to make sure that our friends, our family, our communities are informed.</s>PAUL: So, educate us. What do we need to watch out for and how can we help the people that we know and love who are wanting to go vote and make an educated vote? How do we help them do so?</s>BANKS: There's a couple of things that I would suggest. You know, first of all, one thing I like to remind people is that, you know, this fight is happening on your own feeds. And sometimes even good people have bad information. So, you know, we always say fact check that family group chat, you know, where you see people saying something that may not be true or that seems questionable. You know, talk about it. Really give people a chance to get a different piece of information. We also say, only argue online with your friends. There's some stranger Internet who's a person on -- who person on the Internet who's cranky and they seem to be dragging you into a fight, that might be a paid troll, that might be a bot. So, just avoid those folks all together. And most importantly, you know, we have plenty of information at windblack.org about, you know, how you can find your polling place, how you can make a voting plan, and most importantly, make that plan, and follow-through, and make sure you take your friends and family with you.</s>PAUL: Andre Banks, it has been such a pleasure. Great information. Thank you so much.</s>BANKS: Thank you.</s>PAUL: Absolutely. We'll be right back.

U.S. Hits Highest Daily Number Of Virus Cases Since Pandemic Began

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: Are the harms of lockdown worse than the virus itself? That's today's survey question and I'm Michael Smerconish in Philadelphia. We're 10 days away from the election and the U.S. is now in the midst of the long-dreaded fall surge. The U.S. has hit a major milestone yesterday. It recorded its highest one-day number of COVID-19 infections, more than 83,000. This shattered the country's previous record set in July by more than 6,000. Plus, more than 41,000 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals yesterday and experts warned that the daily numbers will get worse, saying the culprits for this rise in new cases are indoor socializing, outbreaks at schools and pandemic fatigue. That sounds like a case for additional lockdown and indeed, this weekend, millions of Europeans are facing tougher coronavirus restrictions. Wales is beginning a two-week lockdown, Manchester, England is back under the highest tier of restrictions and Ireland has also imposed its strictest level of restrictions in weeks, but a proposal written by a group of well-credentialed scientists says there's a solution to pandemic fatigue, quote, "Allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk." The document is called the Great Barrington Declaration. The original authors are three physicians from Stanford, Harvard and Oxford. They advocate for what they call focused protection. Quote, "The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk." The manifesto's central tenet is that not returning to normal life is doing more harm than good, resulting in long-lasting physical and mental health problems. Therefore, the declaration says, restaurants and other businesses should open, arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more at risk may participate in the -- if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity. Publication of the Great Barrington Declaration drew swift response in the form of something called the John Snow Memorandum. No, not a "Game of Thrones" reference. This is a tip of the hat to John Snow who was a legendary epidemiologist. The signatures to this document say the Great Barrington Declaration would endanger Americans who have underlying conditions that put them at high risk from severe COVID-19 and result in perhaps a half a million deaths. Quote, "In addition to the human cost, this would impact the workforce as a whole and overwhelm ability of healthcare systems to provide acute and routine care. Furthermore, there's no evidence for lasting protective immunity to SARS-COVID-2 following natural infection. Such a strategy would not end the COVID-19 pandemic, but result in recurrent epidemics, as was the case with numerous infectious diseases before the advent of vaccination." Also criticizing the declaration is John Barry, a professor at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He wrote a piece for "The New York Times" which was titled, "What Fans of 'Herd Immunity' Won't Tell You," and he also literally wrote the book on a deadly pandemic, "The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History." Professor John Barry joins me now to discuss along with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University epidemiologist, professor and health economist and one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration. Dr. Bhattacharya, let me start with you. In short, are you saying that the young and others who are least vulnerable should resume life knowing that many will get COVID, that they'll survive and ultimately help slow the spread of the virus? Is that the argument?</s>JAY BHATTACHARYA, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Yes, that's the argument. For them, COVID is less dangerous than the other dangers they face. One in four of young adults, for instance, seriously considered suicide in June. The economic collapse caused by the lockdowns have led to endangering the lives of 130 million people worldwide of starvation, actual starvation. In the United States, people have skipped cancer treatments. Yes, that is -- that's true. The risk of COVID is less for them, 99.95 survival rate, versus the harms from lockdown.</s>SMERCONISH: You know, Dr. Bhattacharya, that opponents of this school of thought say it's reckless and that many, many will die as a result. What's your response to that?</s>BHATTACHARYA: I mean, you can look at the current policy. the current policy has led to hundreds of -- hundreds of thousands of deaths of Americans that many of which are avoidable. The current policy, the idea is that we slow the spread of the disease and that protects the vulnerable. Well, that's evidently failed. We have not actually been able to protect the vulnerable and I think to some extent because we thought of that as a way to protect the vulnerable, we have failed to take up creative ways to actually protect them. I think that the death calculations assume that we can't protect the vulnerable and if you believe that you can't protect the vulnerable, you're not going to try to think of ways to do it. I think it actually is possible and the Great Barrington Declaration, you can go look, we make a lot of concrete suggestions and more are possible if we just engage with it.</s>SMERCONISH: On my website today, by the way, I have not only the Great Barrington Declaration, but also the John Snow Memorandum. I hope people will go and read both. Professor Barry, you, in your "New York Times" essay, you acknowledge that restrictions designed to limit deaths do cause other harm, economic, domestic violence, drug abuse, decline in diagnostic testing, but in the end, you certainly don't agree with what Dr. Bhattacharya has had to say. Why not?</s>JOHN BARRY, AUTHOR, THE GREAT INFLUENZA: Well, you know, neither situation is a good one. We are in a bad place. The question is which is going to be least harmful and I think it's pretty clear that, you know, if we go the route that they recommend, you're going to see a minimum according to the models, a minimum, if it requires only 40 percent to reach herd immunity, then you would have 800,000 deaths and most people think that it would take more like 60 to 70 percent to reach herd immunity. In addition, they don't mention the fact that 78 -- according to one study -- I mean, we do know there's a lot of heart damage, lung damage, damage to other organs from even people who are asymptomatic. In one study, 78 percent, including people with no symptoms, of the people infected with COVID have some heart damage. We have no idea whether that's going to lead to incapacitation or shorten their lives in the future. And another point that I think's very important is this doesn't really accomplish that much. The reason the economy is stagnant is not so much the restrictions, but the concerns that people still have. There was a study in June, I think, by the University of Chicago of areas that were pretty much adjacent to each other, but across county lines or state borders that had different policies on restrictions and so forth. And they found that only 7 percent of the economic loss, 7 percent of the decline was the cause of restrictions. The rest was because people were concerned about the virus. Those are just a few of the things and to say that our policy now isn't working is absolutely correct. I agree completely, but that's a straw man because we don't have a policy. The White House has refused to follow the advice of public health professionals. You know, it'd be nice if we actually went out and tried to file policy that public health professionals have have called (ph). You know, it just -- it doesn't work. I mean, in Brazil ...</s>SMERCONISH: Dr. Bhattacharya ...</s>BARRY: Go ahead.</s>SMERCONISH: Yes. I'm sorry.</s>BARRY: No. Go ahead.</s>SMERCONISH: I was going to say, Dr. Bhattacharya, isn't one of the impracticalities of what you're advocating the fact that so many households in America today are blended? You've got the grandparents now under the same roof as the kids who are home from school, are home from college and even if you allow the schools to all reopen, you know, the K through 12'ers are still going to have exposure to older Americans.</s>BHATTACHARYA: So I think one of the -- one of the things about that is that the lockdowns themselves have created multi-generational homes. They've sent -- the economic dislocation from the lockdowns that have sent young adults back home to live with much older parents. So I think that the lockdowns themselves are partly responsible for that. Creative ways are available to deal with it. For instance, you could have accommodations, temporary accommodations, for people who are living in multi-generational homes that are older that have people that test positive or are exposed to the virus. You provide -- just like we provide hotels for homeless, we could do the same for people living in multi-generational homes. Creative policies are possible. Actually, let me address a couple things that Dr. Barry said. One, I don't -- I think if you're looking at those models, those models assume that the vulnerable get exposed. You protect the vulnerable, you get many, many, many fewer deaths. He also mentions long-term effects of COVID. I think the problem there is that it's a very common thing even -- it's a very, very thing that happens with other respiratory viruses. Well, influenza has the same thing. To-date, we don't have any evidence that actually it's very -- it's all that common and that study that Dr. Barry cites, the 78 percent study, that had a control group where it was a 65 percent -- a 60 to 65 percent rate of cardiomyopathy. The control group had that. That study had some serious flaws. So I think we don't actually have a sense of how common or frequent these numbers are -- these sort of long-term extra respiratory side effects are. I don't -- I think we have to look at what other respiratory viruses look like. Other coronaviruses produce it about the same rate, a very low rate. The influenza produces it at a very low rate. What we do know is that harms from the lockdown are absolutely deadly and we have no doubt about that. The harms from the lockdown worldwide have been absolutely catastrophic and in the United States also catastrophic. We've kept our hospitals empty and people have skipped cancer treatments as a consequence of it, people are skipping diabetes management, the psychiatric harm is absolutely devastating, as I think Dr. Barry will admit. I think the lockdowns themselves are ...</s>SMERCONISH: Professor -- I want Professor Barry to have opportunity to respond to that and then I want to ask an additional question. Professor, go ahead.</s>BARRY: OK. Well, first, you know, it we have 225,000 dead today. You know, Sweden tried something akin to what is being recommended. Sweden had the highest death rate in -- just about the highest death rate in Europe. It was more than five times Denmark, it was more than 11 times Norway and their economy actually did worse. In the second quarter, their economy declined more than Denmark and Norway. You raised the point about the multi-generation -- I mean, making this work, it's just almost impossible. You're essentially asking people to go to concentration camps. I mean, that's an overstatement. I'm sorry I used that phrase, but separating the families, you know, it's just not workable and how do you take care of a 25-year-old obese diabetic who has to go to work? That person is at high risk and, you know, it is a very dangerous situation. I think the models are pretty accurate and I think the expectations would be certainly 800,000 deaths and probably over a million and that is a very, very high risk to take ...</s>SMERCONISH: Professor Barry, the essay ...</s>BARRY: ... for a theory (ph) that has not been proven.</s>SMERCONISH: The essay that you wrote for "The New York Times" got great circulation. Here's one of the critics that I want to put on the screen and give you opportunity to respond. A person wrote and said, appended to your essay, "Feel free to disagree with me, but in my opinion, the coronavirus response has been upside down from the start. Healthy people under the age of 70 have had every aspect of their lives turned upside down so compromised people over the age of 70 could still go to Walmart. From the get-go, the extreme quarantine and isolation measures should have focused on those at high risk, not those at infinitesimally small risk. Increase public support for older Americans, rally huge volunteer armies to do deliveries necessary for products and services, make them communicate by Zoom. My kids, who were never at risk, have been essentially on house arrest since mid-March. That's seven months for no reason. Thus, the outrage you see from many Americans now." You would say what to that individual?</s>BARRY: I would say there is from, you know -- number one, nobody is calling for a general lockdown right now. What would be nice to have and what the public health professionals are calling for is what they have recommended from the beginning and which we have not gotten from the White House. Would there have to be any lockdowns? Probably there would be in some areas where the disease was really, really exploding, but in terms of general lockdowns, absolutely not. In terms of school openings, I've actually been a hawk in terms of I think, yes, schools should be open because there is a difference between the influenza virus and this virus. In influenza, kids are vulnerable and they're also super-spreaders. Neither of those things are true for coronavirus. So I think schools should be open as long as community transmission is not extraordinary. The real problem is that this administration has not followed public health advice. That is -- we know that the non-pharmaceutical interventions work. They've worked in countries around the world that have actually applied them. They have not worked in places like the United States where we've been hit or miss. You know, give the public health professionals a chance. You know, I respect the signers of the Great Barrington Declaration, but they are a very distinct minority, very distinct minority of public health professionals.</s>SMERCONISH: OK. And let me just close on this note. First, I'm so privileged to have had both of you here and I'm making available in my Twitter feed and at my website right now the Barrington Declaration, the John Snow Memorandum and Professor Barry's essay from "The New York Times." Thank you both.</s>BARRY: Thank you.</s>SMERCONISH: What are your thoughts? Tweet me @Smerconish, go to my Facebook page and I will read some throughout the course of the program. This comes from Facebook, "But to reach 'herd immunity' you have to put the vulnerable at risk too. We are not a 'separate society.' We live in the same society. Even the vulnerable have to go out to work, to school, to shop." Joyce, I said exactly that to Dr. Bhattacharya, that we have so many blended households today. His response, in part, was we have a lot of -- we have a lot more blended households because of the, quote- unquote, "lockdown" that many have gone into. And again, his argument is to say how much injury are we causing through the ripple effects of the lockdown itself? Go to my website, answer at Smerconish.com. Are the harms of lockdown worse than the virus itself? Up ahead, President Trump will be casting his early vote during this house in West Palm Beach in person.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm voting here as opposed to sending it in. You know, those mail-in. I like being able to vote. I'm old-fashioned, I guess.</s>SMERCONISH: But because of the pandemic, unprecedented numbers of Americans are voting by mail, many for the first time. A percentage of mail-in ballots are always rejected for various defects, but this year, could that number be significant enough to effect the outcome of the election? And astronaut Kate Rubins voted really remotely from the International Space Station and posted this selfie. Good thing she didn't include a picture of her actual ballot because on earth, in certain states, she might have been guilty of a crime and I'll explain.

Soon: President Trump Votes In Person; Could Mail-in Ballot Problems Affect Election Outcome?; Could DOJ Lawsuit Break Up Google?; Is Your Ballot Selfie Legal?; President Trump Votes Today In Florida.

SMERCONISH: That's a live shot in West Palm Beach, Florida, crowds gathering in anticipation of President Trump casting his Florida ballot in person. When he does, we'll bring it to you live. President Obama was in Philadelphia this week.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't have to wait for November 3rd to cast your ballot. You can vote from home with a mail-in ballot. Just go to IWillVote.com/PA to request your ballot right away and before you send it back, Pennsylvania's got this thing where you've got to use both envelopes. So you've got to read the directions carefully to make sure your vote counts.</s>SMERCONISH: So taking my cue from President Obama, here's my mail-in Pennsylvania ballot. This is the first time that the commonwealth has allowed mailing in for people in a presidential election without an excuse for not voting in person, a decision that actually predated the pandemic. I've got to, you know, fill in the dots accurately and sign it and then put it inside the so-called "secrecy envelope," then place it inside this envelope and I'm worried, you know, that I'm going to get something wrong and for good reason. One less worry as of Friday is that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided unanimously that county election officials can't throw out absentee ballots for signatures deemed not to match those on file. So in this case, I've got to sign the -- I've got to sign the exterior of the envelope, but where there was concern that there'd be a matching of signatures to what they have on file and some would then be tossed as a result, the effect of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ballot is to say there won't be that kind of signature. Frankly, it sets up a disconnect because if you vote in person, there will be a signature comparison, but not if you vote by mail and I'm sure that will continue to be a subject of controversy. In this election, unprecedented numbers of Americans are voting by mail, many for the first time, and there's still a good chance hundreds of thousands of them are going to get something wrong. Could this have a significant impact on the outcome? In the 2016 presidential election, 318,728 mail-in ballots were rejected. In this year's primaries more than half a million mail-in ballots were rejected and not every state even kept track of that figure. Drill down on some of those numbers and it's troubling. For example, in Pennsylvania, President Trump only won the state in 2016 by 44,292. Well, in this year's primaries, 37,119 ballots were rejected. In Wisconsin, the President won by only 22,748. The number of ballots rejected in this year's Wisconsin primary was more than that, 23,196. In the crucial swing state of Florida, "Politico" found more than 35,500 vote-by-mail primary ballots didn't count because of missed deadlines or technical flaws. In this year's primary in New York City, over 400,000 absentee ballots were sent in and 84,000 of those were not counted, a whopping 21 percent. There's always been a disparity between the parties when it comes to utilizing mail-in ballots and it's even more accentuated this year. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 69 percent of Biden voters expected to vote by mail compared to just 21 percent of Trump voters. That would explain why Democrats are in court in more than half the states fighting to extend deadlines and to waive witness and notary requirements. They also want voters to be given the chance to fix errors, they call that "curing," before their ballots are rejected, but different states have different rules and only 22 states allow voters to cure mail-in ballots once they've been sent in. In North Carolina, for instance, of the ballots needing fixing, 52 percent belong to Democrats compared with 21 percent for Republicans and although the state is 22.2 percent black, 31 percent of the ballots that need fixing are from voters who are African-American. As I've discussed before, the dominance of the Democratic mail-in vote will likely create a blue shift that will increase Joe Biden's vote in the days following the final day of voting. In a recent piece in "The New York Times" titled "Mail Ballots are Already Being Rejected. Guess Whose," the answer is young voters, black and Hispanic voters and first-time mail-in voters who all traditionally trend Democratic. Joining me now to discuss is Wendy Weiser, vice president and director of the Democracy Program at NYU School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice. Wendy, what worries you most about this subject?</s>WENDY WEISER, VP AND DIRECTOR OF DEMOCRACY PROGRAM, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: Well, thank you for having me. You know, any practice that results in a significant number of ballots cast by eligible voters being tossed for technical reasons is problematic and, frankly, unacceptable in a 21st Century America. This is something we can and should do better with and I am worried not only at the level of disenfranchisement, at the racial disparities we see, but also, as you noted, in close races, these percentages could make the difference in the outcome of an election.</s>SMERCONISH: I know that the national average was about 1 percent or 1.5, but I'm going to put on the screen a slide that shows a variety of states and their rejection rates and, you know, some of it is alarming. Look at those if you're able. New York, 13.7, Arkansas, 7.6, Kentucky, 6.8, North Carolina, 6.1, Louisiana, 5.9, Massachusetts, 5.8. To what do you attribute those, what I would call, high rates of rejection?</s>WEISER: Well, interesting, we see the highest rates of rejection often in states where voters typically vote by mail or by absentee ballot at smaller rates and so we've seen, across the country this year, a real surge in voters moving towards absentee voting because of the pandemic, but suddenly those percentages which typically apply to a small number of ballots now are, you know, much more significant because in many cases half or more voters are going to be voting by absentee ballot.</s>SMERCONISH: Well, I wouldn't want somebody to get the wrong message from this. I wouldn't want someone to say, oh, my gosh, I better go out and vote in the midst of a pandemic live and in person where I'd been planning to vote by mail. I mean, my advice on radio and here on CNN is to tell people to treat this like a wedding invitation. You know, frankly, sometimes wedding invitations are pretty complicated. How many people are coming, do you want the chicken or the fish and what envelope goes where? It's the same kind of thing, right? Pay attention when you're filling it out.</s>WEISER: Yes. Absolutely. I mean, the good news this year is we have record levels of voter enthusiasm and the motivation to vote is high and voters can actually dramatically reduce the likelihood that their ballots are in this small portion of ballots that get rejected by following the instructions closely. If you are in, you know, one of the 12 states that require a witness with your absentee ballot like Wisconsin and North Carolina, make sure you get that witness. As you noted, if you're in Pennsylvania, make sure you put your ballot in that extra secrecy sleeve that's included with the ballot and make sure in every state that you include a signature on your ballot envelope and double check. Make sure all the information is correct. Another critical fact is be timely, that's also very important.</s>SMERCONISH: And just to underscore, different states -- we essentially have 52 different systems going on here and whether there's a cure process, whether you get to fix it is dependent upon your state, correct?</s>WEISER: Yes. The rules for -- and this is confusing for voters as they're hearing a lot of national news about mail voting, the rules and the requirements vary state by state, jurisdiction by jurisdiction. So read your instructions carefully. And 32 states, ballots won't count if they are mailed on time but received after Election Day. That is -- no matter where you are, it is a good idea to get those ballots in as early as possible. Flatten the curve, that will also ease election administration. And in 22 states, if there is a mistake, they'll give you an opportunity to cure it. They won't</s>SMERCONISH: All right. I'm losing Wendy Weiser. Wendy, I'm losing you, but here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to say that the Brennan Center has a great Web site with lots of good data. Thank you for being here and I hope people will go there to learn more information. I want to remind you, ladies and gentlemen, to go to my Web site at Smerconish.com and answer this week's survey question. "Are the harms of lockdown worse than the virus itself?" Up ahead, the Department of Justice thinks that Google's vast amount of power is a problem so they filed an antitrust lawsuit that could have major implications on the internet's future. But do you pass up the competition in favor of Google services? Google thinks so. And they say it's what might save them. And President Trump will be voting this hour in person in West Palm Beach in Florida. We'll bring you that live when it happens.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like to get online and if I have to stand there for two hours, maybe they'll move me (ph) up a little bit. But I like to vote.</s>SMERCONISH: Crowds still gathering in West Palm Beach, Florida, awaiting President Trump en route to cast his ballot. He's doing so as a Florida resident in this cycle. Different, of course, than how he voted four years ago. When that happens, we will bring it to you live. This week, the Justice Department launched an antitrust action against Google claiming that the search giant illegally protects its monopoly. The government asserted that Google -- quote -- "anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search archives (ph), search advertising, and general search text advertising, the cornerstones of its empire." Google responds that people use its search engine because they want to, not because they're forced to through anticompetitive practices. The outcome could have a profound impact on the internet as we know it. This is the latest salvo in the war against the big tech, big three, Amazon, Apple, Facebook -- four if you count Microsoft. And more action may be on the way for Facebook. "The Washington Post" reporting that state and federal investigators are expected to file antitrust charges against the social media giant as soon as November. Steven Levy joins me. He's the editor-at-large for "Wired." The "Washington Post" has called him America's premier technology journalist. Why? Well, he wrote a book about Apple called "The Perfect Thing." He wrote a great book about Facebook called "The Inside Story." And most importantly for our purposes, he wrote "In The Plex, How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives." Steven, what's this all about?</s>STEVEN LEVY, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, WIRED: Well, as you mentioned, the government is taking a hard look at these big tech companies. You know, there are four people usually cited, Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon. And some people throw Microsoft in there. And they have a lot of power. Facebook and Google together have the majority of advertising on the web. And just about 100 percent of the profits from advertising on the web -- and Google gets its money from search. They have what most people would consider a monopoly in search. They have well over 80 percent by some measures over 90 percent of all of the searches that are done on the Web are Google searches. And the government says, wait a minute, it's not illegal to have a monopoly. But when you use that monopoly, you leverage it to get an even bigger share and lock in your monopoly, that's no good. So one thing that Google does is they pay billions of dollars to companies like Apple and companies like Mozilla and Samsung, so when you search, the default will be a Google search. And the government says, wait a minute, that's not fair. It's OK to have a lot of people who want to search there, but when people go to these other places, you know, they start off with an iPhone, they shouldn't automatically have Apple -- I'm sorry, Google as their search engine. They should start from scratch maybe and pick what they want.</s>SMERCONISH: So, interesting you and I are having this conversation and I'm waiting a live feed of President Trump going to vote. We're 10 days out from the conclusion of this election. And it begs the question, will this sort of thing transcend a change in administration or could potentially a Joe Biden administration have a different view of this issue?</s>LEVY: That's a great question, if you look back to the Microsoft trial which the government says this is the biggest thing we've done since then. Twenty years ago, the government sued Microsoft for leveraging its monopoly and operating systems to try to make people -- force people really to use their internet browser. And they lost the case. But when a new administration came in, the George W. Bush administration, they settled the case and rolled back the remedy that the judge recommended. He wanted to break up Microsoft. So, could the same thing happen here? One sign which Google probably is liking is that some state attorneys general signed on to the government's action but they were all from red states. So it implied they had to rush this out, somehow, to get out before the election. And though I don't think Google can take too much comfort because Biden has talked about his worries about big tech as well. So we might see the suit continue, but it might have a different form under a Joe Biden administration.</s>SMERCONISH: Take my final 30 seconds and tell me why should I as a consumer care about this?</s>LEVY: Yes, you might be happy saying I use Google search. What's the problem here? No one forces me --</s>SMERCONISH: Right.</s>LEVY: -- to use that. But I think that not only Google, but these other companies under investigation, Amazon with its market power and internet commerce, you know, Facebook, the social network dominates, these have incredible power over our lives. We use them multiple times a day. We can't imagine life without them. And there's a lot of negative things that come from this. And I think that if you think about it, you need someone to give some oversight to these companies. So I think this is a significant move on the government's part. And it's not going to be the only one, it's the first of a lot.</s>SMERCONISH: When I needed to read in anticipation of hosting you on my radio program, what did I do? I Googled the subject, of course. Steven, thank you so much for being here.</s>LEVY: Thank you, Michael. Take care.</s>SMERCONISH: Steven wins, by the way, that camera shot with the foliage. Where was he? Massachusetts looked great. Still to come, President Trump will be voting and he'll do so in person in Florida. We hope we're going to bring it to you live. I hope it happens during the course of the next 20 minutes. Many of the 52 million Americans who have already cast their ballots are posting selfies of themselves voting. Did you know that in several states it's illegal to do so? And I'll explain. Meanwhile, I want to remind to you answer the survey question.

Trump, Biden Storm Campaign Trail As Pandemic Grows Worse

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM. There are only ten days left for President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden to make their case to the American people. And part of that case is how they will end the national nightmare, the coronavirus pandemic. Both were out there on the campaign trail today. But while Biden is pitching his plan, the president is still insisting the virus will go away and that this is more about the news media than the pandemic.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told you, you turn on television, like COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, a plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore. So COVID, COVID, please don't go and vote, COVID.</s>BLITZER: Of course, the inconvenient truth is the virus is not going away. In fact, the pandemic is getting worse here in the United States. The Johns Hopkins University reported 83,757 new cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. just yesterday. This is the highest number of new confirmed cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began early this year. 943 Americans, by the way, died on Friday from COVID- 19. All the rallies in the world will not make this pandemic go away. And some of them actually, given what's going on at these rallies, could make it a whole lot worse. President Trump is moments away from taking the stage in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a state the president nearly one last time around. Jeremy Diamond is on the scene for us. Jeremy, Wisconsin, is certainly feeling the wrath of the new coronavirus surge. What's the latest?</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is, Wolf. I mean, listen, yesterday we saw across the United States a record number of new cases. That was also reflected here in Wisconsin which saw a record number of new cases in a single day, just yesterday, with up more than 4,500 cases. This is a state that's averaging nearly 4,000 cases a day. Hospitalizations are also on the rise, Wolf. If you look right now, about 1,200 people in Wisconsin are currently hospitalized with coronavirus. About a month ago, that number was only at about 300, Wolf. So, really, an exponential rise in coronavirus cases. And yet despite that, the president is holding another rally in the state. We were here last week when he had a rally, and now, again, the president rallying, thousands of people who are here. There are slightly more people who are wearing masks than what we've seen a previously but still a majority of the people are not wearing masks. And that is because the president of the United States continues to downplay the importance of mask wearing, he continues to downplay the pandemic and lie about the surge in cases we're seeing. Listen to the president earlier today when he talks about on how he compares the coronavirus crisis.</s>TRUMP: And you know what, on November 4th, you're not going to hear the news. CNN, all they talk about, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. If a plane goes down, with 500 people, they don't talk about it. All they talk because they're trying to scare everybody. You have to live your life and you have to get out, you have to be vigilant, be careful, socially distance. Yes, get too close, put the mask on. Put it on. You had lots of different things.</s>DIAMOND: And, Wolf, when you hear the president compare the coronavirus crisis to a plane crash with 500 people dying, not only would we obviously cover a plane crash with 500 people dying but right now, we're in a situation where nearly two 500-person planes are crashing every single day in the United States. In fact if you use the president's metrics, 500 people in a plane crash, we have lost 449 planes since the beginning of this coronavirus crisis here in the United States. And yet despite that, Wolf, you hear the president continue to downplay this pandemic, including right here in the state of Wisconsin, which as we said, is experiencing a surge in cases and is, of course, also a crucial battle ground state. The president won this state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016 and obviously he's looking to capture the state once again as part of his path to 270 Electoral College votes. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Yes. And the president says the news media is not talking about deaths. Sadly, we are talking about deaths. There have been so many deaths, right now, more than 224,000 Americans have lost their lives over this past several months. Jeremy Diamond in Waukesha, Wisconsin for us, thank you. The former president, Barack Obama, stumping for Joe Biden in a truly critical battleground state of Florida today, taking direct aim at President Trump during a drive-in campaign rally. CNN's Arlette Saenz is following the Biden campaign for us. She is in North Miami. Arlette, to put it simply, President Obama did not mince any words at all. So what did we hear today from the former president of the U.S. with just ten days to go?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Obama laid it all out on the line here in Florida telling voters here that they helped deliver Florida for him twice in 2008 and 2012 and asking them to do the same Joe Biden in November. The former president also saying that if Biden wins Florida, the election is essentially over. And while the former president vouched for his former vice president, he also took aim at President Trump, criticizing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and also slamming the president's behavior, saying that it's not normal for a president to behave that way in office. And President Obama also took aim at President Trump over that 60 Minutes interview he taped earlier this week. Take a listen.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: He was asked, what's your priority in your second term? And let me say, I've run for president, Miami, so I just want you to know, it's a good idea to have an answer to this question. It's a good idea if you're running for re-election to say, here is what I want to accomplish. What did Trump say? He got mad and walked out of the interview. He thought the questions were too tough, too tough. Miami, listen. If he can't answer a tough question like what would you like to do in your second term, then it's our job to make sure he doesn't get a second term.</s>SAENZ: And President Obama was also trying to appeal to Hispanic voters in the Miami area, pushing back on President Trump and Republicans' attempts to paint Joe Biden as a socialist. The former president called that garbage and said that Biden is not a secret socialist at all. And one of the really key messages that you heard from Obama here today in Florida, is urging their supporters to get out and make plans to vote early. More than five million votes have been cast here in the state of Florida alone so far with just ten days to go until the election. And the Biden campaign really starting to turn to that phase of focusing on turnouts in these critical battleground states. The Biden campaign feels like President Obama can help with some key constituencies, like African-American voters, Latinos and young voters with just ten days to go. Wolf?</s>BLITZER: Yes, he certainly can, he's still got it. And I think he's right. If President Trump doesn't carry Florida, it's almost certainly going to be the end of his presidency. He's not going to get re- elected, Florida, Florida, Florida, so important. Arlette Saenz, reporting for us. Thank you. Joining us now, CNN Contributor Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, an Epidemiologist and former Detroit Health Commissioner, also with us CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Seema Yasmin, a former Disease Detective with the CDC. As much as the president wants to focus on his re-election bid, he simply can't escape the fact that it's all playing out against the backdrop of a very, very deadly pandemic, a pandemic that's only getting worse here in the United States, well over 83,000 new confirmed cases just reported yesterday by the Johns Hopkins University as the highest number here in this country since the pandemic began. I want both of you to take a look at this moment from a press conference with the Illinois director of public health. Watch this.</s>DR. NGOZI EZIKE, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Since yesterday, we lost an additional 31 lives for a total of 9,418 deaths. These are people who started with us in 2020 and won't be with us at the Thanksgiving table. To date we are reporting, 3,874 new cases for a total of 364,033 confirmed cases since the start of this pandemic. Excuse me, please.</s>BLITZER: Dr. Ngozi Ezike, getting very, very emotional, totally understandable. Dr. El-Sayed, you were Detroit's health commissioner. When you see that, when you hear the pain in her voice, what's your reaction?</s>DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Public health professionals have been working around the clock to try and lasso this pandemic down, and all they're seeing is a spike right now as we head into the winter months. That is so disheartening. And anytime somebody in your community suffers, you feel it. Now, when you're quoting numbers in the thousands and tens of thousands, you're going to feel it harder. And it's just a stark contrast to what we're seeing out of this president who thinks that somehow cable news coverage of the equivalent of 449 jumbo jet crashes in the context of this pandemic somehow is overblown. That contrast really should teach you something and tell you something about the failure of simple humanity and empathy at the top. And, you know, that has left state health commissioner and local city health commissioners trying to shuffle to make up for the failed federal leadership. And so I feel deeply for her. I understand exactly where she's coming from and I think Americans do too.</s>BLITZER: Dr. Yasmin, let's listen to a little bit more from that press conference. Listen to this.</s>EZIKE: And I'm desperate to find a message that will work. I'm looking for someone to tell me what the message is so that we can do what it takes to turn this around. The virus has caused this. And instead pitting one group against another, we need to get that and fight against the virus. And we can't do that. We have some tools to do that. We don't have a cure yet. We don't have a vaccine yet but we have a mask and we're asking people to use that. And I don't know what else we can say.</s>BLITZER: Dr. Yasmin, so what's the bottom line here? What will finally make people across the country realize how serious all this is? Clearly, that message will not be coming from the president.</s>DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Clearly, it won't, Wolf. In fact, what we've gotten from him is so much misinformation and disinformation. I really hope that the emotion in her words and the humanity in her message is what resonates with people, because that's a public health leader that we can trust. She's talking about, in very real terms, we don't have a cure. That's honest. But we do have things that work, things as simple as a mask. And, Wolf, you and I have talked over the last seven months, so many times about the University of Washington studies that show that if 90 to 95 percent of Americans were to do that simple thing of wearing a mask and wearing it diligently, we'd save tens of thousands of lives. And that's what's at stake here. We're approaching a death toll in America of a quarter of a million people that we've lost to this virus. There are projections that show a terrible scenario that by the end of February next year, we could have lost half a million Americans to this pandemic, more than the death toll from the second world war. It comes down to something quite simple, physical distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing, which I'm sure people are tired of hearing about at this point, but it really is what can protect us while we don't have a cure, we don't have a vaccine. And, unfortunately, we have some public officials who are peddling misinformation.</s>BLITZER: Yes. Well, you're so right. You know, and Dr. El-Sayed, 34 states are reporting a rise in their confirmed case counts just yesterday, as we've been reporting more than 83,000 new confirmed cases across the United States, the highest number yet since the beginning of the pandemic. Dr. El-Sayed, what would you say to someone watching right now in one of those states where cases are spiking, what should they be doing to stay safe, to keep their loved ones safe, to keep their friends safe right now?</s>EL-SAYED: This is a scary time. But, fortunately, there are things we can do, right? This is a function of the choices that we make. Number one, we've got -- as the Dr. Yasmin said, we've got to be wearing our masks, the most important public health intervention any of us can do. And I get it, masks are so annoying. But, you know, after a certain point on the day you get tired, you got sweat in your face. But if it means protecting your love ones, if it means protecting yourself, it means protecting your community and taking this on, then I think it's worth it. The second point I'll make is just that, look, I know that right now we're headed into the holidays. And there are a lot of things that folks who want to do together, but if you can do it outside, even if it's a little bit cold. And if you can, make sure that, you know, there's fewer people there and you're socially distanced and maybe this time it's worth not going. And the last thing I'll say is this. We've got a choice about what kind of future we want. We've got a choice about what the next couple of months would look like. I live in a one of those states where the numbers are setting record, but we've got a choice. And so, I'm asking everybody to do what they can to protect themselves, their love ones, their family members and the people in their community. We can do this. We are Americans. When we come together there's nothing that we can't take on. This is a choice that we have to make. And I believe deeply that we can make it and make the right decision.</s>BLITZER: Yes. And Dr. Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins, the head of NIH, both say this week they're, sadly, not going to be spending time with Thanksgiving dinner with their family out of concern. You got to be safe. You got to be very, very careful. Right now, so many other families across the country are going to, unfortunately, sadly, avoid these traditional Thanksgiving dinners at the end of November. Dr. Yasmin, Dr. El-Sayed, thanks to both. Thanks to both of you for what you are doing as well. We really appreciate it.</s>EL-SAYED: Thank you Wolf.</s>BLITZER: A new report tonight suggests the president is ditching some Republican senators fighting for re-election. His bleak assessment of the GOP's prospect for keeping the majority in the U.S. Senate, that's next.

"Washington Post" Reports, Trump Privately Said To Donors It Will Be Tough For Republicans To Keep Senate

BLITZER: Tonight, with only ten days left in the election, a new report suggest that President Trump is actually ditching some of his fellow Republicans in the Senate. The Washington Post is reporting that the president is offering a bleak assessment of the GOP's ability to keep its majority in Senate. Here is The Post quoting the president. Let me read from the article. We'll put it up on the screen. I think the Senate is tough actually. The Senate is very tough, the president said at a fundraiser Thursday at the Nashville Marriott. According to an attendee there are a couple of senators that can't really get involved in. I just can't do it. You lose your soul if you do. I can't help some of them. I don't want to help some of them, close quote. Joining us now, CNN Senior Political Commentator, David Axelrod, host of The Axe Files podcast, former Senior Adviser to former President Barack Obama. David, thanks for joining us. Do you think the president is looking solely at political math or is this about loyalty to him?</s>DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think everything is always about loyalty to him, so I think that's certainly an element of it, because you see several senators have been distancing themselves from him. Susan Collins, obviously, in Maine who refused to endorse him. Martha McSally refused to answer a question as to whether she was proud of her support for him. And even John Cornyn, who is part of the leadership in the Senate and has a closer than expected race in Texas, has now begun criticize the president's handling of the coronavirus</s>BLITZER: Very interesting indeed. As you know, David, Senate Republicans will likely confirm the president's third U.S. Supreme Court pick on Monday. But there's no deal on an economic stimulus package for so many suffering Americans and there likely won't be before the election. Do you believe that's adding to the president's pessimism about control of the Senate?</s>AXELROD: Well, I don't know but I'm sure he is irritated with the Senate. Because Republican senators have indicated that they do not want to vote on a stimulus before the election. This has been the position of Senator McConnell. And even though the president likes to blame Nancy Pelosi for the stalled state of negotiations, it has been the Republicans in the Senate who have be balking at any kind of large stimulus. And I'm sure he's frustrated about it because it probably would help the president if he signed a stimulus package before the election and the Senate is standing in his way.</s>BLITZER: Joe Biden spent at least part of the day campaigning in Pennsylvania, a state that the president won back in 2016. But Biden is up right now seven points in the CNN poll of polls. There you see the numbers. 51-44. Is it smart for him to spend precious campaign time there when this so many other battle ground states in play right now? And how much reliability are those polls showing given the example of what occurred four years ago?</s>AXELROD: Yes, yes. Well, look, I think that the three states that are most critical to him here are Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Those are the states that really delivered the presidency to Donald Trump by very narrow margins four years ago. They're states of particular strength for Biden. He is a native of Pennsylvania. He has always done well in these northern industrial states. And so I think it's smart to buckle down there. One of the mistakes Hillary Clinton made in 2016 was not to campaign in some of these states, Wisconsin, most notably, and so I don't think Biden wants to make the same mistakes. But he is using his surrogates in a very strategic way. President Obama was down in Florida today. Florida is so important to Biden, because he can make it at a very short election night if he can carry Florida. And Florida is a state where all the ballots, Wolf, will be counted on election night. They count their absentee ballots in real-time, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. And we're not sure we're going to get a verdict from them for several days. So Florida is important, and Barack Obama's important to him in Florida where minority voters may make the difference, particularly in that Miami-Dade area where President Obama was campaigning today. So it seems to me the Biden campaign are being very strategic about how their dividing up their big guns here.</s>BLITZER: And you agree, very quickly, that if President Trump loses Florida, it's over for him, right?</s>AXELROD: Over. No Republican has won in 96 years without carrying the state of Florida.</s>BLITZER: Yes. He desperately needs Florida. All right, David Axelrod, thank you very, very much. You've seen the Trump boat parades, you've seen the caravans. Up next, CNN takes you inside one of these unofficial Trump events. We're going to find out who takes part and where their passionate support for the president actually comes from. You'll want to see these, stick around.

Inside A Dune Buggy Rally With Wealthy Trump Supporters

BLITZER: You might have seen them where you live, the boat parades, the car caravans and even the - buggy rallies in support of President Trump. So what's behind these very public and very passionate displays of support for the president? CNN's Elle Reeve took a ride with one group to find out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like alpha males. I think President Trump is an Alpha male. Whenever I watch the news, it seems like they're bagging on Trump. They make it sound like nobody's going to vote for him. But we feel like we all need to get together just to show people that, hey, there are people that are going to vote for him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Dunes and Deplorables Let Freedom Ride Trump rally protests. It was unfurling a 30-foot by 50-foot American flag, having everybody gather around, play the national anthem, and just be able to be with a bunch of friends and families.</s>ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unofficial Trump events like this have been happening all over the country, boat parades, car caravans, bike parades, what attendees have in common is disposable income to spend on fun. While Trump's working-class supporters have gotten lots of attention, in 2016, a third of his voters made more than $100,000 a year. In fact, support for Trump is particularly strong among white voters who have high incomes for their area, the locally rich.</s>PAUL VELUSCEK, TRUMP SUPPORTER: The people on the left that really think we're deplorable, think we're deplorable. If hanging out with families, bringing your kids out and having a good time is deplorable, then I guess we'll take it.</s>REEVE: I went for a ride in the dunes with Eric Nelson, who's been riding motorcycles since he was 14. Eric drove two hours to come to the rally.</s>ERIC NELSON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Hopefully you heard her scream.</s>REEVE: Yes. That's what the mikes for.</s>NELSON: The reason we're here supporting Trump is because we believe that Trump will help us be able to keep the money that we make and let us be able to work as hard as we want and not give our money away. People like Nancy Pelosi can, you know, get her funding through this given money to people that aren't willing to work for it. I worked for it all my life. I had to work to put myself through college, so I can get a job and do what I enjoy, which is an activity like this and spend, you know, 15, $20,000 on toys because I choose to.</s>VELUSCEK: He really is for your hard -working people. Do I think he's racist? No. I think he's racist against lazy people.</s>REEVE: The rally was mostly men. That's no surprise given national polls. Men are much more likely to support Trump than women. And what these men said they like about Trump was that he's a guy who's just like them.</s>NELSON: He's not a politician. He's one of us. Yeah, he's one of us on steroids because he runs a great big business and makes a lot more money than we do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can be crass, but we didn't hire him as a president. We hired him because he was a businessperson, and that's what America needed because our country was starting to tank.</s>REEVE: But then part of his job being like a moral leader?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe so.</s>REEVE: You don't think so?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. He says things that upsets people, and we just don't care. And we think he's helping all those people because they don't fully understand what's going on.</s>REEVE: Elle Reeve, CNN, Winchester Bay, Oregon.</s>BLITZER: Elle Reeve, thank you very much for that report. The president of the United States, he's been out there campaigning today, including in Ohio. It's really pivotal state that voted for him back in 2016 in the state no president since 1960 is won the White House without. But now, 10 days out, the polls show a rather close race. Our own John King, he's at the magic wall for an in depth look when we come back.

Polls Show A Tight Race In Battleground Ohio

BLITZER: Ohio is one of three states that President Trump actually campaigned in today holding another rally, few masks, no social distancing, even though Ohio just posted a record high of new coronavirus cases for the third straight day. With polls showing Ohio a toss-up right now, how will the race play out in the crew -- play out in the coming days? CNN's John King is at the magic wall and he breaks it down for us.</s>JOHN KING, CNN HOST: No Republican in modern times has won the White House without winning Ohio. So, it is absolutely essential to the President's comeback strategy. So, what can we learn from the 2016 map as we watch for the results to come in 2020? One of the most interesting things we saw very early, the polls close early here. In southern Ohio, these small counties, one of the first things we saw in 2016 was the source of President Trump's white working-class rural support. Look at the margins he ran up in these little counties along the southern Ohio border, 70 percent here, 66 percent here, 76 percent there. That was the first sign that President Trump was overperforming. Even Mitt Romney running it up in Ohio, we'll watch for that in 2020. Is the Trump base solid or some of those white working-class voters defecting to Joe Biden? Other big things to watch for Democrats the most important part turn voters out in the city is African-American turnout high in Cleveland. Can Joe Biden get a bigger margin in Cuyahoga County than Hillary Clinton did? Something else to watch, what about the suburbs? Donald Trump narrowly carried the suburbs back in 2016, including here, pretty big margin in Lake County. These are the suburbs just to the north east of Cleveland. Can Joe Biden turn this blue or at least make it more competitive if he wants to win in Ohio? Lake County outside of Cleveland, we'll tell you a lot about where the suburbs are in 2021. One more big test I want to show you down here, Stark County. Former Vice President Biden went here after the first presidential debate. Why you might ask right look at the margins back in 2016. Why would Joe Biden go to a place Donald Trump won by such a lopsided margin? Well, this is one of the so-called pivot counties, Stark County. If you go back, here's the 2012 race. It was for Barack Obama. If you go back to 2008, it was for Barack Obama, pivot counties voted twice for Obama and then flipped to Donald Trump in 2016. So, on election night, watch southern Ohio, watch Cleveland and the suburbs, watch Stark County. If it is red, maybe Trump has a comeback in Ohio. If it is blue, Joe Biden is on his way to the White House.</s>BLITZER: Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. John King, thank you very much. For more on this and more, I'm joined by the former governor of Ohio John Kasich, a Republican who has endorsed Joe Biden. Governor, thanks so much for joining us. I want to talk about Ohio. in a second, but I want to play a little clip. The president, he just landed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He's going to be giving a speech later tonight in Wisconsin and he was asked by a reporter, if he felt that the Republicans would able to -- would be able to hold the majority in the U.S. Senate. Listen to this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are your -- do you think you'll hold the Senate in the election?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope to hold the Senate. We do. I think from a presidential standpoint, we're winning a lot of states, including this one. I think we're doing very well here. The crowd is certainly enthusiastic. I hope that we do. I think we're going to take back the House, because people are tired of Nancy Pelosi. I think we'll take back the House.</s>BLITZER: All right. Governor Kasich, what do you think?</s>JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR COMMENTATOR: First of all, there's no way, Wolf, that the Republicans are going to take back the House. Secondly, look, I'm doing this as just giving you my analysis, OK? This is not any I might have endorsed Biden, but that's not what I'm doing here tonight. He's also not going to win Wisconsin, he's not going to win Minnesota, he's not going to win Michigan. And in Ohio, it is amazing. It's amazing that it is closed as it is. And if it wasn't, he wouldn't have been in Circleville today. A little town just south of Columbus. So, think about Ohio, Wolf, as a hockey stick, you know, that western part of the state, along with the southern part of the state, and you heard a lot of this from John King. In the southern part of the state, they have to have a very big turnout for Trump to win. Because the reason down in the southern part of the state is there aren't as many people down there. Western side of the state will give him a good numbers, but his challenge is the rest of the state, you know, the middle, and here in Columbus in Central Ohio. And I think John hit on a very important point, and that is in Cleveland, the African-American turnout, will the African-American voters come out? It's almost -- in some respects, not the same, not quite the same as Philadelphia, Philadelphia kind of runs the state of Pennsylvania and a lot of respects, and it's about the African- American turnout. That's why you saw Barack Obama appearing there at a speech. He also delivered his speech for the convention in Philadelphia. So, when you look at Cleveland, you know, is the African-American turnout going to be there? It's all in Ohio going to be about turnout. And frankly, you know, it's sort of shocking that it's this close. And we're just a few days away. And the President is now visiting states that he shouldn't have to visit, they should be in his column, and they're actually not.</s>BLITZER: Ohio is, you know, better than most, right now, is in the middle of one of the country's worst COVID spikes. Will that be a deciding factor in these final 10 days? Because the president, in all of his campaign speeches today, he's continuing and it's hard to believe to downplay this very deadly pandemic.</s>KASICH: Well, Wolf, as you know, the virus itself is as our seniors very, very concerned, and when he -- when he has rallies like this, and they don't wear masks, and he tries to downplay it, it doesn't help him with our seniors. It also doesn't help when he attacks Biden as being too old, because the seniors don't like to be thought of that way. But the other problem that Donald Trump has in Ohio, and we saw this in the 2018 election, the suburbs, he doesn't do well in the suburbs. I mean, here in Central Ohio, there is a real fear among Republicans that there's going to be a tsunami coming and so that's the suburbs. But beyond the suburbs, there's great concern there that he's losing that support as well. So, you have the western side of the state that's going to give him strong support, the southern part of the state that's going to give him strong support. The question is, does the rest of the state -- did those people vote in great numbers and what happens in the rest of the state? And, you know, early voting is unbelievable and overwhelming here. So, I call it too close to call. I was saying that I thought Donald Trump would win. You know, I kind of think he still will, but I wouldn't bet any money on that. I think it's possible that Joe Biden could win Ohio.</s>BLITZER: He still attracts huge crowds at these rallies, even though they're dangerous and people aren't wearing masks and there's no social distancing. But the crowds are very large, very enthusiastic as they were four years ago, and it turned out that they were indicative of very narrow winds in several key battleground states.</s>KASICH: I think, Wolf, you have to be very, very careful when you look at crowds. I remember being with Mitt Romney, down in the Western part of the state, the crowd was enormous, the enthusiasm through the roof, and I remember leaving that night thinking you know what, I think he's going to win. Well, he didn't. So, it's very difficult to judge where we are. You got to look at the polling and the polling from legitimate pollsters. And right now, they're saying right now in this state is too close to call. So, yes, I will say that his supporters and you had a piece on just, you know, a couple minutes ago. His supporters are strong and they're loud. The question is, how many of them are there at the end of the day?</s>BLITZER: We will find out in 10 days indeed, very close in Ohio right now. Governor Kasich, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.</s>KASICH: I'll see you very soon again, Wolf. Thank you.</s>BLITZER: Thank you. On tomorrow's CNN Original Series, "First Ladies," we explore how Eleanor Roosevelt's desolate childhood, so the scenes of a life devoted to standing up for the poor and the dispossessed. By the time that Eleanor Roosevelt reached the White House, she was at the forefront of efforts to ease the suffering caused by the Great Depression and a leader for the campaign for civil rights and that made her a target. Watch this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Ku Klux Klan, they eventually put a price on her head, $25,000 if you could kill Eleanor Roosevelt. So, this was criticism on steroids.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask every citizen to immediately report any information regarding espionage.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Eleanor's most powerful opponent is the head of the</s>FBI. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first entry into her FBI file by J. Edgar Hoover who hated her guts, is her support for civil rights, that for him is the most un-American.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The file is about 3,500 pages long. It could fill a whole file cabinet top to bottom. The earliest document in it is from 1924. Every word on behalf of justice for black people was considered communist.</s>BLITZER: Be sure to tune in for the "First Ladies," that airs tomorrow night 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Russia initially said it has already developed a vaccine for the coronavirus, but now it seems Russia is lagging behind Western vaccine makers. We have new information. We'll share it with you when we come back.

Keeping Russia Honest On Vaccine Development.

BLITZER: As countries around the world race to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, CNN is learning that Russia, despite appearing to be first, may actually be behind Western vaccine makers. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more.</s>FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. When the Russians certified their vaccine, Sputnik V, in the summer of this year without that vaccine, actually going through the main phase three trials for safety and efficacy, they were essentially trying to show that Russia was ahead of the international competition as far as vaccine making is concerned. Now, the Russians actually have entered those phase three trials, but the data shows that they're actually pretty far behind a lot of the big Western vaccine makers, and that Russian vaccine is still only available to a tiny fraction of the population in this country.</s>PLEITGEN: As Russia deals with a major spike in new coronavirus infections, despite having already approved two vaccines for emergency use, the head of the Gamaleya Institute in charge of the development of the most prominent vaccine, Sputnik V, tells us it could take up to a year for the majority of Russians to get shots as production sites are still in the process of going online.</s>ALEXANDER GINTSBURG, HEAD OF GAMALEYA INSTITUTE: The planned capacity of these four sites by the next year should reach about five million doses per month, which will allow 70 percent of our population to be vaccinated with this vaccine within nine, 10, to a maximum of 12 months.</s>PLEITGEN: Russia certified the Sputnik V vaccine with great fanfare in August, after testing it in only a few dozen people. The move hailed as a major PR victory for Vladimir Putin as Russia claims to be outpacing Western pharma firms. But in current large phase three trials, Sputnik V is lagging well behind Western vaccine candidates, Sputnik V's makers telling CNN only about 6,000 participants have so far received the two doses necessary to achieve complete immunization and start collecting data, compared to almost 30,000 in some large Western trials. All this as Russian state T.V. is trashing the U.K.'s vaccine candidate calling it quote a monkey vaccine, despite the fact that Russia itself has made a deal to produce this very vaccine under license. The head of Russia's Direct Investment Fund, which is bankrolling Sputnik V claiming Moscow's vaccine is superior because it uses so called human adenovirus technology.</s>KIRILL DMITRIEV, RUSSIA'S DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: So, we decided to choose something already existing, something already safe, something already proven, and many people on the West -- on the west fail to think about this.</s>PLEITGEN: But even the Sputnik vaccines instruction say it's only indicated for people 18 to 60 and not for people with some allergies and illnesses, leaving out older age groups and people with health conditions some of the most vulnerable to severe cases of COVID-19. The head of the Gamaleya Institute told CNN the vaccine simply hasn't been tested in older people, but he believes the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions can still take it.</s>GINTSBURG: With many chronic diseases, in particular people with diabetes, it is not just that it is carried out, it is prescribed to vaccinate people because these are risk groups that need to be protected, obese people, people with cardiac diseases, these are all chronic diseases as we know you need to vaccinate.</s>PLEITGEN: Russia says it will soon ramp up production of Sputnik V to vaccinate more medical workers and other high-risk groups. A move Konstantin Chumakov, a top vaccine expert at the Global Virus Network called dangerously risky.</s>KONSTANTIN CHUMAKOV, GLOBAL VIRUS NETWORK: So -- and I think that there is a reason why they call it the Russian roulette, this is exactly it.</s>PLEITGEN: One Russian who isn't taking the Sputnik V vaccine, so far, is the President Vladimir Putin. His spokesman telling CNN Putin is quote, thinking about it.</s>PLEITGEN: And, Wolf, on Friday, we asked the Kremlin once again whether or not Vladimir Putin had taken that vaccine and they confirmed that he still has not. Spokesman for the Kremlin saying that once the Russian president does take the vaccine, he himself will inform the public, so we're waiting to see when that will happen. Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Very interesting indeed. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for us. Fred, thank you very much. The president of United States out on the campaign trail, today, once again, downplaying, yes, downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. This despite a new record of new daily cases of the coronavirus in this country, more than 83,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday. That's a record. We're live on the campaign trail when we come back.

Top Adviser to Vice President Pence Tests Positive for Coronavirus

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 here in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM. Ten days is all the time left to President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden before election day here in the United States. And the reality is each day there are fewer and fewer voters who are still waiting to cast their ballot. More than 52 million Americans have already cast their votes. It's a stunning number but there's another number that is also stunning and could have a very massive impact on the outcome of this election. The Johns Hopkins University reporting that 83,757 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus occurred in the United States just yesterday. That's the highest number of new cases reported in a single day since the pandemic started so many months ago. Nearly 1,000 Americans died from the virus just yesterday. And with so little time left, the candidates, their running mates, various surrogates, they are all out in force, even late tonight in Wisconsin, where we begin. Let's go there right. The president getting ready to hold a rally. He's been very busy at battleground states all day. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Waukesha, Wisconsin, for us. Jeremy, I want to start with some breaking news. You've got some new reporting on a positive virus test in the vice president's inner circle, Vice President Mike Pence's inner circle?</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We are just a few weeks removed now from the president of the United States testing positive for the virus and a whole host of White House aides and advisers to the president testing positive, and now it seemed that Vice President Mike Pence's bubble is also perhaps getting burst by the coronavirus. One of his top political advisers, Marty Obst, tested positive for the virus earlier this week. A source familiar with the matter confirming that to me. Tonight Bloomberg News first reported that news, Wolf, and they say that Marty Obst tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. Now, it's not clear from my reporting at this point when the last time was that Marty Obst was in the vicinity of or in close proximity to the vice president. But obviously this is going to raise questions about the vice president who has been, you know, engaging in a pre- active campaign schedule and whether or not he will continue to do so or whether he will potentially have to quarantine amid this news. It doesn't seem so, Wolf, because the vice president has been campaigning in the days since Marty Obst apparently tested positive for the virus. Even today he was continuing to campaign. But obviously troubling news that one of the vice president's top political advisers has now tested positive. And of course, Wolf, we know that President Trump, you know, he is continuing a very active campaign schedule. We're expecting him to arrive right here in Waukesha, Wisconsin, very shortly. He's already landed in Milwaukee and he's on the way here right now. And what we're seeing here, Wolf, is a continuation of that disregard for the basic public health safety measures as it relates to the coronavirus. We have thousands of people here tightly packed together, a majority of the people here are not wearing masks. And of course we know that the White House's own Coronavirus Task Force has said that these kind of events, large public gatherings, are exactly the kind of events that you want to avoid particularly when you're seeing a surge in cases and hospitalizations and deaths as the state of Wisconsin is currently right now. And of course, Wolf, as the entire country is at this moment.</s>BLITZER: All right, we'll get back to you. Good music in the background by the way. Jeremy Diamond reporting for us. So joining us now, Dr. Jeremy Faust, emergency physician at Brigham Women's Hospital and Patrice Harris, the immediate past president of the American Medical Association. Doctors, to both of you, thanks so much for joining us, and as you know, on Friday, just yesterday, the U.S. posted its highest number yet of new confirmed coronavirus cases in a single day. More than 83,000 Americans were diagnosed with coronavirus just yesterday. Yet the president has repeatedly griped about news coverage of the pandemic at his campaign rallies. He's been doing so throughout the day. Here is what he said just a little while ago at a rally in Ohio.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: COVID, COVID, COVID. If a plane goes down with 500 people, they don't talk about it. All they talk -- because they are trying to scare everybody. You have to lead your life and you have to get out, you have to be vigilant. Be careful. Socially distance. You get too close, put the mask on. Put it on. You know, lots of different things.</s>BLITZER: So, Dr. Faust, that's certainly not the first time he's done that today. When you hear him use COVID as a laugh line as he's been doing all day today, you hear him downplaying the fact that nearly 225,000 Americans have died from the virus over the past several months and only grudgingly saying, put the mask on if you have to. What's your reaction?</s>DR. JEREMY FAUST, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: He's acting like this is not his problem, and yet at the same time, he's running for re-election so it could continue to be his problem. That makes no sense. He's also saying on one hand it is no big deal, and on the other hand, at the debate the other night, he said, essentially, I heard it very clearly, that his strategy is what's called herd immunity. Let's all go out there and get the virus, learn to live with it. And it's not like people who are going out who are younger are human shields. They're actually vectors. They go and get the virus and give it to other people. So he actually is sort of talking out of both sides of his mouth here, and it couldn't come at a worst time because, as we said, the number of cases we have is astronomically high. Quite frankly it's an embarrassment and public health experts are really worried about what's coming down the pipeline here because as we head into cold and flu season, now our patients are coming in droves for all kinds of reasons including COVID. So again we're worrying about PPE and we're worrying about drug shortages, and the next four to eight weeks are not time I'm looking forward to it, quite frankly.</s>BLITZER: Yes. We've had more coronavirus confirmed deaths in the United States, nearly 225,000 over these months than any other country in the world. It's not something that we should be proud of. Dr. Harris, the president says repeatedly, we're rounding the turn, rounding the corner on the virus, yet these record spikes are occurring all across the country. He claims the case numbers are up simply because there's a lot more testing that's going on. Clearly that's false. Is the president's stance in discussing this really hurting Americans right now who may be thinking, well, it's not much of a big deal?</s>DR. PATRICE HARRIS, FORMER PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Well, Wolf, it is certainly painful and frustrating to hear anyone downplay the seriousness of this pandemic, and as you note, we are breaking records that we don't want to break. We are seeing more hospitalizations in some areas of the country. We are back to ICU bed capacity issues. And we know what happens after a trend of increased hospitalization. Lives are lost. And so it is so important that we do what we know to work. And, by the way, Wolf, wearing a mask is not hard. It may be inconvenient but it's not hard. Both Dr. Faust and I have seen patients do hard work to stay well and get well. Undergo rounds of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. And I've seen newborns undergo heart surgery. Those are the things that's hard. Wearing a mask is not hard and we should not downplay the seriousness of this disease or what we need to do to prevent the spread of this disease.</s>BLITZER: Yes, if 90 percent or 95 percent of the American public wore masks when they were involved with other people, they would save thousands and thousands of lives. And Dr. Fauci, made a very important point about young people. They may be totally asymptomatic, they may not even know they have coronavirus but the fact is they can transmit it to their parents, their grandparents, their family members, to all sorts of people. So it is a big deal if they come down with coronavirus. The president keeps saying that his 14-year-old son had it, it was not big deal. But it is a big deal, And I want you to elaborate on this.</s>FAUST: Thanks for asking that question because it's been a long time coming to understand what's really happening to young Americans. This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, came out with a really important report that said that black and Hispanic young people, 25 to 44, are having astronomically horrible experience with this virus. It's real -- it's causing real deaths. This is not little blips on the radar. These are actual big movements and that young people are dying at really high rates. I'm working with a research group here at Harvard Medical School and with colleagues at Yale, and we're looking at this question very carefully, and we can no longer say that this is just a disease of the elderly. Certainly that's the most affected group but it actually hits younger people. And we know that every day that we're closer to a vaccine, fewer lives will be lost, and when a young life is lost, it reverberates for so long because it's not just five or 10 years which is tragic in and of itself when someone older dies, it's 50, 60 years, and where are your siblings and the parents of young children. Those are the deaths that hit us even harder. So we're learning about this and we're learning that we need to stall. We need to get a little more time for that vaccine to come.</s>BLITZER: And we're also learning that even if someone is asymptomatic, Dr. Harris, a young person, for example, you don't know necessarily what the long-term ramifications of that illness are going to be down the road, six months down the road, a year down the road. There's a lot we don't really understand right now about the coronavirus. Right?</s>HARRIS: There is a lot we don't know. And that is just all the more reason for us to continue to be hyper vigilant. And Dr. Faust said, you know, when it's your child, your son, your daughter, you don't much care about the denominator. You really care about the numerator. And we are worried. We have seen long-term, these long haulers report of symptoms and we've seen issues around a heart inflammation, around our younger adults and some older adolescents. So no one wants to take a chance here. Yes, there is less chance for worse outcomes but there's certainly not zero chance. And so again, we need to all do what we know works to prevent the spread of coronavirus.</s>BLITZER: So important indeed. Dr. Harris, Dr. Faust, thanks to both of you for joining us. We really appreciate it. Meanwhile, the former president of the United States, Barack Obama, he was in Florida today campaigning for Joe Biden. And he did not hold back at all in his very tough and bitter criticism of the incumbent president, President Trump. But will President Obama be enough to help Joe Biden carry Florida, that key battleground state?

Obama Campaigns for Biden in Battleground State of Florida; Trump and Biden Blitz Must-win States in Election's Final Stretch; Florida Likely Critical for Trump's Re-Election Chances.

BLITZER: Just 10 days now until the election here in the United States, and former president Barack Obama stumping for Joe Biden in the truly critical battleground state of Florida today. Biden's star surrogate making it very clear who he thinks is and isn't fit to lead the United States out of this very, very worsening pandemic and into the next four years. CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us right now. She's following the Biden campaign for us in Miami. Arlette, so what did we hear from the former president of the United States today?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Wolf, Florida is always one of those incredibly close battlegrounds and President Obama travelled here hoping that he can help deliver the state that he won twice for his former vice president in November. He told supporters and volunteers here that if they are able to bring home Florida for Joe Biden, that the election essentially will be over, and the former president held a socially distant drive-in rally here in north Miami. He talked about the character and leadership traits that he's seen in Joe Biden and also contrasted that and slammed President Trump. He took on the president over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and also his behavior in office, saying that that is not a normal way for a president to act. And President Obama also talked about that upcoming "60 Minutes" interview that President Trump filmed earlier on the week. Take a listen to what he had to say.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: When "60 Minutes" and Leslie Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. If you've got to walk out of a "60 Minutes" interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator. If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you are not going to stand up to Putin.</s>SAENZ: So that is one of the rare moments where you see a former president criticizing their successor. And an overarching message for Obama while he was here in Florida was encouraging supporters to make a plan to get out there and vote early as this election is reaching that crucial 10-day period as the election is quickly approaching. Now while they have the heavy hitter here on the ground in Florida, the Biden campaign is also hitting the air waves, airing another ad during the World Series this evening. This advertisement narrated by Brad Pitt earlier in the week. They've also run advertisements during the World Series. The Biden campaign really putting their financial resources on the national air waves. They have a lot of cash on hand heading into this final stretch and they're trying to use it and maximize it to the best of their ability, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Yes. They want to spend that money over these next 10 days. Will the former president, Arlette, be doing anymore campaigning for Biden?</s>SAENZ: Well, we haven't gotten an exact schedule yet from President Obama. But we have been told that he would be doing about a handful of events heading into this final stretch of the election. Trying to hit some of those states where early voting is under way. The Biden campaign really feels that the former president can help mobilize African-American men, Latino, and young voters in this crucial final stretch. And while all of his events so far have been solo, there is a possibility that Joe Biden and Barack Obama could appear together in the closing days of the campaign, perhaps repricing their partnership that we've seen in the White House during those two terms -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: And if you listen to President Obama's speeches, and I did today and the other day, 35, 40 minutes, it underscores, he still clearly has that campaign capability and underscores why he was twice elected president of the United States. Very good on the campaign trail. Arlette, thank you very, very much. Let's bring in our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. He's also a senior editor at "The Atlantic." Ron, thanks so much for joining us. Let's take a moment to listen to more of the former president's unrelented attack today on President Trump.</s>OBAMA: Eight months into this pandemic. New cases are breaking records. Donald Trump isn't going to suddenly protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself. We don't want a president who threatens people with jail for just criticizing him. That's not normal behavior, Florida. Florida men wouldn't even do this stuff. With Joe and Kamala at the help, you won't have to think about them every single day. There might be a whole day where they don't be on TV. There might be a whole day where they don't tweet some craziness.</s>BLITZER: You know, Ron, the former first lady Michelle Obama is famous for saying when they go low, we go high. Did the former president go low there today? Did he go high? I mean, he was very, very decisive in condemning the current president of the United States.</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. On the other hand, Wolf, he is talking about a current president who has suggested that he should be arrested and indicted along with his former opponent, Hillary Clinton, and along with his current opponent, Joe Biden, and his family. You know, I thought in that one clip, former President Obama really got to two of the central vulnerabilities that President Trump has faced, one that predates the coronavirus, which is the sense among many voters that he has simply not conducted himself as they expect a president to do so. And when former President Obama says, well, you might not have to think about Joe Biden for a day, that is actually a pretty relaxing prospect to a lot of Americans who are exhausted. And of course the other -- the new development this year, and it is worth noting that Donald Trump is trailing in the polls last year before the pandemic began because certainly that's an argument that he's making, it was hitting him on his handling of the virus, and I think the president has sent a very clear signal, and especially those first 10 minutes, 15 minutes of the debate, that even as cases are spiking, he is still dismissing it, he is telling the American people he is not going to do anything different. And that is really, you know, ultimately going to find a gamble of the campaign at a time when 60 percent of the country disapproves of the way he's been handling this.</s>BLITZER: What President Obama can really do, and you're an expert in this area, he can really energize that Democratic base. So many millions of Democrats who voted for Obama in 2008, 2012, got him elected president twice, they didn't show up four years ago for Hillary Clinton, and that basically cost her the election, right?</s>BROWNSTEIN: Right. Well, I mean, there are two problems from the 2012 to 2016 period. First is what you say. The African-American turnout dropped from 67 percent to 60 percent. The biggest election-to- election decline in American history, and that was really felt in places like Detroit, and Milwaukee, and to a somewhat lesser extent Philadelphia, certainly Cleveland. In those states, it was a big problem for Hillary Clinton. The other problem of course was that there were a lot of blue-collar white voters who actually did vote for Obama who switched to voting for Trump in 2016, and Joe Biden has been laser focused on them. Whatever else you can say about Joe Biden, he is not taking his eye off what, you know, I think Democrats hired him to do, which was to win back some of those working class white voters and the rustbelt. In Lucerne County today, in Pennsylvania, a county that Obama won but that Trump won by 20 points, one of the 98 counties in the rustbelt that flipped, he has spent a lot of time in those blue-collar counties. So it's almost like a division of responsibility. I mean, Biden does have issues with motivating aspects of the Democratic base particularly younger non-white voters. President Obama can be helpful there. They may never entirely solve that problem with Joe Biden at the top of the ticket but they can do it well enough that combine with the recoil from President Trump among college educated whites and some improvement among non-college whites, it has Biden in a pretty strong position here 10 days out.</s>BLITZER: You know, you're an expert when it comes to political polling. The national polls four years ago are fairly accurate. They did show Hillary Clinton was ahead and she did win the popular vote by about three million votes. But the polls in some of those key battleground states, whether Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, they failed. Had there been major changes to the various polls in those states for example that will make them more accurate this time?</s>BROWNSTEIN: Yes. And they could still fail again. I mean, look, Donald Trump won in 2016 because he turned out more noncollege and more nonurban whites than the pollsters anticipated. They have made significant changes in methodology to try to account for that most polls, doing more waiting by education, to combat the tendency of those with advance education be more likely to answer the poll in the first place. So they feel like they have a better handle on the electorate. But of course if Donald Trump wins, if he finds a way to win this time, it will almost certainly be through that same route, turning out more of his core voters than the pollsters expected. The problem he's got, Wolf, is that, you know, last time, as we said, he turned out more of his side while African-Americans, in particular, they're turning -- and youth turnout and Latino turnout wasn't great. It was depressed on the Democratic side. Now everybody is voting in huge numbers. Look at what's happening in Harris County, Texas, where there are over a million votes, or in Dane County in Wisconsin where the turnout is through the roof. The odds of Trump changing the turnout, makes in his favor, it gets tougher if the denominator is getting bigger, too, and in fact if the entire pool is getting larger. So that does put Biden in a better position I think than Clinton. But that is the big risk. I mean, no question, and there are Democrats who are worried about the signs of how many noncollege and nonurban whites are voting in the rustbelt states even now in the early voting.</s>BLITZER: All right. We'll see, 10 days to go. Ron Brownstein, as usual, thank you so, so much. And with only 10 days until election day, one key group could decide the election in the key battleground state of Michigan. That's ahead when we come back.

Black Women Pushing for a Blue Wave in Michigan

BLITZER: President Trump won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes back in 2016. But this year that battleground state could come down to the critical voice of black voters. In Detroit, one woman is on a personal mission to make sure voters don't sit this one out. CNN's Kate Bolduan reports.</s>WENDY CALDWELL-LIDDELL, FOUNDER, MOBILIZE DETROIT: OK, so let's say, you ain't registered. So let's get you registered, OK? I think that the apathy has just grown and has just become so pervasive in our communities, because people are just trying to survive that we have to get back to empowering people. So let's cycle back this way.</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, AT THIS HOUR (voice-over): 29-year-old Wendy Caldwell-Liddell is a woman with no shortage of energy.</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Hey, did she talk to you already?</s>BOLDUAN: She doesn't work for any campaign, but since August, she says she's spent three days a week every week between her full-time job and taking care of two kids, using that energy to try and convince fellow Detroiters their vote matters.</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: At this point, this is our survival now. What happens politically is a part of our survival and there is no escaping that.</s>BOLDUAN (on camera): 10,704. What does that number mean to you?</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Is that how many votes Trump won by?</s>BOLDUAN: That's exactly how many votes.</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: So that number -- it hurts. It hurts.</s>BOLDUAN (voice-over): Wayne County, which includes Detroit, went for Hillary Clinton by a wide margin in 2016. But she got about 76,000 fewer votes there than Obama did in 2012. Remember, Trump won the entire state by just 10,704 votes. (</s>On camera): Are you voting for Joe Biden or are you more voting against Donald Trump?</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Eighty percent against Donald Trump, 20 percent for Joe Biden. I would say that.</s>BOLDUAN: What does that mean?</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: It means that I know that as a voter and as a black woman that there's a job that I have to do in order to get a representative who will come close to protecting my people in office. But I am not necessarily excited about having another representative there who, really, does not inherently understand the needs of our community.</s>BOLDUAN (voice-over): Markita Blanchard, like Wendy, has lived in Detroit her whole life. But at 63 years old, she sees the choice this election a bit differently.</s>MARKITA BLANCHARD, BIDEN SUPPORTER: I'm 100 percent voting for Biden.</s>BOLDUAN (on camera): Does Biden make you excited?</s>BLANCHARD: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, he does. His enthusiasm, his past record, it's like a charge.</s>BOLDUAN: President Trump says often that he has done more for the black community --</s>BLANCHARD: That's -- go ahead.</s>BOLDUAN: No, I don't even need to finish.</s>BLANCHARD: He is full of</s>BOLDUAN (voice-over): Amber Davis is one of those Detroiters who voted for Obama in 2012, then didn't vote at all in 2016. (</s>On camera): Why didn't you vote in 2016?</s>AMBER DAVIS, MICHIGAN VOTER: I don't want Trump and I don't want Hillary. I didn't really care who won that election.</s>BOLDUAN: So what's your plan this election?</s>DAVIS: I don't like Biden, but I'm voting for Biden. The coronavirus, everything that's going on is just horrible. So he's got to go.</s>BOLDUAN: One path to flipping Michigan blue again and a critical pursuit of the Biden campaign is getting those voters who sat out four years ago to show up this time. And a sign the Trump campaign knows this, it has an office right down the road from the Democrats specifically targeting black voters in Detroit. How unusual is that to see, forget Trump, but a Republican presidential campaign opened an office in the west side of Detroit?</s>MARY SHEFFIELD, DETROIT CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TERM: I've never seen it. I've never seen it ever, ever before.</s>BOLDUAN: But what does it tell you?</s>SHEFFIELD: The importance of not only Michigan but Detroit in the black vote because the parties -- both parties need us, really.</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Are you going to help me?</s>BOLDUAN: Everyone always talks about on TV, they always talk about how black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party.</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: We are. We are. Black women are the backbone.</s>BOLDUAN: Do you think the Democratic Party takes you for granted?</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Absolutely. Absolutely they take us for granted because they know that black women are going to help them get the big wins they need where it matters, but they also know that they can give us the bare minimum knowing that we aren't going to choose the other side.</s>BOLDUAN: What does that say about the country?</s>CALDWELL-LIDDELL: It says we've still got a long way to go when the backbone of the country is the most neglected.</s>BLITZER: Kate Bolduan, excellent, excellent reporting in Michigan for us. Thank you so much, Kate. Ten days until election day here in the United States, and as candidates and their surrogates pan out across the country in the race's final days where they go in these last few days of the campaign can certainly tell us a lot about what they see as their path to the 270 electoral votes needed to be elected. We're going to break it down for you when we come back.

Trump Announces Israel, Sudan Have Agreed to Normalize Relations

BLITZER: While foreign affairs hasn't been a huge issue in this election here in the United States, the president is claiming another major accomplishment in that area, announcing on Friday that Sudan and Israel have agreed to normalize relations. CNN's Oren Liebermann has more on the significance of this historic agreement.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is a significant foreign policy accomplishment for the Trump administration and of course the timing can't be ignored here just a week and a half before election in which Trump is trailing in the polls. It's also a lifeline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who's under attack from his right, and faces sinking popularity because of his handling of the coronavirus, not to mention his trial on corruption charges which is coming up in just a few weeks. It is incredibly significant for Sudan. A country in dire financial straits with a fragile transitional government aimed to lead it towards the creation of democratic institutions and the country's own future. It needed financial help and for that to happen, it needed Trump to remove it from the state sponsors of terrorism list. That part happened and this process will begin to move forward but perhaps not as fast as Trump and Netanyahu wanted. The Sudanese foreign minister saying this isn't normalization, it's an agreement to move forward with normalization. The official act of normalization has to be ratified by country's legislative council which hasn't even been created yet in the transitional government -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, thank you very much. Meanwhile, 10 days away from what might be the most contentious U.S. election in decades, and Florida voters know exactly how big of a role they'll be playing in the outcome. Tonight, CNN will air a special hour highlighting the passions and the emotions inside this key battleground state. In "DIVIDED WE STAND, INSIDE AMERICA'S ANGER," CNN's Randi Kaye talks to voters who are set on voting President Trump back into office and to those who feel just as strongly about voting him out.</s>BLITZER: With its 29 electoral votes, Donald Trump wins Florida.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was a stunning defeat.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He won this battleground state right here of Florida.</s>TRUMP: I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear --</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four years later.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're still supporting Donald Trump, you're a racist. You're a bigot.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My students are very aware of what is happening. They are very aware of police killings.</s>KAYE (on camera): When you do meet people who are supporting Joe Biden, what's that conversation like?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very short.</s>KAYE (voice-over): The political divide.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go the</s>KAYE: Wider than ever.</s>CROWD: No peace.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're literally talking in different realms of fact.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just out and out nasty.</s>KAYE: And in Florida --</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We are expecting a record number of people to mail in vote, millions of ballots. And in Florida --</s>KAYE: The anger and unrest are driving voters to the polls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to do something. I wanted to get out.</s>KAYE (on camera): What made you switch parties?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like the party has moved in a different direction.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only solidified my position.</s>KAYE (voice-over): The difference? Who wins this swing state often wins the White House. (</s>On camera): Is Florida a must-win for Donald Trump?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There really is no math. He really has to win here to have any chance of being president.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Why it matters for Biden?</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is the most important election in our lifetime.</s>KAYE: And for Trump.</s>TRUMP: My administration is focused on delivering real results.</s>KAYE (on camera): How would you describe this part of Florida?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10,000 kilowatts of red state debate.</s>BLITZER: And Randi Kaye is joining us right now. Randi, this documentary, which is truly excellent, entitled, "DIVIDED WE STAND," what did you hear from folks about why there were so much division, so much anger out there in Florida right now?</s>KAYE: Yes. It's pretty ugly out there, Wolf, as you know. But we spoke with dozens of people, veterans, teachers, small business owners, white voters, black voters, Latino voters, and there is just a lot of anger among all of them and what we found is that it seems to be this fear and anxiety that's giving rise to this anger really on both sides. I mean, the left feels that they have been left behind by this administration. The right feels that they have been emboldened and empowered by this administration, able to speak their mind and say anything which we have certainly seen, but we have met people who are afraid for their lives, afraid of losing their jobs, afraid of losing their guns, afraid for their health care, and we found with COVID people have even less control really of their emotions, of their lives. And that's why they're lashing out, both sides really, and it's become such a volatile situation and in this documentary, Wolf, you will meet people who really went at it, they got into a fist fight, and I'm not talking about teenagers. I'm talking about senior citizens out there in the villages here in Florida so it is ugly and we saw it firsthand.</s>BLITZER: And Florida is such a key battleground state, that probably intensifies the anger out there between these various factions. Randi Kaye, thanks so much for what you're doing. We really appreciate it. The CNN special, once again, "</s>DIVIDED WE STAND: INSIDE AMERICA'S ANGER." That airs right at the top of the hour. And coming up, as the United States breaks the record for new daily confirmed cases of coronavirus, we're going to show you the moment the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health simply broke down in tears over her state's rising toll. That's next.

Friday Sees Record Number Of Cases In Single Day: 83, 757; Soon: Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Battleground Wisconsin.

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 Washington. This is a special edition of The Situation Room and we begin tonight with two numbers that really matter. As of tonight there are only 10 days until Election Day here in the United States until voters choose whether to keep Donald Trump as president or to vote him out and elect former Vice president Joe Biden. But the second number is also so powerful. The Johns Hopkins University reported that 83,757 new cases of the coronavirus in the United States occurred just yesterday. That's the highest number of new confirmed cases reported in a single day here in the United States since the pandemic began so many months ago. A truly staggering number and nearly 1000 Americans died from the virus just yesterday. This is a pandemic that now seems to be spiraling out of control, not that you would necessarily know that if you were listening today to the president out there on the campaign trail. Right now, let's go to Wisconsin where are the president will soon give his final remarks of the day on a barnstorming key battleground state. You know Jeremey Diamond is on the scene for us Jeremy, Wisconsin is one of 14 states that saw their highest seven-day averages for new daily cases just yesterday so what are you seeing there among the crowd at least so far.</s>JEREMY DAIMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, the situation in Wisconsin is indeed staggering. I mean this is one of the states that is experiencing one of the worst outbreak in the country and yet the president once again as he has been doing in so many of these hotspots across the country is gathering people by the thousands. Now I will tell you that here where we are in Wisconsin in Waukesha, Wisconsin, I am seeing more people wearing masks than we've seen in previous rallies including last week when we were here, not too far in Janesville Wisconsin but still Wolf, a majority of the people attending this rally are not wearing masks and part of this of course Wolf, you have to think is because of the rhetoric that we're hearing from the President of the United States who is continuing to ignore the reality, not just ignore it but really trying to defy the reality of the surge in cases that we're seeing. I want you to listen to the president just earlier today, talking about coronavirus in Ohio.</s>DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know why there's so many cases? Because we test, because we test more than any country in the world, nobody tests like us. Cases, everybody uses the word case because you're trying to scare people, don't scare people, don't scare people. The fact is that we're doing very well.</s>DIAMOND: Wolf, we are not doing very well as you well know, having a record number of cases yesterday is just one metric of course if you look at hospitalizations, they are rising, if you look at deaths, they are rising and the same is happening right here in the state of Wisconsin which is very emblematic of what's happening in the country as a whole. If you look at the hospitalizations in Wisconsin, they have been rising. There are now about 1200 people who are in hospital in Wisconsin right now with coronavirus. A month ago Wolf, that number was about 300 right here in the state of Wisconsin so clearly, things are not going well in the country as a whole, we are entering the second wave and in the state of Wisconsin in particular we're seeing hospitalizations going up, cases going up and the situation is not improving. And these events like this Wolf, we know that the White House coronavirus task force has pointed out specifically that these kinds of events will lead to preventable deaths, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Yes, let's not forget Wisconsin's a key battleground state that President Trump nearly won four years ago. Jeremy Diamond on the scene, we'll get back to you soon. The former President Barack Obama meanwhile, he's been stumping for Joe Biden in the critical battleground state of Florida today where he did not hold back at all during a drive in campaign rally. CNN's Arlette Saenz is following the Biden campaign for us. She's in north Miami for us right now. Arlette, with just what, 10 days to go how's the former president and clearly Joe Biden star surrogate energizing voters in this final stretch.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, President Obama is laying it all out on the line here in Florida, telling and reminding these voters that they helped deliver Florida twice for him in 2008 and 2012 and asking for them to deliver for Joe Biden in November. The former president even predicting that if Biden were able to win Florida in November that election will essentially be over, that this would guarantee the presidency for Joe Biden and we heard the former president once again take aim at President Trump. This is the second time this week that he issued a scathing review of the president, slamming everything from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to his behavior in office saying that it is not normal. And president Obama also brought out that 60 minutes interview that President Trump sat for earlier this week. Take a listen to the dig he made at the president earlier today.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When 60 minutes and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. Hey, if you got to walk out of the 60 minutes interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator. If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to Putin.</s>SAENZ: And while Obama was here in Florida, Joe Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania today, the two of them essentially tag teaming in those two critical states that President Trump flipped back in 2016. President Obama really trying here in Florida to energize voters during this early voting period, as early voting numbers are incredibly high right now in the state of Florida, more than 5 million voters have already early voted. And the Biden campaign really feels that President Obama can help energize black men, Latino and young voters in this final stretch of the election as he is making the case for his former partner, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Turn out, turn out, turn out so critical at this stage. Arlette Saenz in north Miami, thank you very much. We'll of course get back to you as well. Joining us now CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, the former Baltimore Health Commissioner and Dr. Peter Hotez, the vaccine specialist and dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College. You know we're seeing very, very different types of campaigning today. Barack Obama stumping for Joe Biden with a socially distance drive-in rally in North Miami as Donald Trump holds three in-person rallies, two of them in states that are seeing a dramatic surge in cases with no social distancing, few masks. Dr. Hotez, first of all what's your reaction?</s>DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR & DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE: Well, my reaction is profound disappointment that President Trump in the White House. Here we are now looking at the steep acceleration of the number of new cases as was mentioned, 85,000 - 83,000 new cases yesterday and so this is the highest number ever. But it's not just the cases, the hospitalizations are up, the positivity is up and the deaths we have 925 deaths yesterday so we're hitting that awful 1000 death mark and yes, different health metrics has new estimates. We're looking at 511,000 Americans who will die by February 28 at this current rate and here the president thumbs his nose at it and what does he do, he holds a rally in the worst affected state right now which is Wisconsin. If you look at the heat map of the country, the darkest brightest red is Wisconsin. It's just so troubling and a continuation of what we've been seeing all year. This refusal to launch a national response, this discrediting of masks, mouthing this disinformation campaign with fake concepts of herd immunity, promoted by people like Scott Atlas, it's beyond discouraging, it's actually a path of death and destruction.</s>BLITZER: Yes, let's not forget more than 224,000 Americans have died over these past several months from this virus. Dr. Wen, not only is the president flouting all the medical guidance at these campaign rallies, he's also mocking news coverage of the pandemic, listen to this.</s>TRUMP: That's all I hear. Turn on television, COVID - COVID - COVID - COVID - COVID - COVID. A plane goes down 500 people dead. They don't talk about it. COVID - COVID - COVID - COVID. By the way on November 4 you won't hear about it anymore. COVID - COVID. Please don't go involve COVID.</s>BLITZER: So Dr. Wen, you know you're a specialist, what's your reaction when you hear the president mocking the coronavirus pandemic?</s>DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, there is a real danger to what President Trump is doing here because he is minimizing this disease at a time when as you heard from Dr. Hotez, this virus is surging out of control all across the country and the danger here is that we're facing one of the most difficult winters that we could have - that we might ever have, we're facing potentially thousands of deaths from COVID-19 from America's every single day. But that trajectory doesn't have to happen. It's actually up to each of us with our individual actions to turn it around and if we're minimizing this disease, then President Trump is not giving the American people the tools that we need in order to do our part and save lives and I think there's also this false choice that the president and many others are putting which is either you save the economy or you save lives. Well, that's a false choice. It's not about shutting things down or going back to life as normal and not doing anything. Actually we could be wearing masks, practicing social distancing. That's what we need to do to save lives and save our economy.</s>BLITZER: Yes, those are important points here. Dr. Hotez, I want you to look at these numbers. We'll put them up on the screen. 34 states are reporting a rise in their case counts. Just yesterday, the U. S. set a new and very disturbing record as we now know nearly 84000 new cases in just one day. I spoke with Rick Bright, a top vaccine expert who resigned from the federal government after filing a whistleblower complaint accusing the Trump administration of mishandling the pandemic from the very start. He had some very sobering words. Listen to this.</s>RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR, BIOMEDICAL ADVANCED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: President Trump has failed to protect Americans from this pandemic. He's still in denial and until Americans hear the truth and see leaders leading by example, they're not following the best public health guidance and that is why we're seeing the skyrocket in cases and it will translate into more deaths, hundreds of thousands of more deaths over the coming months unless we have strong leadership and everyone takes action now.</s>BLITZER: He makes very powerful statements Dr. Hotez. The President though is promising, we'll all have a vaccine ready in weeks. He uses the phrase in weeks, is that at all realistic?</s>HOTEZ: No, well it depends how many weeks you're talking about but you know we will have vaccines available to the American public at least I'm pretty confident of that by the middle of next year. The key is trying to save as many lives as possible until vaccines become available in a week. I put out what I call my October one plan, where we could have really dramatically reduced the likelihood of the surge that we're seeing and that could've bought us enough time to reduce the number of deaths so we wouldn't - so we could have made it to the time when vaccines are available. Instead we're just jumping off the cliff now onto this horrible - horrible number as I mentioned 511,000 deaths but as Dr. Wen also points out, it's still not too late to do things. One of the other findings that just came out from the Institute of Health Metrics is that if we could get close to 100 percent mask compliance, 95 percent of masks outdoors in public, we could still save 120,000 American lives. That's pretty substantial and yet without having any leadership in the White House even encouraging this and mocking masks, mocking social distancing, mocking the disease itself, saying it's the flu or and or something equivalent, we won't get there and it's just so disheartening.</s>BLITZER: It is so disheartening indeed. Dr. Peter Hotez, Dr. Leana Wen, guys thank you very, very much. Remember only 10 days remain until Election Day here in the United States and even amid a pandemic, record numbers of Americans have already voted but one campaign is being warned over what's being called voter intimidation. We have details, new information coming in to the Situation Room. We'll be right back.

Trump, Biden Storm Trail With 52+ Million Votes Already Cast

BLITZER: Former President Barack Obama campaigned in Florida today making a very strong case for his former Vice President, Joe Biden. Listen.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The presidency doesn't change who you are, it just reveals who you are. It amplifies who you are. And for eight years, I saw Joe up close. He was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better President. He's got the character and experience to make us a better country, and he and Kamala are going to be in the fight not for themselves, but for every single one of us.</s>BLITZER: This key battleground state went for Barack Obama twice before Donald Trump flipped it in 2016. Our chief national correspondent, John King takes a closer look at what we can expect perhaps this time.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Florida is always the presidential battleground. Here's a big difference in 2020 compared to 2016, it is now President Trump's home state. He changed his registration from New York 2016, he will vote in Florida in 2020. Let's use the 2016 map and look at a couple of things that were critical to the President in 2016. It might be a little different as we go into 2020. Look at this back in 2016. Number one, just look. Yes, President Trump won, but only by 113,000 votes, just shy of that. So it was close in Florida as it often is. Why did he win? Look at the 17-point advantage Donald Trump had among voters over the age of 65, twenty one percent of the electorate, a giant lead, older voters were key to President Trump. So were women in the sense that Hillary Clinton won women with 50 percent to 46 percent. But that's more than half of the electorate. The President essentially held his own among women. Can he do that in 2020? Polls late in the race do show Joe Biden doing even better than Hillary Clinton among women and Joe Biden turning things around among senior citizens. That will be something important to watch. When you look at the map, three things about Florida. Number one, the farther south you go, the further north you get. Meaning down here, in Palm Beach County, in Broward County, and in Miami Dade County, you have a lot of retirees who started in the northeast, more liberal more Democratic voters. That's why you see it as blue. Joe Biden must run it up down here on the Southeast Coast among voters who tend to be Democrats, a lot of them tend to be from the northeast. Number two, President Trump must run it up in Northern Florida. You're in the north, but it votes like the South. Georgia and Alabama, these counties here. Look at some of these counties from back in 2016. You just pull up some of the margins. Yes, not a lot of votes. But look how big the numbers are. The President must run it up again. The Trump base must turn out in smaller rural working class communities, then you have the competition in the central part of the state, and this used to be called a battle for independents. I would call it now a battle for the suburbs. What happens in Orlando? Did the Democrats win not only in Orlando, but in the growing suburbs? And if there's one place you want to watch on Election Day, it was key back in 2016, one of the first signs President Trump's voters were coming out, Pinellas County, the home of St. Petersburg to the west of Tampa; again, a suburban area here, key for the President four years ago but it was very close. Will Joe Biden perform better in the suburbs? That will be a key test in battleground Florida.</s>BLITZER: Very interesting, indeed. John King reporting for us. For more of the fight for Florida, I'm joined now by CNN political commentator, Ana Navarro. Ana, the former President Barack Obama had some very harsh criticism of President Trump when he spoke in North Miami earlier today. I know you were there yourself, but watch this.</s>OBAMA: We're not going to have a President that goes out of his way to insults anybody who he doesn't think is nice enough to him. We won't have a President who threatens people with jail for just criticizing him. That's not normal behavior, Florida. You wouldn't tolerate it from a coworker. You wouldn't tolerate it from a high school principal, you wouldn't tolerate it from a coach. You won't tolerate it from a family member. Florida man wouldn't even do this stuff. Why are we accepting it from the President of the United States? It's not -- it's not normal behavior.</s>BLITZER: So Ana, what was your reaction to the former President's speech?</s>ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first, I was surprised that Florida man got a shout out. Look, you know, we haven't heard much from Barack Obama until very recently, and you forget just how good he is. And he was very surgical talking to Florida about Florida. He mentioned the throwing of the paper towels at the Puerto Rican victims of Maria. And as you know, we have a very significant Puerto Rican community, particularly in Central Florida. He mentioned about how ridiculous this narrative that Joe Biden is somehow going to coddle communist dictators. He said, you know, if you listen to the other side, they make him out to be more communist than the Castro's. He mentioned, Obamacare and healthcare, the district where you know, where I live has got the highest sign up for Obamacare and Florida as a state has got the highest signups for the healthcare plan. So he went very specifically at things that affect Florida. He mentioned very interestingly, you know, there's this issue about Donald Trump's machismo and how it is somehow appealing more than usual to Latino men and African-American men. And he talked about that, he made fun of him, he used humor to do that. So you know, look, if you're not tough enough to withstand "60 Minutes," and Lesley Stahl, you think you're going to be tough enough to withstand a dictator? And so he -- you know, he's just -- he was very, very good at making it very Florida, specific and very relevant for us down here.</s>BLITZER: The former President Barack Obama, he clearly still has it when he is out there on the campaign trail, very effective, indeed. Joe Biden, right now at least, is polling much better with seniors than Hillary Clinton did four years ago. You think, Ana, that will be enough for him to actually win Florida, and my suspicion is if President Trump doesn't win Florida, he is not going to be re-elected.</s>NAVARRO: I agree with you. I think that if Trump does not win Florida, we're going to have an early night and we might have a good night. Look, at least for those of us who are not supporting Trump, I think Trump has a problem with seniors. You know, he has been attacking Joe Biden relentlessly on being old and being, you know, frail and being incoherent, all of which is false, but in the meantime, attacking the elderly. And also, look, we all know that people over 65 are the most vulnerable when it comes to the coronavirus. It has affected Florida over proportionately so far, and I think people want to see more leadership and also more empathy and just more realistic maneuvers and measures taken by the President of the United States than just pretending it's not going to be there. We're rounding the corner. I don't know what corner that is we're rounding. That man's curve. What corner are we rounding on coronavirus? How can anybody who is in one of the vulnerable groups like seniors -- here Donald Trump claim that we are rounding the corner on coronavirus when we see that 75 percent of the country is spiking again.</s>BLITZER: Today, there was a record number of new cases just reported by the Johns Hopkins University. As you know better than most, Ana, Hispanic voters are a key demographic in Florida. But when it comes to Hispanic voters right now, Joe Biden seems to be polling behind Hillary Clinton's 2016 numbers. Why do you think that is?</s>NAVARRO: Because I have to tell you, Donald Trump has shown up here time and time again. And from practically day one he honed in on the message that voting for Democrat, X, Y or Z was voting for socialism and voting for communism.</s>NAVARRO: Wolf, there ain't a day I don't turn on my TV and I'm not bombarded by TV commercials that show me images of Ricardo Maduro and Fidel Castro, and Daniel Ortega, and tell me that the Democrat is a socialist and is going to turn America into Venezuela. That's been going on here for the last four years. They could have -- Democrats could have nominated Margaret Thatcher, or Anastasio Somoza and Republicans would have still made the same argument. And I think that has been repeated often enough, that it's baked in. It is baked in, in part of the demographic particularly people who fled communism, and who, you know, who have this trauma and pain that gets triggered by those emotions. Donald Trump has been very effective in knowing how to press -- how to push that button.</s>BLITZER: Yes, and that's a huge demographic as we all know in Florida right now. You're a Republican, Ana. You live in Florida. But you're voting for Joe Biden. Do you think there are a lot of other like- minded Republicans in Florida right now, who will do the same as you?</s>NAVARRO: Two things I'm seeing among Republicans. One is that Republicans who were lukewarm on Donald Trump four years ago, and who voted for him holding their nose are much more enthusiastic about him today than they were four years ago. People who had doubts about him four years ago and voted for him are much more enthusiastic. But there's also a small group of Republicans. The question is, as John King just pointed out to you, in a state where the elections are traditionally decided by such a narrow margin, I am seeing Republicans turn away from him. I am seeing some vocal Republicans, people whose names you know, and people whose names you don't know, who are voting for a Democrat for the first time. I think there's a certain comfort level with Joe Biden, frankly, that didn't exist with Hillary Clinton. And I also think this idea that some people had that Donald Trump was going to be changed by the presidency, he was going to become presidential, the weight and gravitas of the office was going to change him. We have seen that that's not the case. So you've got folks who are more enthusiastic and you've got a small sliver who are breaking away and I think the question is whether those people are going to make the full turn and vote for Biden or whether they are not going to vote.</s>BLITZER: Very quickly before I let you go, Ana. How's your husband, Al Cardenas doing? I know he came down with coronavirus.</s>NAVARRO: You know, it's been an eye-opening experience, Wolf. It's made me so much more -- I really can't stop thinking of the people who took their loved ones into an ER room and never saw them again. It's just heartbreaking. The hardest part of coronavirus is just what a lonely disease it is. What a heartbreaking lonely disease it is. Al is one of the lucky ones. This is a luck of the draw disease and we are blessed and we are lucky he is out of the hospital. He is doing great. He is feeling great. And he is probably waiting for me to feed him dinner right now.</s>BLITZER: Well, give him our best, best wishes. A great guy. Ana Navarro. Thank you so much as usual, for joining us. Appreciate it very, very much. Florida, obviously a key, key battleground state right now, as I've said many times. If President Trump doesn't carry Florida this time, it is unlikely he will get reelected as President of the United States. Mike Pence by the way, he is speaking in Florida right now in Tallahassee. We'll monitor that for you. All of this unfolding as the U.S. breaks records for new confirmed cases of coronavirus. Many nations across Europe are also seeing record spikes. We have details on how governments are responding.

U.S. Sees Record COVID-19 Surge; Trump Downplays Virus in Hard- hit Wisconsin; Governor: COVID-19 Surge is "Crowding" Utah's ICU Space

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, this is CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know why we have cases? Because we test so much and in many ways, it's good and in many ways it's foolish.</s>HOLMES (voice-over): U.S. COVID cases surge amid the approaching election that has President Trump trying to shift the conversation away from the pandemic.</s>HOLMES (voice-over): Forget about differences between Democrats and Republicans or conservatives and liberals. We'll show you the real divide in American politics. And Russia boasted it had the world's first coronavirus vaccine. But even its maker admits there are some issues in trials. Our exclusive interview with the developer behind Sputnik V -- coming up.</s>HOLMES: And we start with the full coronavirus surge and the presidential election just 9 days away. On Saturday, more than 83,000 Americans tested positive for COVID-19, just a few dozen shy of the record which was set the previous day. Among them, Marc Short, the chief of staff to the vice president, Mike Pence. Now remember Pence personally heads the Coronavirus Task Force and Short himself has been a key aide when it comes to the U.S. response to the pandemic. He has reportedly advocated for an economy first approach. CNN has also learned that a senior adviser to Pence who is not a government appointed employee, also tested positive this week. Now against the backdrop of that surge, that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are off on the home stretch of their campaigns. They're hitting key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida, as you can see on this map. Many of those states are also seeing a spike in coronavirus cases. And voters are hearing 2 startling different versions of what it means.</s>TRUMP: After the virus hit, we recovered faster than any major nation on Earth. We have recovered faster economically since April. Since April, we created a record 11.4 million jobs. You are so lucky that I am president.</s>JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we wear these masks over the next few months, we could save 100,000 lives. You know what is really sad about all this? The president knew about it at the end of January, how deadly this virus was, and he hid it from the country.</s>HOLMES: So the virus numbers obviously are very high and Donald Trump, he's pointing his finger at the media. Have a listen.</s>TRUMP: And you know what? On November 4th, you're not going to hear the news, at CNN all they talk about COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. If a plane goes down with 500 people, they don't talk about it. All they talk, because they're trying to scare everybody, you have to lead your life and you have to get out. You have to be vigilant, be careful, socially distance, get too close, put the mask on, put it on. You know, lots of different things.</s>HOLMES: Keep in mind more than 900 people around the U.S. died of coronavirus in just the last day. That's nearly double one of the hypothetical plane crashes that the president was just talking about. Now one of the states that the president visited on Saturday was Wisconsin, which is seeing a record coronavirus surge. While Wisconsin is traditionally Left leaning, Donald Trump won in 2016 beating Hillary Clinton but only by less than 1 percent. The thing is that's not unusual for Wisconsin. The margin was also less than 1 percent in 2000 and 2004. CNN's Jeremy Diamond was there for the Trump rally.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump campaigning again in the battleground state of Wisconsin against a grim backdrop of the coronavirus, not only with a surge of cases across the country, a record number of new coronavirus cases, just before the president arrived here on Friday. But also here in Wisconsin.</s>DIAMOND: On Friday, Wisconsin experiencing its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day during this entire pandemic. Hospitalizations, they are on the rise, not only across the country but here in the state of Wisconsin. What we see here, is the president gathering thousands of his supporters once again, closely packed together and most people as usual not wearing masks. The president also continues to spout misinformation about the virus, downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic, making a false claim as he often does that, if there wasn't so much testing in the United States, that there wouldn't be as many cases as there are. What we know is that the surge of the coronavirus cases in the U.S. is very real. That's despite what the president is saying. The president did highlight the importance of this battleground state as he was campaigning here, saying that if</s>HOLMES: Now Joe Biden also had a full day and, as the election nears, he is getting some help from his former boss, Barack Obama, in the all important state of Florida. Florida has the most electoral votes of any battleground state and the third most in the nation overall. Florida has voted for the winning nominee in 13 of the 14 last elections. The last Democrat to win the White House without winning Florida, Bill Clinton back in 1992. CNN's Arlette Saenz was at the Obama event for Biden.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former president Barack Obama traveled here to the critical battleground state of Florida, reminding voters that they helped deliver the White House to him in 2008 and 2012 and asking them to do the same for Joe Biden this time around. He also predicted that if Biden wins Florida, the election will basically be over, as he urged supporters and volunteers to keep up their final work for the vice president. And while he touted the work and leadership style of his former partner, he also took aim at President Trump, slamming his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and also criticizing President Trump's behavior in office, saying that it is not normal. And President Obama also talked about that upcoming interview Trump did with "60 Minutes."</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When "60 Minutes" and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. If you got to walk out of a "60 Minutes" interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator. If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to Putin.</s>SAENZ: While President Obama was here in Florida, Joe Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania, holding a drive in rally with musical artist Jon Bon Jovi. That event took place in Lucerne County, a county that President Obama and Joe Biden won in 2008 and 2012 but a county that President Trump flipped in 2016. Biden trying to make a play for those Obama trumped (ph) counties as the election nears. And both Obama and Biden had a message when it came to early voting. They have reached that point in the campaign where the Biden campaign is really focusing on turnout as the election is now just 9 days away -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, North Miami, Florida.</s>HOLMES: The U.S. reporting its second highest day of new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. On Saturday, more than 83,000 people were diagnosed, that's just shy of the record set on Friday. That's according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University. A White House report warning several regions in the U.S. are showing signs of deterioration with the virus surging; 35 states reporting more new cases in the past week than compared to the previous week. No state, let me repeat, no state is reporting a downward trend, not one. Well, as coronavirus cases surge across the country, medical experts keeping a close eye on rising hospitalizations, a trend that could spell a very dangerous winter. In Utah, daily highs in new cases mean ICU beds are already running low. CNN's Martin Savidge reports on how that is putting all patients' lives at risk, not just those with COVID-19.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Salt Lake City, coronavirus cases are surging and hospitals are in danger of running out of intensive care unit beds.</s>SAVIDGE (voice-over): It's so frustrating for Dr. Emily Spivak, she breaks down.</s>DR. EMILY SPIVAK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: I was trying so hard not to.</s>SAVIDGE: She's upset because we know how to avoid coronavirus, wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, yet many people don't.</s>SPIVAK: There are front line providers in the emergency room, our nurses, our doctors, on all these COVID units in the ICU, working tirelessly. It's kind of like people just are going out and living their lives not realizing that they are exhausting our health care system. There's so much that can be done by our leaders and they're just not doing it.</s>SAVIDGE: COVID-19 nearly killed Stephanie Deer's sister, even though her sister never had it.</s>STEPHANIE DEER, SISTER HAD HEART ATTACK DURING PANDEMIC: Honestly, if you would have seen the look on that doctor's face, he was incredulous.</s>SAVIDGE: What her sister, 47-year-old Lori Terry (ph), did have was a serious heart attack. At the local hospital, the family says the doctors said Terry needed to get to an intensive care unit to survive.</s>DEER: And he told us right away, we're doing everything we can to try and find a hospital that can take Lori and we can't find one.</s>SAVIDGE: For hours nurses called hospital after hospital.</s>DEER: They didn't have bed space in a critical care unit to treat my sister because of COVID. I believed we would lose her right there, right there, because she couldn't get medical care in the United States.</s>SAVIDGE: Even in a pandemic, medical experts say other life- threatening health disasters still strike without warning, like car accidents and heart attacks. But now those cases compete with COVID when it comes to care. Eventually, Lori Terry was able to get the expert medical help she needed, but her sister can't forget how COVID-19 nearly killed her and she blames the carelessness of others.</s>DEER: And they need to wear a mask. They need to care about their neighbors, their family, their children and they need to do it right now. That's my message.</s>SAVIDGE (voice-over): Martin Savidge, CNN, Salt Lake City.</s>HOLMES: Dr. Stephen Sample is an emergency physician at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper, Indiana, and joins us now. Good to see you, Doctor. I'm just curious, first of all, what goes through your mind when you hear the president say, we're turning the corner, we're rounding the curve, it's going away. When you see what you see, what do you make of those words?</s>DR. STEPHEN SAMPLE, MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AND HEALTH CARE CENTER, JASPER, INDIANA: Hi, thanks for having me on tonight. I think we are turning a corner but it's a corner that looks a lot like this. I don't think we're turning a corner in any way the president is trying to infer that we're turning the corner. We're going in the wrong direction for sure.</s>HOLMES: Does it make you angry when he says that and you're in the ER, seeing the numbers tick back up?</s>SAMPLE: Yes, absolutely. In the Midwest, a lot of us are really experiencing our first wave so when he suggests we are turning a corner, it makes me a little bit ragey inside because you know, here in the heartland, a lot of people listen to him and they take his cues and that's not going to be terribly helpful as this winter closes and the flu season rises and all that. So, yes, I've spent the last 8 months in a near state of rage all the time.</s>HOLMES: In fact, back in April, I was reading when you said, this feels scarier to me and more uncertain than it did when I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, where you also -- and your services were gratefully received by service men and women. That was back in April when you said. That now we are nearing the end of October. Do you still feel that way?</s>SAMPLE: Well, it's a little different. Back in April, in my county, in my state, we had very little coronavirus. So it was really more the anticipation of what was yet to come. We were watching northern Italy burn, we watched New York burn, we watched Seattle burn. And we sat here in the middle of the country and just watched. It didn't really feel real. It was really dreadful. We just didn't know when it was going to hit. But now we're laying our hands on coronavirus every single day, every day of the week. Our hospitalizations are up, our emergency department visits are up. So it has become part of my day-to-day. So it's really hard to maintain that vigilance for long periods of time so I guess I don't have that existential dread all the time. But it's dreadful, sure.</s>HOLMES: I know you are ER so you are frontline. I don't know if you're dealing with end of life situations. But when we hear these stories, I can't imagine what will be like to hold up a phone to a dying person so their family can, via FaceTime, say goodbye. Is there any way to convey what that is like? Because I think a lot of people are getting numb to what is going on.</s>SAMPLE: Right, yes, you know, for me, myself personally, that is not something, thank God, that I have had to deal with. The kind of the natural history of the coronavirus is after you get infected, it takes -- we're seeing people on average from 7 to 10 days when they start to take their turn for the worst.</s>SAMPLE: But then after they turn and we stabilize them in the emergency department, oftentimes it's another week or 2 weeks, if we get a death, it's going to be way down the road. So really, the people who are really dealing with that are warriors up in the ICU, our critical care docs and nurses. I am glad I've not had to be in that position; I pray that I don't have to be.</s>HOLMES: The numbers are just so staggering. Of course, a record broken this weekend. But they can become meaningless in a way when not attached to a face. Is that how you feel, the people, the families, the people who died are kind of lost in the noise of politics?</s>SAMPLE: Absolutely. I think, in the world we're living in right now, nobody believes anything that the other side has to say. So we're watching the ticker. I can't see now but I bet you there's a ticker in the corner of my screen somewhere, showing these numbers. And it is so easy to forget, when we are fighting about this policy or that policy or if I'm screaming for the 7 millionth time that masks work, that there are real human beings attached to those numbers. And I think, as a nation, we are getting numb to it, I do.</s>HOLMES: Do you fear what is to come where you are and also what you see happening around the country? Do you worry about what is yet to come and do you feel ready?</s>SAMPLE: I tell you, I'm as ready as I can be. Do I fear what is to come? Absolutely. We are seeing these widespread spikes everywhere. I'm in a small hospital about an hour or so from my nearest big, huge academic facility. And I depend on those hospitals not to be full when my very, very sickest need to go there. But as we all start to fill and the flu comes and people continue to have this pandemic fatigue that you have, I have, everybody has, I am really fearful of those numbers starting to go up and us not having anywhere to put people. And when that happens, we know that excess mortality happens. More people die, more people get sick and there's just problems all over. So, yes, I'm worried, I'm kind of a pessimist lately but I worry, sure.</s>HOLMES: Yes, I think you're not alone in. That Dr. Stephen Sample, thanks for what you do, really appreciate it.</s>SAMPLE: Thank you. Thank you.</s>HOLMES: Well, the coronavirus numbers out of Europe not looking good, either, and some are saying the virus could be there to stay, until next summer at least. We will head over to Berlin with a live report from Scott McLean.

Europe Hits New Case Record, More Leaders Test Positive

HOLMES: Welcome back. Europe is getting ready for its second coronavirus wave to get worse, as if it wasn't already bad enough. Several countries are reporting record numbers of infections. Many fear cases will continue to go up this winter. On the same day, France broke its daily case record, President Macron said the virus is likely to stick around until at least next summer. He also said there could be new targeted restrictions in the days ahead. Some European leaders have tested positive for COVID-19; meanwhile, including Poland's president, President Duda, who says he is asymptomatic, continuing to work in isolation. We'll talk more about that in. a Moment The Czech Republic remains the worst hit country in Europe over these last 2 weeks, recording more than 15,000 new infections for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. Germany, meanwhile, recording its biggest daily rise in cases from Friday to Saturday. In fact, the country's number of new infections per day has almost doubled within a week. And CNN's Scott McLean joins me now live from Berlin to take a closer look at what is going on in Europe. Scott, as we're often told, deaths are a lagging indicator after cases and that seems to be what's happening where you are.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, so in Europe we've seen restrictions, curfews and even lockdowns. But for the most part, they are localized, more restricted than they were the first time around. Like the situation in Spain where, countries largely left it up to regions to make their own decisions, coronavirus rules as you mention, France also looking at more localized restrictions as well. And in the U.K., where Wales is in a lockdown, but England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not following suit. And you can understand the hesitancy from these European leaders to bring in another full scale lockdown. They are very expensive to maintain, they really only delay the onset of the coronavirus and, unless you have overflowing morgues, they're not really popular with the public. But that calculus may soon be changing. I want to show you a couple of graphics really illustrate the situation here in Europe. First, this is the rolling average of coronavirus cases in Europe. You can see the second wave that we're in now has long eclipsed the first wave. There's also, of course, more widespread testing which may explain part of it. But pay attention to the dates at the bottom of your screen and when that second wave started to curve up. It will show you the COVID deaths, lag behind by a couple of weeks. Of course you can be diagnosed with the virus and fight it for a few weeks before it manages to kill you. That's why these deaths lag behind. But they've been quite slow to show in the numbers. Now they're starting to show. Italy and the U.K. both recorded more than 150 deaths in the last 24 hours. But this is really a tale of 2 continents. Here are the deaths in the big western European companies. U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Germany. Spain has fared the worst, Germany the best. But by and large, that second wave of COVID deaths has been pretty muted compared to the massive, massive numbers that they were recording in the spring. Look at the situation in eastern Europe, countries like Croatia, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic, all of them, as you can see in this graph, their death numbers are much higher than they ever were in the spring.</s>MCLEAN: In fact, Poland is recording 4 times more deaths than they were at the peak of the first wave. Czech Republic is recording almost 9 times, absolutely massive. Their health care system, as you mention, is really in dire straits, Michael, on the brink of collapse perhaps in a couple of weeks from now. They are expecting to get some backup from medics, doctors and nurses from the U.S. National Guard and you can bet they will certainly need those people.</s>HOLMES: Wow, that is a very dire outlook. And you mentioned various politicians here. They are catching it. The Polish president, what do you know about him?</s>MCLEAN: We know that the Polish president tested for the coronavirus on Friday. We got confirmation that he tested positive yesterday. Shortly after he posted a video on his Twitter account, where he appeared to be quite healthy. He said that he did not have any symptoms and he would continue to work through isolation. He said, quote, "I am full strength, I hope it'll stay this way, however the fact is that I must isolate, together with my wife, we abide by the rules of isolation in an iron manner." He also apologized to people he had met with, that they have to isolate now, hopes that they don't get the virus. And he really called on Polish people to protect senior citizens who are most vulnerable to the virus -- Michael.</s>HOLMES: Scott McLean, appreciate it ,there in Berlin for us. Colombia is the third Latin American country to pass 1 million coronavirus cases. The health ministry said the country hit the somber number on Saturday. Columbia's vice president said she is doing well in quarantine after testing positive for the virus on Friday. We reported that on the program yesterday. Stefano Pozzebon reports for us from Colombia.</s>STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yes, Colombia has reached the 1 million reported coronavirus cases and the third country in South America to reach such a threshold after Brazil and Argentina. Other situations of concern across the region, of course, are Mexico and Peru. Most crucially for Colombia, it's perhaps the 30,000 deaths have been reported due to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic began in March. That is perhaps a sign that, while Europe is now experiencing a second wave of the virus, COVID-19 has never actually gone away from South America. Colombia has successfully lower the numbers between August and September but not enough to say that the spread had stopped. Now the numbers are yet again rising fast and reaching such a topic threshold that the government is displaying confidence and saying that the situation is under control and that they are relying on international partners to be ready when a vaccine will be available to</s>HOLMES: We'll take a break on the program. When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM, millions of Americans, eager to cast their vote this year. Early voting smashing turnout records in various parts of the U.S. We'll have a full report when we come back.

Over 52 Million Cast Early Ballots in U.S.

HOLMES: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. With just 9 days until Election Day, more than 52 million Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting. This includes both in person voting and vote by mail. It's an extraordinary number. Though it represents more than 36 percent of the total ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election. More than half of these early votes are coming in from some of the most competitive of the battleground states. Turnout records shattered across the U.S. In New York, some 94,000 people voted Saturday in the first day of early voting there. That's more than in all 9 days of early voting of last election. And in the crucial swing state of Florida, more than 5 million people have already cast their ballot. Now CNN is reporting from polling places across the country, asking why voters are so motivated this year. Natasha Chen is in Georgia. But we'll start with Evan McMorris-Santoro in New York.</s>EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Saturday was the first day of early voting in New York and across the city, lines stretched for hours at polling places. Including in Jackson Heights, Queens, one of the hardest hit parts of the city for the pandemic. And voters said they turned out to make their voices heard after months of suffering under the pandemic and economic effects.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people lost jobs, a lot of people unfortunately passed away due to COVID. Every day, if you walk through different areas of this community, there are food pantry lines that are just as long as this line. So people are outraged and we need support for the Latinos. This is why we're here, we're using our voice, we're using our right and we have to vote.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had some friends that would complain to God knows where and yet they wouldn't vote. I said what are you complaining about? You gave up your right to complain when you don't vote.</s>MCMORRIS-SANTORO: And so you're not giving up your right to complain?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no. This is a God given gift and I'm not going to throw it away.</s>MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Early voting continues in New York for more than a week and after that, the end of a long election that many New Yorkers said today they were happy to finally cast their votes in -- Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as of noon on Saturday, more than 2.6 million votes have been cast in the state of Georgia. And when you look at both the in person and early voting as well as the absentee ballots that have been cast, that's a 114 percent increase over the same point in the 2016 election.</s>CHEN: We've been seeing tremendous enthusiasm and energy, even in the rain, as people continue to wait to cast their votes. Now we have talked to a number of people in line, who represent the changing demographics in Georgia, a younger, more diverse group that is joining the voter rolls. We met this one young couple in Atlanta, who said they are considering some very important issues as they cast their ballots this time.</s>WILLIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I really do think it's about the character of this country, about who we vote for. So I think -- I just want my voice heard on that.</s>STEPHANIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I think, also, having a young daughter, we're also setting up the world for her. And I think our vote now speaks even more than it did as single people, that it's not just for right now. It's for the future.</s>CHEN: Over the past 20 years, there's been a significant increase in the percentage of African American voters making up the electorate here in Georgia. And according to a recent study by Pew Research, Georgia also has the largest growth of any state in the country of eligible immigrant voters. In fact we met voter here who was recently naturalized and excited about participating in her first U.S. election. Something that's also changing the electorate, Georgia in 2016 started automatically registering people to vote when they got their driver's license. So a lot of young people are joining the voter rolls -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Marietta, Georgia.</s>HOLMES: Now when it comes to America, an opinion piece in "The New York Times" says there is a real divide between, quote, "political junkies and everyone else." The article says that most Americans view politics as two partisan camps bickering endlessly and fruitlessly over unimportant issues. Sounds about right. It goes on to say that, beyond that split, there is perhaps a more significant separation, people who follow politics closely and those who do not, what it calls the attention divide.</s>YANNA KRUPNIKOV, STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY: I think what's happening with this disconnect is that we are essentially getting these 2 groups of people. There's one group of people that is exactly like you described, wake up in the morning, they jump the news they're constantly looking for what's happened, everything that happens they follow. Something that is a tiny detail, they think about the implications of it, they're extremely anxious when they can't follow the news. Then we have this other group of people which is the 80 percent, who aren't quite following politics as much. Now this is not to say that they don't know anything that's happening. It's just to say that they are not following politics every day. They're not waking up to it. They might not necessarily feel as anxious if they can't check the news. So what ends up happening is that two groups that might actually politically be talking past each other, one that is heavily immersed in everything and the other that is potentially getting quite tired of politics.</s>HOLMES: It's so fascinating. So for those who are immersed, whether they're politicians or journalists or whatever, what are they missing in terms of what that 80 percent actually is interested in? Is the media focusing on things that just don't resonate with a lot of people out there? What does resonate with them?</s>KRUPNIKOV: Well, I think that we are talking about different things when we are talking about politicians and journalists. With politicians, you always have this question of who you are trying to appeal to. Are you going to your base or are you going to try to branch out? Given that the people who are paying the most attention are also the most partisan, the most strongly attached to politicians, reaching those people basically means kind of consistently reaching out to your base, even though these are the people that are probably going to vote for you no matter what. For journalists, I think it's a somewhat different story. These people, as I just said, are really the most politically engaged. They're also the most partisan. They're also the most conflictual (ph). So when you cover stories of partisan conflict, it's natural to be drawn to these voices. So oftentimes, what you get is news that's kind of heavily focused on this really partisan conflict.</s>KRUPNIKOV: It is really elevating the voices of this 20 percent, who are heavily political, which means, for people in politics it's not their primary focus during a given day, they don't really see themselves and they don't necessarily see their own voices.</s>HOLMES: That is fascinating and absolutely understandable. I also found it fascinating in the article you cited, a Pew study finds a 10 percent of Twitter users are responsible for 97 percent of all the tweets about politics. It's an echo chamber.</s>KRUPNIKOV: Yes and, in our own research, we actually find what we call these homophilous bubbles of interest. So people aren't just in these kind of social networks with people who feel the same way they do about politics. But they are also in these bubbles of people who actually have the same level of interest. So if you are in this 20 percent minority, you don't realize that you are in any way an outlier. You sign on to your social media, you go to Twitter, everyone there is pretty much just as interested in politics, everyone there is talking about the same things. So you might not realize that you're somewhat different.</s>HOLMES: It really is interesting. And just quickly, how can politics and coverage often better match the opinions and the interests of those Americans you're talking about?</s>KRUPNIKOV: I think one kind of aspect of coverage that could change is again the voices that make up our coverage. It's who we put in news stories. Are people hearing from the most extreme ends of the political spectrum or are they going to hear from people who might be more moderate, who feel less strongly about politics? And I think about how public opinion is handled by the media could change how people feel about politics.</s>HOLMES: An important article you cowrote in "The New York Times." Fascinating stuff. Yanna Krupnikov, thank you so. Much</s>KRUPNIKOV: Thank you so much for having me.</s>HOLMES: Fascinating stuff. Now we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a few months ago, Russia approved a coronavirus vaccine without having done phase 3 trials. Now the vaccine's major developer admits it's not safe for everyone. Our exclusive interview coming up. Also, the plight of protesters in Nigeria continues to garner worldwide attention as the entire Nigeria police forces called up to turn down the heat. Is it working? The latest when we come back.

Nigerian Police Force Mobilize to Quell Worst Unrest in 20 Years

HOLMES (voice-over): Hundreds of people accused of looting a storehouse on Saturday in Nigeria. Nigeria's chief of police has deployed the country's entire police force to stop that kind of activity. The looters say that it was a store of food that should have been distributed to the people. Now the police chief meanwhile says enough is enough. But angry demonstrators have shown no signs of easing up on the protests.</s>HOLMES: For weeks now in Nigeria, there have been widespread protests against police brutality and corruption. Nigeria's president says, quote, "Many lives have been lost," but there are curfews across the nation. The president meanwhile calling for calm. Here's Nima Elbagir with the latest.</s>NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Broken glass and debris on the streets of Lagos. Shattered remnants of protests in Nigeria over police brutality that quickly turned from peaceful to deadly. There is a tense calm in the city now. But on Tuesday night, the city erupted into chaos after eyewitnesses say multiple protesters were shot and killed by army soldiers. The army has dismissed reports of the incident as "fake news." The shooting set off a wave of anger across the country. Many shops and businesses have been burned or damaged and there is widespread looting in the worst unrest in the country since its return to civilian rule in 1999. It is one of the biggest political challenges so far for the country's president, Muhammadu Buhari. On Thursday he addressed the nation, appealing for calm.</s>MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: Your voice has been heard loud and clear and we are responding.</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): But critics say he waited too long to make a public statement and didn't even address the events on Tuesday, which has further angered many Nigerians.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People died, people and their loved ones, and he didn't mention anything about. It</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The speech was baseless, hopeless.</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): The state governor spoke to CNN and said he is committed to a full investigation of what happened and people will be held accountable but also says demonstrators should have left when they were told, as a curfew was in effect.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The protesters had the time to also have left the site we're talking about. But it's totally condemning (ph).</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): The protests began more than 2 weeks ago and has been largely driven by young people in Nigeria, organizing on social media under the #EndSARS who initially called for a police unit known as a special anti-robbery squad to be disbanded because of allegations of kidnapping, harassment and extortion. Under intense pressure, the government agreed to dissolve the unit and redeploy officers to a different team. But the movement continued, widening to include economic reforms and more protections against the police. The voices raised here in a call for justice have found willing echoes around the world, gaining international attention from celebrities like Beyonce and Rihanna, placing a spotlight on shootings that have yet to be fully explained and the growing discontent from the country's youth -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.</s>HOLMES: And we will be right back.

Exclusive with Russian Vaccine's Main Developer.

HOLMES: Welcome back. Russia has been bragging about the speed at which it developed a coronavirus vaccine but, in an exclusive interview with CNN, the vaccine's main developer admits that it is actually not recommended for some of those most at risk from COVID-19. Here's CNN's Fred Pleitgen.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Russia deals with a major spike in new coronavirus infections, despite already having approved two vaccines for emergency use, the head of the Gamaleya Institute in charge of the development of the most prominent vaccine, Sputnik V, told us it may take up to a year for the majority of Russians to get shots, as production sites are still in the process of going online.</s>ALEXANDER GINTSBURG, GAMALEYE INSTITUTE (through translator): Planned capacity of these full sites by next year should reach about 5 million doses per month, which will allow 70 percent of our population to be vaccinated with this vaccine within nine, to 10, to a maximum of 12 months.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia's certified the Sputnik V vaccine with great fanfare in August after testing it in only a few dozen people. The move hailed as a major PR victory for Vladimir Putin as Russia claims to be outpacing Western pharma firms. But in current large phase 3 trials, Sputnik V is lagging well behind Western vaccine candidates.</s>PLEITGEN: Sputnik V's makers said only about 6,000 participants have so far received the two doses necessary to achieve complete immunization and start collecting data, compared to almost 30,000 in some large Western trials. All this as Russian state TV is trashing the U.K.'s vaccine candidate, calling it, quote, "a monkey vaccine," despite the fact that Russia itself has made a deal to produce this very vaccine under license. The head of Russia's direct investment fund which is bankrolling Sputnik V claiming Moscow's vaccine is superior because it uses so-called human adenovirus technology.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we decided to use something already existing, something already safe, something already proven. And many people in the West failed to think about this.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): But even the Sputnik vaccine's instructions say it's only indicated for people 18-60 and not for people with some allergies and illnesses, meaning now older age groups and people with health conditions, some of the most vulnerable to severe cases of COVID-19. The head of the Gamaleya Institute told CNN the vaccine simply hasn't been tested on older people but he believes the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions can still take it.</s>GINTSBURG (through translator): With many chronic diseases, in particular people with diabetes, it is not just that it is carried out; it is prescribed to vaccinate people because these are risk groups that need to be protected. But these people, people with cardiac diseases, these are all chronic diseases, as we know, you need to vaccinate.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia says it will still soon wrap ramp up production of Sputnik V to vaccinate more medical workers and other high risk groups, a move Konstantin Chumakov, a top vaccine expert at the Global Virus Network, called dangerously risky.</s>KONSTANTIN CHUMAKOV, GLOBAL VIRUS NETWORK: I think that there is a reason why they call it Russian roulette. So this is exactly it.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): One Russian who isn't taking the Sputnik V vaccine so far is the president, Vladimir Putin, his spokesman telling CNN, Putin is, quote, "thinking about it" -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.</s>HOLMES: CNN NEWSROOM continues with Kim Brunhuber after a quick break.

Bon Jovi Rallies for Biden in Pennsylvania; Two Top Pence Aides Test Positive

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.</s>KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in here United States on the world I'm Kim Brunhuber this is CNN NEWSROOM and we will start with breaking. News New cases of COVID-19 are escalating so rapidly in the United States that even the office of the U.S. vice president is directly affected. Two senior aides to vice president Mike Pence have tested positive in recent days. Pence's office revealed chief of staff Marc Short has begun quarantine and that the vice president and the second lady have tested negative. CNN has learned another senior adviser, Marty Obst, also tested positive, though it is not clear exactly when. This is a big deal for a couple of reasons, one of them because the vice president is head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. But those members have often publicly ignored the same rules they recommend to the rest of the country. That includes quarantine for anyone who has had close contact with an infected person, as the vice president has. But Pence isn't leaving the campaign trail. Instead, his schedule is packed with rallies and events, where face masks are few and social distancing is nonexistent. More than 83,000 Americans tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, a day after the U.S. reached a new daily high. The virus is front and center on the campaign trail, with just 9 days to go until the presidential election, Donald Trump and Joe Biden are hitting key. States so we begin with Jeremy Diamond as the president fights for a second term.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump campaigning again in the battleground state of Wisconsin against a grim backdrop of the coronavirus, not only with a surge of cases across the country, a record number of new coronavirus cases, just before the president arrived here on Friday. But also here in Wisconsin. On Friday, Wisconsin experiencing its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day during this entire pandemic. Hospitalizations, they are on the rise, not only across the country but here in the state of Wisconsin. What we see here, is the president gathering thousands of his supporters once again, closely packed together and most people as usual not wearing masks. The president also continues to spout misinformation about the virus, downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic, making a false claim as he often does that, if there wasn't so much testing in the United States, that there wouldn't be as many cases as there are. What we know is that the surge of the coronavirus cases in the U.S. is very real. That's despite what the president is saying. The president did highlight the importance of this battleground state as he was campaigning here, saying that if he wins the state of Wisconsin, he believes that he's going to win the election -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Waukesha, Wisconsin.</s>BRUNHUBER: Joe Biden struck a very different tone as he stumped in Pennsylvania and he got some help Saturday from his former, boss Barack Obama. CNN's Arlette Saenz brings us that part of the story from Florida.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former president Barack Obama traveled here to the critical battleground state of Florida, reminding voters that they helped deliver the White House to him in 2008 and 2012 and asking them to do the same for Joe Biden this time around. He also predicted that if Biden wins Florida, the election will basically be over, as he urged supporters and volunteers to keep up their final work for the vice president. And while he touted the work and leadership style of his former partner, he also took aim at President Trump, slamming his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and also criticizing President Trump's behavior in office, saying that it is not normal. And President Obama also talked about that upcoming interview Trump did with "60 Minutes."</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When "60 Minutes" and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. If you got to walk out of a "60 Minutes" interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator. If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to Putin.</s>SAENZ: While President Obama was here in Florida, Joe Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania, holding a drive in rally with musical artist Jon Bon Jovi. That event took place in Lucerne County, a county that President Obama and Joe Biden won in 2008 and 2012 but a county that President Trump flipped in 2016. Biden trying to make a play for those Obama trumped (ph) counties as the election nears. And both Obama and Biden had a message when it came to early voting. They have reached that point in the campaign where the Biden campaign is really focusing on turnout as the election is now just 9 days away -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, North Miami, Florida.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right, to discuss all of this, let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University at Essex, who joins us from Colchester, England. Thank you so much for being with us. The news from the vice president's office, Mike Pence's chief of staff diagnosed with. COVID- 19. What are the political ramifications given? Pence is head of the Coronavirus Task Force and also the vice president's campaigning without his chief of staff.</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: This just isn't good news for the Trump campaign. It may not really matter. But Trump is at a point where he needs all the help he could get. And this shows that the Trump administration can't even contain a virus in the White House. With the case of Pence, his chief of staff tested positive, his lead adviser tested positive and three other important advisers in his team. Reportedly the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows wanted to keep it private. And there is a reason why he wanted to keep it private. It's not good news. But what you have seen with this task force, once Mike Pence took over, it became politicized and it wasn't really about listening to experts and listening to science. In fact they wanted to downplay the virus. And the vice president's chief of staff in particular wanted to downplay things. They also wanted to ensure that all communication from public health agencies, all of it had to go through Mike Pence's team and this was to try to be in step with what Trump wanted, that this is going to go away and this is what we are seeing Trump doing on the campaign. Trail. He keeps telling people that this is going away, we're rounding the corner now. Yet he just had a superspreader life event in the Villages in Florida. So they are ignoring all the safety protocols and really not being honest with the American public and this is really important because Trump is the most important communicator to the American public about the dangers of the virus.</s>BRUNHUBER: Right and, as you say, Mike Pence, his chief of staff, the people around him are often seen there on the campaign trail, going to rallies, packed with people, just like the president and vice president is continuing, planning to continue campaigning. And that contrast with vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who took off a couple of days, off of campaigning when a close aide tested positive earlier this month. So will the campaign pay any political price for this type of behavior or will it be seen as a sign of strength to carry on?</s>LINDSTAEDT: Well, we have been seeing the polls haven't shifted very much; the base is incredibly loyal to Trump. They get alternative sources of news. They don't believe a lot of the legitimate news media, what they are trying to offer and explain to them. So we see that one group of people, it doesn't really matter for them. Then you also have Biden supporters who are on the other side, are wanting more regulations, want the federal effort to be more concerted and stronger, better organized. But for Trump, what he needs to do is win over these last undecided voters. At the exact same time in 2016, this is where the polls really started to tighten for Clinton and Trump started to make a lot of ground, because the FBI, of course, had announced they were investigating her emails. Trump needed some big shake-up, some big thing to happen that was going to really shift the polls and move the voters in his direction. And this type of news story just isn't going to help him.</s>BRUNHUBER: So essentially will it use up all the oxygen, I guess, or some valuable oxygen as we're heading into the last days of the campaign? Will this be a big and unwelcome distraction from their message of shifting the focus away from COVID?</s>LINDSTAEDT: I think it just makes it harder for the American people to think that we are rounding the corner here, as Trump likes to say. That is really what the key issue was of the final debate.</s>LINDSTAEDT: We saw that Biden kept criticizing Trump about the COVID crisis, that we're about to head into a very long winter, that he is downplaying it too much and that we need to have a strong federal response. Trump keeps trying to tell people, we are almost over this thing. That is really dangerous, because Trump feels he has to say this because it's vital for the economy. And the economy is the other big issue in the campaign. But I think what many Americans know is that we are not going to recover economically until we get the COVID crisis under control. So if this continues to be the key issue of the campaign and not other issues that may play to Trump's strengths, like this idea that he is this law and order president or that the economy is only going to be good under him, then that is going to be problematic for him. I think that, with COVID being the focus, he is not going to be able to distract voters that are in the middle or undecided for whatever reason, that he is the best person to take us through the next four years.</s>BRUNHUBER: Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much. We appreciate. It</s>LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.</s>BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, millions of Americans aren't waiting until November 3rd to vote. They are out now, making their voices heard and they are telling us why this year's election is so important. Stay with us.

Voter Intimidation Concerns in U.S.

BRUNHUBER: Well, just 9 days to the presidential election, candidates and the voters are making their voices heard. Donald Trump and Joe Biden hitting key battleground states while early voters spent hours in line in New York. It was the state's first day of early in-person voting. And officials say almost 94,000 people cast ballots in New York City alone. More than 52,000 Americans have cast ballots so far. CNN is reporting from polling stations across the country and asking why they are motivated this year. Paul Vercammen is in Los Angeles but we're going to start here in Georgia with Natasha Chen.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as of noon on Saturday, more than 2.6 million votes have been cast in the state of Georgia. And when you look at both the in person and early voting as well as the absentee ballots that have been cast, that's a 114 percent increase over the same point in the 2016 election. We've been seeing tremendous enthusiasm and energy, even in the rain, as people continue to wait to cast their votes. Now we have talked to a number of people in line, who represent the changing demographics in Georgia, a younger, more diverse group that is joining the voter rolls. We met this one young couple in Atlanta, who said they are considering some very important issues as they cast their ballots this time.</s>WILLIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I really do think it's about the character of this country, about who we vote for. So I think -- I just want my voice heard on that.</s>STEPHANIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I think, also, having a young daughter, we're also setting up the world for her. And I think our vote now speaks even more than it did as single people, that it's not just for right now. It's for the future.</s>CHEN: Over the past 20 years, there's been a significant increase in the percentage of African American voters making up the electorate here in Georgia. And according to a recent study by Pew Research, Georgia also has the largest growth of any state in the country of eligible immigrant voters. In fact we met voter here who was recently naturalized and excited about participating in her first U.S. election. Something that's also changing the electorate, Georgia in 2016 started automatically registering people to vote when they got their driver's license. So a lot of young people are joining the voter rolls -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Marietta, Georgia.</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So one of the places where the early voting began in person in a specialized location in Los Angeles County, Staples Center. This is also home to the Lakers, the Sparks and the Kings. Along with AEG, they put on this event live long in the morning. And the people here came in and cast those ballots in person. Many of them were Laker fans and they heeded the urging of LeBron James, who had said from the NBA bubble, we need to get more people, especially African Americans, out and voting.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are lines because number one, this is Staples Center, home of the Lakers. Number two, I want to make a difference, cast out my vote and in a better place, the Staples Center.</s>VERCAMMEN: We did a little exit polling here. Of course California is a blue state and here in the center of Los Angeles, we met one woman who echoed the sentiments of many, who said she was voting for Joe Biden.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because I felt that was the best choice to vote for today. And if anybody could vote, I urge you to vote your heart. But I just felt better about voting for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, because I felt that the country needs to come together. And they will be the best party for the -- to bring the country together.</s>VERCAMMEN: And in Los Angeles County so far, 1.3 million votes have been cast early and, overall for the state, a little over 6 million votes cast. At the Staples Center, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.</s>BRUNHUBER: U.S. national security experts have warned for a while that the presidential election would be a target for countries such as Russia, Iran and China but one possible threat for voters comes from a source much closer to home. CNN's Pamela Brown explains.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New concerns about possible voter intimidation after the Trump campaigned film voters at a Philadelphia polling station. The campaign claims they found at least 3 people dropping off more than one ballot each. What Trump team's attorney believes is just the tip of the iceberg and what can constitute unlawful absentee voting. The voters are allowed to drop off ballots for people who are disabled.</s>BROWN (voice-over): And state officials warned the videos might be interpreted as intimidation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Voter intimidation is illegal under state and federal law and videotaping, you're taking pictures of you without your consent is part of that.</s>BROWN (voice-over): Which the Trump campaign calls categorically absurd. On election interference, intelligence officials confirm Russian hackers have stolen election data. But it's unclear how the information will be used. Officials say Iran used voter information to send threatening emails that came to light this week.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections.</s>BROWN (voice-over): The federal government issued two new cyber security alerts, warning that state and local governments were targeted. But officials say that election infrastructure has not been compromised. The intelligence community generally agrees that the Russians interfered 4 years ago to help Trump win. Despite that, Trump slammed the assessment again.</s>TRUMP: They both want you to lose because there's been nobody tougher to Russia, with -- between the sanctions. Nobody tougher than me on Russia.</s>BROWN (voice-over): Intelligence experts agree, stopping Russia should be the priority.</s>JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Russia has been interfering in the run-up to our election already and, for my part at least, it's a far more serious threat than Iran.</s>BROWN (voice-over): More than 50 million Americans have already turned in their ballots.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'd rather get it done and over with and deliver it early. That way I know I've voted.</s>BROWN (voice-over): And more than half of those votes come from CNN's 16 most competitive states and one of the fiercest battlegrounds, North Carolina, over 2.5 million ballots have been cast. That's more than half of the total turnout in 2016.</s>BROWN: We are learning more about 2020's first election ransomware attack. It happened in Georgia and in one Georgia county, officials there said, the hack affected a voter signature database and precinct maps. They do not believe that it affected the election infrastructure and security experts say that it was likely more about profit than politics. But they are concerned about these ransomware attacks, as we get closer to Election Day, because they can cause chaos and confusion -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.</s>BRUNHUBER: Joining me now in San Francisco, California, Renee DiResta, the tactical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. Thank you so much for being here on this very important topic. Given what happened in 2016, there's so much misinformation being spread, primarily by Russia. Going into this election, there were a lot of concerns about the international and intentional spread of misinformation and how it might affect the vote. From what you've seen, has it been as bad in this campaign? And what if any are the differences between 2016 and now?</s>RENEE DIRESTA, STANFORD INTERNET OBSERVATORY: Sure, so right now we're seeing there's a lot more misinformation originating from domestic sources. So misinformation, meaning information that's inadvertently wrong, as opposed to disinformation campaigns with regard to Russia. So what we're seeing today instead is information that oftentimes starts because somebody snaps a photo, maybe of a ballot that's been misplaced, something they see in the trash. And then that's amplified by domestic influencers, who want to spread a political narrative to benefit a partisan side. And then that act of influence, picking it up and sharing it, means that it reaches many more people because these are unfortunately authentic accounts often with very large followings.</s>BRUNHUBER: Who is being targeted here? The way you make it sound is that it's just kind of pumped into the online world for anyone to consume or is it specifically aimed it smaller but influential constituencies of voters?</s>DIRESTA: We're seeing a lot of different types of narratives spread. There's suppression type narratives, right now. We're very concerned about some of the footage that is real that is showing very long lines at polling stations but then implying that people are not going to be allowed to vote. We're seeing footage that is taken out of context, suggesting that police officers will interfere in the voting process, targeting people on the Left. We're seeing narratives of misleading ballot, claims about ballots being thrown away or mail-in ballots being, multiple people submitting multiple mail-in ballots. That one is really more targeted at the Right. We're just constantly hearing about how voter fraud is going to be committed in the proceed of the mail-in vote we're going to see a lot of because of coronavirus. So it's really running the gamut. There's really no one community that is more targeted than another this point. We are seeing a little bit more, however, of these narratives about mail-in ballot fraud disrupting the election.</s>BRUNHUBER: That's what I was going to say. It sounds like a lot of the misinformation or disinformation, depending on who's doing it.</s>BRUNHUBER: Centers around either voting or the general theme of democracy. What is the aim here?</s>DIRESTA: Well, unfortunately, the aim really seems to be discrediting confidence in the outcome of the election by discrediting confidence in the result of the election. So insinuating that if we can't run a free and fair election, in which one person, one vote, ballots are counted fairly, everybody's vote counts. The concern now is that there's substantial lack of confidence in the process. What that might mean is that 50 percent of the population doesn't trust the outcome if their preferred candidate doesn't win because they've been hearing about how the election is going to be stolen or manipulated by the other side.</s>BRUNHUBER: It sounds obviously like what you're saying is echoing a lot of what President Trump is saying out loud. Is this in any way to help him or to help his followers?</s>DIRESTA: Well, unfortunately, one of the things we never expected to see was the president of the United States participating in this process. That was not on anybody's -- things that we expected to see back in 2016. In 2016, what we saw a lot of, with regard to these narratives about election machines not working or people fraudulently voting, was actually coming from Russian trolls. Interestingly enough, that was one of the common themes they tried to amplify back in 2016. They were targeting the Right-leaning communities and had built pages for and create fake personas around and those pages and personas really leaned into the idea that the election was going to be stolen in the weeks leading up to the election of 2016. Now we're seeing those themes echoed but instead of by Russian trolls, we're seeing them echoed by extremely prominent influencers with very large followings.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you very much, Renee DiResta, we appreciate it.</s>DIRESTA: Thank you.</s>BRUNHUBER: A Russian coronavirus vaccine went public a few months ago without even starting phase 3 trials. The major developer now tells us it's not safe for everyone yet. Our exclusive interview coming up. Stay with us.

Exclusive with Russian Vaccine's Main Developer; COVID-19 Triggers Rise in Asian American Unemployment Rate

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. More now on our top story. CNN has learned two senior aides to U.S. vice president Mike Pence tested positive for coronavirus. That includes the man you see there, his chief of staff. Despite Pence being in close contact with him as recently as Friday, Pence continues to continue campaigning. He was in Florida on Saturday and plans to go to North Carolina. Today this comes as the United States reports its second highest day of coronavirus since the pandemic began. On Saturday, more than 83,000 people were diagnosed, just shy of the record high set on Friday, according Johns Hopkins University. A White House report warns several regions in the U.S. are showing signs of deterioration with the virus surging; 35 states are reporting case increases of 10 percent or more. Not one state, not one of them is trending in the right direction. Several European countries are hitting their record highs of COVID-19 infections. Many fear cases will continue to go up as we approach winter. Plus more European leaders are testing positive, including Poland's leader. CNN's Scott McLean is standby in Berlin. You've been tracking all the major developments across the continent. What's the latest?</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The coronavirus numbers continue to rise across Europe. Each country is trying to find the silver bullet to tamp down this second wave. So far that search is continuing. What all these countries have in common is that the restrictions they have managed are much more localized and much more targeted and much more limited than the first time around. I want to show you a couple of graphics that really illustrate the situation that we see here in Europe. The first one is a rolling average of the coronavirus cases. You can see that the second wave of the virus ahs long eclipsed the first wave. But pay attention to those dates at the bottom as we now show you the coronavirus deaths, the rolling average of coronavirus deaths. Obviously, deaths are lagging behind the number of cases. And the second wave has been slow to come when it comes to deaths. But I want to show you one other thing. There's a big divide between western European countries and eastern European countries. Here's a graphic that shows the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Spain has been one of the worst, Germany is the best but that second wave has really paled in comparison to what we saw earlier in the year. But then we flip over and see countries in eastern Europe, Croatia, Poland, Hungarian, Romania and especially the Czech Republic, it is a very different picture. Their first wave was much more subtle, much more muted, than in Western Europe. They didn't see the death tolls. But now they were seeing them in a really big way. In Poland, they're seeing 4 times more deaths than the peak of the first wave, the Czech Republic is seeing 9 times more cases. Their health care system is really in dire straits. The health minister set a day where he thinks the hospitals are going to be overwhelmed. He thinks that could happen as soon as November 7th. They are bringing in medic, doctors from the U.S. National Guard an also setting up a field hospital that they think they might need by the end of this month. One note on the Polish president he tweeted yesterday that he tested positive, he is isolating but so far no symptoms.</s>BRUNHUBER: Well, that graphic you showed was quite disturbing indeed. Thanks so much, Scott McLean in Berlin. Appreciate it. Well, even if there were a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, only about half of Americans say they would take it. That's obviously a huge problem. The director of the National Institutes of Health says the virus could be here for years if only half the Americans take the vaccine. Dozens of pharmaceutical companies around the world are racing to find a vaccine that can slow the spread of the virus. Nine are here in the U.S., 12 in China and 2 in Russia, including Sputnik V registered for public use. Of course, Russia has been bragging about the speed at which it developed that coronavirus vaccine.</s>BRUNHUBER: But in an exclusive interview with CNN, the vaccine's main developer also admits that it's not recommended for some most at risk from COVID-19. CNN's Fred Pleitgen explains.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Russia deals with a major spike in new coronavirus infections, despite already having approved two vaccines for emergency use, the head of the Gamaleya Institute in charge of the development of the most prominent vaccine, Sputnik V, told us it may take up to a year for the majority of Russians to get shots, as production sites are still in the process of going online.</s>ALEXANDER GINTSBURG, GAMALEYE INSTITUTE (through translator): Planned capacity of these full sites by next year should reach about 5 million doses per month, which will allow 70 percent of our population to be vaccinated with this vaccine within nine, to 10, to a maximum of 12 months.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia's certified the Sputnik V vaccine with great fanfare in August after testing it in only a few dozen people. The move hailed as a major PR victory for Vladimir Putin as Russia claims to be outpacing Western pharma firms. But in current large phase 3 trials, Sputnik V is lagging well behind Western vaccine candidates. Sputnik V's makers said only about 6,000 participants have so far received the two doses necessary to achieve complete immunization and start collecting data, compared to almost 30,000 in some large Western trials. All this as Russian state TV is trashing the U.K.'s vaccine candidate, calling it, quote, "a monkey vaccine," despite the fact that Russia itself has made a deal to produce this very vaccine under license. The head of Russia's direct investment fund which is bankrolling Sputnik V claiming Moscow's vaccine is superior because it uses so-called human adenovirus technology.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we decided to use something already existing, something already safe, something already proven. And many people in the West failed to think about this.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): But even the Sputnik vaccine's instructions say it's only indicated for people 18-60 and not for people with some allergies and illnesses, meaning now older age groups and people with health conditions, some of the most vulnerable to severe cases of COVID-19. The head of the Gamaleya Institute told CNN the vaccine simply hasn't been tested on older people but he believes the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions can still take it.</s>GINTSBURG (through translator): With many chronic diseases, in particular people with diabetes, it is not just that it is carried out; it is prescribed to vaccinate people because these are risk groups that need to be protected. But these people, people with cardiac diseases, these are all chronic diseases, as we know, you need to vaccinate.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia says it will still soon wrap ramp up production of Sputnik V to vaccinate more medical workers and other high risk groups, a move Konstantin Chumakov, a top vaccine expert at the Global Virus Network, called dangerously risky.</s>KONSTANTIN CHUMAKOV, GLOBAL VIRUS NETWORK: I think that there is a reason why they call it Russian roulette. So this is exactly it.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): One Russian who isn't taking the Sputnik V vaccine so far is the president, Vladimir Putin, his spokesman telling CNN, Putin is, quote, "thinking about it" -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.</s>BRUNHUBER: Asian Americans contract COVID-19 at about the same rate as white Americans, according to the CDC. Yet they are also dealing with another blow from the pandemic, soaring unemployment rate. CNN's Amara Walker has the details.</s>AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Lunchtime at this Chinese restaurant is typically a busy hour. That was before the pandemic. Now at Canton House in Atlanta, it's mostly empty tables and an unusually quiet dining room.</s>CAM VUONG, RESTAURATEUR: My God, the business dropped 98 percent.</s>WALKER (voice-over): The restaurant industry was among the hardest hit among the coronavirus pandemic. But the owner here is facing a struggle unique to Asian Americans, a double whammy of historic unemployment and discrimination.</s>VUONG: At the time we closed, we do have our window was broken and -- with a hammer without any reason whatsoever. At that time, we really think that's racist.</s>WALKER (voice-over): As COVID-19 has spread, so has the racism and xenophobia. Members of the United Nations Committee on Discrimination recently expressed concern over an alarming level of racially motivated incidents against Asian Americans, saying president Trump's rhetoric seems to play a role in legitimizing the hate crimes. Sixty-year-old Vuong reopened his dining room in May. Business is down still 50 percent. He wonders if discrimination is slowing down recovery.</s>VUONG: When we first opening, I do have a feeling that the people say don't go to Chinese restaurants.</s>MARLENE KIM, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS: People were avoiding Asian businesses because they thought they would get the coronavirus from these businesses.</s>WALKER (voice-over): An economics professor at the University of Massachusetts says COVID-19 has taken a heavy economic toll on Asian Americans. According to government statistics, from February to June, Asian American unemployment rates increased more by more than 450 percent.</s>KIM: Asians typically have among the lowest unemployment rates. And it's really shot up during</s>COVID. WALKER (voice-over): A visit to Atlanta's Chinatown underscores the struggle. This gift shop is closing at the end of the month. Other businesses here are telling us they are just trying to survive. Yet Kim says few are taking notice.</s>KIM: I think it's been overlooked because people don't think that Asians have problems. People think of Asians as a model minority.</s>VUONG: No, we are just not desperate, we are struggling.</s>WALKER (voice-over): But Vuong, who came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam, remains hopeful. He says he's been living the American dream for 40 years and hopes for 40 more.</s>VUONG: We have a dream, to get the business, to have a house, to have a stable life, a peaceful life, have a family and then raise our kids. But hopefully our dreams are not broken because of this COVID-19.</s>WALKER: Vuong tells me that he just got started breaking even so he's got quite a way to go still. He's concerned about a second wave of COVID-19 hurting his business. But he says he's the most concerned about the outcome of the presidential election and whether that will inflame racial tensions -- back to you.</s>BRUNHUBER: Nigeria's police chief is saying enough is enough but protesters are saying the government isn't doing enough to end police brutality. Now there are more police on the streets. We'll have a full report just ahead. Stay with us.

Steve Bannon behind "Shoddy" Research about Coronavirus Origin.

BRUNHUBER: According to one popular conspiracy theory, the coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab as a bioweapon. Now there's no actual evidence of that and experts say that the science doesn't hold up. But even so the theory has been embraced by many allies and supporters of the U.S. president. In fact, the theory has a direct link to one of Trump's biggest backers. Here's Drew Griffin with a CNN exclusive investigation.</s>DREW GRIFFIN CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is a right-wing fueled conspiracy theory pushed to millions of Americans.</s>TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Li-Meng Yan.</s>GRIFFIN: Dr. Li-Meng Yan, a Chinese scientist in hiding but appears everywhere on right wing media and claiming her two research papers prove the virus that causes COVID-19 was created in a Chinese lab and is a Chinese bio weapon.</s>DR. LI-MENG YAN, M.D. PHD, VIROLOGIST, WHISTLEBLOWER: It is modern bio weapon in unrestricted way.</s>GRIFFIN: But a CNN investigation has found shoddy citations, questionable sourcing and so many scientists who say it's bunk, Yan's paper is not a credible, scientific work. But it is directly linked to one of Donald Trump's former top strategists, Steve Bannon.</s>STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Do you believe that a super spreader or some -- was actually sent and somehow has been focused on the White House or focused on President Trump?</s>MILES GUO: One hundred percent.</s>GRIFFIN: That 100 percent comes from Chinese billionaire and exile Miles Guo, who's using his money and Bannon's media expertise to try to discredit the Chinese government. Bannon and Guo appeared together on Bannon's podcast, fill the pages of a website called "G News" and began two non-profits together, The Rule of Law Society and Rule of Law Foundation. These are the groups who say they support Dr. Li-Meng Yan and appear on the top of her research reports. Columbia University virologist Angela Rasmussen says the papers are scientific junk.</s>ANGELA RASMUSSEN, VIROLOGIST, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Anybody with an actual background in virology or molecular biology who reads this paper will realize that much of it is actually nonsense.</s>GRIFFIN: CNN spoke to a half dozen scientists who say Yan's papers are filled with half-truths, not scientifically tenable. One who even met with Yan and said, her first study wasn't plausible. University of Michigan Professor Anna Mapp says the paper lacked a basic obligation to scientific practices.</s>ANNA MAPP, PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: I was also really disturbed to see such a shoddy piece of work.</s>GRIFFIN: And CNN could find no trace of Yan's three co-authors in the U.S. or China. Yan didn't respond to tell us why, but a source tells us that those three co-authors are pseudonyms for U.S.-based Chinese scientist who fear using their own names, but the source offered no proof. Miles Guo told us Yan's work is Yan's work, independent of any editorial control by me. Steve Bannon offered no response. Yet there is more about Yan's work. Some of the sources of her research appear not to be credible. Amanda Peiffer, who's getting a Ph.D. in chemical biology, first alerted CNN to issues with the citations at the very end of Yan's paper.</s>AMANDA PEIFFER, CHEMICAL BIOLOGY PH.D. CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: People who aren't experts, people who aren't scientists, people who really haven't done anything, these are not coming from credible sources. I think that's really concerning.</s>GRIFFIN: A CNN analyst finds Yan's citations include a paper that appeared only as a post on a LinkedIn, a report written by a person that CNN cannot locate, running a company that does not seem to exist, three of the citations that linked to posts on a website opposed to genetically modified food. Then there is citation 23, which links to anonymous blog posts published back in March. Parts of Yan's papers appear to be pulled directly from these anonymous blogs.</s>GRIFFIN (on camera): I don't want to say copied and pasted, but it almost has that same effect.</s>PEIFFER: They took the exact same figures, the exact same phrasing and the exact same captions and put those into the report that was Yan's paper. And that -- that does not happen in science.</s>GRIFFIN (voice over): And guess where one of those blogs first appeared months before Yan's paper? "G News," the disinformation news site linked to Steve Bannon and Miles Guo.</s>RASMUSSEN: And as much as I hate to think of the idea of component scientists using their work for political propaganda, to me that's what this seems to be.</s>GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.</s>BRUNHUBER: Well, I'm Kim Brunhuber and I'll have more from the CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Please stay with us.

Two Top Pence Aides Test Positive for COVID-19; Polish President Tests Positive for COVID-19; Trump Rallies in Three COVID-19 Hotspots Saturday; U.S. to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Sudan

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.</s>KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. We start with breaking news. New cases of COVID-19 are escalating so rapidly in the United States that the office of the U.S. vice president has been directly affected. Two senior aides to Mike Pence have now tested positive in recent days. Pence's office revealed chief of staff Mark Short has begun quarantine and the vice president and second lady tested negative. And CNN learned another senior Pence adviser tested positive recently. It's not clear exactly when. The record spikes in recent days paint an ominous threat. More than 167,000 new cases in just the past two days. If July's surge was a category three, what's looming could be a category five. At the polls with barely one week until the election, Trump and Pence can't afford to let up. In Wisconsin, the president falsely blamed the nation's high death toll on a flawed counting system.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If somebody has a really bad heart and they're close to death, even if they're not but they have a bad heart and get COVID, they put it down to COVID. Other countries put it down to a heart. We're going to start looking at things. Because they have things -- they have things a little bit backwards.</s>BRUNHUBER: That by contrast, Biden struck a different tone in Pennsylvania all the while observing basic health precautions.</s>JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm more optimistic about America's future than I've been since I've been involved in politics. We're the only country in the world that's come out of every crisis stronger than we went in. There's not a damn thing America can't do when we decide to do it together.</s>BRUNHUBER: As the campaigns head into the home stretch, Biden is getting a huge assist from the biggest heavyweight in the Democratic Party, former president Barack Obama. He is no longer holding back after mostly remaining silent since leaving office. Listen to this.</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Eight months into this pandemic, new cases are breaking records. Donald Trump isn't going to suddenly protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself. We won't have a president who threatens people with jail for just criticizing him. That's not normal behavior, Florida. A Florida man wouldn't even do this stuff. With Joe and Kamala at the helm, you won't have to think about them every single day. There might be a whole day where they don't be on TV. There might be a whole day where they don't tweet some craziness.</s>BRUNHUBER: So it's important to understand the significance of coronavirus infecting top aides to the U.S. vice president. Mike Pence is head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. But under his leadership many have often publicly ignored the same rules recommended for the rest of the country. That includes quarantine for anyone who has had close contact with an infected person, as the vice president has but Pence isn't leaving the campaign trail. His schedule is packed with rallies and events, where face masks are few and social distancing is nonexistent.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right, to discuss all of this, let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University at Essex, who joins us from Colchester, England. Thank you so much for being with us. The news from the vice president's office, Mike Pence's chief of staff diagnosed with. COVID- 19. What are the political ramifications given? Pence is head of the Coronavirus Task Force and also the vice president's campaigning without his chief of staff.</s>NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: This just isn't good news for the Trump campaign. It may not really matter. But Trump is at a point where he needs all the help he could get. And this shows that the Trump administration can't even contain a virus in the White House. With the case of Pence, his chief of staff tested positive, his lead adviser tested positive and three other important advisers in his team. Reportedly the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows wanted to keep it private. And there is a reason why he wanted to keep it private. It's not good news. But what you have seen with this task force, once Mike Pence took over, it became politicized and it wasn't really about listening to experts and listening to science. In fact they wanted to downplay the virus. And the vice president's chief of staff in particular wanted to downplay things. They also wanted to ensure that all communication from public health agencies, all of it had to go through Mike Pence's team and this was to try to be in step with what Trump wanted, that this is going to go away and this is what we are seeing Trump doing on the campaign. Trail. He keeps telling people that this is going away, we're rounding the corner now. Yet he just had a superspreader life event in the Villages in Florida. So they are ignoring all the safety protocols and really not being honest with the American public and this is really important because Trump is the most important communicator to the American public about the dangers of the virus.</s>BRUNHUBER: Right and, as you say, Mike Pence, his chief of staff, the people around him are often seen there on the campaign trail, going to rallies, packed with people, just like the president and vice president is continuing, planning to continue campaigning. And that contrast with vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who took off a couple of days, off of campaigning when a close aide tested positive earlier this month. So will the campaign pay any political price for this type of behavior or will it be seen as a sign of strength to carry on?</s>LINDSTAEDT: Well, we have been seeing the polls haven't shifted very much; the base is incredibly loyal to Trump. They get alternative sources of news. They don't believe a lot of the legitimate news media, what they are trying to offer and explain to them. So we see that one group of people, it doesn't really matter for them. Then you also have Biden supporters who are on the other side, are wanting more regulations, want the federal effort to be more concerted and stronger, better organized. But for Trump, what he needs to do is win over these last undecided voters. At the exact same time in 2016, this is where the polls really started to tighten for Clinton and Trump started to make a lot of ground, because the FBI, of course, had announced they were investigating her emails. Trump needed some big shake-up, some big thing to happen that was going to really shift the polls and move the voters in his direction. And this type of news story just isn't going to help him.</s>BRUNHUBER: So essentially will it use up all the oxygen, I guess, or some valuable oxygen as we're heading into the last days of the campaign? Will this be a big and unwelcome distraction from their message of shifting the focus away from COVID?</s>LINDSTAEDT: I think it just makes it harder for the American people to think that we are rounding the corner here, as Trump likes to say. That is really what the key issue was of the final debate. We saw that Biden kept criticizing Trump about the COVID crisis, that we're about to head into a very long winter, that he is downplaying it too much and that we need to have a strong federal response. Trump keeps trying to tell people, we are almost over this thing. That is really dangerous, because Trump feels he has to say this because it's vital for the economy. And the economy is the other big issue in the campaign. But I think what many Americans know is that we are not going to recover economically until we get the COVID crisis under control. So if this continues to be the key issue of the campaign and not other issues that may play to Trump's strengths, like this idea that he is this law and order president or that the economy is only going to be good under him, then that is going to be problematic for him. I think that, with COVID being the focus, he is not going to be able to distract voters that are in the middle or undecided for whatever reason, that he is the best person to take us through the next four years.</s>BRUNHUBER: Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much. We appreciate. It</s>LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.</s>BRUNHUBER: As coronavirus cases soar across Europe, scuffles are breaking out in Italy over restrictions. Police clashed with hundreds of supporters of an extreme right wing group in Rome Saturday night. Agitators threw bottles at riot police as they defied the curfew that went into effect. Police used tear gas to break up the demonstration. Europe is bracing for its second coronavirus wave to get worse as if it wasn't already bad enough. Several countries are reporting record numbers of infections and many fear cases will continue to increase this winter. On the same day France broke its daily case record, President Macron said the virus is likely to stick around until at least next summer. He said there could be new target restrictions in the days to come. Some European leaders have tested positive for COVID-19, including Poland's president. He said he is asymptomatic and is continuing to work but in isolation. The Czech Republic is the worst hit country in the past two weeks. It is reporting more than 15,000 new cases since the pandemic began. Germany is reporting the biggest daily rise in cases from Friday to Saturday. The number of new infections per day has almost doubled within a week. In Wales, streets were largely empty Saturday as the country completed the first day of lockdown. The firebreak will run until November 9th. Officials trying to stem the spread of the virus there. CNN has reporters across Europe covering the coronavirus surge. We have Scott McLean in Berlin. But let's begin with Nina dos Santos at the border of Wales with England. Nina, a lockdown dreaded by all. Wales doing that. Already anger at some of the surprising restrictions. What's happening there?</s>NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Thank you so much, Kim. Good morning. I'm in the city of Chester, which is a northwestern town in England just less than six miles away from the border in Wales. It's pretty quiet over here. We spent most of the last two days in Wales. As the country within the bigger country of the U.K. started to shut down, people just emptied from the streets. You almost couldn't find anybody to talk to, to find out whether or not they were thinking this lockdown was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, off the streets; but online it's controversial. The Welsh government has taken what is viewed as draconian action to keep shops from selling anything that's nonessential. Over the border, people can't mix with other households. They have to stay home. They can go out but only to exercise, exercise a dog or to go to the supermarket and buy those essential items, food or medicine. The Welsh government forced some retailers to essentially cordon off big aisles with items deemed to be nonessential or nonperishable. This prompted this polemic online about what is deemed essential and many members of the Welsh government and Welsh parliament, the Senate, are saying this is only going to benefit big international online retailers like Amazon. What a lot of this has caused is people to go online to sign a petition. There's already 45,000 signatures and counting. That means the Welsh government will have to start considering at least potentially some kind of climbdown on how severe the restrictions are. Either way, they will be in place until November 9th. Wales says it needs them to try to control the spread of the virus in hot spots where it gained a foothold, to villages where there's very few cases. They can't afford to have it spread across Wales. Otherwise, things like Christmas further down the year will just have to be off the cards.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much, Nina. Now let's cross over to Berlin. I'm joined by Scott McLean. You've been looking at the big picture. What's the latest?</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First an update on the Polish president, Andrzej Duda. He contracted the coronavirus and tested for it on Friday. We got confirmation he was positive yesterday. He posted a video on Twitter where he explained that he was asymptomatic, continuing to work. He appeared healthy in the video. He said he is at full strength and hopes it will stay that way. But obviously he has to isolate for the next two weeks or at least until he's negative of the virus. He apologized to those who he met with in the previous few days because they'll have to isolate, potentially testing positive themselves.</s>MCLEAN: And also really hammered home the point to his country that they need to do whatever they can to isolate and to shelter senior citizens. Across Europe we've seen the number of coronavirus cases soaring but the death toll has been pretty slow to catch up. You can understand the cautious approach from European leaders in bringing in sort of strict draconian restrictions like they're seeing in Wales where Nina is. But the calculus might be changing. It is a case of east and west on this continent. I want to show you a couple graphics that illustrate that. First, here's one that shows that the deaths in the U.K., France, Spain, Germany and Italy, you can see from this graphic that Spain has fared the worst, Germany the best. But by and large, the trend is that this second wave of the coronavirus has not been nearly as deadly as the first one was. But once you look at countries from eastern Europe, so we can see on this next graphic, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic, all are seeing death tolls right now that pale in comparison -- sorry, are much, much higher than the first wave. Especially Poland, where they're seeing four times more deaths than the peak of the first wave. The Czech Republic seeing nine times more deaths, their health care system is on the brink of collapse. Today the military has just completed a field hospital expected to see patients any day now as the hospitals begin to fill up and reach their capacities. They're also going to be getting help in the Czech Republic from U.S. medics, U.S. doctors from the National Guard, who are going to be flying in over the next week or two. The country has surpassed 2,000 deaths but here's the most remarkable number. If you were to go to the Czech Republic today, one out of every 69 people you would run into would be currently, right now at this moment, infected with the coronavirus. And those are just the official numbers. Obviously perhaps not everyone has tested. The true number could be much, much higher than that.</s>BRUNHUBER: That is astounding and frightening, Scott. Scott McLean in Berlin and Nina near Cardiff, Wales. Thank you very much for that. The world is winning its hopes on a coronavirus vaccine. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM. We'll talk to one expert about why it might be the great cure-all everyone is hoping for. Stick with us for that.

Exclusive with Russian Vaccine's Main Developer; The Reality of Normalcy after a COVID-19 Vaccine

BRUNHUBER: Even if there were a safe and effective COVID vaccine, many Americans are so skeptical about taking it, health professionals are alarmed. Only about half of Americans surveyed said they'd get the vaccine. But the director of the National Institutes of Health warns that's not enough. So the virus could be here for years. Dozens of pharmaceutical companies around the world are racing to get a vaccine. Nine are in the U.S., China and Russia has two, including the controversial Sputnik V that was registered for public use. Now Russia has been bragging about how quickly it developed that vaccine but, in an exclusive interview with CNN, the vaccine's main developer admits it's not actually recommended for some of those most at risk from COVID-19. Fred Pleitgen explains why.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Russia deals with a major spike in new coronavirus infections, despite already having approved two vaccines for emergency use, the head of the Gamaleya Institute in charge of the development of the most prominent vaccine, Sputnik V, told us it may take up to a year for the majority of Russians to get shots, as production sites are still in the process of going online.</s>ALEXANDER GINTSBURG, GAMALEYE INSTITUTE (through translator): Planned capacity of these full sites by next year should reach about 5 million doses per month, which will allow 70 percent of our population to be vaccinated with this vaccine within nine, to 10, to a maximum of 12 months.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia's certified the Sputnik V vaccine with great fanfare in August after testing it in only a few dozen people. The move hailed as a major PR victory for Vladimir Putin as Russia claims to be outpacing Western pharma firms. But in current large phase 3 trials, Sputnik V is lagging well behind Western vaccine candidates. Sputnik V's makers said only about 6,000 participants have so far received the two doses necessary to achieve complete immunization and start collecting data, compared to almost 30,000 in some large Western trials. All this as Russian state TV is trashing the U.K.'s vaccine candidate, calling it, quote, "a monkey vaccine," despite the fact that Russia itself has made a deal to produce this very vaccine under license. The head of Russia's direct investment fund which is bankrolling Sputnik V claiming Moscow's vaccine is superior because it uses so-called human adenovirus technology.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we decided to use something already existing, something already safe, something already proven. And many people in the West failed to think about this.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): But even the Sputnik vaccine's instructions say it's only indicated for people 18-60 and not for people with some allergies and illnesses, meaning now older age groups and people with health conditions, some of the most vulnerable to severe cases of COVID-19. The head of the Gamaleya Institute told CNN the vaccine simply hasn't been tested on older people but he believes the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions can still take it.</s>GINTSBURG (through translator): With many chronic diseases, in particular people with diabetes, it is not just that it is carried out; it is prescribed to vaccinate people because these are risk groups that need to be protected. But these people, people with cardiac diseases, these are all chronic diseases, as we know, you need to vaccinate.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia says it will still soon wrap ramp up production of Sputnik V to vaccinate more medical workers and other high risk groups, a move Konstantin Chumakov, a top vaccine expert at the Global Virus Network, called dangerously risky.</s>KONSTANTIN CHUMAKOV, GLOBAL VIRUS NETWORK: I think that there is a reason why they call it Russian roulette. So this is exactly it.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): One Russian who isn't taking the Sputnik V vaccine so far is the president, Vladimir Putin, his spokesman telling CNN, Putin is, quote, "thinking about it" -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.</s>BRUNHUBER: Even as the world holds out hope for a successful vaccine to be ready soon, it's important to understand what a vaccine can actually do. For a look at what normalcy would look like, I'm joined by Professor David Salisbury, an associate fellow at the Chatham House Global Health Programme. Thank you so much for joining us. This is a very important topic here. I want to start, here in the U.S., president Trump tries to reassure Americans that a vaccine is just around the corner. Other politicians have been saying similar things. We're primed to hear this, that something, a vaccine will make everything better. We're so looking forward to all of this being over. But you wrote a piece suggesting it won't be that simple.</s>DAVID SALISBURY, CHATHAM HOUSE: No. I don't think it is that simple. Vaccines are wonderful things that have saved millions and millions of lives but we have to be realistic about what they can do. And if the new vaccine that we are all waiting for protects 75 percent of people, that leaves one in four still vulnerable to getting coronavirus disease. And we have to appreciate that that's just those that get vaccinated. We're going to have plenty of people who are not vaccinated. And if we have people who are neither protected and people who are not vaccinated, there's enough fertile ground for the virus to continue to spread. I see the future as not vaccines and that's it. But I think the future is going to be vaccines plus -- plus face masks, plus social distancing, plus homework, plus many of the things that reduce our chances of being exposed.</s>BRUNHUBER: Yes. You know, on that, are we looking at life with essentially a deadly flu? That's to say, I get the flu shot every year; hopefully it will help but every so often I still get the flu. If so, would it be a disease just to kind of live with, as you say, still requiring masks? Distancing for how long? For years, for decades to come? Do we have to get used to the idea of changing the way we live in terms of having masks in public spaces, as they do in many Asian countries?</s>SALISBURY: I don't think anybody knows the answer to that. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this virus just went away like SARS did in the early 2000s or if it just turned into a common cold? But we can't put our faith into that and at the moment there's no sign that's happening. So we have to assume for the short term, medium term and who knows, that's what we'll face. If vaccines will protect some of us but won't stop the virus spreading between us, we have to consider other interventions as well.</s>BRUNHUBER: So that's the part of the key here that you just referred to, is that difference between individual protection, basically everybody for themselves, and trying to stop the virus from spreading, generally, in the community using the vaccine. So explain the difference and whether you think that interrupting transmission is even possible, given all the constraints that you've outlined there.</s>SALISBURY: When you vaccinate people over 65 or with medical conditions, you're trying to protect them. You're not going to be doing enough of the intervention to stop the virus being spread in the rest of the community. So individual protection is great for those who receive it. But, remember, we won't know who is actually immune. So you could be vaccinated and think that's your passport to freedom. But it may not be. Then there's trying to stop transmission. To do that, you have got to vaccinate really high numbers of the whole of the community, amongst whom transmission is taking place. If you've got significant numbers of people who don't wear face masks, who won't social distance, will they take a vaccine? And if they don't, they will preserve transmission. So we've got to think about two approaches: individual protection, which is great for those at risk, and then strategies to stop transmission. And I think those are going to be much, much more difficult.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right, well, this is very sobering news for many people but very necessary. I appreciate you coming on and talking to us, Professor Salisbury. Thank you.</s>SALISBURY: Thank you.</s>BRUNHUBER: President Trump campaigned in three COVID hot spots on Saturday. Looking there, that's the crowd in Wisconsin. We'll have more on that and the battle of the states fighting against the coronavirus. Stay with us.

Nigerian Police Force Mobilize to Quell Worst Unrest in 20 Years

BRUNHUBER: A chaotic scene in Nigeria, hundreds of people looting, carrying sacks out of this warehouse. After weeks of anti police and anti corruption protests, Nigeria's chief of police on Saturday declared enough is enough. He's deploying the country's entire police force to stop the unrest. The demonstrators are show no signs of easing up.</s>BRUNHUBER: The protests were mostly peaceful until Tuesday, when Nigerian soldiers allegedly opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators, killing some of them. Since then, anger, arson and looting have erupted. Nigeria's president says many lives have been lost. CNN's Nima Elbagir has the latest.</s>NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Broken glass and debris on the streets of Lagos. Shattered remnants of protests in Nigeria over police brutality that quickly turned from peaceful to deadly. There is a tense calm in the city now. But on Tuesday night, the city erupted into chaos after eyewitnesses say multiple protesters were shot and killed by army soldiers. The army has dismissed reports of the incident as "fake news." The shooting set off a wave of anger across the country. Many shops and businesses have been burned or damaged and there is widespread looting in the worst unrest in the country since its return to civilian rule in 1999. It is one of the biggest political challenges so far for the country's president, Muhammadu Buhari. On Thursday he addressed the nation, appealing for calm.</s>MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: Your voice has been heard loud and clear and we are responding.</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): But critics say he waited too long to make a public statement and didn't even address the events on Tuesday, which has further angered many Nigerians.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People died, people and their loved ones, and he didn't mention anything about. It</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The speech was baseless, hopeless.</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): The state governor spoke to CNN and said he is committed to a full investigation of what happened and people will be held accountable but also says demonstrators should have left when they were told, as a curfew was in effect.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The protesters had the time to also have left the site we're talking about. But it's totally condemning (ph).</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): The protests began more than 2 weeks ago and has been largely driven by young people in Nigeria, organizing on social media under the #EndSARS who initially called for a police unit known as a special anti-robbery squad to be disbanded because of allegations of kidnapping, harassment and extortion. Under intense pressure, the government agreed to dissolve the unit and redeploy officers to a different team. But the movement continued, widening to include economic reforms and more protections against the police. The voices raised here in a call for justice have found willing echoes around the world, gaining international attention from celebrities like Beyonce and Rihanna, placing a spotlight on shootings that have yet to be fully explained and the growing discontent from the country's youth -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.</s>BRUNHUBER: Sudan's agreement to move toward normalizing relations with Israel is already yielding big financial benefits. On Saturday secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the U.S. will provide Sudan with $81 million in wide ranging humanitarian aid. The assistance will go toward refugees and other vulnerable communities in Sudan. It comes days after President Trump agreed to drop Sudan's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, the announcement of the Sudan-Israel agreement. According to the International Monetary Fund, dropping the terror designation also eliminates a major hurdle in finding debt relief for the country.</s>BRUNHUBER: Samsung's chairman has died at 78 years old. When we return, a look at the man who turned his father's small South Korean company into an international tech giant.

Samsung Chairman Dies after Long Illness.

BRUNHUBER: Another powerful storm is threatening the Caribbean, Mexico and the southern U.S. Zeta has been upgraded to a tropical storm. It's currently in the Caribbean and is forecast to become a category 1 hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico. It's now projected to hit the U.S. along the northern Gulf Coast, which was already battered by multiple storms this season. Forecasters expect Zeta to weaken back to a tropical storm before it makes U.S. landfall. Samsung's chairman Lee Kun-hee has died six years after falling into a coma following a heart attack. The chairman of the South Korean tech powerhouse was 78 years old. no, CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on his legacy.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lee Kun-hee took control of the Samsung empire in 1987, inheriting a company his father created half a century earlier,</s>HANCOCKS (voice-over): Lee would transform a trading and textile manufacturer into a global technology giant, making himself South Korea's richest man. The key to his success, change. "If you have to change, change everything," he said in 1993, "change everything except your wife and children," which he did, launching a new management program to change the company focus from quantity to quality.</s>CHANG SEA-JIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE: Samsung was exporting very cheap electronic products to the U.S. market and to the world market. And it was literally -- it was sold about 20 percent below the price of its competitors, which is Sony or Panasonic.</s>HANCOCKS (voice-over): Two years later, Lee ordered a mass burning of products he considered defective, ramming home the message of quality first. In 1996, Lee was convicted for setting up a slush fund and bribery. He received a two-year suspended sentence before receiving a presidential pardon. In 2008, he was convicted for embezzlement and tax evasion. He received a three-year suspended sentence before again receiving a presidential pardon. Many in Korea questioned the lenient sentences for Lee and other top executives of major Korean companies. Despite brushes with the law, he is seen as a visionary in Korea. He had suffered from ill health for many years, beating lung cancer before being hospitalized twice for pneumonia and respiratory problems. Now into the third generation of succession, Lee's only son has been leading Samsung's empire. But he faces a number of ongoing court cases, including a high-profile succession case. He's also spent a year in prison for corruption. His grip on power appears shakier than his father's ever did -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.</s>BRUNHUBER: That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a moment with more news. Stay with us.

Trump Downplays Virus In Hard-Hit Wisconsin

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.</s>KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Our breaking news: two senior aides to vice president Mike Pence have tested positive for COVID-19. His office revealed his chief of staff Mark Short has begun quarantine and the vice president and second lady tested negative. Trump said Pence's number two was quarantined and he would be fine. CNN learned another senior Pence adviser also tested positive recently, though it's not clear exactly when. CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood. Sarah, the vice president and the top staff not exactly known for mask wearing and social distancing. What more can you tell us about this outbreak?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The vice president and his staff have been seen frequently, even since the big White House outbreak, not wearing their masks when traveling, when out in public. That was the case again yesterday. We saw the vice president traveling through Florida, emerge multiple times from Air Force Two without wearing a mask and now, as he was out campaigning in several events in Florida yesterday. But last night after his travel when he was arriving back in Washington, the first sort of red flag that something might have been amiss is that he did step out of Air Force Two wearing the mask by himself. He did not wave to the crowd as he normally did. And then shortly after that last night, the vice president's office announced that Mark Short had tested positive. We know Short traveled with the vice president on Thursday and Friday on a very long multiday trip through Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And Mike Pence's office also said Pence is considered a close contact of Short. Obviously as the chief of staff, he spends a lot of time around Pence. Even though the vice president's office said Pence would continue his campaign schedule under the CDC guidance for essential workers which said even if there's household contact or close contact who tests positive for coronavirus, essential employees can continue their schedules as long as they have no symptoms of COVID-19. But I think it's worth noting that that is very different from the excuse that the White House provided, when Pence continued his schedule after President Trump tested positive. In that case, they said that Pence could continue his schedule because he wasn't in close contact with the president or anyone in the White House who did test positive at that time. Now despite acknowledging that Pence is a close contact, they're finding a different justification for Pence continuing his schedule. And he is scheduled to head on to North Carolina today for a campaign rally. But what's really the question here is what did change in terms of the White House's protocol between the White House outbreak we saw a few weeks ago, that sickened the president and the first lady, the press secretary and a number of other senior aides, it's not clear there were any significant changes. And the containment measures that were in place before have obviously proven inadequate. Now we know the White House is performing contact tracing with Mark Short to see if there was anyone else he was in proximity to has tested positive as well.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much. The story we'll be following closely in the next couple days. CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood, appreciate that. More than 83,000 Americans tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, almost identical to the record set the day before. It's the second day in a row in which new infections in the U.S. exceeded 80,000. But with barely a week until the presidential election and down in the polls, the Trump campaign has the pedal to the floor. We begin with CNN's Jeremy Diamond as the president fights for a second term.</s>JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump campaigning again in the battleground state of Wisconsin against a grim backdrop of the coronavirus, not only with a surge of cases across the country, a record number of new coronavirus cases, just before the president arrived here on Friday. But also here in Wisconsin. On Friday, Wisconsin experiencing its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day during this entire pandemic. Hospitalizations, they are on the rise, not only across the country but here in the state of Wisconsin. What we see here, is the president gathering thousands of his supporters once again, closely packed together and most people as usual not wearing masks. The president also continues to spout misinformation about the virus.</s>DIAMOND: Downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic, making a false claim as he often does that, if there wasn't so much testing in the United States, that there wouldn't be as many cases as there are. What we know is that the surge of the coronavirus cases in the U.S. is very real. That's despite what the president is saying. The president did highlight the importance of this battleground state as he was campaigning here, saying that if he wins the state of Wisconsin, he believes that he's going to win the election -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Waukesha, Wisconsin.</s>BRUNHUBER: Well, Joe Biden struck a very different tone as he stumped in Pennsylvania. And he got some help from his former boss, Barack Obama. CNN's Arlette Saenz brings us that part of the story from Florida.</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former president Barack Obama traveled here to the critical battleground state of Florida, reminding voters that they helped deliver the White House to him in 2008 and 2012 and asking them to do the same for Joe Biden this time around. He also predicted that if Biden wins Florida, the election will basically be over, as he urged supporters and volunteers to keep up their final work for the vice president. And while he touted the work and leadership style of his former partner, he also took aim at President Trump, slamming his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and also criticizing President Trump's behavior in office, saying that it is not normal. And President Obama also talked about that upcoming interview Trump did with "60 Minutes."</s>BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When "60 Minutes" and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain't all that tough. If you got to walk out of a "60 Minutes" interview, then you're never going to stand up to a dictator. If you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to Putin.</s>SAENZ: While President Obama was here in Florida, Joe Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania, holding a drive-in rally with musical artist Jon Bon Jovi. That event took place in Lucerne County, a county that President Obama and Joe Biden won in 2008 and 2012 but a county that President Trump flipped in 2016. Biden trying to make a play for those Obama trumped (ph) counties as the election nears. And both Obama and Biden had a message when it came to early voting. They have reached that point in the campaign where the Biden campaign is really focusing on turnout as the election is now just 9 days away -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, North Miami, Florida.</s>BRUNHUBER: To discuss all this, I'd like to bring in Thomas Gift, the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London. He's in Oxford, England. Thank you so much for joining us. I want to start with the news from the vice president's office, Mike Pence's chief of staff diagnosed with COVID. So given Pence is head of the coronavirus task force, what are the political ramifications of campaigning without the chief of staff?</s>THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: In terms of the politics, this story is of lesser salience than when Trump tested positive for COVID-19. It's unlikely the news will alter the election significantly. Still, for Trump it keeps the coronavirus in the news heading into Election Day when the president is trying to deflect attention from the depressing data coming out of the Centers for Disease Control. Just yesterday the U.S. did reach a peak one-day record of over 83,000 new infections. Mike Pence directs the Coronavirus Task Force and Mark Short as his chief of staff testing positive. He's played a central role in downplaying the virus. Back in June, an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal," insisting that there wouldn't be a second wave and Chris has the media for ringing alarm bells, so in many ways, I think the news is another anecdote challenging Trump's grip that the U.S. has turned a corner on the pandemic.</s>BRUNHUBER: When you see Pence and Short, often seen without a mask on the campaign trail, going to rallies packed with people, like the president, and the vice president is planning to continue campaigning, that contrasts with the vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, who took a couple days off the campaign trail when a close aide tested positive earlier this month.</s>BRUNHUBER: So you're saying there's no political price for this type of behavior at all?</s>GIFT: I wouldn't say there's a change to the political price. But I think the political price has already been paid. This is just more messaging consistent what Trump and his administration has pushed since the outset. At the debates Thursday, it was radically different visions for how the U.S. tackles COVID-19 generally. It's hardly worth reiterating that Trump has stated from the beginning that the threat of the coronavirus is overstated. He's denigrated public health experts, impugned critics for wearing masks and not imposed social distancing at his own campaign events. He's generally neglected to cultivate a culture of public health. So it's also true generally and also within the personal behavior of both himself as well as his campaign members. I think voters kind of know what the story is. And if there is a political price to pay, I think it's already factored into the polling.</s>BRUNHUBER: And as you suggest, I guess it's more that it takes some of the oxygen out of the campaign. They have to start answering questions about COVID instead of talking about the economy or other things they want to. I want to turn to the Democrats as we mentioned earlier, former President Obama was in Florida. How influential do you think Obama will be as the super surrogate for Biden or is there a chance he diminishes Biden among progressives, who are reminded Biden isn't as inspirational?</s>GIFT: I still think there's a certain degree of nostalgia for the Obama administration. If you look at his favorability numbers, they're high. I think on balance, him being on the campaign trail is a bonus for Joe Biden. If anything, I think one concern is that he actually overshadows the former vice president, Joe Biden, just because Barack Obama is such a towering figure. But on balance, I think he's been an effective surrogate. He's taken sharp rebukes of Trump similar to what he did in 2016 with the race against Donald Trump with Hillary Clinton. So on balance, I think this is a good thing for Biden's campaign and he's happy to have him on the campaign trail.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right. Last question for you. I want to ask about the debate; 10 million fewer people watched the second debate than the first, which was to be expected, I guess. But interestingly to me, 8 million fewer people watched this final debate than watched the final debate of 2016. Is that an indication of how much people have made up their minds about the candidates?</s>GIFT: I think one key difference this year is the number of swing voters heading Election Day is fewer than with Trump versus Clinton. We've already seen more than 40 million Americans cast their ballot early. It's shattered records. That means Biden's lead could be more sturdy heading into Election Day. If there are fewer voters out there, they could be persuaded in the last week. All in all, you're right. This is a reflection that most Americans at this point with a week going into November 3rd have made up their minds. They're going Trump or Biden and nothing much said between here and Election Day is going to make much of a difference. It's an issue of turnout.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right. We appreciate it, thank you so much, Thomas Gift, director of the University College London Centre on U.S. Politics, we appreciate it.</s>GIFT: Thanks, Kim.</s>BRUNHUBER: The coronavirus numbers out of Europe are really worrisome. Some are saying the virus could be there to stay until next summer at least. That's just ahead. Stay with us.

Wales Under Two- Week "Firebreak" To Stem COVID-19; Exclusive With Russian Vaccine's Main Developer

BRUNHUBER: As coronavirus cases soar across Europe, scuffles are breaking out in Italy over restrictions.</s>BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Police clashed with hundreds of supporters of an extreme right wing group in Rome. They threw bottles at riot police as they defied and protested a curfew that recently went into effect. Police used tear gas to break up the demonstration.</s>BRUNHUBER: Europe is bracing for its second coronavirus wave to get worse as if it wasn't already bad enough. Several countries are reporting record numbers of infections and many fear cases will continue to increase this winter. On the same day that France broke the daily case record, President Macron said the virus is likely to stick around until at least next summer. He said there could be new targeted restrictions in the days to come. Some European leaders have tested positive for COVID-19. Poland's president is asymptomatic and continuing to work but in isolation. The Czech Republic remains the worst hit country in Europe during the past two weeks. It's reporting more than 15,000 new infections for the first time since the pandemic began. Germany is now reporting the biggest daily rise in cases from Friday to Saturday. The country's number of new infections per day has almost doubled within a week. In Wales, streets were largely empty on Saturday as the country completed the first day of lockdown. The firebreak will run until November 9th as Welsh officials try to stem the spread of the virus. Wales is now well into its second day of its firebreak lockdowns. For more on this, let's bring in Nina dos Santos at the border of Wales and England. Nina, lockdown, a word dreaded by all. Wales now doing exactly that and already plenty of anger at some of the more surprising restrictions there. What's happening?</s>NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Yes. That's right. It's important to remember that England where I am.</s>DOS SANTOS: I'm just 5.7 miles away from the Welsh border in the city of Chester, has a different strategy to Wales. Parts of the U.K. like Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have latitude to set their own health care policies. That's why a country within country like Wales, home to 3 million people, can effectively shut down for two weeks with this firebreak. It has prompted anger. There's question marks over why the rules are so draconian; just down the road, a short distance away from where I am, Welsh people can't mix with other households. They've been told to stay home until November 9th. No exceptions except for exercise, walking your dog and buying essential items like food and medicines. And this is where people said, especially on social media, that things might be getting a little bit too silly. There have been pictures of supermarkets cordoning off aisles of what are deemed to be nonessential goods, like children's school uniforms and bed linens. A lot of people said in Wales that will only benefit the big international retailers like Amazon. People go online and order these things anyway. Remember the restrictions that Wales implemented are going to cost the economy pretty dear. It's estimated they could cost upwards from $600 million over just that short time period. There's also been a lot of controversy about how this has been implemented because it could be punishing communities where coronavirus hasn't managed to get a foothold. Some of those say not far from the border here are reliant on tourism and tourists are being turned away from there. Whereas obviously there are other hot spots like the capital of Wales, Cardiff, that has a larger number of cases. I spoke to the first minister of Wales over the last couple days. He was emphatic this couldn't have been put off longer. They needed to do this to save lives and protect the health system from getting overwhelmed. We won't know for quite some time if it worked. The government may be forced to try to change some of the rules to soften them a little bit. There's been a petition in the Welsh parliament going through the motions today that's gathered 45,000 signatures and counting, asking the Welsh government to soften some of the rules, notably on what people can and can't buy in places like supermarkets and retail outlets.</s>BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much. Nina dos Santos, at the border of Wales in England, we appreciate the reporting. Even if there were a safe and effective COVID vaccine, many Americans are so skeptical about taking it health professionals are alarmed. A CNN poll found only half of Americans surveyed said they would get the vaccine. The director of the National Institutes of Health warns that is not enough. The virus, quote, "could be here for years." Dozens of pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop a vaccine. Nine in the U.S., 12 in China and Russia has two, including the Sputnik V registered for public use. Russia has been bragging about how quickly it developed the vaccine. But in an exclusive interview with CNN, the vaccine's main developer admits it's not recommended for some of those most at risk from COVID- 19. CNN's Fred Pleitgen explains why.</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Russia deals with a major spike in new coronavirus infections, despite already having approved two vaccines for emergency use, the head of the Gamaleya Institute in charge of the development of the most prominent vaccine, Sputnik V, told us it may take up to a year for the majority of Russians to get shots, as production sites are still in the process of going online.</s>ALEXANDER GINTSBURG, GAMALEYE INSTITUTE (through translator): Planned capacity of these full sites by next year should reach about 5 million doses per month, which will allow 70 percent of our population to be vaccinated with this vaccine within nine, to 10, to a maximum of 12 months.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia's certified the Sputnik V vaccine with great fanfare in August after testing it in only a few dozen people. The move hailed as a major PR victory for Vladimir Putin as Russia claims to be outpacing Western pharma firms. But in current large phase 3 trials, Sputnik V is lagging well behind Western vaccine candidates. Sputnik V's makers said only about 6,000 participants have so far received the two doses necessary to achieve complete immunization and start collecting data, compared to almost 30,000 in some large Western trials. All this as Russian state TV is trashing the U.K.'s vaccine candidate, calling it, quote, "a monkey vaccine," despite the fact that Russia itself has made a deal to produce this very vaccine under license.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): The head of Russia's direct investment fund which is bankrolling Sputnik V claiming Moscow's vaccine is superior because it uses so-called human adenovirus technology.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we decided to use something already existing, something already safe, something already proven. And many people in the West failed to think about this.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): But even the Sputnik vaccine's instructions say it's only indicated for people 18-60 and not for people with some allergies and illnesses, meaning now older age groups and people with health conditions, some of the most vulnerable to severe cases of COVID-19. The head of the Gamaleya Institute told CNN the vaccine simply hasn't been tested on older people but he believes the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions can still take it.</s>GINTSBURG (through translator): With many chronic diseases, in particular people with diabetes, it is not just that it is carried out; it is prescribed to vaccinate people because these are risk groups that need to be protected. But these people, people with cardiac diseases, these are all chronic diseases, as we know, you need to vaccinate.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russia says it will still soon wrap ramp up production of Sputnik V to vaccinate more medical workers and other high-risk groups, a move Konstantin Chumakov, a top vaccine expert at the Global Virus Network, called dangerously risky.</s>KONSTANTIN CHUMAKOV, GLOBAL VIRUS NETWORK: I think that there is a reason why they call it Russian roulette. So this is exactly it.</s>PLEITGEN (voice-over): One Russian who isn't taking the Sputnik V vaccine so far is the president, Vladimir Putin, his spokesman telling CNN, Putin is, quote, "thinking about it" -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.</s>BRUNHUBER: Tens of thousands of New Yorkers cast ballots in early voting Saturday. This is just one of the lines they waited in. Turnout numbers are up across the U.S. We'll have more on that coming up ahead. Stay with us.

U.S. Officials: Russia, Iran Have Stolen Voter Information

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. The chief of staff for Mike Pence has tested positive for COVID-19. The diagnosis was revealed Saturday in a statement. It said both the vice president and the second lady tested negative. Marc Short is the second top Pence aide to come down with the virus in recent days. His senior adviser tested positive earlier in the week. Even so, Mr. Pence will remain on the schedule and stay on the campaign trail. Nine days to go before Election Day in the U.S. with more than 52 million Americans already doing their civic duty. According to information from Catalist, a data company that provides services to Democrats, academics and nonprofits. The total includes both in-person voting and absentee ballots. Nearly 94,000 people voted Saturday in the first day of early voting in New York City. That's higher than the total number of early voters last year. Turnout is up among younger voters in key states as well. CNN's Natasha Chen is in Georgia, a potential swing state, talking to early voters about what's driving them to the polls.</s>NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as of noon on Saturday, more than 2.6 million votes have been cast in the state of Georgia. And when you look at both the in person and early voting as well as the absentee ballots that have been cast, that's a 114 percent increase over the same point in the 2016 election. We've been seeing tremendous enthusiasm and energy, even in the rain, as people continue to wait to cast their votes. Now we have talked to a number of people in line, who represent the changing demographics in Georgia, a younger, more diverse group that is joining the voter rolls. We met this one young couple in Atlanta, who said they are considering some very important issues as they cast their ballots this time.</s>WILLIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I really do think it's about the character of this country, about who we vote for. So I think -- I just want my voice heard on that.</s>STEPHANIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I think, also, having a young daughter, we're also setting up the world for her. And I think our vote now speaks even more than it did as single people, that it's not just for right now. It's for the future.</s>CHEN: Over the past 20 years, there's been a significant increase in the percentage of African American voters making up the electorate here in Georgia. And according to a recent study by Pew Research, Georgia also has the largest growth of any state in the country of eligible immigrant voters. In fact we met voter here who was recently naturalized and excited about participating in her first U.S. election. Something that's also changing the electorate, Georgia in 2016 started automatically registering people to vote when they got their driver's license. So a lot of young people are joining the voter rolls -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Marietta, Georgia.</s>BRUNHUBER: Even as tens of millions of Americans are casting their ballots, U.S. national security experts are warning that the presidential election is a target for countries such as Russia, Iran and China. But another possible threat to voters comes from a source much closer to home. Pamela Brown explains.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New concerns about possible voter intimidation after the Trump campaigned film voters at a Philadelphia polling station. The campaign claims they found at least 3 people dropping off more than one ballot each. What Trump team's attorney believes is just the tip of the iceberg and what can constitute unlawful absentee voting. The voters are allowed to drop off ballots for people who are disabled. And state officials warned the videos might be interpreted as intimidation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Voter intimidation is illegal under state and federal law and videotaping, you're taking pictures of you without your consent is part of that.</s>BROWN (voice-over): Which the Trump campaign calls categorically absurd. On election interference, intelligence officials confirm Russian hackers have stolen election data. But it's unclear how the information will be used. Officials say Iran used voter information to send threatening emails that came to light this week.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections.</s>BROWN (voice-over): The federal government issued two new cyber security alerts, warning that state and local governments were targeted. But officials say that election infrastructure has not been compromised. The intelligence community generally agrees that the Russians interfered 4 years ago to help Trump win. Despite that, Trump slammed the assessment again.</s>TRUMP: They both want you to lose because there's been nobody tougher to Russia, with -- between the sanctions. Nobody tougher than me on Russia.</s>BROWN (voice-over): Intelligence experts agree, stopping Russia should be the priority.</s>JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Russia has been interfering in the run-up to our election already and, for my part at least, it's a far more serious threat than Iran.</s>BROWN (voice-over): More than 50 million Americans have already turned in their ballots.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'd rather get it done and over with and deliver it early. That way I know I've voted.</s>BROWN (voice-over): And more than half of those votes come from CNN's 16 most competitive states and one of the fiercest battlegrounds, North Carolina, over 2.5 million ballots have been cast. That's more than half of the total turnout in 2016.</s>BROWN: We are learning more about 2020's first election ransomware attack. It happened in Georgia and in one Georgia county, officials there said, the hack affected a voter signature database and precinct maps. They do not believe that it affected the election infrastructure and security experts say that it was likely more about profit than politics. But they are concerned about these ransomware attacks, as we get closer to Election Day, because they can cause chaos and confusion -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.</s>BRUNHUBER: Joining me now in San Francisco, California, Renee DiResta, the tactical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. Thank you so much for being here on this very important topic. Given what happened in 2016, there's so much misinformation being spread, primarily by Russia. Going into this election, there were a lot of concerns about the international and intentional spread of misinformation and how it might affect the vote. From what you've seen, has it been as bad in this campaign? And what if any are the differences between 2016 and now?</s>RENEE DIRESTA, TACTICAL RESEARCH MANAGER, STANFORD INTERNET OBSERVATORY: Sure, so right now we're seeing there's a lot more misinformation originating from domestic sources. So misinformation, meaning information that's inadvertently wrong, as opposed to disinformation campaigns with regard to Russia. So what we're seeing today instead is information that oftentimes starts because somebody snaps a photo, maybe of a ballot that's been misplaced, something they see in the trash. And then that's amplified by domestic influencers, who want to spread a political narrative to benefit a partisan side. And then that act of influence, picking it up and sharing it, means that it reaches many more people because these are unfortunately authentic accounts often with very large followings.</s>BRUNHUBER: Who is being targeted here? The way you make it sound is that it's just kind of pumped into the online world for anyone to consume or is it specifically aimed it smaller but influential constituencies of voters?</s>DIRESTA: We're seeing a lot of different types of narratives spread. There's suppression type narratives, right now. We're very concerned about some of the footage that is real that is showing very long lines at polling stations but then implying that people are not going to be allowed to vote. We're seeing footage that is taken out of context, suggesting that police officers will interfere in the voting process, targeting people on the Left. We're seeing narratives of misleading ballot, claims about ballots being thrown away or mail-in ballots being, multiple people submitting multiple mail-in ballots. That one is really more targeted at the Right. We're just constantly hearing about how voter fraud is going to be committed in the proceed of the mail-in vote we're going to see a lot of because of coronavirus. So it's really running the gamut. There's really no one community that is more targeted than another this point. We are seeing a little bit more, however, of these narratives about mail-in ballot fraud disrupting the election.</s>BRUNHUBER: That's what I was going to say. It sounds like a lot of the misinformation or disinformation, depending on who's doing it, centers around either voting or the general theme of democracy. What is the aim here?</s>DIRESTA: Well, unfortunately, the aim really seems to be discrediting confidence in the outcome of the election by discrediting confidence in the result of the election. So insinuating that if we can't run a free and fair election, in which one person, one vote, ballots are counted fairly, everybody's vote counts. The concern now is that there's substantial lack of confidence in the process. What that might mean is that 50 percent of the population doesn't trust the outcome if their preferred candidate doesn't win because they've been hearing about how the election is going to be stolen or manipulated by the other side.</s>BRUNHUBER: It sounds obviously like what you're saying is echoing a lot of what President Trump is saying out loud. Is this in any way to help him or to help his followers?</s>DIRESTA: Well, unfortunately, one of the things we never expected to see was the president of the United States participating in this process.</s>DIRESTA: That was not on anybody's -- things that we expected to see back in 2016. In 2016, what we saw a lot of, with regard to these narratives about election machines not working or people fraudulently voting, was actually coming from Russian trolls. Interestingly enough, that was one of the common themes they tried to amplify back in 2016. They were targeting the Right-leaning communities and had built pages for and create fake personas around and those pages and personas really leaned into the idea that the election was going to be stolen in the weeks leading up to the election of 2016. Now we're seeing those themes echoed but instead of by Russian trolls, we're seeing them echoed by extremely prominent influencers with very large followings.</s>BRUNHUBER: Thank you very much, Renee DiResta, we appreciate it.</s>DIRESTA: Thank you.</s>BRUNHUBER: Another powerful storm is threatening the Caribbean, Mexico and the southern U.S. Zeta has been upgraded to a tropical storm. It's forecast to become a category one hurricane moving into the Gulf of Mexico. It's now projected to hit the U.S. along the northern Gulf Coast, which was already battered by multiple storms this season. Forecasters expect Zeta to weaken back to a tropical storm before then. Nigeria's top police commander calling out the nation's entire police force. Will it be enough or even the right move to quell weeks of unrest? We'll look at the crisis coming up. Stay with us.

Nigerian Police Force Mobilize To Quell Worst Unrest In 20 Years

BRUNHUBER: In Nigeria, chaotic scenes of looting and destruction have prompted the deployment of the nation's entire police force.</s>BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This was the disturbing scene Saturday in a city as looters ransacked a warehouse.</s>BRUNHUBER (voice-over): It's after weeks of mostly peaceful protests over police brutality. The government shut down a special anti-robbery squad amid accusations that members of that unit harassed, kidnapped and extorted, even murdered citizens. As CNN's Nima Elbagir shows us, this past week was a bloody one in Lagos.</s>NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Broken glass and debris on the streets of Lagos. Shattered remnants of protests in Nigeria over police brutality that quickly turned from peaceful to deadly. There is a tense calm in the city now. But on Tuesday night, the city erupted into chaos after eyewitnesses say multiple protesters were shot and killed by army soldiers. The army has dismissed reports of the incident as "fake news." The shooting set off a wave of anger across the country. Many shops and businesses have been burned or damaged and there is widespread looting in the worst unrest in the country since its return to civilian rule in 1999. It is one of the biggest political challenges so far for the country's president, Muhammadu Buhari. On Thursday he addressed the nation, appealing for calm.</s>MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: Your voice has been heard loud and clear and we are responding.</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): But critics say he waited too long to make a public statement and didn't even address the events on Tuesday, which has further angered many Nigerians.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People died, people and their loved ones, and he didn't mention anything about. It</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The speech was baseless, hopeless.</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): The state governor spoke to CNN and said he is committed to a full investigation of what happened and people will be held accountable but also says demonstrators should have left when they were told, as a curfew was in effect.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The protesters had the time to also have left the site we're talking about. But it's totally condemning (ph).</s>ELBAGIR (voice-over): The protests began more than 2 weeks ago and has been largely driven by young people in Nigeria, organizing on social media under the #EndSARS who initially called for a police unit known as a special anti-robbery squad to be disbanded because of allegations of kidnapping, harassment and extortion. Under intense pressure, the government agreed to dissolve the unit and redeploy officers to a different team. But the movement continued, widening to include economic reforms and more protections against the police. The voices raised here in a call for justice have found willing echoes around the world, gaining international attention from celebrities like Beyonce and Rihanna, placing a spotlight on shootings that have yet to be fully explained and the growing discontent from the country's youth -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.</s>BRUNHUBER: Samsung's chairman Lee Kun-hee has died after six years in a coma following a heart attack. He was considered a visionary who turned his father's South Korean company into an international tech giant. He was convicted in several criminal cases but was pardoned. His son has been leading the company since 2012 and is expected to inherit his father's title. Lee was 78 years old. We'll be right back.

COVID-19 Triggers Rise In Asian American Unemployment Rate.

BRUNHUBER: Officials in the U.S. are worried about widespread trust in a vaccine, particularly among the Black and Latino communities. Fueling that concern is the lack of participation in diverse communities in clinical trials. Vaccine maker Moderna said only 10 percent of the trial participants are Black; 20 percent are Latino. And these groups are both more than twice as likely to get COVID-19 than white Americans. Now Asian Americans contract COVID-19 at about the same rate as white Americans, according to the CDC, yet they're dealing with a soaring unemployment rate. CNN's Amara Walker has the details.</s>AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Lunchtime at this Chinese restaurant is typically a busy hour. That was before the pandemic. Now at Canton House in Atlanta, it's mostly empty tables and an unusually quiet dining room.</s>CAM VUONG, RESTAURATEUR: My God, the business dropped 98 percent.</s>WALKER (voice-over): The restaurant industry was among the hardest hit among the coronavirus pandemic. But the owner here is facing a struggle unique to Asian Americans, a double whammy of historic unemployment and discrimination.</s>VUONG: At the time we closed, we do have our window was broken and -- with a hammer without any reason whatsoever. At that time, we really think that's racist.</s>WALKER (voice-over): As COVID-19 has spread, so has the racism and xenophobia. Members of the United Nations Committee on Discrimination recently expressed concern over an alarming level of racially motivated incidents against Asian Americans, saying president Trump's rhetoric seems to play a role in legitimizing the hate crimes. Sixty-year-old Vuong reopened his dining room in May. Business is down still 50 percent. He wonders if discrimination is slowing down recovery.</s>VUONG: When we first opening, I do have a feeling that the people say don't go to Chinese restaurants.</s>MARLENE KIM, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS: People were avoiding Asian businesses because they thought they would get the coronavirus from these businesses.</s>WALKER (voice-over): An economics professor at the University of Massachusetts says COVID-19 has taken a heavy economic toll on Asian Americans. According to government statistics, from February to June, Asian American unemployment rates increased more by more than 450 percent.</s>KIM: Asians typically have among the lowest unemployment rates. And it's really shot up during</s>COVID. WALKER (voice-over): A visit to Atlanta's Chinatown underscores the struggle. This gift shop is closing at the end of the month. Other businesses here are telling us they are just trying to survive. Yet Kim says few are taking notice.</s>KIM: I think it's been overlooked because people don't think that Asians have problems. People think of Asians as a model minority.</s>VUONG: No, we are just not desperate, we are struggling.</s>WALKER (voice-over): But Vuong, who came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam, remains hopeful. He says he's been living the American dream for 40 years and hopes for 40 more.</s>VUONG: We have a dream, to get the business, to have a house, to have a stable life, a peaceful life, have a family and then raise our kids. But hopefully our dreams are not broken because of this COVID-19.</s>WALKER: Vuong tells me that he just got started breaking even so he's got quite a way to go still. He's concerned about a second wave of COVID-19 hurting his business. But he says he's the most concerned about the outcome of the presidential election and whether that will inflame racial tensions -- back to you.</s>BRUNHUBER: With that, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in the U.S. and Canada, "NEW DAY" is ahead. For everyone else, it's "Quest's World of Wonder."

COVID-19 Outbreak Hits Vice President Pence's Staff; Interview With Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Interview With White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Dark winter? U.S. COVID cases hit a new daily record, and the virus infects close advisers to Vice President Pence, as the candidates clash over how to best manage the pandemic.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's all I hear. Turn on television, right?</s>COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's given up. He's quit on you. He's quit on America.</s>TAPPER: Who will the American people choose to lead them out of this crisis? I will speak with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows next. And stalemate. Time is running out for a deal between Congress and the White House to help struggling Americans by Election Day.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I'm hopeful that we will be able to reach agreement.</s>TAPPER: How much longer will Americans have to wait? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joins me to discuss next. Plus: final countdown. With just nine days left to vote, polls favor Democratic nominee Joe Biden, but President Trump says the energy is behind him. Has Biden gotten Democrats excited enough to turn out the vote? I will speak with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ahead.</s>TAPPER: Hello. I'm Jake Tapper in Washington, where the state of our union is alarmed at the latest pandemic data. Just nine days until Election Day, and, today, a worrisome late October surprise, a new coronavirus outbreak tied to the White House, this time hitting Vice President Pence's inner circle. The vice president's chief of staff, Marc Short, has now tested positive, as well as Marty Obst, one of Pence's top outside political advisers, and at least one other member of Pence's White House staff, according to an official. Vice President Pence is, of course, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force and was a close contact of Marc Short's. But, according to the White House, the vice president has tested negative for the virus and is choosing to stay on the campaign trail. You can see him here yesterday campaigning without a mask. The White House says it's OK for Pence to be out there because he is a -- quote -- "essential worker," though it is not yet clear how campaigning is essential work, as opposed to, say, being in his office trying to use the levers of government to get control of the pandemic. But, even as the virus spreads within the White House again, the president is out on the campaign trail telling Americans that the virus is -- quote -- "rounding the turn" and criticizing the news media for covering the pandemic. It is staggering and dangerous misinformation, as the virus is actually spreading more rapidly across the country, according to health experts. Saturday, the U.S. hit more than 83,000 cases. That's the second highest day in the U.S. since the pandemic began. The highest day? Friday. Overall, the virus has infected more than 8.5 million Americans and killed nearly 225,000. Joining me now to discuss this and much more, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Mark, thanks so much. Horrible news about the V.P.'s office. How many...</s>MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Yes, we wish them -- we wish them we wish them best. Obviously, anybody, not just White House staff, but any American who comes down with this, we certainly wish them the very best.</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>MEADOWS: And it's all about trying to make sure that we have the therapeutics, the treatments, and make sure that we can tackle this in a meaningful way. And, hopefully, we will be able to do that.</s>TAPPER: How many individuals in the vice president's office or the White House have tested positive this week? And how many of them have symptoms?</s>MEADOWS: You know, we don't give out that kind of information. Obviously, Marc Short and a couple of the key staff around the vice president have come down with the coronavirus. It just goes to show you that we continue to face this enemy that came from China. And yet what we also know is, the one area that -- where we are rounding the corner is really the death rate as it looks to that. Our ability to handle this has improved each and every day, each and every month. And when there were estimates that as many as 10 percent of the population that got this would actually experience a fatal result, we're now down to 2.6. Every death is too many.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>MEADOWS: But, hopefully, we're going to get this to the point where it's not as lethal as the flu.</s>TAPPER: So, Mark, Pence adviser Marty Obst tested positive days ago, and that was not disclosed to the public at the time. According to "The New York Times" -- quote -- "Two people briefed on the matter said that the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had sought to keep the news of the outbreak from becoming public." Why would you do that? Is it because it's yet another sign of how much the White House has failed to contain the virus?</s>MEADOWS: Well, obviously -- yes. Yes, obviously, that's not a report. That's actually a tweet. And, when we look at this, when we're really talking about...</s>TAPPER: No, that was a "New York Times" story. That was a "New York Times" story.</s>MEADOWS: When we actually -- when we actually have people's health at risk, what we look at there, Jake, is -- is, sharing personal information is not something that we should do, not something that we do actually do, unless it's the vice president or the president or someone that's very close to them, where there's people in harm's way. Listen, any time that there's someone in harm's way, we have an obligation to let people know, to contact-trace. We have done that.</s>TAPPER: Chris Christie says you didn't do that with him.</s>MEADOWS: We did that in -- in this particular -- well, in -- in that -- in that vein, when you look at Chris Christie, it's within 48 hours of symptoms. And when we looked at the president, there was not a contact...</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>MEADOWS: ... within 48 hours of the president, where he would qualify under CDC guidelines. We actually have a CDC person in the...</s>TAPPER: So, Mark...</s>MEADOWS: Hold on, Jake. We have got a person, a CDC person, embedded here in the White House that helps us with contact tracing each and every day.</s>TAPPER: Right. No, I understand that.</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: So, Mark, Marc Short has been in close contact with Vice President Pence.</s>MEADOWS: Right. That's correct.</s>TAPPER: I mean, they are always with each other. Short is now positive for the virus.</s>MEADOWS: That's correct.</s>TAPPER: So, CDC guidelines say that Vice President Pence should quarantine for 14 days. Now, I understand the White House is trying to get around that by saying the vice president is an essential worker. But, Mark, how is going all over the country, how is that -- campaigning -- how is that essential work? It's not like he's helping to contain the virus, in fact, the opposite. He's holding rallies that could be spreading the virus.</s>MEADOWS: Well, actually, he's not just campaigning. He's working. We saw a Middle East peace agreement with Sudan in the Oval Office that the president engaged in. And for anybody to suggest that the president has been out campaigning and not getting things done, all you have to do is look at the facts. So...</s>TAPPER: He was at a campaign rally in Tallahassee. He was just in a campaign rally in Tallahassee.</s>MEADOWS: That's -- I'm not saying he's not campaigning. I'm saying that that is only part of what he's doing. And, as we look at that, essential personnel, whether it's the vice president of the United States or anyone else, has to continue on.</s>TAPPER: But he's not following CDC guidelines.</s>MEADOWS: Jake, Jake -- well, no, Jake, CDC guidelines does say essential personnel, if they will mask up.</s>TAPPER: Yes, if they wear a mask, if they wear a mask.</s>MEADOWS: And -- and I spoke to the vice president last night at midnight. And I can tell you that what he's doing is wearing a mask, socially distancing. And when he goes up to speak, he will take the mask off, put it back on. But he -- he's wearing a mask as it relates to this particular thing because the doctors have -- have advised him to do that. And, so, Jake, when we start to look at this, here's -- here's where we really need to make sure. On your Web site yesterday, Jake...</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>MEADOWS: ... your Web site is talking about, well, now we think the spread is coming from small social groups and family groups. First, it was large groups. Now it's small groups. Now...</s>TAPPER: It's coming from all sorts of places. It's coming from all sorts of places, because the pandemic is out of control.</s>MEADOWS: That's exactly the point. So, here's what we have to do. We're not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas...</s>TAPPER: Why aren't we going to get control of the pandemic?</s>MEADOWS: Because it is a contagious virus. Just like the flu, it's contagious.</s>TAPPER: Yes, but why not make efforts to contain it?</s>MEADOWS: Well, we are making efforts to contain it. And that's...</s>TAPPER: By running all over the country not wearing a mask? That's what the vice president is doing.</s>MEADOWS: Jake, we can -- we can get into the back -- back-and-forth. Let me just say this, is, what we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments, to make sure that people don't die from this. But to suggest that we're going to actually quarantine all of America, lock down our...</s>TAPPER: I never said -- no one -- no one is saying that.</s>MEADOWS: Well, they are. Joe Biden is saying that.</s>TAPPER: That's not what he said.</s>MEADOWS: He says, lock everybody down. We're going to have -- we're going to have a dark...</s>TAPPER: He's not saying -- he's not saying that.</s>MEADOWS: We're going to have a dark winter. We're going to have a dark winter.</s>TAPPER: That's what health officials say. That's what health officials say, that it's going to get worse.</s>MEADOWS: No, what -- no, no, that's Joe Biden's...</s>TAPPER: We had the two worst days in terms of new infections Friday and Saturday, the two worst days.</s>MEADOWS: Jake, let's be honest here. The health officials did not say dark winter. Those were Joe Biden's words. When we look at the...</s>TAPPER: He was quoting a health official. I think he was quoting William Haseltine.</s>MEADOWS: Well, when we look -- when we look at the number of cases increasing, what we have to do is make sure that we fight it with therapeutics and vaccines, take proper mitigation factors, in terms of social distancing and masks when we can. And when we -- when we look at this, what we're -- we're going to defeat it, Jake, because what we are, we're Americans. We do that. And this president is leading, while Joe Biden is sitting there suggesting that we're going to mandate masks.</s>TAPPER: Mark, the president -- the president is holding rallies all over the country.</s>MEADOWS: That's correct. That's correct. In fact, we're leaving...</s>TAPPER: No masks required, no distancing.</s>MEADOWS: We -- we...</s>TAPPER: There have already been, according to health officials' contact tracing, there have already been cases of individuals in Minnesota and in Washington, D.C., and in Oklahoma that got the virus at these Trump rallies that Dr. Fauci himself called a super-spreader event, the one at the White House.</s>MEADOWS: Well, there's also been contact tracing, Jake -- there's...</s>TAPPER: That is not leading. That is not leading.</s>MEADOWS: There's all been -- also been contact tracing from reporters, some with your own group, where they actually have worn masks religiously. And so what I'm here to tell you is, is, we need to find the vaccines and the therapeutics to actually give Americans the relief that this is not a death sentence...</s>TAPPER: Mark.</s>MEADOWS: ... because it's not. And yet, at the same time, to suggest that any of that is -- is not accurate is -- is just not based on the facts.</s>TAPPER: Here's the bottom line. Here's the bottom line.</s>MEADOWS: Yes. Yes.</s>TAPPER: We know, according to health officials, that masks are the best thing people can do in terms of trying to prevent the virus from spreading, period.</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: That's what they say.</s>MEADOWS: Right.</s>TAPPER: Until the vaccine and Operation Warp Speed, until that all works out...</s>MEADOWS: OK.</s>TAPPER: ... the best thing to do are masks.</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: That's from Dr. Redfield. It's from Dr. Fauci. It's from Dr. Birx. It's from everybody.</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: OK? Vice President Pence is the head of the Coronavirus Task Force. He has been exposed to somebody who tested positive.</s>MEADOWS: Right.</s>TAPPER: The CDC guidelines say he should quarantine. Now, you're trying to say his running all over the country, meeting voters, campaigning, is an essential worker business. I don't think it is. But OK, if you do that, why is he not wearing a mask? We have -- I haven't seen any pictures of him on the tarmac or anywhere wearing a mask. And should the American people follow the CDC guidelines, or should they not? Because the vice president is not.</s>MEADOWS: Well, I -- I can tell you he is wearing a mask. He will be wearing a mask today, as we have this. Obviously, when you have an exposure, you have to take additional mitigation factors to do that. But the other part of that, Jake, is this, is -- is even those experts that you talked about, when we talk about masks, I said, well, if masks is the answer and mandating masks is the answer, can't we put all our students back in schools? If we just mandate masks and make sure the teachers wear masks, will...</s>TAPPER: Should Americans follow CDC guidelines?</s>MEADOWS: ... will -- will they be safe? And the answer was no.</s>TAPPER: Should Americans follow CDC guidelines?</s>MEADOWS: And so -- so, certainly -- certainly, American should follow CDC guidelines.</s>TAPPER: They should?</s>MEADOWS: And when we -- when we look at that, when we look at that...</s>TAPPER: Does that include the president?</s>MEADOWS: That includes the president, and it includes everyone. But there are special -- special...</s>TAPPER: Well, then why don't your supporters wear masks at rallies?</s>MEADOWS: Well, you're asking about the supporters vs. the president. So -- and so...</s>TAPPER: Well, why don't you require -- why don't you require supporters to wear masks at rallies?</s>MEADOWS: Well, we -- we don't mandate masks because -- here's the other thing is, we offer them out. We live in a free society, Jake. And -- and when you look at that, under -- under a Joe Biden's America, he would lock everything down. He would make sure...</s>TAPPER: That's not -- that's not true.</s>MEADOWS: No. Well, how do you know that? Have you asked him that question? Ask him that question, Jake. How is he going to fix it?</s>TAPPER: Because I have seen a million interviews -- I have seen a million interviews with him. We're not talking about a hypothetical...</s>MEADOWS: No, he doesn't do many -- no. No, you are talking about hypotheticals.</s>TAPPER: I have interviewed Biden more than I have interviewed Trump, OK? I will put it that way.</s>MEADOWS: I get that. Well, because, from a standpoint...</s>TAPPER: We don't have to get into that.</s>MEADOWS: We can get into that. In terms of interviews, I think most journalists would agree, Joe Biden has largely been unavailable. He's hoping to run out the clock...</s>TAPPER: All right.</s>MEADOWS: ... so that the American people will not know.</s>TAPPER: So, America -- the American people should abide by CDC guidelines? But you are not even asking your supporters to wear masks, even though...</s>MEADOWS: We pass them out, Jake. I mean, have you been to...</s>TAPPER: Do you know how many people in Minnesota have gotten the virus because of Trump rallies?</s>MEADOWS: Have you been to a rally? You come on with us to a rally, and we will -- we will show you. We give out masks.</s>TAPPER: They don't wear them.</s>MEADOWS: Well, it's a free society. You're not wearing one right now, Jake.</s>TAPPER: There's literally nobody in this room. There is literally not one person in the studio.</s>MEADOWS: Yes, and so -- so, you're saying that you always wear a mask wherever you go? Come on, Jake. The American people know that's not true. I know it's not true.</s>TAPPER: I wear a mask when -- except when I'm in here, in my office, and home. That is true, 100 percent.</s>MEADOWS: Yes, but...</s>TAPPER: I wear a mask when I walk in the hallway at CNN, OK?</s>MEADOWS: But under -- under your article just yesterday, you're suggesting that Thanksgiving is going to be a super-spreader event.</s>TAPPER: I don't even know what article you're talking about.</s>MEADOWS: Yes, well, it's on the CNN Web site. They can all go look at it.</s>TAPPER: Let me ask you a question.</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: So, just yesterday, President Trump said -- quote -- "We're rounding the corner. It's going away."</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: Mark, it's not even going away in the White House. But, beyond that, the U.S. reported 83,000 new cases on Friday and Saturday.</s>MEADOWS: Right.</s>TAPPER: That's the two highest days of the entire pandemic so far for new cases. And it's not just new cases. The positivity rate is going up. Hospitalizations are going up. Deaths are starting to tick up. For any American...</s>MEADOWS: But let...</s>TAPPER: Let me just ask you a question. I have a question here.</s>MEADOWS: OK. Well, get to the question. Get to the question, Jake.</s>TAPPER: For any American at home -- for any American at home under the false impression that the pandemic is almost over, would you agree that this remains very serious, the numbers are going in the wrong direction, and people still need to take precaution?</s>MEADOWS: Well, I agree that it's very serious. But here's the interesting thing is, we continue to test more and more, more than most other countries. So, the cases that we find will go up. If you're not testing, you're not finding it. So, a lot of these other countries, they're not testing near at the rate that we're testing at, Jake. And yet...</s>TAPPER: So, you know...</s>MEADOWS: Hold on. Let me finish. You asked a question.</s>TAPPER: Let me just add some clarity here. Testing is up -- I am, but I just want to bring some clarity. It is true that, the more you test, the more people you will see. But testing has gone up 16 percent in the last month.</s>MEADOWS: Right.</s>TAPPER: Coronavirus cases are up 55 percent. So, this is not just about new tests.</s>MEADOWS: Well...</s>TAPPER: This is about the positivity rate. And the pandemic is spreading, the virus is spreading, as a factual matter.</s>MEADOWS: As a factual matter, if you look at the number of tests vs. the number of cases in the last couple of weeks, where you're talking about all these upticks, there is a correlation to additional testing. I will be glad to go over -- and, someday, when we're...</s>TAPPER: Some of it, sure.</s>MEADOWS: OK. And so, in doing that, I mean, what's the point? What is Joe Biden's plan for the pandemic? How is he going to do it? He's going to wear two masks, like he does every day, and suggest that we skip Thanksgiving?</s>TAPPER: He gave a whole speech about it. And if you're interested in his plan, you can read his plan. I...</s>MEADOWS: No, I know, a whole speech. No, no, he doesn't have a plan. He has rhetoric, because you and I both know, for 47 years, he's talked about things, and not done things. You have covered him. I know him. And the American people should know his record.</s>TAPPER: OK. I'm asking about what's going on right now, what -- not what, theoretically, Joe Biden would or would not do. He had a whole plan that he outlined on Friday, and I'm sure it's on his Web site, if you want to know. President Trump was asked this week, if he could do it all over again, if he could take a mulligan, what would he do differently on the virus? He said, "Not much." Now, a Columbia University study just out says at least 130,000 deaths and up to 210,000 deaths could have been prevented -- quote -- "with earlier policy interventions and more robust federal communication, coordination, and leadership."</s>MEADOWS: Yes.</s>TAPPER: And we know the president publicly dismissed concerns about the virus early on. He undermined messages on masks. He continues to do so. He promoted untested treatments. He holds rallies that lead to more infections. Isn't what is most concerning about the president saying he wouldn't do much differently is that suggests he really hasn't learned anything, if he really thinks he wouldn't do anything differently?</s>MEADOWS: Listen, we -- we -- some of those different positions on masks actually came from Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and the people you like to tout. I mean, I can tell you, early on, what was happening is, we were learning about this virus. And we continue to learn about this virus. And where we are today is much better than where we were nine months ago. When it comes to all the things that we have been able to do in record speed, whether it was PPE, whether it was closing down our borders, whether it was creating ventilators, whether it was actually mobilizing for hospitalization, or whether it was actually providing for therapeutics and vaccines in record times, this president has done that all. That's what you want a leader to do. And to suggest that because of a virus that came here from a foreign country is -- is the whole reason for this pandemic, and to ignore that, Jake, is ignoring the very people that we need to hold accountable. And it's the Chinese.</s>TAPPER: I'm not ignoring it. And I agree China should be held accountable. But we're talking about how the president handled it. I have -- go ahead and -- China and the Chinese government were not up front about this.</s>MEADOWS: Well, we found something that we can agree upon. We found something that we can agree.</s>TAPPER: Yes, I agree with you on that.</s>MEADOWS: OK.</s>TAPPER: I want -- let's turn to coronavirus relief negotiations...</s>MEADOWS: Sure.</s>TAPPER: ... because, obviously, millions of Americans are hoping for some relief, some compromise. If you reach a compromise, Senator McConnell says he will bring any deal that you reach to the floor for a vote. Do you have a guarantee of that, and do you have a commitment from the Democrats and 13 Republicans that you will need to pass it? Have you identified 13 Senate Republicans who would be on board?</s>MEADOWS: Well, we don't even have the bill yet, because Nancy Pelosi -- and she's coming up -- I know she can speak to this. But we have continued to make offer after offer after offer. And Nancy continues to move the goalposts. And, as you know, we're up to $1.9 trillion. I personally have talked to the leader multiple times. I have talked to senators multiple times. And, at the end of the day, it was the Democrats just last week who said that they weren't going to support a $500 billion deal. So, they said no to some relief coming to Americans.</s>TAPPER: But you guys are up to $1.9 trillion.</s>MEADOWS: Yes, $1.9 trillion, that's correct.</s>TAPPER: And I'm just asking, have you identified -- have you identified the -- like, obviously, when the deal happens -- we're all optimistic that Mnuchin and Pelosi are going to be able to come up with a compromise. Have you identified -- do you have a commitment from McConnell that he will bring the bill to the floor? And have you identified the Republicans that you want to vote for it, and have you gotten commitment that they will?</s>MEADOWS: Well -- well, obviously, we have identified those Senate Republicans most likely to vote for it.</s>TAPPER: OK.</s>MEADOWS: But we're not Nancy Pelosi. We're not going to vote or opine on a bill and pass it before we have read it. And so we need to make sure that we actually read the bill. We haven't gotten an agreement. I do have a commitment from Leader McConnell that, if we get an agreement, he's willing to bring it to the floor and get it passed. But the Democrats -- again, I want to stress this. Senate Democrats had the opportunity to send relief to the American people this last week, and they didn't do it.</s>TAPPER: OK.</s>MEADOWS: That should be a headline, Jake.</s>TAPPER: Mark, I'm being told that we're getting the hook from your team over there at the White House.</s>TAPPER: Just one last question.</s>MEADOWS: I don't know if it's from here. Go ahead.</s>TAPPER: But -- it's not on my end. I will have you for the hour. Just a quick question. Is the vice president going to be tested every day for coronavirus, just for safety's sake, to be sure he doesn't get it?</s>MEADOWS: Yes, we -- we don't get into safety protocols. But we do test on a regular basis. I get tested every day. I can speak to my testing. I would assume that the president -- the vice president and the president are in protocols that are very close to that, yes, sir.</s>TAPPER: OK. I do think the public has a right to know, because he has been exposed. We obviously wish the best for Mr. Short and everybody else in the vice president's orbit.</s>MEADOWS: I do too, yes.</s>TAPPER: And, obviously, Mark, we hope you stay safe as well. Thank you so much for your time.</s>MEADOWS: Thanks. I appreciate it. Thanks, Jake.</s>TAPPER: You just heard the White House position on a relief package for struggling Americans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will join me to respond next. Plus, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary very strongly, so what concerns might she have about nominee Joe Biden? I will ask her. Stay with us.

Interview With Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)

TAPPER: Welcome back the STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper. Nine days until Election Day, and more than 50 million Americans have already cast their votes. My next guest is trying to make sure young people join that number. And she's taking a novel approach to getting it done. Joining me now, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Congresswoman, thanks so much. I don't know if you were listening to Meadows and Pelosi talking about the stimulus, the relief bill. You have warned of a -- quote -- "mass eviction crisis" in your New York district if a relief package isn't approved as soon as possible. Do you think it's time for Democrats to declare victory and get this passed now, so your constituents can get the help they desperately need right now?</s>REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Yes. Yes, I do think passing a stimulus is incredibly important. There are people that are in a lot of pain. But, frankly, I think the thing that's important is that the Republican side really needs to get their act together. When we hear one thing about an offer from the White House, you also hear Mitch McConnell saying that he doesn't have the votes for it internally. And so, while they're trying to present this united message of kind of having all their ducks in a row, the fact of the matter is, they can't even get their own senators to agree to a pack -- to their own package. And so, really, a lot of this package is going to rely on Democratic votes. It's going to require delivering every Democratic vote in the Senate and peeling off Republican votes to agree to it. So, we really need folks to make sure that we're getting state and local funding, that people can get a second stimulus check without giving up their protections in their workplace.</s>TAPPER: Let's turn to climate change, which is an issue of tremendous importance, especially to you. You introduced a bill earlier this year that would ban all fracking nationwide within the next five years. To be completely candid, Vice President Biden's position on the issue of fracking has been confusing. During the primary, he sounded supportive of a ban. On Saturday, he told voters in Pennsylvania -- quote -- "I'm not banning fracking, period." It sounds like now he's on the other side of this issue from you. Does it bother you?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: You know, it does not bother me. I believe -- and I have a very strong position on fracking. The science is very clear. The methane emissions from fracking are up to 64 times more powerful than CO2 emissions at trapping heat in the air. And just from a perspective of stopping climate change, there is a scientific consensus. However, that is my view. Vice President Biden has made very clear that he does not agree with a fracking ban. And I consider that -- you know, it will be a privilege to lobby him...</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... should we win the White House. But we need to focus on winning the White House first. And I'm happy to make my case. But I also understand that he is in disagreement on that issue.</s>TAPPER: Do you worry that his opposition to a fracking ban is going to hurt young voter turnout?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I believe that young people right now have a very disciplined, activist mind-set. And they are not here with the intent of voting for their favorite person or voting for someone that they think is perfect as president. I think young people are actually quite disciplined and quite realistic and pragmatic in their vote, and they want to vote for who they are going to lobby. They're -- right, now young people are so clear on their stances on many political issues, that they believe that they want to vote for a president that is at least going to be receptive to their advocacy, activism and protest, frankly. And so there is no question that Joe Biden is a much better person in that position to be receptive and actually listen to the voices of advocates than Donald Trump, who is intensely focused on enriching himself and his friends.</s>TAPPER: So, last year, Biden told Democratic voters he would eliminate fossil fuels as president. But listen to what he told reporters after Thursday night's debate.</s>BIDEN: We're not getting rid of fossil fuels. We're getting rid of the subsidies for fossil fuels. But we're not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time.</s>TAPPER: "We're not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time." You were a member of Biden's climate change task force. Is that good enough for you?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, when he says, we're eliminating subsidies, I think that that is, frankly, an important first step. There's a lot of folks, with all of -- there's a lot of folks who like to tout themselves as free market capitalists, while still trying to make sure that they get as much government subsidy and propping up of the fossil fuel industry as possible. And the fact of the matter is, is that, if you do believe in markets, solar and renewable energies are growing less and less expensive by the day, and, in many areas, they are starting to become less expensive than fossil fuels. So, when you eliminate government subsidies, they -- it becomes more difficult for fossil fuels to compete in the market. And so I think, while -- again, while the vice president wants to make sure that he's not doing it by a government mandate or regulation, I do believe that we are moving towards that future. Again, I believe that there is a way and that we should push that process along. But, again, the vice president and I's disagreements are, I believe, recorded. And that's quite all right.</s>TAPPER: At the first presidential debate, Biden said -- quote -- "I am the Democratic Party right now." He said the party's platform is his platform. As you just noted, you disagree with him on a range of critical issues, not just fracking, but also health care. And you have made clear, including just a few minutes ago, that you intend to push him if he wins Do you think that that's going to be a major part of your role under a potential Biden administration, trying to push him to the left?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I don't want us to start counting our chickens before they hatch. I believe that we need to be focused on winning the White House, period. The fact of the matter is, there are many critical states that are on the line, whether it's Florida, whether it's Georgia, Pennsylvania, et cetera. And we need to make sure that we win this White House. Frankly, I think it would be a privilege and it would be a luxury for us to be talking about what we would lobby the next Democratic -- and how we will push the next Democratic administration. But, in terms of my role, I believe that that has been my role. And my role is consistent, in making sure that we push the Democratic Party to have a larger vision for our future, to listen to the needs of the working class, of people who are living paycheck to paycheck, young people, people of color, because I believe that is the base of the Democratic Party, and that who -- that is who we are, that it is our job to make sure that we are serving all people in the United States, and particularly our base. And, so, is my job to push the Democratic Party? Absolutely. And that has been my job since and that has been a part of my role since I have been elected.</s>TAPPER: It has. I -- OK, understanding your reluctance to count chickens before they're hatched -- and you're right. It remains a competitive election, and, absolutely, President Trump could be reelected. There's no question about that. So, that said, Politico is reporting that Senator Bernie Sanders, who you endorsed for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sanders has expressed an interest in potentially serving as Biden's labor secretary, if Biden wins the White House. How crucial is it to the progressive movement that Biden's -- Biden offers an important position to Bernie Sanders in a Biden Cabinet, should that happen, should Biden win?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, what I think is extremely important, and what I think what a lot of people kind of misunderstand about the progressive movement is that it wasn't a slogan when Bernie ran on saying, not me, us. And so it's not just about what -- where Bernie Sanders is next term or what role that Senator Sanders is playing. But it's really about who the Biden administration is choosing to lead agencies across the board. And I am not familiar personally with any of Senator Sanders' requests or non-requests. I do not know personally about the veracity of this. But I believe that it's critically important that the Biden administration appoint progressive leaders, whether it's in labor, whether it's in the Treasury, whether it's secretary of education, et cetera, because the fact of the matter is, is that this isn't just about the progressive movement. This is about making sure that we're not just going back to how things were and rewinding the tape before the Trump administration. But this is about making sure how -- how are we going to not just make up for lost time, but leap into the future and actually ensure that we are making the investments and policy decisions that will create an advanced American society? And, frankly, conservative appointments will not get us there.</s>TAPPER: Do you think the Obama presidency was not a progressive presidency?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: No, I think President Obama did everything he could, with the limitations of a Republican Senate, and, frankly, a Republican-controlled Congress with much of his term. But I think, that being said, there were, of course, progressive demands that were -- or -- and progressive wishes that weren't exactly met. But that wasn't solely due to President Obama. We desperately wanted even to settle for a public option during that time. And it, frankly, wasn't President Obama's fault that that didn't happen. I do believe that there are certain areas, like foreign policy, where there was much to be desired. And I don't believe that, for example, in certain areas, like progressive policy, there wasn't necessarily -- it wasn't as progressive as perhaps many folks in this country would have liked. But, if we have an opportunity, if we work hard enough to elect folks like Jaime Harrison, to make sure that we protect seats like Gary Peters', and to make sure that we unseat Republicans like Joni Ernst, and we have -- and we have the unique, frankly, once-in-a-generation opportunity to have the White House, the Senate and the House majorities Democratically-controlled, then I believe we have an obligation to the American people to show what a Democratic administration can actually accomplish...</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... accomplish, and that we can govern, and that we can truly have leaps in policy that people can feel in their everyday lives that makes voting Democratic worth -- not just worthwhile, but a memorable shift from just a flatline of this idea of bipartisanship, which often just becomes Republican manipulation.</s>TAPPER: You went on Twitch this week and played the video game "Among Us" with popular Internet personalities to encourage young people to vote. I am obviously not a young voter. I had to ask my children what Twitch is and what "Among Us" is. They, of course, knew all about it. That video has now more than five million views. Where did the idea come from? And is it possible to kind of -- to translate this kind of unorthodox, flashy approach to outreach into actual turnout among young voters, who historically do not turn out as much as they could?</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes. Well, I'm -- the idea initially came from, frankly -- you know, I am often on social media, and I have been seeing a lot of people playing "Among Us." Twitch is a platform that I'm familiar with as a livestreaming platform. And I decided that this was something that I wanted to do, not just for fun, but to actually try in the form of engagement. We do know that Twitch is a very popular engagement platform for other means. People often raise thousands, if not millions of dollars collectively for charities. We decided to test this out as a voter mobilization strategy. And so, when we actually were able to put on the stream, over -- when you add up the collective streams, over a half-million people were watching live. As you noted, five million people have viewed since. And it actually has been effective. We were directing voters to IWillVote.com, which helps young people not just register to vote, but develop a voter plan. And the thing about voter plans is that we do know, scientifically and from behavioral studies, that people who make a plan to vote are statistically much more likely to vote than just registering to vote. And what we found during the livestream is that folks from the DNC were tweeting and reporting that we were the highest driver to IWillVote.com ever during the cast of a livestream. And we are seeing early returns in places like Florida, where youth turnout is -- in early voting is astronomically higher...</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... than it was than even in 2016. And so we do know that young people are starting to become an extraordinarily powerful electorate that are issues-focused. Whether it is March for Our Lives on gun safety...</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... or whether it is the Sunrise Movement mobilizing on climate change, they're having impacts on the election.</s>TAPPER: So...</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: You could just see, in Senator Markey's reelection, the role that they played.</s>TAPPER: It is interesting watching you drag your party into the 21st century.</s>TAPPER: Last question for you. If Speaker Pelosi runs again, as she just indicated she will if the Democrats keep the House, will you support her? '</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, again, I want to make sure that we win the House. I do believe that we will. But it's critically important that we are -- that we are supporting Democrats in tight swing races, making sure that not only all of them come back, but that we grow our majority. I believe that we have to see those races as they come, see what candidates are there. I am committed to making sure that we have the most progressive candidate there. But if Speaker Pelosi is that most progressive candidate, then I will be supporting her.</s>TAPPER: OK. Interesting. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, congresswoman from New York, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate it.</s>OCASIO-CORTEZ: Thank you.</s>TAPPER: More than 224,000 people in the U.S. have died of coronavirus, but President Trump says he would not change much about the way he responded. I can think of a few things he could consider. That's next.