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Don Lemon Tonight

Voters Patiently Fall In Line To Vote; Democrats Emphasize Consequences For Confirming Judge Barrett; President Trump Holds Rally In Florida; Investigation For Investigators Ended; Mrs. Scalia Tested Positive For Coronavirus; Coronavirus On Its Second Wave In The U.S.; Sen. Lindsey Graham Whining Over Poor Campaign Donations. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired October 13, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

DONALD MCNEIL JR., SCIENCE & HEALTH REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: -- plus thousands of Americans are dead, which is terrible but we're doing better relatively speaking than we did in 1918 when we had no choice but to die, and there's going to be a vaccine to stop.

I can't say exactly by when, but you know, as Tony Fauci has said, you know, it's going to be probably by the middle of next year that some of the optimistic vaccine. Experts think it will be earlier than that. But you know, certainly by some time middle of the next year this should be fairly much over, then we've got to look to rebuilding the economy and helping the rst of the world.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: So, if we keep on the track, literally keep the faith, and you'll get in the right place. I encourage everybody to read your piece. It's very thoughtful. Donald McNeil Jr., "New York Times," thank you very much.

MCNEIL: Thank you.

CUOMO: Thank all of you for watching. "CNN TONIGHT" with D. Lemon starts right now. That McNeil Jr. sounds like you.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Well, the optimism you mean?

CUOMO: Yes.

LEMON: Look, I want you to go with me. Because you stole the open of my show. I'm trying to get people optimistic. You ready? Just go with me.

CUOMO: Please.

LEMON: Are you ready.

CUOMO: You got put your wrist fist higher so they can see it.

LEMON: OK.

CUOMO: Matthew McConaughey. But he'd also have, like -- LEMON: We survived -- we survived six months, eight months. We can

survive six hours in line. I don't care how long it takes.

CUOMO: It's true.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: We got to take.

CUOMO: Although McConaughey had the benefits of two bottles of wine and an 8-ball.

LEMON: And then he had that vial at lunch, too. But I'm just trying to -- listen, it's all on how you look at it. You heard what Mayor Pete says, right? About trusting is life to someone. It's all in how you look at. You heard what your last guest says, optimism and how you look at it.

Did you know, Chris, 21 is a lucky number? It's the number of the angels. It's a lucky number. When you see the number 21, that means something good is about to happen, right? And for us, we should be optimistic because election day is coming. That means you have the opportunity the change and shape your country. If you're not happy with it, you got a chance. If you're happy with it, you have a chance as well.

CUOMO: And in almost all places you don't have to wait until that day.

LEMON: You don't have to wait until that day.

CUOMO: Hence the lines in Georgia.

LEMON: There you go. We're ready to go. I'll see you tomorrow.

CUOMO: You know it, brother. I'm with you. I love you.

LEMON: I love you too.

CUOMO: I'm going to do this all night.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. So, get ready people. I'm going to fire you up tonight. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to get you excited about voting, about this election. They're so -- it's so dark lately.

I know there's death out there. I know that a lot is going on. I know people are hurting, but now is the opportunity to make it all better.

This is CNN TONIGHT, and I'm Don Lemon.

I'm so happy that you joined me this evening. Twenty-one, the lucky number that I said, the number of the angels, right? The good luck number. Twenty-one days to go until election, the election day. Just three weeks from today. Three weeks. But Americans are not waiting until November 3rd. Wait for election day?

Take a look at this. In Texas, this young woman wasn't even going to wait until tomorrow. She's having a baby. She waited two hours to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm due tomorrow morning so I was trying to decide, am I going to stay? Or I wanted to go ahead and get my vote in and make it count. It was disappointing to see some people left. I'm, you know, wondering are those people going to make it back in to vote, or, you know, they not just going to vote this year?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, some gentleman or gentlewoman should have let her get to the front of the line, but I digress. Because in every state where early voting is allowed like Georgia, like Texas, Ohio, people are turning out in droves, waiting for up to eight hours or more to cast their ballots.

They're ignoring the noise, they're ignoring the distractions that we all have grown so sick of and doing what they have to do, what they feel they must do, and that is vote with an exclamation point. No more excuses. There are none. Get excited, vote, snail mail, plane, train, automobile, two wheels or two feet.

Get your souls to the polls. Get your butt to the polls, vote. You know why? In all seriousness here, seriously, you cannot let down the 215,000 Americans who have died from this deadly pandemic. It didn't have to be this way. Don't let down the more than seven million people who contracted the virus or the ones still in the ICU or on ventilators or who have long haul syndrome, the ones with preexisting conditions.

The ones who couldn't say good-bye to the love of their lives. To their ailing mothers, to their widower or father, their grandmothers, their grandfathers, their sisters, their brothers, their nieces, their nephews. To their coworkers, their best friends.

[22:05:08]

If you don't vote for yourself, OK, if you think that, my vote doesn't count, well vote for them because their vote can count, and it does. They deserve as much. That is the way you pay tribute. Vote for them.

Now, look, it should not be this hard to vote in America. It shouldn't be. We should be -- we should be making an opportunity for everyone to vote as easy as possible for everyone to vote. That is our right as Americans.

Lines like this, they can be a form of voter suppression. How many people are going to wait that long? Do you have that much time? Some people will turn away, and that is a huge problem. But as I said, this is 2020. Nothing is easy. More than ten and a half million people have cast a vote so far. On the second day of early voting in Georgia, long lines, but determination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd rather be out here doing my civic duty than

not. I don't trust the whole mail-in voting thing, so I will be here, and I will sign it and make sure it goes where it needs to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have voted in every presidential election since I was qualified to vote. And I think it's important. I think we have a say and I think we need to exercise our right to vote. I think this is a critical election in how our country acts as a civilization.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's something I have to do. So, it's OK. It's just the price you pay to cast your vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Price you pay to cast your vote. Voters in Cobb County, Georgia lining up the polls -- at the polls before dawn. Many have even tried to vote yesterday on the first day of early voting but couldn't due to the large numbers of voters turning out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kept checking the web site throughout the day and, it was like 480 minutes and all that. So, I said, well, I guess I'll be getting up early this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came here yesterday and it was wrapped around the parking lot, so my cousin and I came out today, so we're going to make sure we get our vote counted today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be one of the higher voter turnouts in my lifetime, at least.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Look at that, people like waiting in concert. Waiting for the latest Jordans. Good for you. So, you might ask yourself, are the lines this long where everyone lives? Or is there voter suppression going on?

One study in Georgia found that in this year's primary, there's -- there are voters in communities of color were more likely to vote in long -- to wait in long lines than white voters.

So, we're going to keep an eye on this for you every night between now and the election, OK? Because there are a lot of efforts to try to suppress the vote and even some places steal people's vote. It's not a secret who is driving people to the polls. That's no secret.

This election is a referendum on one man, and that man not surprisingly, held a huge rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, thousands in the crowd, very few in masks. No social distancing. Not a surprise, again. Trump's planning on holding big rallies right up until election day, despite the spreading of the coronavirus. He's taken his coronavirus tour, the super spreader tour, on the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I felt good very quickly.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I don't know what it was. Antibodies. Antibodies. I don't know. I took it. I said I felt like superman. I said, let me at them. No, and I could have been here four or five days ago. It's great. We had great doctors. I want to thank the doctors as Walter Reed and Johns Hopkins.

(CROWD CHEERING)

TRUMP: One great thing about being president, if you're not feeling 100 percent, you have more doctors than you thought existed in the world. I was surrounded with, like, 14 of them. Where are you from? I'm from this one. Where are you from? I'm from Johns Hopkins. I'm from Walter Reed, but what great talented people. They did a great job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Fourteen doctors. Do you have 14 doctors? Can you even see a doctor? Do you have health insurance? Fourteen doctors surrounding me. Really? Now you have a preexisting condition, Mr. President. Like millions of other Americans.

[22:10:02]

But they can't get 14 doctors and the best medicine and a helicopter ride to the hospital.

Two hundred fifteen thousand Americans are dead. Many of them died alone or at home. Most of them didn't have to die as a result of a president whose deadly dereliction of duty that cannot be erased. Yes. See? It's I'm reading something serious and look what's happening. That can't be taken away no matter how many times he goes the rallies and dances to the village people.

Wow. You know that play that song like every night in every gay bar across America. But you know. And last night I think it was "Macho, Macho Man" and that one, too. You cannot write this stuff.

But he is having fun and dancing. On the graves of 215,000 Americans. Dancing.

Everywhere on the campaign trail tonight, Joe Biden already ahead of Trump in the polls hoping to secure his lead with help from his former boss. Today announcing that Barack Obama is preparing to hit the campaign trail for him and he'll have a message in store for President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. That he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.

But he never did. Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe.

In this democracy, the commander in chief does not use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now, the former President Barack Obama campaigned hard for Hillary Clinton, too, and we all know what happened there. She's not the president. Even though sometimes if you watch state-run TV, you might think she is, given how obsessed they are with her and stories about her.

This time he thinks democracy is on the line. And if you were watching Capitol Hill today and day two of the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett you would see Barack Obama's party, Joe Biden's party, Kamala Harris' party, they want every American to know something else is on the line, and that is the Affordable Care Act, your health care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump has made it crystal clear -- he's promised his nominees would overturn the ACA.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): People's healthcare is on the line, with the case before the court on November 10th.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Just a week after that election, the Supreme Court is going to hear a case that could take away healthcare protections for more than half of all Americans.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): President Trump, who nominated you for this vacancy has not only explicitly stated that the Supreme Court should overturn the Affordable Care Act, but he promised that he would nominate a judge who would, quote, "do the right thing," unlike Bush's appointee John Roberts on Obamacare.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, Senate Republicans' number one priority has been to tear it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: When Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell decided to ram this nomination through days before the election in an act of the brazen hypocrisy, you know what their argument was? You know what I'm going to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I will tell you very simply, we won the election. Elections have consequences. We have the Senate, we have the White House, and we have a phenomenal nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Elections have consequences. Judge Barrett's confirmation hearing is a great reminder to all Americans that voting really matters. The pandemic is a huge reminder of that ever-present, every day in our lives.

[22:15:00]

Now the voting lines are a reminder of that. Elections have consequences. You've gone through a lot over the last couple of months, but you're strong, and you can wait in line, 21 days, vote.

More on our breaking news from the trail tonight. We've got some other breaking news to tell you about as well. The Washington Post is reporting an investigation into Obama-era government officials, pushed by Trump's DOJ, there's breaking news -- it finds nothing. After railing about unmasking and conspiracy theories, conspiracies and crimes, no charges, no public report.

Kaitlan Collins, John Avlon, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Election day just 21 days away and President Trump is trying to fit in as many rallies as possible. I want to you check out this event tonight. This is in Pennsylvania. No social distancing, very few masks. You would never know we're in the middle of a deadly pandemic where the number in the country are going up, but that's really part of the strategy here.

[22:20:02]

Joining me now is CNN's White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins and our Senior Analyst, Mr. John Avlon.

Good evening to both of you.

Kaitlan, before we get to the rally, we have some breaking news tonight. Here's what the Washington Post is reporting that the unmasking investigation commissioned by the Attorney General Barr is over, no charges, no public report. This is a major development. How is the president going to react to this?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he hasn't reacted yet, but Don, you can guess if you've judged his reactions lately it's not going to be a good one because he's already unhappy with the attorney general over that investigation into the beginning of the Russia probe. And this is an investigation that the president and his allies built up, basically alleging that they believe there were Obama officials that had inappropriately requested the identities of people in these intelligence documents, they have been redacted.

People like Mike Flynn and others that were already in there. And so, they believed there was this wrongdoing, but according to this report in the Washington Post this federal prosecutor who was looking into this has now finished his investigation and there is no significant allegation of wrongdoing that's going to come out of this, again according to the Washington Post.

And that is not news the president wants to hear. He was hoping it was going to be, you know, this kind of political boost that he and his allies were building it up to be with all of this, you know, hoopla around it, and now of course it's not going to live up to what they projected that it was going to.

LEMON: Well, they were saying that -- he was saying that President Obama and former Vice President Biden should be put in jail for -- whatever. I feel like we're back in 2016 again.

So, John, they were looking at Obama era officials and whether they improperly requested the identities of people named in redacted intelligence documents. According to the Post, they found no wrongdoing. This is all part of their obsession with reliving the 2016 election instead of focusing on the issues that we face right now in this moment.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST & ANCHOR: A hundred percent. Look, Donald Trump and his supporters in media have been totally fixated on trying to relitigate 2016. We want to be running against Hillary Clinton. But this what he did here, threatening to jail his political opponents, all the hours spent, all the bluster, aided and abetted by hyper partisan media and senators in his own party who floated specific names, after all the slander and all the slurs and all the fear mongering, nothing.

It was all a lie. It was all a fraud. Even his own DOJ couldn't bring charges because there was nothing there. And it's just a reminder that especially when someone screams a lot, it's because they're weak. They're in a weak position.

LEMON: Yes.

AVLON: That's what's been revealed today.

LEMON: Amen, brother, and it was everywhere. Unmasking, unmasking, the unmasking and unmasking, the scandal, the unmasking. It's like, my gosh, really?

Kaitlan's -- Kaitlan, let's talk about something new that's happening tonight. The Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia's wife tested positive for the coronavirus. She was at that Rose Garden super spreader event. This comes as the country is approaching eight million cases now. So how is the president addressing his failure on the pandemic at, you know, at this latest packed rally tonight?

COLLINS: Well, he's been defending it, but not in the way that advisers hoped he would coming out of this rally. They assume he would come with this, you know, relatable position of I'm someone who's had COVID-19 and instead he's been touting his own stamina, using those projection of strength than he's been talking about the last two nights. Not exactly what political advisers had hoped the president would approach this.

But back to the labor secretary's wife. This is kind of unusual that we found this out in an announcement from the Labor Department tonight telling us that she had tested positive. And so, it doesn't say if they believe it's tied to this event, the event for Amy Coney Barrett in the Rose Garden where so many other officials have also tested positive we know, but she was there. She was seated right behind the first lady and next to Kellyanne Conway, both of those two individuals have tested positive, of course, we know.

Though it does say that the labor secretary himself has still tested negative and doesn't not have symptoms. But of course, Don, you know, you're seeing how all of these officials around the president, including himself, got COVID-19, but has not changed the structure of these rallies at all as you were showing in those images at the top of the show. You're still seeing no social distancing and very few people wearing a mask.

AVLON: Yes.

LEMON: Let's -- Vice President Joe Biden, John, was in Florida today, the day after President Trump was there. Trump is holding packed rallies, few masks, zero social distancing. Biden had a drive-in event. Their campaigning couldn't be more different, don't you think?

AVLON: I mean, a hundred percent. I mean, they're fundamentally different human beings, but more importantly responding to this historic crisis in fundamentally different ways. Tone comes from the top. We're seeing it with Donald Trump and the way his entire support base and even his administration still after getting COVID doesn't want to wear masks as the president think it's weak and he keeps telegraphing that.

Joe Biden is saying look, it's patriotic to wear masks. We've got to get through this together. And that floats down -- that floats down to the rallies. It's a complete contrast. One is responsible. The other is all about self-glorification at the expense of others.

[22:25:04]

LEMON: These packed Trump rallies, the president loves them. His die- hard supporters love them as well. But are they hurting him with voters who see these, you know, as Trump super spreader events and people who care that they, you know, can't see their family and their friends because of this pandemic, John?

AVLON: Look, as you pointed out, he's literally dancing on people's graves, you know, dancing to YMCA when we passed 215,000 deaths. His hard-core supporters love him. It is a matter of belief at this point. It's not a rational calculus. It's part of this identity.

But for everyone who's been impacted by this, for everyone who's had family and friends impacted by this it's an insult to their memory. And Donald Trump has always been solely focused on playing to the base and his base doesn't seem to care, but they will when it affects them personally.

LEMON: Thank you both. I'll see you soon.

AVLON: Take care, Don.

LEMON: A second U.S. vaccine trial paused today because of an unexplained illness. A trial for an antibody treatment touted by the president also put on hold. All this as coronavirus cases surge in 33 states. Stay with us.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, these are the facts. Coronavirus cases are rising all across the country. As of tonight, 33 states are now in the red zone. That is a frightening place to be especially considering more than 215,000 Americans have already died from COVID-19.

But that's not stopping President Trump from holding packed campaign rallies. He may be feeling better, but just tonight we learned after a new case involving an attendee at his super spreader Rose Garden event. The labor secretary's wife, Eugene Scalia's wife has tested positive for coronavirus.

So, you can see her -- it's not there. We'll put it up later. We don't know how she contracted the virus and we're told that Scalia himself has tested negative as Kaitlan just reported but will work from home for the time being.

So, I want to discuss now with Dr. William Schaffner. He is a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. Doctor, good to see you. Thank you for joining us tonight.

So, President Trump, despite getting sick, despite his wife and closest aides getting sick, he's back to saying to this country that it is rounding a corner right now, that we're rounding a turn on the pandemic. He is lying. But the numbers don't lie, doctor.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: Don, actually, we are turning a corner. We're turning an upward corner. Those graphs are going up just as you demonstrated. That sound you hear is the beginning of the second wave coming on to the shore.

You know, each of these major rallies is full of people who in all likelihood don't wear masks and social distance in their daily lives. When they all come together, the odds are, this is just a statistical statement, that some of them will be carrying the virus to these events. And I am just sure that each one of these events is going to be an accelerator. It will be spread within the actual rally, and then those people will take it home and spread it into others.

So, these rallies are accelerating the spread of this virus wherever they are held, and they're part of this increasing wave of COVID infections that's over most of the country right now. And with the winter just down the road, there's even more to come, I'm afraid. I wish I didn't have this grim statement, but that's the way it looks to me.

LEMON: I want to play this for you and our viewers, it's Dr. Fauci speaking about the up -- the uptick in positivity rates in the country. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You would like to see them less than three percent, optimally 1 percent or less. We're starting to see a number of states well above that which is often and in fact, invariably highly predictive of a resurgence of cases which historically we know leads to an increase in hospitalizations and then ultimately an increase in deaths.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So jumping off of what Dr. Fauci is saying there, 13 states had a daily positivity rate of above 10 percent over the last seven days. Wyoming's rate is above 24 percent. This is an alarming trend, correct?

SCHAFFNER: Read them and weep. Absolutely. Dr. Fauci and I are harmonizing on this. We read the numbers in exactly the same way. This is an up-surge. We are not in a plateau, and we're certainly not going down. This virus is still very much among us. And a lot of states now affected have large rural areas.

It takes a while for this virus to get out of the cities and into the small towns and the little hamlets in rural areas. It's starting to spread in those communities, a little bit slower than it might be in the big city, but it's moving out there. We don't have a single county in Tennessee, and we have many rural counties, that's COVID free. So, it's out there.

LEMON: Dr. Schaffner, always appreciate your expertise and your time. Thank you.

SCHAFFNER: My pleasure.

LEMON: More than 215,000 Americans dead from coronavirus. COVID-19 infections on the rise in 33 states and this is how the president is conducting himself on the campaign trail.

Mary Trump is here. She's going to respond next.

[22:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: So, Senate judiciary chairman Lindsey Graham front and center at the Amy Coney Barrett hearing spending a lot of time about his own struggling campaign in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): All of you over there who want to impose Obamacare in South Carolina, we don't want it. We want something better. We want something different. You know what we want in South Carolina? South Carolina care, not Obamacare. That's the political debate we're involved in a campaign in South Carolina. My fate will be left up to the people of South Carolina.

Let's go to citizens united, to my good friend Senator Whitehouse, me and you are going to come closer and closer about regulating money. Because I don't know what's going on out there, but I can tell you there's a lot of money being raised in this campaign. I'd like to know where the hell some of it is coming from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Don't be a hater. Raise your own money. Senator Graham trying to take a jab at the fundraising efforts of the Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison who raised a breaking-record $57 million last quarter.

[22:40:03]

Graham repeatedly going on Fox News to beg for campaign donations as polls show the race coming down to the wire. Look at that. Wow. That really is a story. I mean, even if Jaime Harrison doesn't win. Look -- South Carolina? A senior -- an incumbent senator? A Republican going up against a Democrat. That is -- whoa.

Let's talk to the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, Jaime Harrison. Jaime, good evening.

JAIME HARRISON (D), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: Good evening, Don.

LEMON: Listen, just -- just the fact that it's this close, I mean, that says something about what's happening in South Carolina. It's -- I -- people should be shocked.

HARRISON: Well, Don, what folks are seeing is the emergence of what I call a new south, one that is bold that is inclusive that is diverse. And you know, Senator Graham should be worried. It is because he's been our senator, he's been in Washington, D.C. for 25 years, and people don't like his record.

And you know, it's sad that he's going to take a moment in a hearing that we shouldn't have because he said, you know, we can use his own words that we weren't going to have this hearing in the midst of a campaign.

I wish he would take all of that energy and passion that he has asking people to go and give him contributions and actually pass a COVID relief bill, because that is the issue that is on the minds of the people here in South Carolina. We need help in South Carolina and he won't provide it.

LEMON: I know you're speaking for South Carolina, but I mean, across the country, people really need help.

You touched upon it just a little bit, but Senator Graham looking like he is using today's Amy Coney Barrett hearing as a campaign ad.

HARRISON: Yes.

LEMON: He says it is appropriate to respond to political attacks in a political way. What say you?

HARRISON: No, Senator Graham is just desperate. You know, I am living rent free in his head right now. Even when he's doing his official duties all he's thinking about is the fact that he's about to lose his job. And so, I want folks to continue to help me live rent free. Let's add another bedroom in his mind right now. Folks go to jaimeharrison.com and let's get him a little more anxious tomorrow when he starts and open up a next hearing. But you know --

LEMON: You got your plug in.

HARRISON: There you go. There you go, Don. But seriously, you know, folks really are desperate right now here in South Carolina. We have some of the highest eviction rates in the country. You know, 3,500 people have died and passed away because of it, 750,000 are unemployed. We really need some help and we're not getting it from our senior senator.

LEMON: So, listen, considering the time line here, do you think that's going to affect your -- the time line for confirming the process, the whole process with Amy Coney Barrett, they're eyeing October 29th, do you think that's going to affect your election?

HARRISON: Well it's already affected the election. You know, we were supposed to have another debate on October 21st. You know, we have given Lindsey Graham a number of dates and they have been, you know, passing back and forth. You know, Senator Graham, I just wish that he would put the urgency on South Carolina that he does on being important and relevant in Washington, D.C.

LEMON: You -- you saw Senator Graham today, I'm sure you were watching not wearing a mask at the hearings. Your debate with him last Friday was canceled after your campaign requested to take a COVID test and then he refused to do that. What are you hearing from voters? How is the -- how is the coronavirus impacting this race?

HARRISON: Well, you know, folks and even the state newspaper editorial board wrote about how -- how it was head scratching that Senator Graham would not take a COVID test. You know, it takes less than 30 minutes. It takes two minutes to get the cotton swab into your nose and less than 30 minutes to get the end results.

And he had gotten a test the weak prior. And so we didn't understand what the big deal was why he couldn't get a test this time around, when all of the employees at the TV station got a test. I got a test. It's not a big deal.

But for Senator Graham, I have no idea. I'm sure, Don, every time he went golfing with the president, I bet you he got a test. But again, when it comes to South Carolina, we're always second, and it's D.C. that's first.

LEMON: Well, Jaime, thank you very much. We appreciate you joining us. Stay safe. Best of luck. We'll talk to you soon.

HARRISON: Thank you, Don. take care yourself.

LEMON: The president -- you as well. There president dancing and falsely touting coronavirus immunity on the campaign trail, falsely touting that as the U.S. deaths top 215,000 people.

Well, there she is, Mary Trump. She's here, and she's next.

[22:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, the president says it would be disgusting if he loses the presidential election to Vice President Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm running against the single worst candidate in the history of presidential politics, and you know what that does? That puts more pressure on me. Can you imagine if you lose to a guy like this? It's unbelievable. It's disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Our very own Daniel Dale points out that it's the second night in a row the president has said there is more pressure on him to win because Biden is the single worst presidential candidate of all time. That's what he says.

So, CNN's Electoral College tally shows that Vice President Biden shows him with a 290 electoral Votes, with 290 electoral votes enough to win the presidency. No wonder the president is feeling the pressure. He has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to win.

[22:49:54]

So, let's discuss now. Mary Trump is here, the president's niece. She is a psychologist, and the author of "Too much and Never Enough: How my family created the world's most dangerous man". Good to see you again. Thanks for coming on.

MARY TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NIECE: Thanks so much, Don.

LEMON: So, as we just noted, the president says that it would be unbelievable and disgusting if he loses to Joe Biden. How would he react to losing his election bid given his upbringing and who he is?

M. TRUMP: First of all, he's not making it any easier if he does, you know. He's setting himself up to look really bad if he loses to Joe Biden. He's not going to take it well. Losing is not an acceptable thing in my family. My grandfather set his business up and his family up as a zero-sum game, and that meant only one person could win and everybody else needed to lose.

And in order to win, Donald was trained to do everything it took, whether it was lying, cheating or stealing. So, on the one hand, we're in for a rough ride, and on the other hand, he's in for a rough ride if indeed Vice President Biden wins.

LEMON: Have you ever seen him act the way he's acting now?

M. TRUMP: No. And I don't believe that's because he's worse. I think the only thing that's changed is the context. You know, when I knew Donald, pretty much everything always broke his way. There was always somebody there to clean up his mess. There was always somebody there to hand him hundreds of millions of dollars to bail him out.

He is in a completely different universe right now where nobody is left, really, to help him out of the jams he keeps getting himself into. And I think that's the pressure he's feeling honestly.

LEMON: This is interesting -- he made this very direct appeal to suburban women at the rally tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Can -- I ask you to do me a favor -- suburban women, will you please like me?

(CROWD CHEERING)

TRUMP: Please. Please. I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I saved your neighborhood. Listen, there's no truth to any of that, but he clearly seems to know who he needs to win. He needs suburban women on his side, sort of helplessly flailing here.

M. TRUMP: Yes, it's sort of uncharacteristically obviously weak. You know, it calls to mind his criticisms of Jeb Bush in the primary of 2016.

LEMON: Yes, please vote. Please clap.

(CROSSTALK)

M. TRUMP: Please vote.

LEMON: Please clap.

M. TRUMP: Or that was -- LEMON: Yes, he said please clap.

M. TRUMP: Yes, that's right.

LEMON: Yes.

M. TRUMP: Right. And calling him low energy. Yes, exactly. Please vote. Please clap for me. It's weak sauce, as they say. And also, he may understand how desperately he needs that particular demographic. What he doesn't seem to grasp is that he's not going to get it through using misogyny and racism.

LEMON: So just today alone he attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, went on a tweet and retweet spree including several conspiracy theories. He hosted another packed rally putting people's lives in danger, at risk. What it is -- what makes him incapable of learning from his mistakes, basically repeating these potential super spreader events? Last night, I called him a repeat -- well, it's redundant but a recidivist.

M. TRUMP: Yes. Yes, he is indeed. You can't learn from your mistakes if you're incapable of admitting you make mistakes. So that's the first problem. He also has stuck in his head that if he does exactly what he did in 2016 he will prevail this time.

When, you know, we're living in a completely different world right now, so that just shows that the man has absolutely no ability to learn at all. And as for his attacks on Dr. Fauci and in particular his continuing to put other people at risk in the way he's doing so flagrantly, the only word I can think of that accurately depicts it is depraved.

It is depraved, it is willful, it is beyond dangerous, and he really needs to be held accountable for it. It's beyond acceptable.

LEMON: I have been wanting to get your response to this. I want you to check this out. This is the president dancing to the village people's "YMCA" at his rally tonight. He did it that's night in Florida, too, to I think it's "Macho Man". It is beyond out of touch with what's going on in this country, but he's having a good time despite the widespread suffering of Americans right now and 215,000 people dead.

[22:54:56]

M. TRUMP: Yes. Well, that's all he cares about. You know, the tone deafness, as you say, of that, it is grotesque. And it also shows just how out of touch he is, not just with the horrific circumstances he is continuing to create, but also where we are right now.

You know, he also completely misunderstands the message of that song, I'm guessing. And I'm actually angry for making me watch that again, but OK. It's completely late, come on.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I said at the top of the show, like at every gay bar every night they play that song, that and macho man. And there he is dancing. You cannot write this stuff. So.

M. TRUMP: Is that dancing? I'm sorry, I don't know what that --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: No, it's not. It's not.

M. TRUMP: -- that white man underbite thing is. But.

LEMON: You are reading my mind. I can say like at a wedding. But go on, sorry.

M. TRUMP: No, I mean, all we can do is laugh, you know, because what's the alternative? I just -- I don't -- I continue -- I know I keep repeating myself, but I continue not to understand why there is nobody -- nobody to stop him, even if only for his own sake.

He's still sick. He must still be sick. You know, people don't get over COVID like that. And even if he isn't, he's still contagious, most likely, so why is nobody willing to step out and just say, hey, come on. You can -- you can do this again next week. Let's just, you know, get better, get to the point where you're not a danger to other people. But I think Donald likes being a danger to other people because that's sort of all he's got left.

LEMON: And that is, you know, doing the right thing is probably a better message to win over suburban women than what he's doing now.

Thank you, Mary. I appreciate your time. I'll see you soon. Be safe. We'll be right back.

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