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The Situation Room

President Trump Makes Claims About Vaccine Timeline; Interview with Former U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice; DOJ Officials Say, Barr Speech Criticizing Members of His Department and Comparing COVID Lockdowns to Slavery was Deep Blow to Morale; No Social Distancing, Few Masks Ahead of Trump Rally in Minnesota; Biden Campaigns in Key Battleground State of Minnesota; Early In-Person Voting Underway Today in Four More States. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 18, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Tonight, President Trump is again trying to hype hopes for an end to the coronavirus, as the U.S. death toll nears the truly gut-wrenching number of 200,000.

There are new signs that the country is again moving in the wrong direction, with the rate of new cases now trending up in 30 states. And against that backdrop, the president is claiming that a coronavirus vaccine will be available to everyone here in the United States who wants one by April of next year, as he faces growing accusations that he's trying to politicize the virus on the eve of the election.

The Centers for Disease Control just reversed a move that raised a lot, of red flags, the CDC rolling back testing guidance that, according to our sources, sidesteps the center's scientific review process.

And this hour, we're seeing more evidence of President Trump's efforts to undermine health experts. And supporters are gathering for a rally in Minnesota with no sign of social distancing and very few masks.

Let's first go to our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

Jim, the president, he is putting a lot of stock in a vaccine that hasn't even been approved yet.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

President Trump trying to reassure pandemic-weary Americans today that his administration is making progress in its plans to distribute the coronavirus vaccine to every American as soon as possible. Today, the president predicted that there will be enough doses of the vaccine for all Americans by April of next year.

Mr. Trump made that claim, as you said, Wolf, even though a coronavirus vaccine still hasn't been approved for use, but the president is facing a credibility crisis on the virus, as the White House has repeatedly interfered with government scientists responding to the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): With the U.S. approaching the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus, President Trump vowed a COVID-19 vaccine is coming soon, with enough doses for all Americans by April of next year.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will have manufactured at least 100 million vaccine doses before the end of the year, and likely much more than that. Hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April.

ACOSTA: That's sooner than the timeline laid out by the director of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Robert Redfield, earlier this week.

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: If you're asking me, when is it going to be generally available to the American public, so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, I think we're probably looking at third -- late second quarter, third quarter 2021.

ACOSTA: But the problems plaguing the administration's response goes well beyond mixed messaging, as recent news reports have found top officials pressuring government scientists working on the pandemic.

"The New York Times" obtained e-mails from two top aides at Health and Human Services bashing comments from a CDC expert who advocated masks, with one of the officials saying the doctor's aim is to embarrass the president. "She is duplicitous."

The other official on the e-mail, former HHS spokesman Michael Caputo, who went on medical leave this week after accusing CDC doctors of sedition. Add to that reports that the White House nixed plans to distribute hundreds of millions of masks through the U.S. Postal Service to avoid a panic, and the revelation that HHS officials were rewriting the CDC's guidelines for testing asymptomatic people for the virus.

The CDC just rewrote those guidelines again, saying: "Due to the significance of asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission, this guidance further reinforces the need to test asymptomatic persons."

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I look at that as almost like someone vandalizing a national historic monument and writing graffiti on it.

ACOSTA: The president is scrambling to find some good news on the virus, with Democrat Joe Biden hammering Mr. Trump for downplaying the pandemic.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He knew it and did nothing. It's close to criminal. ACOSTA: The president is also taking some swipes at his own FBI

director, Christopher Wray, who testified this week on Russian attempts to meddle in the upcoming election.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: I think the intelligence community has assessed this publicly, to -- primarily to denigrate Vice President Biden and what the Russians see as kind of an anti-Russian establishment.

ACOSTA: Mr. Trump tweeted: "But, Chris, you don't see any activity from China, even though it is a far greater threat than Russia, Russia, Russia."

When the president was asked about that:

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No, I think I have. Yes, in many cases, I do.

ACOSTA: The president also touted his administration's announcement of new aid to Puerto Rico, glossing over his past blunders and responding to the devastation on the island left by Hurricane Maria three years ago.

TRUMP: I'm the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Administration health officials said the president's timeline on a COVID vaccine still depends on whether the vaccine is found to be safe and effective. That hasn't happened yet.

And the official went on to say that it may still take until the third or fourth quarter of next year for life to return to normal for most Americans.

Wolf, take a look at some of this video we're showing you right now. This is from the president's rally coming up later on this evening in Minnesota. As we have seen at previous rallies in recent weeks, people are not practicing social distancing. They are not wearing masks.

[18:05:01]

Contrast that with the images we saw earlier today, people standing in line to vote. In Virginia, yes, you can already start to vote for the upcoming election in Virginia, people wearing their masks as they stand in line to vote, a contrast of the two Americas that we see out in the country today when it comes to the all-important tip coming from health experts that people should indeed wear masks to stay safe -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And socially distance, both so critically important, lifesaving steps, so simple. Yet, unfortunately, a lot of people are not doing that.

Jim Acosta, thank you very much. Let's get some more on the breaking news on the pandemic right now.

Our national correspondent, Erica Hill, is joining us.

Erica, the nation is facing yet another very painful milestone.

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf.

We are going to very soon hit a grim milestone of 200,000 lives lost in this country to coronavirus. The country currently averaging just over 800 deaths reported each day. And with numbers like that, we could pass that milestone in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILL (voice-over): Get tested, that's the latest guidance from the CDC for anyone who's been in contact with an infected person, revised again, after it was revealed changes last month that focused on testing those with coronavirus symptoms did not come from CDC scientists.

DR. ROSHINI RAJ, NYU LANGONE HEALTH: All of this conflicting information and questions of political motivation are really hampering the efforts to take control this virus and get back to our normal way of living.

HILL: The virus is not under control.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We're trending in the wrong direction.

HILL: A blunt assessment, as the country adds more than 44,000 new cases and is about to pass 200,000 COVID-related deaths.

DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We grow numb to the numbers, 200,000 deaths from this virus. Most or many of those deaths were avoidable.

HILL: Cases are up in 30 states in the past week, just four posting a decline.

GOV. NED LAMONT (D-CT): It is concerning. Like I said before, we watch this like a hawk.

HILL: Georgia has now topped 300,000 total cases, the fifth state to do so. Wisconsin, where the president held a rally last night with few masks and little social distancing, reporting more than 1,600 new cases yesterday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began.

Two entire dorms at the University of Wisconsin now in their second week of quarantine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was hoping this was like the worst-case scenario, but at least they're like, I'm glad they're taking steps, even though it's very -- everything escalated very quickly.

HILL: Providence College urging students to stay home after more than 80 students tested positive in just two days.

As schools at every level work to keep students and staff safe, a new study finds as many as 51 percent of school employees may be at an increased risk for COVID-19 because of underlying conditions like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and age.

Low-skilled support staff face the highest risk. And concern is growing about younger people passing the virus to more vulnerable populations.

DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: As societies have opened up, we are seeing outbreaks in younger populations. Part of that has to do with the way people are socializing. People are going out and about and living their lives and trying to get back to what is this new normal.

HILL: A new normal that increasingly includes a lot of the old normal, bars in Nashville expanding to 50 percent capacity today, the Tennessee Titans announcing plans to welcome limited fans.

BURKE NIHILL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TENNESSEE TITANS: We have had months to prepare for this day and feel extremely confident in the Safe Stadium Plan.

HILL: As we learn 10 people who attended last week's Kansas City Chiefs game have been told to quarantine because a fan near them tested positive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: We're also learning more about how this virus can spread on planes.

Two studies out today show that on long-haul flights early in the pandemic -- this was before masks were required -- that infections were traced back to these flights. In one case, a woman who had symptoms when she got on the plane which progressed during that flight, after she landed, she was ultimately diagnosed.

They tracked down 217 crew and passengers on that flight. Of them, more than a dozen people had fallen ill with the virus, in fact, 14, and one other crew member. They said the only way they could have contracted the virus was on that flight -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's pretty sad information as well.

Erica Hill, thank you very much.

Joining us now, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen.

Sanjay, the president this afternoon, you heard it, he said that they will have vaccines available for every American by April. Can anyone really say with certainty at this point something like that?

[18:10:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, Wolf, we can't, because we don't even have the data yet to show that this vaccine is going to be effective.

I mean, there's a lot of enthusiasm around a few of the candidates. But there's there's really been little data so far and pretty audacious projections, Wolf.

It's interesting. I spoke to Moncef Slaoui about this. This exact issue came up. Here's how he sort of described how this might unfold over the next few months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISER TO VACCINE EFFORT: If it's shown efficacious in November or in December, we don't have enough vaccine doses. We'd have a few million in November and maybe 10, 20 million of each in December. That will be enough to vaccinate certain populations, start vaccinating certain populations, but not the whole population.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: And then the idea, Wolf, of sort of trying to really scale up tenfold, 20-fold from there, I think, is going to be the real challenge.

But we simply don't know. And the data is double-blinded. So there's nobody who right now is looking at the data and so far is saying, yes, for sure, this looks promising. There's going to be an independent entity that's going to do that.

But we just don't know at this point, Wolf.

BLITZER: We all want a vaccine. We want to make sure it's safe and effective. And that takes time to develop a vaccine like that.

Dr. Wen, polling here in the United States now shows a big drop in Americans' willingness to get a coronavirus coronavirus vaccine. Look at these numbers, from 72 percent in May down to 51 percent right now.

How troubling is that to you?

WEN: It's very concerning, because we know that it's not the vaccine that's going to save lives. It's the vaccination.

And the people who are now suspicious of vaccines, it's not the same group who are suspicious of science and are the anti-vaxxers. There are actually a lot of people who really trust science, but are concerned that there is political pressure that's driving the approval process.

And that's why I actually think the more the president can stop talking about a date that's connected with elections and vaccine approval in the same breath, I think the better it will be.

And I also hope that the president and everyone else will keep on reminding everyone that the vaccine itself may not be the silver bullet. It will take many months for us to get a vaccine, as Sanjay said, because availability isn't the same thing as accessibility.

But we also need to figure out how we can live with this virus and institute these other measures, like mask wearing, social distancing that we do have control over right now.

BLITZER: Yes, and, as Dr. Fauci told me himself, that even if there is a vaccine that's safe and effective, it may only be 70 or 75 percent effective, meaning 20, 25 or 30 percent of the American public who get a vaccine will still be subject potentially to coronavirus.

Sanjay, the CDC has now reversed course on testing guidelines. We were all confused by last month. They narrowed the testing recommendations. Explain what exactly is going on here, because this is so, so worrisome.

GUPTA: Yes, this is worrisome, Wolf.

There's a -- "The New York Times" reported on this yesterday. We have corroborated this -- the story that basically said that -- what typically happens at the CDC is that the guidance emanates from the CDC, it goes through a strict vetting process, science vetting process, fact-checking, crosschecking.

What seemed to have happened here -- and I want to show you what showed up on the CDC's Web site back on August 24. At that point, there was this guidance that appeared without having gone through this vetting process that basically said, even if you have been exposed to someone with COVID, if you don't have any symptoms, you don't need to get tested.

That didn't make any sense, Wolf. Public health officials were really confused by this, because the concern is that, even if you don't have symptoms, you could still be spreading the virus. In fact, some studies have said up to 50 percent of the spread is coming from people who don't -- who aren't showing any symptoms.

Today, Wolf, as you mentioned, they reversed course on this. The guidance now basically says basically the opposite. If you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you have had contact with them, then you do need to get tested, even if you don't have symptoms.

So the good news is that the guidance has been updated. But, Wolf, this is the second time or maybe even more than two times this has happened, where this sort of confusing guidance appeared on the CDC's Web site. We asked a lot of questions when this showed up.

They said this had been completely vetted, run by the task force, including Dr. Fauci. I subsequently found out Dr. Fauci was under general anesthesia the day that this had actually been run by the task force. So it was very confusing, and at least it's updated now, but the CDC

is -- at least in these situations, has not had the opportunity to fully vet the guidance that we all rely on its Web site.

BLITZER: You know, Dr. Wen, I want to show you and our viewers some pictures we're getting in from Minnesota right now.

Later this evening, the president is going to be holding another political campaign rally. There, we see tons of people who have showed up, no social distancing. I don't see a whole lot of masks right now. Sometimes, they put people behind the president speaking wearing masks. But I don't see a whole lot of masks right there.

[18:15:04]

When you see this, what do you think?

WEN: I'm worried about them, I'm worried about them as a physician. I think about these individuals as they may be my patients.

There are people coming from all over the country, including from places where there is active viral surge. And they are standing shoulder to shoulder, not wearing masks, potentially spreading the infection to one another. These participants, if they're not wearing masks, are probably also not following other types of public health precautions and may be gathering in bars and other settings.

And then they may go home. And who knows where they will be exposed to, vulnerable individuals at home, or, because they are asymptomatic sputters, they could also be spreading it to other people in the community.

And so I think it's really important for us to talk about. And I know, whenever we speak about them, the Trump rallies, we public health experts are also accused of hypocrisy, because people will say, well, why aren't you also raising the alarm about social justice protests?

Well, for many of these protests, people are trying to take every precaution. And I think that's the difference. This is a virus that does not discriminate. We really shouldn't be having mass gatherings of any kind while there is this contagious virus among us, but, if you are going, please make sure to protect yourself and those around.

BLITZER: Yes, try to social distance and at least wear a mask. It's not that hard to wear a mask. It's potentially lifesaving.

Dr. Leana Wen, thank you. Sanjay Gupta, thanks to you as well.

Just ahead, the former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice -- there you see her -- she's getting ready to respond to President Trump's attacks on his own FBI director amid new warnings about Russian election interference in the current election here in the United States.

And we will also have the latest on Joe Biden drawing a sharp line between his roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and President Trump's privileged youth in New York City.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:10]

BLITZER: We're back with breaking news, President Trump doubling down on his attack against his own FBI director, Christopher Wray, over his public comments about election interference by Russia.

Joining us now, the former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice. She's the author of the book "Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For."

There you see the book cover.

Susan, thanks so much for joining us.

The president publicly rebuking his own FBI director for testifying under oath that Russia is in fact interfering right now in the U.S. presidential election to -- quote -- "denigrate Joe Biden," the president tweeting that China is -- quote -- "a far greater threat than Russia, Russia, Russia" -- close quote.

So, what's your reaction to that?

SUSAN RICE, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, my reaction, Wolf, is that it is a real shame that we have a president of the United States who spends more time trying to muzzle and demean the leaders of our intelligence community and law enforcement community, who are trying their best to serve the American people and provide factual information, rather than recognize that we face a very real threat from our most committed adversary, Russia, to our very democracy.

And just because Donald Trump views himself as the beneficiary of Russian illegal interference into our electoral processes, he's privileging his own personal political interests over our national security, the sanctity of our democracy, and the integrity of our elections.

And it's shameful.

BLITZER: Yes, it's pretty amazing, when you think about it.

This past week, he publicly rebuked the CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, for what he said about vaccines and wearing masks. And now he's publicly rebuked the FBI director, Christopher Wray, for testifying, as I said, under oath that Russia is, in fact, interfering in the 2020 election.

Last year, the president...

RICE: And...

BLITZER: You want to say something?

RICE: Wolf, by the way, just to be clear, the intelligence community has said that Russia is the principal threat to our electoral process.

And what China's doing, which is far more overt and on a much lesser scale, what Iran may be doing, pale in comparison to what Russia is doing. So, it's curious and concerning that the president and those around him, like Bill Barr, try to hype the China threat in this context, where there may be many ways in which we have to be concerned about China, indeed.

But the threat to our electoral process and from -- to our democracy comes principally from Russia.

BLITZER: Yes, the attorney general told me here in THE SITUATION ROOM a couple of weeks ago that China was a bigger threat in the upcoming election, interfering in the election, than Russia was. And the president keeps saying that as well.

Last year, President Trump took direct aim at the Obama administration for its handling of Russian meddling leading up to the 2016 election. He tweeted this -- and I will put it up on the screen -- "Why didn't President Obama do something about Russia in September, before November election, when told by the FBI? He did nothing, and had no intention of doing anything."

Two questions. Right now, the president has been told by the FBI, Christopher Wray, that director that Russia is interfering. I don't know if he's doing anything about that. But maybe you do.

And is it true that the Obama administration, that President Obama, when told by the FBI in September, before the election in 2016, did nothing?

RICE: No, that is not true. That is another Donald Trump lie.

What the Obama administration did was, first of all, President Obama personally had a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin shortly after receiving that information and conveyed to Vladimir Putin, in very -- no uncertain terms what the consequences would be if he pursued further interference in our elections.

[18:25:03]

He issued a very direct threat. And we leveled significant consequences against Vladimir Putin in December.

But the other things we did, Wolf, were, we worked with the secretaries of state of the very -- of each state in the union to try to help them secure their electrical systems.

We warned the American people in a very clear-cut and stark statement on October 7, 2016, about the threat that came from the highest levels of the Russian government. And we prepared punitive options to be leveled against the Russians if at any point between September and the election we had the reason to do so, and many of those options were deployed later in December.

So it's false to say we did nothing. Now, let's look at Donald Trump, by contrast. Donald Trump has

welcomed, encouraged, invited, and relied on Russian support and interference not only in his election bid in 2016, but he's doing so again now.

And his absolute refusal to acknowledge the Russian role, his bizarre cozying up to Vladimir Putin, and his efforts to suppress any and all suggestions, including most recently by FBI Director Christopher Wray, that Russia is interfering to disadvantage his opponent and advantage him, he utterly denies.

For whatever reason, we can all conclude now, sadly, with confidence that Donald Trump has cast his lot with Vladimir Putin, whom he views as seemingly his best hope to obtain reelection. And he has done so at the expense of our democracy, at the expense of our sovereignty.

This is the greatest invasion of our territory that we have faced in years. And Donald Trump could care less. In fact, he's welcoming it, and he is benefiting from it.

BLITZER: Well, do you have any evidence to back up what the former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats is quoted as saying in the Bob Woodward book, that the -- that Putin and the Russians may have something on the president?

RICE: I don't have evidence to that effect that I can marshal personally.

What I do think is absolutely extraordinary is that the man responsible for our intelligence community here in the United States, a Republican distinguished former senator and former ambassador, who had access to all of that information long after I left government, had that deep-seated concern and worry.

That, to me, is extraordinarily disconcerting and telling.

BLITZER: Ambassador Susan Rice, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

RICE: Thank you for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, just ahead, we're getting new information about the negative reaction inside the U.S. Justice Department to the attorney general's comparison of the coronavirus lockdown to slavery.

And we will also get an update on early in-person voting that's under way in multiple states right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: We're getting new information about the backlash against the attorney general, William Barr, after stunning remarks about federal prosecutors and about coronavirus quarantines. Our Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez, is joining us. Evan, you have some new reporting that there's, what, been a deep blow to morale following Attorney General Barr's remarks earlier this week where he actually insulted career federal prosecutors within his own department and likened coronavirus lockdowns to slavery.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf. Look, I think the Justice Department in the last day says that if you read the attorney general's speech, you'll see that he has tremendous respect for prosecutors.

But I'll tell you, in speaking to some of the career prosecutors and even some of the political appointees inside the department, you're getting a different picture. You hear from people who say that the attorney general was tone deaf in some of his insults of career prosecutors who he compared to preschoolers. And he called some prosecutors -- he said that they were head hunters.

These are the criticisms that have now -- have had a very strong reaction inside the department from prosecutors who say that the department -- that the attorney general seemed to be going to war with some of the people who report to him, essentially, you know, discarding what they do for a living there every day. Some of them have a lot of experience, more experience than the political appointees, Wolf, and he was insulting all of them.

BLITZER: You're also learning, Evan, more about the attorney general's desire to go after some protesters with criminal charges. What is the latest?

PEREZ: Well, the deputy attorney general, in the last few hours, or in the last day, Wolf, issued a memo to prosecutors around the country, first of all, he was chastising for leaking to press that the attorney general was urging them to consider bringing very aggressive charges, including sedition, which makes it a crime to try to overthrow the U.S. government.

He said in his memo that you don't have to seek to overthrow the U.S. government to bring these charges against these violent protesters in the last few months. He says, for example, that you simply have to oppose by force the authority of the United States government or to use force to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States.

[18:35:004]

This is simply doubling down on this idea that some of these violent protests that have broken out in various cities around the country, the attorney general and the deputy attorney general are saying, Wolf, that they want more aggressive action, they want more federal charges against these protesters, not just being handled by local prosecutors, which is usually the case.

BLITZER: Evan Perez reporting for us, thank you, Evan, as usual.

Let's bring in CNN Senior Legal Analyst, the former U.S. attorney, Preet Bharara.

Preet, let me get your reaction to the reporting we just heard from Evan. What effect do the attorney general's comments have on the men and women, the career prosecutors, for example, over at the Justice Department?

PREET BHARARA, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I'll corroborate what Evan Perez reported. I have spoken to people too. You might imagine that it has a blow to morale and people don't like being talked about like that by their boss, who has a big public platform. It also is not consistent with, I think, how other people have led that department and how people should view the backbone of the department, which is the men and women who are career folks who give up a lot for public service, to protect their district and protect our country.

The other thing I'll say though is, contrary to what Bill Barr suggests, comparing them in some instances to preschoolers, they're adults and they have tough skins and tough hides and they have steel spines, and that's why we rely on them to keep public faith and to enforce the laws and to bring about justice where it's appropriate.

So for the most part, I hope, notwithstanding some morale hit, that in the garden variety cases that are brought around the country every day and in Washington, they're keeping their heads down, doing their jobs, and they're keeping the public safe and they're holding people who have committed crimes accountable.

BLITZER: Yes. These career officials really are so, so important and impressive.

The attorney general, as you know, Preet, he also attacked coronavirus restrictions. He is undermining Americans' trust in the election by falsely claiming voters can't trust mail-in ballots. He's propagating the false idea that foreign countries could fake ballots, for example. Have you ever seen an attorney general so aligned publicly with the president's campaign message, which the president delivers almost on a daily basis?

BHARARA: No, I have not. There have been attorneys general, it's part of the job, if they make an errant comment or they like look they're in the corner of the president and serving the president as opposed to the public, that allegation has been made before. But I don't think anyone has ever seen anything at this level and at this scale.

And it's also interesting that one of the things you didn't mention, but I heard Susan Rice talking about earlier on your show, is this divergence between what the FBI director says with respect to the volume of activity on the part of Russians versus the volume of activity on the part of the Chinese with respect to the election. And you have a divergence between the FBI director and the attorney general, Bill Barr, who said to you also that China is the biggest culprit.

Well, why do you think that is when you talk about alignment? The president of the United States has a political interest, it seems, to downplay the involvement of Russia and to play up the involvement of the Chinese.

And what I'm most concerned about, given your question, is not what he has said so far, not the things he is pointing out, not his rhetoric, but what the actions of the attorney general will be in this most important election, I think, in the country's history. Will he, on November 3rd, take actions to protect what will probably be a temporary lead by the president of the United States in the election?

He has a lot of authority and a lot of power, and he's making a lot of claims and accusations that he said on your show previously as well, were not based on evidence. He literally admitted that some of these claims about outside interference with respect to the mailing in of thousands of ballots not based on evidence. Based on what? Based on logic. And perhaps his own campaign interest or promoting the campaign interest of the president.

So, no, I have not seen anything like this and I'm worried it's going to get a lot worse.

BLITZER: Let's hope it doesn't.

Bill Barr compared, as you know, Preet, COVID lockdowns, to save lives here in the United States, to slavery. He also smeared the Black Lives Matter movement. He claimed they're using the deaths of black men at the hands of police as props to achieve a political agenda. This is someone who is supposed to insure justice in our country. So what impact do those words have?

BHARARA: Well, look, I think it has a polarizing impact. We should be clear that violence should be called out. Violence should be condemned and people who engage in violent intentional behavior should be prosecuted by the appropriate authority, whether it's the federal authority or the local authority.

But to use that kind of language and rhetoric in an inflammatory way when there is a lot of good reason for people to be upset, I don't think, helps heal the country, it doesn't bring the country together. It doesn't cause us to be unified. And he should maybe think more about what he says before he says it.

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: Preet Bharara, thank you very much for joining us.

BHARARA: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead, in a fiery populous speech, Joe Biden slams President Trump's handling of the economy as they make dueling campaign stops in Minnesota.

Plus, voters facing long lines at polling places as four more states begin early in-person voting.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: We have live pictures right now out of Minnesota, the president getting ready to speak there at a campaign rally shortly.

[18:45:04]

You see a lot of people there, not much social distancing, if any at all, and not much mask wearing either. Very disturbing when we watch that.

Meanwhile, in a fiery speech, the former vice president, Joe Biden, slammed President Trump's handling of the coronavirus and made an economic appeal to voters hurt by this pandemic.

Let's bring in CNN's Jessica Dean. She was in Minnesota. She's still there, she covered the Biden event.

Jessica, Biden is clearly trying to make a pitch to white working- class voters. What are you learning about this part of his campaign strategy?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right, Wolf. He was in Minnesota today, where early in-person voting started today, as a matter of fact. He was here making that pitch to working-class voters. These are voters that didn't -- that swung toward Donald Trump in the last election. Hillary Clinton didn't perform as well with these voters as Democrats had in the past.

These are voters that Biden and his campaign truly believe that they can get back on their side, and we heard him preview his pitch last night during our town hall when he talked about this being Scranton versus Park Avenue. It's a theme that he brought here to Minnesota today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I view this campaign as between Scranton and Park Avenue. All Trump sees from Park Avenue is Wall Street. That's why the only metric of the American prosperity for him is the value of the Dow Jones.

Like a lot of you, I spent a lot of my life with guys like Donald Trump looking down on me, looking down on the people who make a living with their hands, people who take care of our kids, clean our streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And he really drew that framing also used that framing, rather, as it relates to the coronavirus response. That Joe Biden said he really believes that the response to the COVID pandemic should be for everyone in the country. If he was elected president, he would be focusing on how to make sure everyone can recover from it.

He argues that Donald Trump, again, that Park Avenue mentality that Joe Biden is talking about, that he's describing, that Donald Trump is only focused on millionaires and billionaires and what the stock market is doing, Wolf. Again, also, too, if you look at where Joe Biden has been in the last

week. He's been here in Minnesota, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania. These are battleground states where, again, he's taking this message to white working-class voters he hopes to bring back to his side -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yeah, these are the battleground states that will determine who wins the presidential election.

Jessica Dean, in Minnesota for us, thank you very much.

Just ahead, voters enduring long socially distanced lines as more states begin early in-person voting here in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:52:30]

BLITZER: Early in-person voting kicked off in four more states today. Throngs of voters could be seen in Virginia braving long lines, coronavirus precautions, with wait times reported to be hours long.

Our political correspondent Abby Phillip is looking into all this for us.

Abby, voters are turning out early and in a very big numbers. How significant is that?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've been talking all summer about high turnout in some of these states that have been voting during the pandemic. And now, we are seeing it in the early voting period for the general election. Six states are voting already, starting today in four of those states, two of them -- Alabama and Pennsylvania -- started earlier this month. Virginia, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming began today.

And you can tell how critically important this is because both of the candidates, Trump and Biden, campaigning in Minnesota today. And earlier today, we were in Virginia.

Look at these lines. This is in Fairfax County, a northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., lines that stretch for what seem to be a football field or more of people willingly waiting for hours to cast their ballot on the first day of early voting, some of these individuals telling CNN that they are concerned about reported delays in mail delivery. They wanted to be sure their ballot could be counted in person. So, they're willing to wait masked up, socially distanced in that line after the room got to capacity.

We also heard from Fairfax County election officials that they have never seen this level of interest in early voting in this part of that state. It's an extraordinary development because there are all of these voters have many days to do this. They are choosing to do it on the very first one.

It also goes to show, Wolf, that from now until November 3rd, voting and election day is every single day. There's no such thing, anymore, as just one day of voting.

BLITZER: Yeah, people are going to be voting in person early. They're going to be using the mail, obviously, as well. And on November 3rd, people will actually show up at that time as well. There's a lot of enthusiasm out there.

Abby Phillip, thank you very much.

We're going to have much more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:49:10]

BLITZER: Finally, our nightly tribute to the victims of coronavirus pandemic.

Mike Steinbrenner of Ohio was 85 years old. He was a U.S. army veteran and a hardworking union carpenter who loved playing golf and coin collecting. His daughter-in-law says he set a great example of being a good husband and a father of five children.

Harry Bashker of New York was 89. Born in Poland, he served in the Israeli army before coming to the United States. He leaves behind three children and two grandchildren who tell us he danced ballroom style every week until he became ill.

May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. To our Jewish viewers here in the United States and around the world, I want to wish you a very safe and happy New Year.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.