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The Situation Room

Infected Trump Addresses From White House Balcony; Infected Trump To Hold Rallies In Florida, Pennsylvania And Iowa Next Week; Trump Speaks To Supporters Packed Into White House Event Despite Rising Numbers Of Coronavirus Cases; Joe Biden: Trump Must Make Sure He's Not Spreading The Virus; Trump Says COVID-19 "Is Disappearing" As New Cases Rise In 28 States; GOP Senators, Pelosi Oppose Trump's $1.8 Trillion Stimulus Proposal; Key Model Projects 395,000 U.S. COVID Deaths By February 1st. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 10, 2020 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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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 special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

The United States right now is seeing some very disturbing numbers, ones that were once unthinkable. More than 57,000 new Coronavirus cases reported here in the U.S. on Friday alone. The most we've seen since mid-August.

More than 214,000 Americans have lost their lives to this Coronavirus. Nearly 1,000, a thousand Americans, 990 specifically just yesterday alone and now a key model is projecting get this close to 400,000 American deaths by February 1st.

And the President of the United States today himself infected with the virus invited hundreds of people to the White House while Vice President Mike Pence also held large in-person events appearing to put the campaign before Americans' health.

As the president continues to down-play the pandemic experts are warning it will get a whole lot worse this fall if the United States continues down the path the U.S. is heading right now. In just 24 days before the election the president is also announcing he'll hold in person, very large political rallies across three states in the next few days.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is over at the White House for us. Jeremy, the president today addressing supporters from the Truman Balcony we saw him there Monday night as well when he emerged from the Walter Reed Hospital speaking largely to a lot of young black and Latino voters saying they should vote his opponents into oblivion. But the White House says this wasn't a campaign event.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf. And we have seen President Trump repeatedly turn the White House or official White House events into political rallies, and that is exactly what we saw from the president today.

Whether it was the hundreds of supporters wearing make America great again hats or the president's campaign themed rhetoric, it was quite clear that this was a political event, part of the president's last dash race to the November 3rd election.

The president talking about Democrats, and he also talked about the Coronavirus, Wolf. And what we heard from the president who is still infected with the Coronavirus is rhetoric that's very similar to what he was saying before he was infected with Coronavirus. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Through the power of the American - the American spirit I think more than anything else. Science, medicine we'll eradicate the China virus once and for all. We'll get rid of it all over the world.

You see big flare ups in Europe, very big flare up in Canada. You saw that today. A lot of flare-ups, but it's going to disappear. It is disappearing and vaccines are going to help and the therapeutics is going to help a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Wolf, there's no question that Coronavirus is not disappearing from the United States. In fact cases are raising across the country with that really high number that we saw yesterday, 57,000 new cases just yesterday.

But, Wolf, what is so striking is that President Trump rather than using his illness, his Coronavirus illness as an opportunity to educate the American public on the real dangers, the real risks of this virus he's instead using to amplify this messaging that he's used throughout this pandemic which is to down-play the threat of this virus.

BLITZER: Yes, it's so worrisome. He could be telling everybody wear masks, social distance. We don't hear that in these campaign rallies. We did hear in contrast, Jeremy, some very dark and divisive messaging from the president today with just 24 days to go before the November 3rd election.

Is this the kind of messaging we should expect to hear as he returns to the campaign trail in the coming days?

DIAMOND: That is certainly what it seems like Wolf. The president has placed this law and order messaging at the center of his re-election campaign. The question Wolf is whether or not that is actually working?

Poll after poll has shown consistently that Americans are far more concerned about the Coronavirus pandemic or the economy than they are about these issues of law and order and yet the president keeps trying to use that.

So far it hasn't swayed that suburban demographic that the president has been trying to win back over after the 2018 mid-term those suburban voters powering Democrats to take back the House. And so Wolf, the question is whether or not that's going to work going forward?

But the president, there's no question Wolf he's itching to get back on the campaign trail. He often relies on himself to try and power himself back. He's a real moment of weakness right now, Wolf. The president is trailing in every national poll.

[19:05:00]

DIAMOND: Some polls including CNN's by double digits and he is also trailing in many of those key battleground states. And that's why we're going to see him hit a trio of battleground states earlier this week, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much Jeremy Diamond. We'll get back to you at the White House; he is working his sources over there. Joining us now CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Seema Yasmin, a Former CDC Disease Detective also joining us the Epidemiologist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Former Detroit Health Commissioner to both of you doctors thank you so much for joining us.

And Dr. El-Sayed, the president was officially diagnosed just nine days ago with COVID-19 in addition to today's event with hundreds of people, a lot of young people, young African-Americans, young Latinos especially the president is planning three more huge rallies in the next few days starting Monday in Florida which reported by the way nearly 3,000 new Coronavirus cases on Friday. When you see this Dr. El-Sayed, what do you think?

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, EPIDEMIOLOGIST & PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: Number one, Donald Trump is still a COVID patient, and we call them patients for a reason. It's not fun to be sick and you need to wait so you get better and also don't make other people sick.

He's clearly not doing that. But then this is the height of cynicism, right? He's going out in campaign mode, and he wants to spread his message but in so doing may also be spreading his disease.

And finally in a country where we're seeing unfortunately COVID-19 roaring back given the fall and all the behavior changes that come with the fall, this is not the kind of behavior that the president the leader of our country ought to be demonstrating when it comes to how to prevent the spread of this disease. It's just cynicism and frustration all around.

BLITZER: Yes, he should be an example to the rest of the country. Dr. Yasmin, we still don't have any idea when the president last tested negative or what his actual status is right now just his own assertions that he's doing great, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They had some big events at the White House and perhaps there. I don't really know. Nobody really knows for sure. Numerous people have contracted it. But people have contracted it all over the world. It's highly contagious.

I was not in great shape and we have a medicine that fixed me. I feel better now I did two weeks ago. It's crazy and I recovered immediately, almost immediately. I might not have recovered at all from COVID. Just saw the doctors today and they think I'm in great shape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you test negative?

TRUMP: I'll tell you I took this Regeneron. It's phenomenal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you had a test since your diagnosis a week ago?

TRUMP: Well, what we're doing is probably the test will be tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Dr. Yasmin, if the incubation period is 14 days the isolation period according to the CDC is supposed to be 10 to 20 days depending among this upon the severity of infection, the age, illness history of the patient. Is the President of the United States behaving responsibly right now?

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Absolutely not. And let's make no mistake, Wolf, that the president is classified as a severe COVID- 19 patient because his oxygen saturation levels dropped below 94 percent. He had to receive supplemental oxygen twice.

He received three strong medicines including one that doesn't even have authorization for use in emergencies. He is not following his own federal agency's guidelines about how you should behave when you are a COVID-19 patient and in his case a severe COVID-19 patient?

By being around other people in this way by not wearing a mask he's jeopardizing public health and putting other people's lives at risk and we've seen how that panned out previously. Just recently Dr. Anthony Fauci was saying that that White House event in the Rose Garden on September 26th turned out to be a super spreader event because there were people there gathered on the lawn not wearing masks, sitting close to each other.

And what did we see in the days and weeks afterwards? We saw Senators diagnosed with COVID-19. We saw Governors infected. We saw a White House Press Secretary, we saw White House aides. So these quickly spiral out of control if you're not doing physical distancing, if you're not wearing masks. And all of this in the context of a president who was very severely ill and just not following the guidelines.

BLITZER: Not at all. Dr. El-Sayed, what's your reaction to the fact that today's White House event and for all practical purposes it was a campaign event actually targeted young black and Latino voters, the very groups that have been hit hardest here in the U.S. by the disease.

DR. EL-SAYED: Yes, to step back we know that black and brown Americans in particular Latino Americans, we know that their risk of contracting COVID-19 was about 2.5 fold the probability of the average American, and the risk of dying was upwards of three fold in the number of communities.

[19:10:00]

DR. EL-SAYED: And for him to - to use this moment while he's got COVID-19 to try and speak to these communities without actually doing the basic things that he needs to not only to get healthy himself but to take on COVID-19 across the country I just think is the height of cynicism.

And it's deeply frustrating I believe in this country to watch this person fundamentally fail his responsibilities while continuing to claim that somehow we're moving in the right direction as 214,000 people now have died, and the virus is raging back because of the fall.

I would rather him just focus on taking on COVID-19 with the time he has in office instead of trying to make it look like the job he's done is even worthwhile.

BLITZER: You know, Dr. Yasmin, there's a new model that's come just projecting 395,000 Americans could be dead from this virus by February 1st. They're questioning if there's enough PPE, are there enough tests to cope with the coming demand through the winter months. It looks like it's about to get a whole lot worse.

DR. YASMIN: Yes, Wolf. You and I have talked about these projections from February and March time. Every time it gets worse and worse these new numbers come from the University Of Washington School Of Medicine they're saying that by February we could be seeing on average 2,300 Americans die every single day.

Right now we're averaging around 1,000 Americans dying from COVID-19 every day. They're also mentioning as you say that by mid-January that death toll could be around 400,000. The good news in there is that if we were to wear masks with 95 percent of Americans were to consistently wear masks including the president and folks in the White House, we could save 80,000 lives.

And it's so important to do that now as the virus is surging in more than two dozen states especially in the Midwest as we're going to be battling flu in the next few months as well. And there are doctors, nurses, front line workers, EMTs rationing their PPE, reusing and re- wearing masks that were designed for one single wear here in the U.S. That is so unacceptable.

They have to risk their safety and their lives, and they're even not able to get the tests they need for their patients and to not get quick turnarounds. So it's like a real punch in the gut when you hear about lawmakers in Washington refusing to get COVID-19 tests when there are doctors and nurses who desperately need tests for their patients and can't get them.

BLITZER: Yes, if the president wore a mask and told his political supporters you've got to wear a mask, you'll save live, just do it that would have a huge difference and in the process save potentially thousands and thousands of lives in the coming weeks and months. Dr. Seema Yasmin and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, guys thank you so much for joining us always important to hear your views.

DR. YASMIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Up next, the president's playbook this week included a speech from the White House balcony. Just two weeks after a super spreader event in the Rose Garden over at the White House. A media blitz with friendly TV and radio hosts meanwhile and a deluge of tweets and attacks on political rivals.

So what exactly is the president's strategy just 24 days until Election Day here in the U.S.? We'll discuss that and a whole lot more. Stay with us. You're in "The Situation Room".

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BLITZER: So with just 24 days to go until the election here in the U.S. Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden is making a big pitch to voters in the key Battleground State of Pennsylvania. CNN's Jessica Dean is in on the ground in Erie, Pennsylvania for us right now. Jessica, so what did we just hear from the Former Vice President?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Biden, Wolf, was in Erie this afternoon with an economic message tailored very much to white working class voters here in Erie, located in a county that President Trump won by just a little back in 2016. It is a county that the Biden Campaign thinks that they can win back.

These are voters they believe that they can win back with Joe Biden delivering this Scranton versus Park Avenue messaging to them about the economy, about union jobs, about American manufacturing. And that is a lot of what we heard today.

We also heard from a soybean farmer from this area who actually voted for President Trump back in 2016 who is voting for Joe Biden this year. So that was the type of message they were trying to get across here.

But also it comes on the day when President Trump was holding his event there at the White House after being diagnosed with COVID-19. And in addition to the economy the COVID crisis has played the central role in Joe Biden's Campaign.

That is where they have sought to really draw a contrast with President Trump and his administration. Yesterday Vice President Biden calling Trump reckless. Here's what he had to say today as he was en route to Erie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Before I came out again today to go somewhere I had another test this morning. And I'm clear. I think it's important the president make sure two things. One that he is clear, he is not a spreader like Dr. Fauci said a super spreader event had in the Supreme Court announcement.

And secondly, I think it's important that he make it clear to all the people that they should be socially distanced, they should be on the lawn and that's fine. But in fact they should be socially distanced and wearing masks. That's the only responsible thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And Wolf, you mentioned how key Pennsylvania is going to be this election? This is the second trip that Joe Biden made to the state just this week. Earlier this week when I talked to you I was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, so very important to the Biden Campaign and they know it.

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BLITZER: President Trump is heading to Pennsylvania this week as well. Jessica dean, thank you very, very much. Meanwhile the president is trying to project a return to some sense of normality.

Today speaking at a big White House event with no social distancing on the South Lawn of the White House as his Vice President Mike Pence did the same thing at a big campaign rally in Florida.

Let's discuss with the Host of CNN's "SMERCONISH," Michael Smerconish is joining us right now. Michael thanks so much for joining us. What do you think is the strategy behind today's event? Who was the real target audience?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not you, not CNN viewers, not the people who look at this and find it jarring. What occurs to me, Wolf, is that this was a planned event, right?

This is not a college party that spun out of control because students are working their phones and all of a sudden a crowd shows up that you didn't anticipate. This was deliberate. They knew exactly what they were doing today?

And so what it tells me is that it's an event that is channeling toward the base that he already has. Pew Research released a survey this week, an enormous sample size, 10, 11,000 people. And it found that 78 percent of those who subsist on a diet of only Fox News and talk radio believe the virus is overblown. This event today, the imagery that came from it, it was for them, it was for his base. It is not intended to persuade anybody.

BLITZER: As you heard and all of us heard the president once again claimed today that the virus in his words is disappearing, which of course is false. It's false today just as it was when he said those kinds of things right at the beginning of the pandemic in March and April. Are you surprised he hasn't changed his rhetoric since contracting COVID himself?

SMERCONISH: You know contrition has never come easily to him, right? He's always been following that Roy Cohn play book of attack, attack, attack. I'm hard-pressed in the span of the last 4 years to identify any circumstance, maybe the "Access Hollywood" tape on the night it was released there was some contrition from him.

But it's just never been what makes him tick. He's not the type to say I was wrong or to change his view. And as problematic as many of his critics find that, that "Resolve" is what his supporters seem to like.

BLITZER: The president did a number of interviews, and you discussed this on your program Smerconish earlier today here on CNN with right wing conservative media, nearly a two-hour no commercial break interview with rush Limbaugh.

That seems to be his strategy right now. How effective is that approach if you're primarily only going after your base? My own sense is that maybe he fears there won't be enough turnouts from his base. He's trying to get bigger turnout and as a result that's what he's doing.

SMERCONISH: I think you're right, Wolf. I think the intent was getting out the vote. Getting out the vote that he already has but perhaps is worried as to whether they have the same level of passion and are going to show up to the same extent that they did 4 years ago?

Look, the way you reach Republican voters these days is not to go through the traditional party apparatus. Men with microphones, largely men with microphones, individuals who are part of that sort of, you know, cottage industry of conservative media, they're the ones who have a stranglehold on the most reliable Republican voters.

But to your point, it's not a way that you reach the rest of the community, the rest of the country. That same Pew survey that I said that shows nearly 80 percent of those who worked only at Fox and only at talk think this is overblown when you ask all Americans who will do a better job handling the virus as between Vice President Biden and President Trump?

There's a 17 percent gap that favors Joe Biden. They know that. They're not playing for those folks. He's really never made a pitch to grow the tent in 4 years, and for better or worse that's how he's going to finish.

BLITZER: Yes, he could have reached 60 million or 80 million viewers in that second scheduled debate in Miami that was supposed to take place this coming week, but he walked out because it was going to be virtual instead of in-person, and I think even some of his closest political supporters are saying that was a blunder. Michael Smerconish as usual, thanks you so much for joining us.

SMERCONISH: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, as doctors fear the United States may be heading into a second wave of the deadly Coronavirus, the president once again said today of the Coronavirus and I'm quoting now, "It's going to disappear, it is disappearing". That comment as he himself today on balcony due to his own COVID-19 diagnosis.

[19:25:00]

BLITZER: I'll discuss that and more with Miles Taylor. He served in the Trump Administration. That's next right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: President Trump and his White House disregarding CDC guidelines may be nothing new, but it was still rather shocking to witness the scene at the White House earlier today. Hundreds not socially distanced gathering close together to hear the president speak.

Miles Taylor is a CNN Contributor, Former Trump Homeland Security Official who's now backing Joe Biden. Miles thanks so much for joining us. You served in this administration. What do you make of the event today over at the White House?

[19:30:00]

BLITZER: Earlier today, hundreds not socially distanced gathering close together to hear the President speak. Miles Taylor is a CNN contributor, former Trump Homeland Security official, who is now backing Joe Biden.

Miles, thanks so much for joining us. You served in this administration. What do you make of the event today over at the White House?

MILES TAYLOR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Wolf, in this administration, it's become really tough to define the word hyperbole. Okay. And we try to avoid it as much as we can.

But it would not, in my case, be hyperbolic to say that this was absolutely stunning. It was stunning to see for a lot of reasons, not least of which because we're in the middle of a once in a century pandemic, but because, Wolf, we just saw pictures the other week of an event at the White House of people without masks in the Rose Garden that may have been a super spreader event that potentially was, you know, infecting multiple people within this administration.

We're still dealing with the fallout. The Joint Chiefs of the United States are still in quarantine, in part because of those events at the White House, the photos of which I think were also stunning. But now here we are, mere days after the President got out of Walter Reed, and they're holding more events like that at the White House in contravention of C.D.C. guidelines.

So, Wolf, if I was in my last job at the Department of Homeland Security, I think one of the first calls that I would have made today would have been to the White House Chief of Staff and I would have said, look, what are you guys doing? And please explain to us why the White House is continuing this way when we have real concerns about the continuity of government, because people in and around the White House might be infected because of the way that you are handling events. That doesn't appear to have happened and the White House seems to continue to flout the guidance of their own public health officials.

BLITZER: It's so disturbing. Tomorrow, Miles, will be seven months since the President's Oval Office address about the pandemic. On that day. He said this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Smart action today will prevent the spread of the virus tomorrow. Every community faces different risks and it is critical for you to follow the guidelines of your local officials who are working closely with our Federal health experts -- and they are the best.

For all Americans, it is essential that everyone take extra precautions, and practice good hygiene. Each of us has a role to play in defeating this virus: wash your hands, clean often used surfaces, cover your face and mouth if you sneeze or cough, and most of all, if you are sick or not feeling well, stay home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So has he actually forgotten that guidance? Did he ever really believe it to begin with?

TAYLOR: Now, Wolf, it is extraordinary. You remember very well during the Obama administration, when a senior official described their foreign policy as leading from behind, and it became the watchwords that were used politically against the Obama administration.

I think the watchwords for this administration will be leading by example, because we had the White House talk about leading by example. We had the President in that speech, say it was important to lead by example, and what Americans needed to do. And then the White House very ironically, has done the exact opposite.

You can't overstate the importance of this, and it is easy for us to get on television and talk about it and criticize the White House because there's a lot that this administration is doing wrong.

But really, most fundamentally, when it comes to this pandemic, the simplest things that this White House could have done are the most important things, and there are so many supporters in this country. We're not talking about thousands, we're talking about millions of supporters of the President who are watching his example, and following his example.

So when the President doesn't wear masks, when the President has as many friends as he wants over to his house, when the President doesn't follow C.D.C. guidelines, then Americans will do the same. They won't wear masks. They'll have as many friends over their house as they want to. They'll have big gatherings and events and we'll see the virus continue to spread.

Again, the simplest thing the White House could have done is in this case, the most important of the pandemic, and they haven't done that.

And I would go a step further and say that if the President of the United States can't protect his own people in the White House complex, and I've talked to a number of friends that are still at the White House, and I talk to them regularly, a lot of them are very uncomfortable about the situation the President has put them in because they either have preexisting conditions or they've got family members who are vulnerable.

If he can't protect those people, how can he protect the American people and viewers and voters would be right to ask that question.

BLITZER: Miles Taylor, joining us. Miles, thank you very, very much as usual.

Meanwhile, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican senators, they're not balking at the price tag of a stimulus package proposed by the White House. Stuck in the middle of all of this political back and forth are the American people who continue to struggle right now in an economy crippled by the pandemic.

Andrew Yang is here to discuss. There you see him. We've got lots to discuss with him when we come back.

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[19:38:59]

BLITZER: The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republicans, they are blasting President Trump's $1.8 trillion stimulus proposal, almost ensuring the Congress will not pass another stimulus package before Election Day.

Just this past week, an additional 800,000 more Americans filed for first-time unemployment. Millions of Americans are way behind on rent, paying bills, facing lots of food insecurity right now. Hard to believe this is going on here in the United States of America.

Let's discuss this and more with CNN political commentator, the former Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang.

Andrew, thanks so much for joining us. There is such an enormous need out there right now, why has it been so difficult for the players here in Washington to get their act together to help these Americans in need?

ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: In one word, politics, Wolf, but I agree with you in being beyond disappointed. It is infuriating that it is October and so many Americans are still waiting on a relief bill that should have been passed months ago.

[19:40:06]

YANG: If I'm Nancy Pelosi, I'd take this deal. If I'm Mitch McConnell, I'd take this deal. This is great for the American people. They were suggesting another $1,200.00 in direct cash relief to millions of Americans, $400.00 a week in weekly Federal unemployment benefits. This would be a lifeline for millions of Americans, and I have no idea why this is not being passed. Instead, they are grandstanding and playing politics while people are hurting.

BLITZER: Yes, I mean, it's amazing what's going on. We see the pain and suffering out in the streets all over the country right now.

We saw the President, by the way, Andrew, this week, call off stimulus talks, tweeting -- at one point he tweeted these words, "I have instructed by representatives to stop negotiating until after the election. When immediately after I win, we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and small business." And then all of a sudden, yesterday, he said this. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: I would like to see a bigger stimulus package, frankly, than either the Democrats or the Republicans are offering. I'm going in the exact opposite now, okay? I mean, I'm telling you this. I'm telling you something I don't tell anybody else because maybe it helps or maybe it hurts negotiations.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: That was in his interview with Rush Limbaugh, a total 180 from the President, Andrew, so will this nebulous plan even be possible, given the resistance that he's now getting from Republicans who think it's too much -- too much money involved, and from Democrats who want even more, but they want different aspects of it?

YANG: President Trump vacillating on this, Wolf, made the entire process much more difficult, because after he tweeted that no more stimulus relief bill, then everyone now feels like he is taking responsibility for cutting off negotiations.

So even if he tries to reopen them the next day, everyone can just say, well, you know that ship has sailed, but they're wrong to do so. Because if you look at this timeframe, we need to pass a bill yesterday, really, even if you were to pass it immediately, Americans will be waiting for weeks for benefits to actually arrive in their hands.

And if you wait until after the election, the election might take some time to play out, and then having Congress come together and pass a bill, you could be extending this timeline by weeks or more.

So again, Nancy Pelosi in Congress, please, I know you don't love President Trump, but the American people need relief and this is a good deal for millions of Americans.

BLITZER: Yes, we're not talking about billions of dollars, we're talking about trillion, more than a trillion dollars right now. So your message to the Speaker Nancy Pelosi, take the money and run.

YANG: Yes. This package is solid on many levels. I understand that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats wanted to include aid to city and state governments around the country, which was right, because those governments are in position where they're going to be turning around and laying off workers.

But this package includes that. It includes hundreds of billions of dollars in relief to state governments. So this is a solid deal for Democrats. And I have this sinking feeling, unfortunately, that at this point, Congress is willing to lay this defeat at the feet of the President, because people are voting. Right now, people are heading to the polls over the next number of days and weeks.

And unfortunately, I think Congress is looking at it and saying at this point, the President can own this failure. But I think that's the wrong approach.

BLITZER: The President keeps claiming, as you know, Andrew, that the economy is roaring back. It's going to be great. It's going to be fabulous.

But the unemployment rate right now is at the highest level we've seen -- we've ever seen just ahead of a presidential election right now. As I said earlier, more than 800,000 Americans just last week had to file for first time unemployment benefits. That's according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This is an awful situation the country is facing right now.

YANG: You know, the numbers are horrifying, Wolf, and the numbers understate the damage. There was a quote in an article that I think said it all. They said that the cars that are heading to the food banks are getting nicer. The damage is spreading throughout the American middle class. You're seeing people who never imagined they'd be in a situation where they would have to go to a food bank or shelter doing just that.

And more and more people, as they become distressed are looking at our government saying, why can you not do what 82 percent of Americans agree is necessary, what every economist on both sides of the aisle agree is necessary.

Do your job, Congress. This is why you're there. And if you can't get this done, then people are going to be paying a price at the ballot box in November because a lot of folks I talk to are disgusted at the lack of leadership out of Washington.

BLITZER: And these people who are losing their jobs, the millions of them, they are losing their healthcare. They are losing all of their ability to pay the rent, to put food on the table, to help their kids. It's a horrible, horrible situation that's unfolding right now.

[19:45:10]

BLITZER: So your message, get the money out there and get it out there quickly. Andrew Yang, as usual. Thanks so much for joining us.

YANG: Thank you, Wolf. Be well.

BLITZER: You, too. Stay safe out there.

Meanwhile, the President said today, the coronavirus is disappearing. An emergency physician told CNN today and I'm quoting now, "We are all deeply afraid that this is the beginning of that dreaded second wave." Why is there such a gap between what doctors are saying, what the leader of the free world is saying right now? Stay with us. We'll explain when we come back.

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[19:50:07]

BLITZER: Tomorrow night, on an all-new episode of CNN Original Series, "First Ladies," we'll take a closer look at one of America's most glamorous first ladies, Jackie Kennedy, and her heartbreaking task of establishing her husband's legacy after his assassination. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President John Kennedy's debut on the international scene gets off to a start in France, where the President is greeted formally by President Charles de Gaulle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four months into the presidency and reeling from the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Kennedys embark on a European tour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Cold War is approaching a dangerous point. President Kennedy needs balance. But Charles de Gaulle is famously cold and steer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crowds estimated as high as two million lined the route who cheered the President.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But all eyes are on Jackie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are screaming "Viva Jaqueline. Viva Jaqueline."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both President and Mrs. Kennedy are taken aback by how many people are there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The all new episode airs tomorrow night 10 Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

Meanwhile, a new coronavirus model predicts close to 400,000 American deaths by February 1st. Tonight on CNN, former heads of the C.D.C. are here to answer your coronavirus questions. Here is CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with more on what they'll be discussing tonight.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We do have a special Town Hall tonight. We have invited five former C.D.C. Directors to come and talk about the status of science in the country where we are with this pandemic right now. And more importantly, what needs to be done.

A topic that's certain to come up as well with these C.D.C. heads is just the issue of trust, overall. Never have we seen such tension between some of our scientific institutions and political institutions, at least we haven't seen that in a very long time.

This Week in "The New England Journal of Medicine," a journal that every healthcare person knows and reads probably with some degree of regularity, they did something they've not ever done before in their 200-plus year history.

They weighed in on politics. And I want to read to you just for a second, a couple of things that they said. They said, "The current leadership has taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy." They liken the current leadership's handling of the pandemic to a crime.

And again, I'm quoting here from "The New England Journal of Medicine." "Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment."

And then they finished off by saying, "We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs."

This was just one of four editorials in the history of the journal that was actually signed by all the editors. And it really raises a concern about trust overall from scientific institutions, and the trust in scientific institutions.

I can tell you, you know, the most recent polls, we went back and looked still have a relatively favorable view of doctors and scientists. Seventy four percent of people in these polls held their doctors in a favorable light, 68 percent felt the same way about research scientists. But things are changing, and that trust is eroding.

Many people now believe that the C.D.C. and the F.D.A. are looking too much to politics, when it comes to reviewing and approving treatments and guidance and recommendations for the coronavirus. And since April of this year, trust in the C.D.C. has dropped 16 percent. That lack of trust has ramifications, 20 percent of people out there believe that masks will actually make them sick. Now, close to that percentage of people believe that masks don't really do anything, only about half the country now is willing to get a vaccine.

As much as we celebrate the remarkable pace of medical innovation for a vaccine, what's the value if people really don't trust it?

Well, these are the issues that we're going to take up today again with five former C.D.C. Directors: Dr. Tom Frieden, Dr. Richard Besser, Dr. Julie Gerberding, Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, and Dr. David Satcher.

We will talk about all of these issues tonight in our Town Hall: Coronavirus Facts and Fears. I hope you join us.

BLITZER: We certainly will, Sanjay. Thanks very much.

Once again. the CNN Global Town Hall: Coronavirus Facts and Fears hosted by Sanjay and Anderson Cooper. It airs right after THE SITUATION ROOM, 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

[19:55:03]

BLITZER: Up next, 28 states are now seeing a rise in new cases compared to last week. Doctors are saying this country may be seeing a second very deadly wave.

But the President held an event over at the White House where there were masks, yes, but little social distancing and he said the coronavirus, his word is disappearing. The next hour of our special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right after a quick break.

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