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U.S. Coronavirus Deaths At 225,000, Infections At 8.6 Million; Trump And Biden Campaign In Battleground Pennsylvania; Mark Meadows Admits Virus Can't Be Controlled; A Record Of 60-Plus Million Ballots Already Casted Eight Days Before Election; Trump In PA: Only Way We Lose Is Case Of "Massive Fraud"; PA Atty. General: We Will Not Tolerate Voter Intimidation. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 26, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Dr. Saag, thank you so much. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, @jaketapper, tweet the show @TheLeadCNN. Our coverage continues right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We are following breaking news.

The coronavirus death toll here in the United States now topping 225,000 people with more than 8.6 million confirmed cases. And in a very disturbing new development, the daily average number of new cases is now at the highest point since the pandemic began.

But as the crisis worsens by almost every measure, President Trump is again claiming the virus is under control. Just one day after his own White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told CNN in a truly shocking admission that the virus can't be controlled.

Right now, the president and his Democratic rival Joe Biden are campaigning in the must win battleground state of Massachusetts hoping to secure its Electoral College votes as they vie for the 270 needed to win the White House. And with just only eight days to go before the election, a record 60 million early ballots have now been cast.

Let's get some more on the final full week of the presidential campaign. Our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania for us. Jim, the president is going all out in Pennsylvania despite the worsening -- worsening coronavirus crisis in the U.S.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. President Trump is campaigning hard in Pennsylvania. This is his third rally of the day in this critical battleground state.

And as you can see from looking at our cameras right now, we have been seeing this at rally after rally, there is almost no social distancing going on at this rally.

There are very few Trump supporters wearing masks even though there is a fresh batch of White House staffers who have been sickened by the coronavirus and the president is blaming all of his election problems these days it seems on what he describes as COVID, COVID, COVID!

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: COVID, COVID, COVID!

ACOSTA (voice-over): Even as more top White House aides are getting sick with the coronavirus, the president is still staging rallies with thousands of supporters and now superspreading fears about the election, warning state officials in Pennsylvania his campaign is on the lookout for voter fraud.

TRUMP: We are watching you, governor, very closely in Philadelphia. We are watching you.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president sounds like he is laying the groundwork for contesting next week's results accusing Democrats of trying to steal the election without offering any evidence.

TRUMP: It's the only way we can lose, in my opinion, is massive fraud. And that's what's -- that's what's happening because all over the country, you're seeing it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Yet, Mr. Trump says he is confident he'll come out on top.

TRUMP: I think we are going to win Pennsylvania by more than we did last time.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Still some on the president's team are making crucial last-minute mistakes starting with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who said the administration is unable to control the pandemic.

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation areas.

ACOSTA (voice-over): After the White House admitted a handful of staffers from Vice President Mike Pence contracted the virus, a Trump adviser told CNN campaign aides were furious with Meadows saying, "Everyone was clear that Meadows (BLEEP) the bed again."

Democrat Joe Biden seized on the remark saying in a statement, "It was a candid acknowledgement of what President Trump's strategy is clearly been from the beginning of this crisis; to wave the white flag of defeat."

TRUMP: No, no, he has. He has waved a white flag on life. He doesn't leave his basement. This guy doesn't leave his basement. He is a pathetic candidate.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had his own tone deaf moment making a racially insensitive comment about African-Americans. JARED KUSHNER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: President Trump's policies

are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they are complaining about, but he can't want them to be successful more than they want to be successful.

ACOSTA (voice-over): That was subtle compared to the president's overt racist rhetoric at his rallies.

TRUMP: And Barack Hussein Obama went out. Nobody is showing up to watch Barack Hussein Obama.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president is trying to fire up his base pointing to his selection of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court.

TRUMP: Tonight, she will be confirmed by the Senate and become the newest member of the Supreme Court.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The White House is planning to celebrate with another event on the south lawn, a reminder of the Rose Garden superspreader that likely infected administration officials and other attendees when Barrett was announced by Mr. Trump.

MURIEL BOWSER, MAYOR OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: So, you can believe that you can go to the White House and get COVID and nothing is going to happen to you. Perhaps or you can die from it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president is spending the final days of his campaign blaming his current woes on the media and more cleanup after he stormed off during a "60 Minutes" interview.

TRUMP: I think we have enough of an interview here, Hope. Okay, that's enough. I'll see you a little while. Thanks.

[17:05:02]

ACOSTA (voice-over): Former president Barack Obama said that doesn't exactly make Mr. Trump a tough guy.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But when "60 Minutes" and Leslie Stahl are too tough for you, you aren't all that tough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (on camera): And President Trump is not the only one who is doing some campaigning these days. Vice President Mike Pence is also holding rallies of his own even after some of his own staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.

And the vice president's campaign events appear to be flouting the administration's own COVID-19 guidelines that is despite the fact that he is the head of the Coronavirus Task Force.

And Wolf, we should also point out the effect that the coronavirus pandemic is having on the stock market. The Dow Jones was down some 650 points this afternoon. Wolf, that is largely because of the spike in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. and the lack of stimulus bill as talks are going nowhere on that front, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Investors are very, very worried clearly right now. Jim Acosta, thanks very much. The vice president clearly should be in quarantine right now for 14 days given the fact that some of his closest associates have come down with COVID.

Let's check in on Joe Biden's campaign right now. CNN political correspondent M.J. Lee is working that part of the story for us. M.J. we've just learned that the former vice president also showed up unexpectedly in Pennsylvania today. What is the latest?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Just moments ago, we saw Joe Biden visit a field office in Chester, Pennsylvania. He said hello to some voters. He also briefly spoke to reporters and, again, seized this opportunity to go after President Trump on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been saying for months, as you well know, that he waved the white flag all the way back then. He wasn't doing much at all. Some people said I was being harsh, that I was being unfair. The White House is coming right out now and admitting what I said months ago was absolutely true.

And look, how many people are dead? He said we are not going to control it, not going to control it. The bottom line is Donald Trump is the worst possible president, the worst possible person to try to lead us through this pandemic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Clearly this was a reference to what White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told Jake Tapper over the weekend that the U.S. is not going to be able to contain this pandemic. And just another sign, Wolf, that coronavirus pandemic is going to be so central to Joe Biden's closing message in these final days.

We have heard him talk about this over and over again. The campaign very much believes that this is one issue where the campaign can draw the starkest contrast between Joe Biden and President Trump.

And I just want to quickly give you a sense of what this final week of campaigning is going to look like for Joe Biden based on what we know so far. On Tuesday, he is headed to Georgia. This is a state that a Democratic presidential candidate has not won since the 1990s.

On Thursday, he is headed back to Florida, obviously, a state that President Trump won back in 2016, and with so many electoral votes up for grabs there. And then on Friday, the campaign just announced that they are headed back -- headed to I should say, Iowa and Wisconsin. Again, two states that President Trump won in 2016.

Very interesting to note that he is clearly spending these final days targeting states that President Trump won back in 2016 and Biden just told reporters that he is doing this to make sure that we win every vote possible. Wolf?

BLITZER: That's what he just said. All right. Thanks very much, M.J. Lee for reporting for us. Let's get some more on all of this. Joining us now, our chief political correspondent Dana Bash and CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers. He is the author of the new book "My Vanishing Country."

Dana, we're only eight days away from Election Day. The president continues to claim we are rounding the corner with a virus when the reality is we are seeing record high case numbers, almost every single day. Is that closing argument going to work with voters who are feeling the negative effects of this deadly pandemic?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, the voters who -- the very little slice of the electorate that have not decided or on the fence and I think it's a very, very little slice, and maybe they're more on the fence about whether they are going to vote than actually who they would vote for, perhaps, but it's very unlikely.

What the president is clearly trying to do, Wolf, is to galvanize as much of the base -- I call it base mining -- as much as he can. And you just have to know that not just by what he is saying, which is we are rounding the corner on coronavirus, appealing to people who have had it with the restrictions in their lives because of this deadly pandemic, but because of where he is going.

I mean, in Pennsylvania alone now, he is going to places that are reliably red but he needs to boost the share of his vote there in a big way. Even more so than he did in a surprise way four years ago.

[17:10:00]

So that is clearly the strategy in where he is going and what he is saying.

BLITZER: You know, Bakari, a Trump campaign adviser says there is widespread frustration right now with the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after he told Jake yesterday and I am quoting now, "We are not going to control the pandemic." Did meadows essentially hand the Biden campaign a major gift when he made that remark?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, you know, he handed the Biden campaign a major gift by telling the truth. It seems as if Mark Meadows is the only one who has an inability to lie as frequently as the rest of the people who are around the Trump orbit.

He comes from -- people forget that Mark Meadows used to be best friends going back to the bipartisan days with Elijah Cummings. And Mark Meadows seems to even come out the woodwork sometimes and show that he actually is tethered to the truth.

But it ties into the closing message of Barack Obama quite well -- of Joe Biden quite well. I have Barack Obama on my mind, apparently. The reason being is because as Dana so articulately put it, you know, the Biden message is one about making sure because there aren't many undecided voters, but making sure those people who chose the couch in 2016, come out to the polls today.

And he is doing that by honing in on getting America back to normal. Taking someone who had an incompetent response both from a public health perspective and economic perspective to the coronavirus and putting somebody in charge who at least has a plan, that is their closing message.

And it seems to be working especially with those voters who didn't come out in 2016. No one can tell me what Trump's message is because it just doesn't seem to be clear stop after stop after stop.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Dana, the president holding three campaign rallies in Pennsylvania today. His focus on Pennsylvania, what does that tell you about his confidence that he'll actually carry this critically important battleground state?

BASH: It tells us that he understands and knows that he needs it. The same goes for Joe Biden. Joe Biden might not need it to put together the puzzles of the electoral map to add up to 270 the way Donald Trump might, but they certainly -- it could be game-changer or game over depending on who wins on election night or whenever we get the results from Election Day.

And so that -- it is absolutely positively critical. Look. Four years ago without Donald Trump's surprise win and it was a surprise win to the Democrats and to a lot of people for a lot of reasons, mostly because in the Republican areas that Democrats didn't even bother voting because they always go Republican, the Trump campaign got so -- and the president got so many more -- tens of thousands more votes than any Republican had before.

And so what the Biden campaign is hoping to do is to counteract that by boosting, as Bakari said, his vote in some of the Democratic areas, the cities and the suburbs.

BLITZER: You know what, it's interesting, Bakari, the former vice president, he originally had no campaign events on his schedule today but he just made a surprise stop in Pennsylvania where he met with some voters, took some questions from reporters. He has got a very, very different approach than the president, but it's equally telling perhaps. What do you think?

SELLERS: Yes. I mean, I think that the map has expanded tremendously for Democrats. I mean, the most valuable thing you have during this time is not money contrary to popular belief, but when you're going down the wire, the most valuable thing you have is time.

And it just shows you, as Dana said, it just shows you that the most important place, one of the most important states for Vice President Biden is Pennsylvania. Now, does he need it to be president of the United States to get to 270?

There are other ways for him to get there, but the fact is, he really, really, really, really wants to win the state of Pennsylvania and he is working extremely hard to do so. You know, you also see him going to Florida. You see him going to Texas. You have the vice president -- the future vice president, Kamala Harris, you have her going to Ohio and Georgia. They are just really expanding this map with Pennsylvania being the place that I believe is Joe Biden's number one flip. He wants (inaudible) the state.

BLITZER: Yes. He desperately needs that. Florida would be critically important for him as well. All right, Dana, Bakari, guys, thank you very much.

There is more breaking news we are following. The average number of new daily COVID cases here in the United States is now at its highest point of the pandemic as the virus is sweeping across the country. We will talk about the very disturbing numbers, what they mean for New York with the governor, Andrew Cuomo. He is standing by live. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

BLITZER: We are following breaking news. More than 225,000 Americans are now dead in the coronavirus pandemic. And the number of cases in the United States has now topped 8.6 million. CNN national correspondent Erica Hill is working the story for us from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More Americans hospitalized. More new infections. More lives lost. The average number of new cases in the U.S., now nearly 69,000 a day.

WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT, ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: We are looking forward to a number of record weeks in the very near future that will drive this daily rate above 100,000.

HILL (voice-over): Thirty-seven states reporting an increase in new cases over the past week. Twenty-one posting their highest seven-day averages to date. South Dakota's positivity rate for tests returned on Monday, 23 percent.

ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Literally, we have never given up on a virus like this before.

HILL (voice-over): With no national plan, experts are working overtime to fill the void.

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.

[17:19:59]

HILL (voice-over): Former FDA commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, pushing for a temporary nationwide mandate in a new op-ed noting, "States should be able to choose how to enforce the mandate, but the goal should be to make masks a social and cultural norm, not a political statement."

LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We actually have a narrow window of opportunity right now to stop the explosive spread that is coming.

HILL (voice-over): Pennsylvania's secretary of health urging residents to limit all holiday gatherings.

RACHEL LEVINE, PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF HEALTH: We need to think about more and more gatherings being virtual or only staying with your family that you live with.

HILL (voice-over): Four confirmed cases at this Arizona middle school prompting a two-week quarantine for hundreds of students and staff. Chicago adding a new curfew as numbers there rise. Illinois's director of public health breaking down over the weekend.

NGOZI EZIKE, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: We are reporting 3,874 new cases for a total of 364,033 confirmed cases since the start of this pandemic. Excuse me, please. Sorry.

HILL (voice-over): The Utah Hospital Association warning it may soon need to ration care.

TOM INGLESBY, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: That would affect not just people who have COVID but people who need to go to the ICU for other medical purposes.

HILL (voice-over): El Paso, Texas adding a two-week curfew as hospitals and ICU's reach capacity.

DEE MARGO, MAYOR OF EL PASO, TEXAS: We had significant spikes to the point that our hospital capacity is really tapped. We are probably at the end of our rope there.

HILL (voice-over): The convention center being converted to a hospital to help manage the surge, which shows no sign of slowing.

FAUCI: It's kind of semantics. You want to call it the third wave or an extended first wave. No matter how you look at it, it's not good news.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL (on camera): We have learned that when it comes to vaccine, children as young as 12 actually are participating in Pfizer's vaccine trials. And Wolf, we also learned some new numbers today from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They say that over the last two weeks, cases in children are up 14 percent.

They account for about 11 percent of the cases nationwide. Now, while severe illness and death in children is rare, it's important to note the rise in those numbers, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Even if they are asymptomatic they can simply pass on the virus to their parents, their grandparents or loved ones and a lot of friends. Erica Hill in New York for us. Thank you very much.

Joining us now, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. He is the author of a brand new very important book entitled "American Crisis Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic." There you see the book cover.

Governor, thank you so much for joining us. At one point, as you remember better than anyone, New York was the epicenter of the crisis here in the United States. How do you respond to the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying and I'm quoting him now, "We are not going to control the pandemic?"

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Yes, good to be with you, Wolf. You know, in many ways, he finally answered the question. He answered the riddle, right? I couldn't understand why the White House was taking the tact they did all the way from the very beginning of this.

They had the January White House memo that said millions would be infected, the Woodward interview where the president lied about the refusal to do masks. Meadows answered it. He said we can't control the pandemic, we can control the vaccine, et cetera.

They were wrong and it was a terrible tragic mistake they made. They believe you can't control the pandemic. It was preemptive capitulation. They never tried to control the spread. That's what they are saying to you and they were just wrong.

You look at New York. We had the highest infection rate in the United States of America, if not the globe, and now we have one of the lowest infection rates in the nation. You can flatten the curve. You can reduce the number of cases. They have done it around the globe.

You have Germany. You have Japan. You have Mexico that has done a better job than the United States. They gave up the battle against COVID without firing a shot and they were wrong and they are still wrong about it.

BLITZER: Governor, the United States recorded nearly 500,000 new infections over the past week alone. What do you fear is the worst- case scenario over these coming months, a scenario, God forbid, that we hopefully won't have to endure, but what is your greatest fear?

CUOMO: Well, look, the scientists all along said it was going to get worse in the fall. They were right. You have a lot of states that have not been prepared. You have states, frankly, that have listened to the president. They are doing less testing today, Wolf, than they were four or five months ago.

Seven months into this, they are still not prepared. You are going to see spikes in the fall. And then we have a whole long process with the vaccine once we get there. In the fall, what a state should be doing now is more testing, not less.

[17:25:02]

This is like embers in a field of dry grass. That is how I picture it. I think of COVID as a fire. And the only theory is when you see an ember fall you run and stomp it out at that point. You need intense testing to do that.

We call it micro clusters. When we find a neighborhood, Wolf, that has a spread, we come in with compliance enforcement and testing and knock it out in that -- literally in that neighborhood. And then you go from ember to ember and you find the little spreads before they become big spreads, but you need sophisticated testing to do that.

You have to believe you can flatten the curve. And you have to believe in the American people and you should. They get it. They are community minded. They are responsible, but they need to be informed and they need a clear message from the leadership of this nation.

Wear a mask because you know it works. We were the first state in the nation to pass a state mandate on masks. The simplest, easiest thing to do, they still won't do it and Meadows answered the riddle.

BLITZER: If thousands -- if 90 percent, 95 percent of the American public simply wore a mask, thousands of Americans would survive, wouldn't come down with this disease and wouldn't die, unfortunately.

You speak about the importance of testing. We have very, very poor contact tracing which is so critically important as well. While I still have you, governor, I want to ask you about these long lines wrapping around polling sites for early voting in New York.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says just because it's happening in a blue state doesn't mean that it's not voter suppression, her words. Do you agree with her? Do these delays amount to voter suppression?

CUOMO: Well, there is no purposeful voter suppression in New York State, right? The turn-out has been overwhelming and it overwhelmed the New York City Board of Elections. There is no doubt about that. People waited in line four or five hours, Wolf.

First, it shows you how many people want to vote and the amount of energy in this election. And if I were President Trump, I'd be worried about that. But the Board of Elections in New York City should have been better prepared.

Yes, this is a different election. Yes, this is the first case scenario, but they should have been better prepared. There is no doubt about that

BLITZER: Yes. People want to vote and they are waiting in long lines not just in New York, but all over the country. And more than 60 million Americans have already cast their ballots which is so, so impressive. Governor Cuomo, thank you so much for joining us.

CUOMO: Thank you, WOlf.

BLITZER: Coming up, we'll take a closer look at where each candidates stand on the path of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency and we're only eight days out from Election Day. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:33:03]

BLITZER: Our breaking news, the daily average of new coronavirus cases here in the United States is at the highest point of the entire pandemic, more than 68,000 new cases a day. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us right now. Sanjay, the U.S. is now reporting this highest ever level of new coronavirus cases, how bad could this get if we don't immediately take action on a national level?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I mean, we've always known that the fall and winter, we're going to be bad. We've been saying that for some time, public health officials have been worried about it for some time, we're seeing it, Wolf. I mean, let me show you a few graphs. We put this together to sort of give you an idea of what is happening, but also what is potentially possible.

First of all, compare the United States to the European Union. This is a fair comparison. You know, you go back to March and, you know, the Orange is the United States, white is the European Union, they were sort of ahead of us in terms of that surge of cases. And then we had the same surge and we stayed sort of that elevated level as you can see in orange.

Again, Wolf, we're a couple of weeks trailing now behind the European Union. They've had this significant surge over the past couple of weeks. And we're starting to see the same thing here. The problem is we're starting from a higher baseline, Wolf.

Let me show you the only model that, you know, we really have historically to compare this to 1918 and what you saw back then. This is why everyone refers to things as waves, by the way. You can see these three distinct waves, but they were really distinct waves, meaning, they came down in between, but that second wave was the worst, Wolf, and that second wave from a time of the year sort of standpoint is right where we are now, sort of mid-October to, you know, over the next several weeks is when they had that wave. That's what we're trying to avoid.

And, finally, Wolf, the model that a lot of people look at, to your question, this IHME model. You know, models always had these different projections, OK? So, the middle line on the right there, that's where we're sort of headed now. 385,000 deaths roughly by February 1st in that middle line. That would be 160,000 deaths in the next hundred days, roughly, Wolf, think about that.

[17:35:11]

Green line, if we got masking, and then you can see how bad it could get. That would be the red lines for a shooting straight up, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's so, so depressing when you look at those charts. Hospitals, as you know, Sanjay, at least in some hotspots, we're talking about El Paso, Texas, for example, are already overflowing. Doctors and nurses have gotten better at treating people for the virus since the initial wave of the pandemic. But if they're now being forced to ration hospital beds, how much more deadly and dangerous does this disease become?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, that that's the crucial point, Wolf. I mean, that virus is the virus, it behaves a certain way. How much deadly or could it become? Really, in some ways, depends on, can we take care of people who get very sick with this virus? I mean, you could be saved, but you couldn't get to a hospital, you couldn't get care. That would be obviously a tragic, tragic scenario.

Imagine calling for an ambulance and basically being told there's not enough beds in your particular community. Hopefully, that doesn't happen. But you're right, El Paso, they're looking at a convention center now for search capacity. Wisconsin, heard about these field hospitals. In Utah, the governor tweeted out this past week that things have become unsustainable.

Wolf, you know, the idea of the hospitalizations I think is the key thing that people really need to pay attention to. That is so -- It's so directly impacts people in terms of how they're going to possibly have to deal with this. If hospitals do become overwhelmed, which is a fair concern, I don't think we have the choice anymore in terms of whether we have to mandate masks, whether we have to potentially even shut things down for a little while. We just won't be able to keep up at that point. So again, that's what we're trying to avoid, Wolf.

BLITZER: And people who don't have COVID but need to go to the hospital for other conditions, they're avoiding going to the hospital, which could prolong and make even more serious the conditions that they're suffering from all. This is so, so worrisome.

Sanjay Gupta -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta, I should say, thank you so much for joining us.

Coming up, the election is now boiling down to who gets the Electoral College votes with just over a handful of key states. We're going to take a closer look when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:53]

BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking stories. With only eight days left until the election, more than 60 million ballots already have been cast. Both President Trump and Joe Biden are campaigning in Pennsylvania today. It's one of the battleground states with the key electoral votes that will decide who spends the next four years in the White House.

Let's go to our Political Director David Chalian. David, tell us more about these key battlegrounds.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. Well, remember, this is our current state of play on the road to 270, Wolf, at the moment. This is not a projection of where we'll be next week. But if you take all the states in Joe Biden's camp leaning in this direction, he's a 290 electoral votes, Donald Trump at 163. That Biden strength is largely due to this blue wall of Wisconsin, Michigan. And as you noted, Pennsylvania where they are battling it out, it is the Biden's strength there that gives him the advantage right now.

And I just want to show you this, in the recent state of play, in these poll of polls in battleground states, so then average of recent polls in each battleground state. And what you see here is that blue wall again, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Wolf, you see Joe Biden's got an average of a nine percentage point lead in Michigan, seven in Wisconsin, seven in Pennsylvania. That's pretty large at the moment for him. Everything else is much closer. But, again, 10 states, you only see Donald Trump's picture twice, Texas, and Ohio. This is a battleground leaning in Joe Biden's direction, Wolf.

BLITZER: Take us inside the fight also for control of the U.S. Senate, David.

CHALIAN: Sure. So, let's switch the map over to battle for control of the Senate here. And what you'll see is right now Democrats in the independent who caucus with them, they have 47 seats, Republicans have 53. Democrats need a net gain of four seats. Where do they go to find them? First, their mountain to climb gets a little larger because here in Alabama, Doug Jones, the incumbent, he's in a really tough race and is likely to lose to Tommy Tuberville.

So, they're already one down in the hole. So where do they go to pick up the rest? Well, they could go to Colorado, where the former Governor John Hickenlooper is leaving incumbent Cory Gardner. They could pick up in Arizona, where Mark Kelly, the astronaut is leading the incumbent, Republican Martha McSally.

Where would they go to get the three more they need? If you're watching on election night, I would watch the race in Maine with Susan Collins, in North Carolina with Tom Tillis, the incumbent there and in Iowa with Joni Ernst, the incumbent there. Those three Republican incumbents, should they go down and Democrats hold on to everything else? Democrats would control the majority, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, the stakes clearly, clearly are so enormous. David Chalian, thank you very much.

Coming up, President Trump, without any offering of any proof of claims, the only way he'll lose Pennsylvania if there's massive fraud in the vote count. I'll ask Pennsylvania's Attorney General about the integrity of his state's voting system. The Attorney General Josh Shapiro, there you see him. We'll discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:49:47]

BLITZER: Our breaking news, President Trump is campaigning across Pennsylvania today without offering any proof at all. He's raising very serious allegations of voting fraud and blaming Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor. Joining us now, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Attorney General, thanks so much for joining us.

[17:50:05]

He's been campaigning in your state all day today. He warned -- he's warning that the campaign -- his campaign is on the lookout for voter fraud and falsely accusing state officials of scheming to steal the election from him. Watch this, Attorney General.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're watching you, Governor, very closely in Philadelphia. We're watching you.

It's the only way we can lose, in my opinion, is massive fraud. And that's what's happening because all over the country, you're seeing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Attorney John, what's your response to the President who made those allegations without any evidence at all in your state?

JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes. For me, he says he's watching about. The only thing I've seen here in Pennsylvania, is that Donald Trump has gone 0 and 5 in court challenges against us here. Court challenges where he has alleged widespread voter fraud, and yet never was able to back it up with a shred of evidence. That's why courts have dismissed these baseless lawsuits that he's filed.

And so, apparently, now that he's lost in court time and time again, he's gone into the public square to spin a tail and tell these lies and attack our Governor. And at the end of the day, I think people are tuning it out. I mean, he may have people showing up these super spreader events but the reality is, I think voters have tuned him out. He's like the incredibly shrinking President right now.

There -- folks are ignoring him and showing up at the polls and voting. And I think they're tired of the tweets. He can't back up what he says in court, doesn't seem like he can back it up even in these ridiculous speeches he gives. And folks just want to vote. They want to have an election. And they're tired of this chaos that he keeps trying to inflict on our election process.

BLITZER: And huge numbers of people are voting right now, whether in- person or mail-in ballots or drop box ballots. Some in your state, though, do worry, Attorney General, that the President's calls to, quote, watch, the polls will lead to voter intimidation. What are you seeing on the ground right now in Pennsylvania?

SHAPIRO: Let me be very clear, we will not tolerate voter intimidation from anyone on any side supporting any candidate. And we are aligned in law enforcement in our commitment to make sure that this is a safe and secure election for all no matter who your preferred candidate is. We're working with local authority, state authorities and our federal partners here in Pennsylvania.

We feel confident that this election is going to be safe and secure. It is unfortunate that we have a President of the United States that stokes people up and tries to encourage the kind of voter intimidation that, you know, you suggest folks are worried about. I don't see that as being a problem here, law enforcement's on it and we take this very seriously.

BLITZER: As you should. There are new developments in the fight over whether or not ballots received by election authorities after Election Day, November 3rd will be counted. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow that extension to remain in place after Republicans petition to block it. Can you guarantee, Attorney General, that the people of Pennsylvania -- can you guarantee that the people of Pennsylvania will have their votes counted as long as they're postmarked by Election Day?

SHAPIRO: Well, that was the ruling from our state Supreme Court, that if your ballots are postmarked by Election Day, and received by Friday at 5:00 p.m., the Friday after the election, then your ballot is going to count. And that's the law here in Pennsylvania, as interpreted by our state Supreme Court. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to step in last week, and sort of stay that like reverse that. And they failed to muster the necessary votes to roll that back.

Now, the Republicans here in Pennsylvania, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in again. Wolf, you're asking me if I can guarantee something, certainly, I can't guarantee it. But the law is pretty settled in this area, something known as the Purcell principle where the courts, the federal courts are supposed to give deference to state election law, particularly as you get closer to an election, because you don't want to confuse voters. And you don't want to create problems for election officials that need to, you know, pull off these elections.

And so, hopefully, the Purcell principle will be adhered to, the rules have been set. We're late in the fourth quarter right now, Wolf. Nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians have already voted to put that into some context. That's about a third of the entire electorate from 2016.

There's an incredible amount of enthusiasm and intensity around voting. Let's just let people vote. We need to stop with the litigation. And I say that to Donald Trump and his enablers, stop the litigation and just let people vote. It's time.

BLITZER: It is so, so critically important. Attorney General Josh Shapiro, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for all your important work.

[17:55:07]

SHAPIRO: Appreciate it. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Breaking news next, the coronavirus crisis escalates as the U.S. sees the highest average number of daily cases yet in the pandemic. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news coverage of the coronavirus crisis and the 2020 election.

Tonight, one of the most alarming indicators yet of COVID-19 second wave, the average of daily cases here in the United States hitting the highest point of the pandemic.