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Don Lemon Tonight

Feds Say Russia And Iran Interfering In Presidential Election; Obama In The Campaign Trail For Joe Biden; U.S. Tops 222,000 Deaths And 8.3 Million Coronavirus Cases; The Path To 270 For Joe Biden And Donald Trump; CDC Updates Guidelines For Close Contact; Questions Raised About How Trump Campaign Spent Funds. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired October 21, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Thirteen days until Election Day and there's breaking news on stories that could impact your vote. The Director of National Intelligence in a hastily arranged news conference saying Russia and Iran are interfering in the election saying, Iran's posing as a far right group, the proud boys, and sending intimidating emails to voters.

That, as Barack Obama, the former president, campaigning tonight for Joe Biden in Philadelphia, delivering a blistering rebuke of Donald Trump's presidency.

Let's get right to our breaking news now on the Feds accusing Russia and Iran of election interference. Let's discuss now, CNN's Senior Justice Correspondent is Evan Perez, our national security and legal analyst, Susan Hennessey and Miles Taylor, a former top official in the Department of Homeland and Security under President Trump. Great having all of you on. Thank you so much for joining. Evan, what is the latest on the attempts by Russia and Iran to interfere in our election?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, according to the Director of National Intelligence, what the Iranians and the Russians both did was they were able to obtain voter registration data, which, you know, is very concerning, right? On the Iranian side, according to the DNI, they were responsible -- the Iranians were responsible for sending these spoof emails that people reported getting in states around the country that were threatening people saying you've got to vote for Trump or else.

And according to John Ratcliffe, the DNI, he says this was some way attempted to undermine President Trump. There's a lot of skepticism because of John Ratcliffe's history. Obviously he's somebody who has done a lot of partisan things. And I can hear some of the skepticism that you have voiced about this.

But I think the larger point here is that there's enough concern about the activity of Russia and Iran and China in the closing weeks of this campaign that I think everybody in the intelligence community and law enforcement is very concerned about all of this activity.

And of course part of the reason why there's such concern is because these foreign intelligence services are taking advantage of some of the efforts of President Trump has made to call into question the credibility of our system, the idea that there might be vote fraud. I think that's why everybody is extra on edge. And I think part of it is because of the president.

LEMON: Susan, and listen, if they hadn't had the press conference, right? And didn't tell people about it, they would probably get some -- a bunch of criticism for that as well. Susan, this is what the Director -- this is what Director Ratcliffe said tonight. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran and separately by Russia. This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos, and undermine your confidence in American democracy. To that end, we have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, so, Susan, these emails say, vote for Trump or else. That doesn't seem damaging to the Trump campaign unless it's like some Jedi mind trick. Do you think Ratcliffe is putting his own spin on this intelligence?

SUSAN HENNESSEY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND LEGAL ANALYST: Well, of course based on DNI Ratcliffe's prior record of sort of overtly politicizing intelligence, there's reason to be really suspicious of his account that this particular operation was designed to harm President Trump.

[23:05:10]

That said, you know, we could imagine an explanation where that was true. This was an effort to generate headlines that were going to be damaging to the president, sort of reverse psychology. We can also imagine this was designed to hurt Joe Biden. That this was about sort of voter suppression. One of the most significant things is though is that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has come out and said that this account is not consistent with what was briefed to Congress.

But what Congress was told and was left with the impression was that this was really just about creating chaos, attempting to just undermine confidence in the election writ large, that it really wasn't about hurting anyone in particular, and considering sort of the ambiguity of what actually occurred here, that certainly seems like the most logical explanation.

And so, while I think we can have a lot of confidence that this did in fact occur, I do think that there's real reason to be suspicious that Ratcliffe may have included sort of his own personal assessment about the motivations. Notably FBI Director Wray did not repeat that whenever he came to the podium.

LEMON: Yes, it was almost as if it was two different press conferences. How does this compare -- how does this compare to Russia in 2016, with Russia did in 2016, Susan?

HENNESSEY: Well, so in one hand it is similar sort of activity of overt interference attempts to sort of create chaos, undermine confidence writ large. One thing that's dramatically different of course is that in 2016, we had a candidate, then candidate now President Trump who we know was openly welcoming that interference and was privately attempting to sort of capitalize and benefit from it.

One thing that's quite different about how we've seen candidate Biden respond to this is a rejection of any kind of foreign interference. You know, clear response that if elected president, he will you know, respond to this aggression and that he views this as a bipartisan national security issue. That this is really not about an opportunity to score political points.

Another thing that's notable is this press conference tonight, is hastily gathered, 7:30 p.m. on a Wednesday press conference mentioned that Russia had also obtained this information. We don't know whether it was a hack or sort of commercially available information. When it described a lot of what Iran was up to but doesn't say -- it didn't tell us anything about what the Russians are doing with this information. So, it really raised a lot more questions than answers.

LEMON: So, Miles, you've been waiting patiently. So, let me bring you in here. Trump's own FBI and intelligence directors are confirming that Russia is still interfering in our election. The president said nothing about this at his rally tonight. How significant is it that this president still won't condemn Moscow or threaten retaliation?

MILES TAYLOR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's significant, Don, and we've got to remember that just a few days ago Donald Trump was bragging about his warm relationship with Moscow. And now, as you note, his FBI and intelligence directors are saying that the Kremlin is actively interfering again in U.S. democracy.

The big question right now is when is Donald Trump going to call them out for their interference, and when is he going to threaten retaliation? In fact, if the president does not open tomorrow night's debate by noting this issue and calling out our adversaries, it's pretty damning. It's a pretty damning indictment of his inattention to this subject.

Now, let's say there's bad news, good news, good news. The bad news of course is that because the president didn't act decisively enough after 2016 to punish the Russians, more countries are getting in the game. And that's why we've seen the Iranians involved. We know that Chinese are involved and of course, the Russians are back.

The good news here though and I think voters should know this. This does show that the FBI, DHS, the intelligence community have gotten better at uncovering and thwarting some of these activities. And then it's also good news that right now preliminarily this looks like it's more of a disinformation operation. The voting infrastructure itself is more secure than ever. And I think Americans can still feel confident that their votes will be counted and they will be counted correctly.

So, they've got to ignore this disinformation. That's why it was good that it was called out. And tonight, behind the scenes, the intelligence community and law enforcement are focused on how to further stop this plot. And they're probably looking at proposals to take to the White House of how they can deter this activity and potentially punish it in ways that are seen and unseen. And hopefully the president will accept those recommendations.

LEMON: And we will be following it. Thank you, Miles. Thank you, Susan. Thank you, Evan. I appreciate it.

The former President Barack Obama stumping for Joe Biden tonight and back on the trail Saturday in Miami. Can Biden hold on to the Obama coalition where Hillary Clinton did not?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The president spent some time in Erie last night and apparently he complained about having to travel here. And then he cut the event short.

[23:10:03]

Poor guy. I don't feel that way. I love coming to Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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LEMON: The former president Barack Obama on the campaign trail in Philadelphia tonight stumping for Joe Biden. Obama delivering a blistering takedown of President Trump who has systemically tried to undo his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better. You've got to have a plan. You've got to put in the work. And along with the experience to get things done, Joe Biden has concrete plans and policies that will turn our vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into a reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the former president also trying to make the case for his vice president with a coalition that twice sent him to the White House, which in part consisted of black voters, college educated voters and white Democrats.

[23:15:03] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This notion of truthfulness and democracy and citizenship and being responsible, these aren't Republican or Democratic principles. They are American principles. They're what we're -- there what we -- most of us grew up learning from our parents and our grandparents. They're not white or black or Latino or Asian values. They're American values, human values. And we need to reclaim them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the former president cautioning voters tonight to ignore polls that show Joe Biden with a wide lead in Pennsylvania, right. And with more than 40 million votes already cast, can Obama help Biden put the race away? It didn't work in 2016. So, joining me now to discuss, David Axelrod, the former senior adviser to President Obama and CNN's senior political commentator, Angela Rye. Hey guys, how are you? Good to see both of you.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Don.

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: How are you?

LEMON: So, David -- I'm doing very well, thank you. David, Obama campaign for Hillary in Philadelphia before she lost that state in 2016. She didn't pull together the Obama coalition. Is Joe Biden doing it or is he building a different coalition?

AXELROD: Look, I think there are certainly elements of the Obama coalition and Joe Biden is adding to it. He has reached into more deeply into that white non-college vote that helped propelled Donald Trump. That's one of the reasons why Trump feared him as a candidate. We've seen a strong move -- you know, Trump carried the suburbs back in 2016. He's losing by a wide margin there now.

And yes, I think he is going to reassemble the other elements of the coalition. But I should mention seniors as well. He won those by 8 points, seniors by 8 points. He's losing them now. So, he is losing his own coalition to Biden.

I think the role that President Obama can play is really rally young voters, voters of color. I thought he had a very, very focused message for those voters today about what the stakes were in this election. But, you know, I think what Biden is doing is adding to that coalition in ways that Hillary Clinton simply did not.

LEMON: Angela, you heard what David just said, that Joe Biden has strong support among black voters in the polls when he's saying, you know, what Obama can do here. So, Joe Biden already has strong support among black voters. Both campaigns are reaching out to black male voters. Which voters are most motivated by Obama in the entire spectrum of voters?

RYE: Well, I think that what we have to remember -- and I feel like we sound like a broken record these days talking about it. But black voters aren't monolithic. There are some people who Barack Obama inspires greatly. I'm watching that like can he just come back for a third term? He makes me feel way better than Joe Biden has during these campaign. He has a way not only with words but with assuring people that he sees all of us.

And I think that's a skill and a gift that frankly Joe Biden still has to get ahold of. So, absolutely they need Barack Obama on the campaign trail to close but it is important to remember that things aren't as they were in 2008. They aren't as they were in 2012. They certainly aren't as they were in 2016. Things are so different now.

And there are a group of young people who are eligible to vote this term that, yeah, they lived under Barack Obama and I think it was a time of a privilege, right, to live under the first black president. But they weren't eligible to vote yet. They're eligible to vote now. They're eligible to vote with suit and deck that is crippling. They're eligible to able to vote with COVID taking out parents and loved ones and their families.

They're eligible to vote with frankly, Don, parents who may have just come home or who may still be incarcerated. And I think that those are all things that we really have to wrestle with and level with people. Tell people that you can't fix everything that systemic oppression has given us in 401 years overnight.

Level with people and tell them that things aren't perfect even with ACA but it's a hell of a lot better than not having any coverage at all which could very well be the case if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. Things are bad but they could get much worse if three of the justices on the Supreme Court becomes, if Amy Coney again, Coney Barrett is confirmed, become the judicial team from Bush versus Gore.

It will be the court that decides this election. Things can get worse, and I think that has to be the closing pitch. This is a new group of voters and they just have to be levelled with. They're living Armageddon.

LEMON: And the closing pitch has to be to get people motivated, right, because --

RYE: Yeah.

LEMON: -- they need people unmask. David, listen, beyond making the case for Biden as a candidate, Obama gave a powerful argument for staying engaged in the Democratic process. Here it is.

[23:20:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Voting is about using the power we have and pooling it together to get a government that's more concerned and more responsive and more focused on you and your lives, and your children, and your grandchildren and future generations.

And the fact that we don't get 100 percent of what we want right away is not a good reason not to vote. It means we've got to vote and then get some change and then vote some more and then get some more change and then keep on voting until we get it right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, listen, I don't want to read too much into that. I'm just --

AXELROD: That was exactly Angela's point.

RYE: Yeah.

AXELROD: I mean, that was the message that President Obama was making. And he was speaking directly to these young people who are rightly impatient for change and their impatient with incremental change. And what he was saying is we can't make everything better overnight, but we can make things better.

And then we keep fighting to make them better again and again. And that's what the Democratic process allows. That's the power of the Democratic process gives us. And I think you're going to hear that message again and again. And that's the message younger voters need to hear.

LEMON: I think he was listening to our phone calls, Angela.

(LAUGHTER)

RYE: No, you know what, Don? I've got to tell you this. I was on a focus group conversation earlier with folks in L.A. and folks in Chicago. David I know you'll also appreciate this. They sound like they've been listening to the phone calls, and I think what that has to mean, Don, is that these are conversations that people are having in Zoom conversation, on text message. Everywhere. People are frustrated and they feel stuck.

What we have right now overwhelmingly so. And I hate to say it but it's true. A bunch of reluctant voters for Joe Biden because they know Donald Trump isn't the choice. But what I think is the task for Kamala and for Joe Biden is to turn that reluctant into the type of hope that Barack Obama displayed on that stage today. It is so important to do that. We are running out of time, so we've got to do it quickly.

LEMON: Yes, and I'm running out of time. So, I got to get to the break quickly. Thank you both. It's good to see both of you.

RYE: Thank you.

LEMON: President Obama telling voters the next 13 days will matter for decades to come. We're going to break down where the race currently stands and who could have a path to victory come Election Day.

Plus this country adding over 60,000 coronavirus cases in one day. With cases surging across the country, we're going to tell you what you need to know.

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[23:25:00]

LEMON: Election Day is just 13 days away and we have new polls showing the race is tied in the critical swing state of Florida. Phil Mattingly is at the magic wall to lay it all out for us, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, 13 days out. Everybody wants to know what's going to happen on November 3rd. And I'm here to tell you I don't have those answers, but I do have new polls from two crucial states. These polls aren't going to tell you what's going to happen, but they do give you a snapshot in time. And that snapshot really corresponds with what you've seen in the CNN race tracker over the course of the last several days.

Just to kind of refresh some memory here, Joe Biden in the CNN race tracker when you have safe Democratic states plus states where they are leaning in the Democratic, the Biden campaign's direction. It already over, the requisite number of Electoral votes he needs to win, 270.

However again, snapshot in time. What does this mean going forward? Well, take a look at the polls and you'll see how closely they correspond with where things stand. Florida, right now currently gold. That means it's a toss-up. Right now no clear leader in the CNN poll conducted by (inaudible). Joe Biden is at 50 percent, Donald Trump at 46 percent, that's within the margin of error, pretty much tied up right now.

Pre-consistent across polling right now. That this is extremely close as -- it's Florida, it's always extremely close. Now, let's pull up Pennsylvania, right now leaning blue, leaning towards the Biden campaign. Good sign for them. They obviously need Pennsylvania or at least want Pennsylvania. Where do things stand there? More comfortable for the Biden campaign. A 10-point lead, 53 percent for Joe Biden, 43 percent for Donald Trump.

Now, again, snapshot in time, this isn't going to happen in Pennsylvania, but it underscores a key point here that we've seen over the course of the last several days, to some degree, weeks. And that is Midwest, these crucial areas that used to form the blue wall, the blue wall that Donald Trump blew apart back in 2016, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Joe Biden is consistently showing fairly solid numbers in polling,

Again, it doesn't mean it's going to go his way, but certainly Democrats starting to feel better that perhaps that area, those three states are starting to revert to the Democratic norm. Let me go down to Florida, you could add Georgia. You can have North Carolina in there as well. And these are razor, razor thin races across the board.

Now, what does that all mean? For the Trump campaign it means everything because basically they need to sweep every single toss up state. There is no pathway that I think they're aware of right now or that they're considering right now that doesn't include them winning Florida.

But take a look, if you give the Trump campaign every single toss-up state at the moment. You give them Florida, they pull out Georgia, they pull out North Carolina. They win again in Ohio. They win again in Iowa. They win up here in Maine too. One electoral vote, give it some credit.

It even perhaps, you know, that doesn't keep Joe Biden under the 290 where he at is. So, why don't you give him Arizona too, Republican state traditionally, Donald Trump won in 2016. Joe Biden still at 279 electoral votes. It underscores the importance of Pennsylvania for the Trump campaign as well. Keeping Pennsylvania and all of a sudden once again he's over 270.

Now what happens if Joe Biden wins the state of Florida? Give him Florida. Now, they can win Pennsylvania. They can win all the toss ups.

[23:30:00]

MATTINGLY: They can win Wisconsin, as well. Flip that over to Republican, and Joe Biden would still be over 270 votes.

So again, the Trump campaign wants Pennsylvania. They're spending a lot in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania yesterday. They understand that's the core of the Midwest poll that brought Donald Trump to presidency in the first place.

But always pay attention to Florida, because if Joe Biden turns Florida blue, light blue, dark blue, any color blue, Joe Biden will likely end up over 270 electoral votes. Don?

LEMON: Oh, thank you very much. Phil has spoken.

Now, I want to bring in CNN senior political analyst Kirsten Powers and White House reporter for The Washington Post Toluse Olorunnipa. Good evening.

Kirsten, you first. A lot can happen. And you know this, right? A lot can happen in 13 days. This is what the former president said about that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We can't be complacent. I don't care about the polls. There were a whole bunch of polls last time, didn't work out, because a whole bunch of folks stayed at home and got lazy and complacent. Not this time, not in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, do you see this race tightening, Kirsten?

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, yes. I think when you look at the people who study the polls and you talk to them, they are very confident that Joe Biden is in a very strong position.

But, you know, the president -- former President Obama is exactly right. People can't look at those polls and just think that the person that they think is going to win is going to win because of what the polls say. The polls can be wrong. The polls also can reflect the fact that some people who said they were going to vote decide not to vote because they think that the person that they want to win is going to win.

So, I think if you're somebody who wants -- is very passionate about who you want to win this race, not only do you need to vote, you need to get every single person you know to vote. You need to be making phone calls on behalf of the candidate and you need to act like your candidate is way far behind in the race regardless of who it is, because, you know, right now, I really don't think you can't say confidently who is definitely going to win the race.

LEMON: Toluse, Obama talked not only about the specifics of how to vote, but also about the biggest issue on the campaign trail and that is health care. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: When they've been asked, they keep on promising, we're going to have a great replacement. They said it is coming. It's been coming in two weeks for the last 10 years. Where is it? Where is this great plan to replace Obamacare? They've had 10 years to do it. There is no plan. They've never had one.

Instead, they've attacked the Affordable Care Act at every turn, driving up costs, driving up the uninsured. Now, they're trying to dismantle your care in the Supreme Court as we speak as quickly as they can in the middle of a pandemic with nothing but empty promises to take its place. It's shameful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Democrats have been pounding Trump on health care, on the health care front. It is a tough issue for a lot of people, especially, Toluse, with the pandemic.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER FOR THE WASHINGTON POST: Yeah, there's been a lot of noise around this election, especially when it comes to President Trump's campaign. They've been flailing about with different messages, trying to brand Joe Biden as a socialist, trying to talk about his son, trying to talk about China.

When it comes to the Democrats, they have had very disciplined message, even if they have at times been taken off their message by Trump's antics.

It's always been about health care. They have been very focused when it comes to the Affordable Care Act, defending Obamacare, even using the Supreme Court opening and the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to focus on health care, focus on the fact that there is a court case coming up next month that could lead to Obamacare being ruled unconstitutional and 20 million people losing their health care.

So, this is a message that all the way from President Obama, all the way down to Joe Biden, his running mate, and all the Democrats up and down the ballot, they have been focusing on health care.

If you listen to some of these senatorial debates, if you listen to some of the gubernatorial debates in the various states, there is a clear message on the democratic side, which is we want to defend Obamacare, we want to defend health care.

And the Republicans don't have an answer for that. So, when it comes to message discipline, at least on that issue, Democrats have the edge whereas Republicans don't really have an answer because they have not been able to come up with a plan for the better part of the last four years and even going much far beyond that into the last --

LEMON: It's been -- yeah, I was going to say it's been 10 years at least that they have been saying repeal and replace.

Listen, so, Kirsten, you know, there is -- The New York Times has a reporting about this, President Trump having this secret Chinese bank account, right? Well, the former president brought that up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: He's got a secret Chinese bank account. How is that possible? How is that possible? A secret Chinese bank account.

[23:35:02]

OBAMA: Listen, can you imagine if I had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for re-election? You think -- you think my -- you think Fox News might have been a little concerned about that? They would have called me Beijing Barry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Kirsten, Beijing Barry. You used to work at Fox News. He has a point.

(LAUGHTER)

POWERS: Oh, well, I mean, he would have -- there almost -- on a daily basis --

LEMON: The secret Beijing Barry bank account and the fake false phony Democrat and the --

POWERS: But --

LEMON: Yeah. I'm doing my best -- trying to do my best Fox News.

POWERS: But it's everything that Donald Trump does. Yeah. But everything that Donald Trump does. They -- Barack Obama was doing. I mean, if Barack Obama had interacted with Vladimir Putin the way that he did, if he interacted with Kim Jong-un the way that he did, if he lied as much as Donald Trump did -- I mean, you know, they got upset because he wore a tan suit in the Oval Office, right? So, it's -- it is just this unbelievable double standard. But, you know, I think, you know, President Obama really showed tonight just how seriously concerned he is about Donald Trump getting re-elected because he was, you know, really going to town against him. He was not holding back at all.

And I think that, you know, you typically don't have former presidents campaigning and campaigning with the kind of passion that he was. And so I think that, you know, it's very clear -- and I would also say, you know, I'm really disappointed that we're not seeing the same thing from George W. Bush.

I mean, he has been completely absent, you know. He certainly let it be known that he doesn't like Trump, but he's just completely checked out and is not speaking up in the way that you have, you know, President Obama speaking up and the way that you see other Republicans speaking out against Donald Trump.

LEMON: Yeah. And I've read an article the other day that said it would be -- he's the one that folks need to come out if they really want to seal --

POWERS: Mm-hmm.

LEMON: -- the deal, meaning traditional Republicans. Listen, I mean, come on, Kirsten --

POWERS: Yup.

LEMON: -- who wears a tan suit? He deserved that. I got to go. I'm kidding. That was sarcasm.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: That was so dumb and so hypocritical. Thank you, guys.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Coronavirus hospitalizations hitting numbers not seen for months now. And one person who spent seven days in the ICU is telling Americans to wear a mask. That person, Chris Christie, got sick after not wearing a mask at the White House.

Plus, the Trump campaign had hundreds of millions of dollars. Where did it all go?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, coronavirus cases are surging around the country.

I want you to take a look at this. Not a single state trending in the right direction. Twenty-six states on the rise, 24 holding steady, and with an average of about 60,000 new cases a day, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is also continuing to climb. We're not far off from the peaks we saw earlier in the spring and summer.

And with all these pain and chaos, all the lives lost and the economy in tatters, the president says there's not a thing he would do differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With COVID, is there anything that you think you could have done differently if you had a mulligan or a do-over on one aspect of the way you handled it, what would it be?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not much. Look, it's all over the world. You have a lot of great leaders. You have a lot of smart people. It's all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, I mean, joining me now is Dr. William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School. Thank you, professor, for joining us. We really appreciate it.

So, here is someone talking about what they do differently. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has a new op-ed about his time in the ICU with coronavirus. I just want to read some of it for you.

He says, "When you get this disease, it hits you how easy it is to prevent. We are asked to wear a cloth over our mouth and nose, wash our hands and avoid crowds. These minor inconveniences can save your life, your neighbors and the economy. Seldom has so little been asked for so much benefit. One of the worst aspects of America's divided politics is the polarization of something as practical as a mask. It's not a partisan or cultural symbol, not a sign of weakness or virtue. Wear it or you may regret it -- as I did."

This is something that we hardly hear if ever from the president, right?

WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: That's correct. Governor Christie was preparing the president for the first debate. He was doing that without a mask. A lot of people in a debate preparation were infected. And I think it's a tribute to the governor that he has changed his opinion and he's come out on the side of public health, having had a near death experience.

LEMON: Professor, the CDC is updating its definition of close contact to include multiple brief exposures that add up to a cumulative 15 minutes spent six feet or closer to an infected person.

I mean, this is a big deal because previously, it was 15 minutes of continuous exposure that we needed to worry about. So, what did people need to know about this new guidance?

[23:44:59] HASELTINE: They need to know that the infection is transmitted by an aerosol that hangs in the air. And that the longer you're there, even with most masks, the higher your risk is.

If you want to reduce your risk when you're indoors and you don't know the people that you're with, you should wear an N95 or a KN95 mask, and very importantly, a face shield. A face shield in hospital settings dramatically reduces transmission. So a face mask and a face shield can help you.

But you should follow the CDC guideline and stay as short a time as possible in a room with people you don't know and haven't been isolated with.

LEMON: Does this new guidance show why it's so important for people to be wearing masks in their everyday lives?

HASELTINE: Yes, it does. And I think Governor Christi does, too, as well as the infection that ran right through the White House. I think those are all signs, in places where you think you should be protected and you're not. It's really important.

I'd like to go back, if you have a minute, to one other point, which is the president said every leader in the world has failed to control the epidemic. That's not true.

LEMON: Yeah.

HASELTINE: The governor of -- the president, prime minister of New Zealand was elected with a landslide because of her ability to drive the infection to zero. The leader of China, a country of 1.4 million people, has driven that infection to zero ever since March and April. It's basically not there. Where we have 60,000 people, they have 11.

Now, everybody is going to say that's totalitarian, but what it really is, is following every guidance for public health.

LEMON: Yeah.

HASELTINE: You identify somebody, isolate them for 14 days, and you can drive this to zero. And it's not too late for us.

LEMON: I think you meant 1.4 billion.

HASELTINE: It's 1.4 billion. Six hundred and fifty million people travelled --

LEMON: Yeah.

HASELTINE: -- over the last golden week and nobody got infected.

LEMON: Thank you.

HASELTINE: It's safe. And it's not totalitarian. It's public health.

LEMON: Thank you, professor. I'll see you soon. Be safe.

HASELTINE: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Private plane rides, stays at Trump properties, salaries paid out to family members, we're taking a look at where the Trump campaign spent hundreds of millions of dollars, next.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: Less than two weeks until Election Day and the president is not only trailing Joe Biden in most polls, he is tens of millions of dollars behind Biden in campaign cash. And as the race gets down to the wire, questions are being raised about how the Trump campaign spent hundreds of millions of dollars in funds.

Here's CNN's Ryan nobles.

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RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the day he took office --

TRUMP: I, Donald John Trump --

NOBLES (voice-over): -- Donald Trump has been running for re-election, filing his paperwork on his inauguration day, and raising money ever since.

(CHEERING)

NOBLES (voice-over): Trump and his party are on track to raise and spend more money than any political candidate in history, more than $1 billion. But, despite all that cash flooding into his campaign coffers, he finds himself in a remarkable position. Down in the polls and with a lot less money than his opponent, Joe Biden.

TRUMP: I could be the king of all fundraisers. I would be the greatest that ever lived.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, hello, hello.

NOBLES (voice-over): Since Biden became the Democratic nominee, he has been steadily eating away at Trump's significant cash on-hand lead. That is the amount of money available for a campaign to spend at the end of every month.

Trump went from being $200 million ahead in this category to being close to $1 million behind for the last month of the race. Now, after raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars, Trump is claiming fundraising isn't all that important.

TRUMP: You know, they got all this money. They'll spend money like crazy. But, you know, ultimately, money doesn't get you there.

NOBLES (voice-over): Money, alone, does not win elections. Trump won 2016 spending far less than Hillary Clinton. But in 2020, the difference is he has raised plenty. So, the question is: Where did it all go?

The Trump political operation has poured tens of millions of donor dollars into things like buying hundreds of copies of the book written by Trump's son, Don, Jr., Facebook ads for campaign staffers like former campaign manager Brad Parscale, ads in the Super Bowl and in the 2019 World Series, months and months before Election Day, ads in the pricey D.C. media market which is not a swing state.

And that's not all. The Trump campaign spent millions on expenditures that directly benefit the Trump family, including private jet travel for his campaign surrogates like his children, salaries for family members, and payments to Trump properties.

Much of the spending was overseen by Parscale, who claimed to have built a massive data and ground operation that he dubbed "the death star" with his tweet over the summer. An analogy that raised some eyebrows, since in the "Star Wars" movie "Return of the Jedi," the death star is destroyed.

The single largest expenditures, more than $300 million, went to two companies, American Made Media Consultants and Parscale Strategy, both affiliated with Parscale.

[23:54:58]

NOBLES (voice-over): The practice hid much of the campaign spending and led to a challenge by a watchdog group to the Federal Election Commission.

Parscale was demoted by Trump in July and left the campaign, outright, in September. But his spending, combined with lackluster fundraising, has put his replacement, Bill Stepien, facing tough decisions about where to spend dwindling resources in the final days of the race. Something Trump says is not a problem and one he could solve in an instant.

TRUMP: If we needed anymore, I'd put it up personally, like I did in the primaries last time.

NOBLES (voice-over): But so far, Trump has put in only $8,000 to his own campaign in 2020. And with time running out, he may be in a position where any amount of money won't be able to change the trajectory of the race.

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NOBLES: And, Don, it is important to point out that the president's campaign account is not the only money being spent in support of his re-election. There is hundreds of millions of dollars being spent by Super PACs. But that money has very specific restrictions attached to it. His campaign account is the money where he has the most flexibility. And right now, Joe Biden has a lot more of that money for the final stretch of the campaign. It is a little bit ironic that a man who got into politics by selling himself as a businessman, who is good with money, is now lacking money in order to finish out his campaign. Don?

LEMON: Ryan Nobles, thank you so much for that. And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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