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COVID-Infected Trump Holds Event At White House; Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) Is Interviewed About Trump Addressing Crowd From White House Balcony; Biden: Republicans Are the Ones Packing The Supreme Court; New Details Emerge About Alleged Plot To Kidnap Michigan Governor; Election Security Outlook With 24 Days To Go; Arizona GOP Senator Distances Herself From Trump As Senate Race Heats Up. Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired October 10, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:25]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Top of the hour now, good afternoon. I'm Erica Hill, in for Ana Cabrera.

And we begin with breaking news. President Donald Trump who is still battling coronavirus invited hundreds of people to hear him speak in the midst of a pandemic that he has consistently downplayed, failed to contain. It is now just 24 days until the election, and his speech from the White House balcony was a clear attempt to get back to some sort of normal -- although let's be honest, it's tough to say what's really normal at this point.

The president who, again, himself is infected with a virus that has now killed some 214,000 of his fellow Americans, isn't just ignoring public health guidelines. He's making a mockery of them. This event at the White House flies in the face of science and the recommendations of his own White House coronavirus task force. It, of course, though, is not the first time.

And keep in mind there's still a lot that we don't know about the president's illness. It's been radio silence from the president's doctors since Thursday. We don't even know if the president is still contagious.

Today's event, exactly two weeks after the event that you see here for Amy Coney Barrett, with far fewer people -- well, that sparked an outbreak.

So, let's call today's event is a dangerous nonessential political rally, this as the country is setting records it shouldn't. More than 57,000 new cases added on Friday. Those are numbers we haven't seen since mid-August. More than 213,000 Americans have now died. We're talking about parents and grandparents, friends who didn't have access to the same care or the same treatments that the president did.

Many families, as we know, unable to say good-bye to their loved ones, some of them lucky if they could even get a FaceTime call. The president says he has learned a lot since contracting the virus. But today, it appears little has changed for the president. His focus

is not on the virus. He has yet to acknowledge the many staffers around him who are also dealing with this virus.

And make no mistake, even if it's being ignored, the virus is raging, and it does not care who you vote for or where you live. And if we don't start to change our behavior and maybe look out for one another, things will get worse. An influential model is now projecting another 181,000 deaths by February 1st.

But again, if most of the country wore masks, 95 percent, we could significantly reduce that number. And if I sound like a broken record, it's because none of this is new, but yet, here we are on October 10th.

Jeremy Diamond joining us now from the White House.

So, Jeremy, masks, we know, were encouraged. Were they required at today's event? What kind of safety measures did we see today, especially compared to what we've seen in the past?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the hundreds of people who arrived on the South Lawn of the White House to hear the president address them, they were required to bring masks, not necessarily to wear them. Although we did see most people who were attending this event were indeed wearing those masks, but social distancing, completely out of the picture.

You can see on your screen right now these people were tightly packed together on the south lawn of the White House, several hundred people, and, of course, the CDC makes clear that these large gatherings where social distancing isn't possible are the highest-risk category and they also make clear that masks are no substitute for social distancing. You should be doing both together.

Now, as for the president, his message focused mostly on this issue of law and order but he did also address the coronavirus. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think more than anything else, science, medicine will eradicate the China virus once and for all. We'll get rid of it all over the world. It's going to disappear. It is disappearing, and we're -- vaccines are going to help and the therapeutics are going to help a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: So you can see, Erica, not much has changed in the president's messaging on the coronavirus, still insisting that this virus is somehow going to disappear when, of course, we know the reality here in the United States is anything but. In fact, cases have been rising in the United States, as you mentioned. We hit 57,000 cases yesterday. That puts the 7-day average, moving average of cases near 50,000 cases per day. So, we are clearly headed in the wrong direction, even as the

president talks about spikes in places like Canada, which is experiencing a tiny, tiny fraction of the number of cases that we are seeing here in the U.S.

HILL: The other thing that's so remarkable to me, Jeremy, is here we are, and the White House still is not answering a very simple question as to whether the president has tested negative yet for coronavirus since his infection. Nor have they answered when he last tested negative before ultimately testing positive.

Any chance we're going to get those answers or more information on his health status as we know? Because he's got three rallies scheduled this week.

DIAMOND: Well, look, the White House communications director, Alyssa Farah, this morning said that we would know as soon as the president's medical team has cleared him to go out and resume his public travel and his campaigning.

[16:05:10]

We haven't seen that as of yet, so we can only assume that the president as of now has not yet tested negative for coronavirus, and that he is still indeed infectious. Of course, we know that those CDC guidelines say that basically ten days after the onset of symptoms, you can begin to exit that isolation and resume your public activities.

We are nine days now from the president's being diagnosed with coronavirus. Tomorrow would be ten days since that moment. We know that the president, though, there's no question he is eager, he is itching to get back out on the campaign trail. He is down in nearly every poll that you look at right now, whether it is nationally or in some of those key battleground states, and so, president eager to get back on the campaign trail, visiting three key battleground states on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

As of now, though, Erica, we have not gotten that letter from the president's medical team saying he's cleared to resume those activities and of course as you mentioned, still no transparency, no answers, complete stonewalling from the White House on this question of when he last tested negative before he was diagnosed with the virus, raising this prospect that the president not only went to the debate, perhaps, not having tested negative, but also that he was on Air Force One and traveling to visit his supporters before he was diagnosed with coronavirus -- Erica.

HILL: Yeah. Important questions that are pretty easy to answer.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

Joining me now, the third highest-ranking Democrat in the House, Congressman James Clyburn.

Congressman, good to see you today. We saw the president today --

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Thank you.

HILL: As far as we know, he's still recovering from COVID. We don't know about a negative test. He did invite hundreds to this event at the White House.

Yes, he was up on a balcony. We saw them there, though. We know coronavirus is a top issue for Americans, for obvious reasons.

What do you think the message is that we got from the president today?

CLYBURN: Well, I think it's still all about him. I think the American people have come to realize that this president does not have the capacity to even sympathize, least most to empathize.

It would seem that now that he has contracted the virus, he ought to have a certain amount of empathy for what people are going through, not just to focus on the 214,000 deaths but the people who are infected, people who are in nursing homes, people who are in hospitals and other places. It seemed to me that this president ought to be focusing on them, not his campaign, not his supporters, bringing them to the White House and talking about himself. That is just the kind of thing that ought to awaken the American people to what this is all about.

We have just lost basic goodness coming from the White House. It is one thing to have political differences, but when you have the kind of a problem that we have in this country today, we ought to be bringing ourselves together. We ought to be expressing a certain amount of empathy for those people who are suffering.

This president seems not to have the capacity to do anything but focus on himself. That is a strange illness that all of us should be aware is costing this country dearly.

HILL: This virus has disproportionately impacted communities of color, African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans.

This event today was specifically for African-Americans and Latinos. But I didn't hear anything from the president addressing the disproportionate impact on these communities.

How do you think that could change things if we heard more of that, more of that recognition?

CLYBURN: I think that all of us know that what this virus has done has exacerbated problems that existed for a long time. When we went about the business of trying to put the Affordable Care Act together, we were focusing on the fact that there are people who are born with juvenile diabetes, for instance, that needed to be focused on, women with breast cancer and some men as well, and men with prostate cancer, having their insurance taken away from them as soon as they got sick.

We were focusing on what we needed to do to make this country's greatness accessible and affordable for everybody. And I don't understand why the president would have an event focusing on minority communities, black and brown, and not mention what it's all about.

He should be telling them exactly what he is going to do to get rid of these disparities that exist in our system, in our healthcare system, in our education system, in the affordability of energy.

[16:10:10]

These disparities are there. And COVID-19 has exacerbated these disparities and it would seem to me that the president would be saying to them, this is what my election will mean to the elimination of these disparities. He did not do that simply because he does not have the capacity to empathize with what these communities are experiencing in this particular pandemic.

HILL: Congressman, I also want to get your take on a couple of other things we've seen throughout the week. So, on Friday, of course, we heard from Speaker Pelosi, who announced legislation to create a commission that would determine whether the president is fit to do his job under the 25th Amendment. We look at this, the reality is this is not something that is going to pass as we know right now.

Is this a more political theory? I mean, what's really behind this, especially 24 days out from the election? What does this achieve?

CLYBURN: Well, if my memory serves, Jamie Raskin presented this, what, a year or maybe more ago. And this was just a restatement or re -- bringing attention back to a piece of legislation he's been dealing with for a long time.

I don't know of anybody, and I suspect Jamie being the constitutional professor -- constitutional law professor that he is, wants to bring attention to the fact that this pandemic has exposed some real gaps in our process as well. It's not just about health, education, and welfare. It's about the Constitution.

The Constitution is silent on so many things that the Founding Fathers did not take into account, and that is what happens in a situation like we have now? People are worried as to if this president decides, as he keeps saying, refused to say that he will not to have a peaceful transition or a transfer if he loses the election, the Constitution doesn't tell us what to do.

And so, that's all this thing that Jamie Raskin and Speaker Pelosi was focused on, so the American people can understand that once we get beyond this election, there's some serious things we got to sit down and do because history ought to be instructive here. We have never had anything like this.

I don't think we have had this kind of insensitivity in the White House, maybe since Woodrow Wilson. And so, people just have got to focus of what we need to do not to have their problems with this democracy that's being challenging to us at this particular juncture. That is what they were doing, calling out to the American people's attention so that as soon as we get into this next Congress, we have to do some other things outside of dealing with COVID-19 as a health problem. We got to see what we should do to maintain the integrity of this democracy.

HILL: As we -- as we look forward as well, listen, plenty of Americans, what they would like to see done right now is some form of stimulus, as you know. There are millions of Americans across this country who are hurting. The president reversing course after shutting down stimulus talks, now saying he wants to go big.

We do know that Speaker Pelosi in a letter to you and your fellow House Democrats said the White House's latest proposal amounts to one step forward, two steps back. Sources telling us there are more than 20 Republican senators who are also opposed to what the White House has pitched. In response, Mark Meadows has reported said that he's going to have to bring that back to the president and, quote, you will all have to come to my funeral.

Listen, for the American people right now, they're tired of politics. They're tired of the back and forth, do you believe that this president actually wants to negotiate at this point, and are you hopeful that something could happen?

CLYBURN: Oh, I'm hopeful that something could happen but I do believe this president is once again playing games with the American people. I don't think he wants to solve this problem. He is trying to create as many pressures on the system as he can possibly create.

COVID-19 gives him an excuse to create pressures. He wants confusion. He doesn't want to see people in this country have any kind of order in their lives.

He wishes to be law and order. It's all about him.

[16:15:01]

That's -- he's never going to agree to legislation that will help people living on Main Street, on side street or these other places where we need to get our rural hospitals and community health centers to working on behalf of the American people. He's not going to do that.

HILL: Congressman --

CLYBURN: He wants to see -- yes?

HILL: I want to -- I want to pick up on it. You mentioned law and order, and we're tight on time but I really want to get your take on this because we hear that so much, as you pointed out, from the president. He talks about law and order.

What we saw unfold in Michigan, what we learned about, this alleged plot in Michigan to kidnap the governor, to overthrow several state governments, to instigate a civil war, according to the complaint there, we have not heard anything from the attorney general condemning this, and he, at one point, of course, wanted to change -- charge rather riot-related defendants with sedition. What does the American public need to hear right now from the attorney

general in terms of this plot that was foiled?

CLYBURN: Well, there's a good reason you have not heard anything from the attorney general, because he's complicit in all of this. This attorney general -- everything he proposes, it is to bring chaos.

I wish people would just take the time and pick up Martin Luther King Jr.'s last book, "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?"

I see so much of what this attorney general is doing, what this president is doing, it's to destroy communities and to create chaos. They are complicit in all of this.

Why else would the president get the message of what has just happened to the governor of a state and he does not condemn that kind of activity. Instead, talks about her being a bad governor.

All of that gives license for this to occur. This attorney general is simply a -- let's just say, he is this president's toy.

HILL: Congressman James Clyburn, appreciate you joining us this afternoon. Thank you.

CLYBURN: Thanks for having me.

HILL: So, today, hundreds gathered on the White House lawn. Next week, the president plans to hold three rallies in three states.

So, what's safe? What are the chances the president is still infected? What are the chances the president is contagious? What about the people around him?

We'll ask a doctor next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:21:44]

HILL: A COVID-infected President Trump this afternoon speaking from the White House balcony. He was addressing supporters gathered on the White House lawn. The president's move coming as the U.S. reports its highest single day number of new coronavirus cases since August. More than 57,000 new cases and nearly a thousand deaths reported on Friday. Also consider this: the president hosted today's event after admitting on Fox last night that he possibly got coronavirus at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They had some big events at the White House, and perhaps there. I don't really know. Nobody really knows for sure. Numerous people have contracted it. But you know, people have contracted it all over the world. It's highly contagious. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: It is highly contagious. That's something we've known for a while.

Joining me now, CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine at George Washington University, Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He also previously advised the Bush White House Medical Center.

Dr. Reiner, I'm just curious your reaction to what you saw at the White House today.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, it's just another example of this president's callous disregard for the health of anyone other than himself. We're in the middle of a pandemic. We had 58,000 new cases yesterday and over 900 deaths. Why would anyone in their right mind bring a mass gathering of people together?

But you know, we've seen this over and over again. You know, the Major League Baseball uses cardboard cutout in the stands to just fill up space. But that's what this president is doing with human beings. He's basically making them disposable props so that he gets a more pleasing visual.

It's horrible, and it's -- this kind of callous disregard for the welfare of others is a characteristic of a sociopath. He's exhibiting sociopathic behavior.

HILL: Wow. Well, the president -- we're trying to find out more about his condition right now because we're not getting straight answers, as you know. The president appeared in a pre-taped segment for Fox News for Tucker Carlson's show and here was his response when he was asked about being tested. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have been retested, and I haven't even found out numbers or anything yet, but I've been retested. And I know I'm at either the bottom of the scale or free.

MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: When is your next test going to be?

TRUMP: I don't know. Probably tomorrow, Marc. They test every couple of days, I guess.

But it's really at a level now that's been great. Great to see it disappear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: At the bottom of the scale or maybe free. Can you just put this -- how do these tests come back? Are you a little bit positive? I mean, is that like being a little bit pregnant? I didn't follow that.

REINER: Right, because it's -- it can't be followed. So, you know, the typical PCR test takes, you know, a small amount of

virus and then amplifies it until it can be detected. Somebody who is still barely ten days into their illness will have detectable amounts of either virus or fragments of RNA that will be detectable.

The White House made a mistake by sort of linking his participation in events to a negative PCR test because people with COVID can remain -- test positive for a long time, even if they're not infected.

[16:25:08]

You may remember there was a patient from one of the cruise ships who was hospitalized in Nebraska. They wouldn't let him out until he tested PCR negative. He was in the hospital for over a month.

The president should not be relying on that -- the White House should not be relying on a test. They should not have sort of promoted that he would be PCR negative so quickly. You won't hear them talk about the test again.

HILL: Do you think that's why we can't get an answer to the test?

REINER: Yeah, because he will continue to test positive. I don't know who's advising them but they're advising him poorly. He will continue to test positive for a while.

HILL: Speaking of advising, as I mentioned, you spent years advising the Bush White House medical unit so I was curious, I wanted to get your take on an op-ed written by former advisors to Bloomberg and Hillary and Bill Clinton.

They cite the Secret Service incident when the president went for that ride last weekend as among the reasons they believe George W. Bush should step in and endorse Joe Biden, saying, quote: With the passing of his father, George W. Bush is the senior statesman of the Republican Party and the only one who can guide it back to a more reasonable place from oblivion.

Bush's endorsement of Biden would be something special. It would give lifelong Republicans already disgusted with Trump the political cover they need to pull the lever for Democrats, even if it's just this one time.

I'm just curious your reaction to that.

REINER: I have enormous respect for the former president. And when he was president, he was president of the United States. He wasn't president of only the red states.

And I do think he's the kind of person who could break the sort of party barrier and do what's right for the country. You know, the Secret Service is composed of some of the greatest people you'll ever meet. I've been honored to know many of them and I wonder if the president would have gotten into a car before he had COVID-19 if someone said, oh, by the way, your driver has COVID-19, but don't worry, he has a mask on. I don't think so. I would look -- I would love to see former President

Bush stand up and endorse Joe Biden.

HILL: Do you think he will?

REINER: I'm going to go out on a limb and say, yes, he will.

HILL: Wow. And --

REINER: Two wows. I got two wows.

HILL: Yeah. If you think he might, when do you think that would happen? Twenty-four days now to go.

REINER: Well, it should be now, right? It should be this week. I don't know. I don't know.

HILL: Sure. That's all right.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, always good to have you with us. Thank you.

REINER: My pleasure.

HILL: We have just learned that Joe Biden has again tested negative for COVID-19. He's been regularly taking tests since the debate nearly two weeks ago when the president likely was already infected. But they won't answer that question.

We're going take you live to Pennsylvania next where Joe Biden is campaigning today.

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:22]

HILL: Twenty-four days now until the election. Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, is again being asked a question he and his running mate aren't answering: Will they pack the Supreme Court if elected?

CNN's Jessica Dean is in Erie, Pennsylvania.

So, Jessica, the question is not going away. How was it answered this afternoon?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, much like it has been answered now for a while. Joe Biden saying it is not a question he wants to answer before Election Day.

He's traveled here to Erie, Pennsylvania, to campaign. But when he was getting on his plane, here's what he had to say. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Look, the only court packing going on right now is going on with Republicans packing the court now. It's not constitutional, what they're doing. We should be focus on what's happening right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, Biden has implored the Republican Senators to do what he calls listening to their conscience. And he has made the argument that because voting has started that the Senate should wait on any decisions on the next Supreme Court justice.

In the meantime, back here in Erie, Pennsylvania, you see a crowd has gathered outside the area where Joe Biden is set to give remarks later this afternoon.

We're told he's going to be talking about his economic message, which he's been bringing, tailored to why is working class voters in areas like Erie, Pennsylvania.

So we expect to hear more from him in just a little bit -- Erica?

HILL: Jessica Dean, live there for us. Jessica, thank you.

We are learning new details about the plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan and the men accused of plotting it. Those new details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:37:05]

HILL: CNN has learned two suspects and an alleged domestic terror plot to kidnap Michigan's governor to overthrow several state governments are Marine veterans.

Marine Corps officials confirming today Joseph Morrison and Daniel Harris were both part of the Marine Corps. And 13 men in total are charged in this alleged plot.

CNN's Sara Sidner has more on the details still emerging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYANT TITUS, BUSINESS OWNER: I hate to say I love the kid but I'm mad right now. I'm just shocked, man. You help somebody out and then they pull that stuff.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bryant Titus says one of the suspects in the alleged domestic terrorist plot was his employee.

(on camera): The owner of this vacuum Shop says Adam Fox lived here for the last couple of weeks. He says he lived behind this door and down into the basement.

(voice-over): Down here with him, his dogs. One with an emotional support collar and a "Don't tread on me" tag attached to it.

TITUS: He was in a militia and he got kicked out, so he started his own.

SIDNER: One of many things the two discussed, Titus says.

He only became concerned when he noticed packages arriving for Fox.

(on camera): What was he getting from Amazon?

TITUS: Like, MREs, food, stuff like that.

SIDNER: So survival stuff pretty much?

TITUS: Yes. He was buying more like attachments for like an A.R.-15 and he was buying food. And I'm not stupid. I was in the Marine Corps. So that -- I told him he had to go.

SIDNER: But before he left, Fox and 12 others were arrested in FBI raids.

We found several suspects ranting against the government online. One suspect calling President Trump an enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is not your friend, dude.

SIDNER: While another had praise for the president, tweeting, "Keep up the good work, Chief. We, the people, love your work."

The FBI says the alleged plot centered around a plan to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose coronavirus restrictions have been railed against by armed groups at the capitol.

According to the complaint, they did surveillance on her vacation home. Two of the suspects discussed detonating explosive devices to divert police from the area.

One suspect said in an encrypted chat, "The fear will be manifested through bullets." Fox allegedly responds, "Copy that, boys, loud and clear."

[16:40:03]

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): These are the types of things you hear from groups like ISIS. This is not a militia. It is a domestic terror organization.

DANA NESSEL, (D), MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: What we're seeing here in Michigan right now, it's not just a Michigan problem. It's an American problem. And I think there's going to be more incidences to come.

SIDNER: A problem forewarned by Frank Mink, a former Neo-Nazi himself convicted in the '90s for a politically motivated kidnapping.

I spoke to him days before the alleged Michigan plot was known to the public.

(on camera): What's the scenario in this election that would create what you're calling the potential of a race war? FRANK MINK, FORMER NEO-NAZI: I'm telling you this is going to happen.

States like Michigan, states like Wisconsin, the northern states that have some wilderness area, there have been militias from other states training up there.

They are waiting and hoping that something does go wrong because they want to hold up in them hills. And they want to say, we don't want the federal government up here no more.

SIDNER (voice-over): He says President Donald Trump's rhetoric has emboldened extremists.

Whitmer agrees.

WHITMER: Of course, we know every time that this White House identifies me or takes a shot at me, we see an increase in rhetoric online, violent rhetoric.

And so there's always a connection. And certainly, it's something that we've been watching. But this took it to a whole new level.

SIDNER (on camera): Governor Whitmer had requested that the president stop using rhetoric against her in particular.

The president has responded, saying that he does not condone any type of extremist violence. But then attacked the governor again, saying that she has done a terrible job during this coronavirus crisis.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: I want to bring in now CNN National Security Analyst, former senior advisor to the national security advisor in the Obama administration, Samantha Vinograd.

Sam, good to see you.

We just saw in Sara's reporting and the Michigan attorney general has said there's a problem across America.

So, just give us a sense. How big of a national security threat today is domestic terrorism?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Erica, the intelligence outlook is frankly worrisome. Domestic violent extremism, or DVE ,was already surging pre-pandemic. 2019 was the most lethal year for DVE since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

This year, in 2020, we have additional risk factors. FBI director Christopher Wray said in sworn testimony last week that perceptions of government and law enforcement overreach are key drivers of DVE.

DHS similarly said that violence related to government efforts to mitigate COVID-19 has exacerbated the typical election season environment. This is clearly an all-hands-on-deck moment. But President Trump isn't

on law enforcement's side.

President Trump has praised violent groups like QAnon, the Proud Boys and white supremacists who ostensibly ally with him.

Currently, he has made public comments that have been taken as a call to action. That could lead to more violence.

The bottom line is, we do have a domestic extremism problem in this country, and President Trump is making it worse, not better.

HILL: So, are you saying that he's putting politics over national security, Sam?

VINOGRAD: I think that President Trump has consistently put politics over national security.

And he's not alone. When we look at, for example, the behavior of his attorney general, Bill Barr, when it comes to this most recent plot against Governor Whitmer, it is clear that there's a political filter applied to threats affecting Americans.

Bill Barr has personally been silent about the plot targeting governor Whitmer. Yet, when there are threats that jibe with President Trump's political talking points, like the threat from Antifa, for example, he is the loudest voice in the room.

And it's not just about domestic terrorism. Bill Barr and President Trump have overplayed and misrepresented the threat from China and the threat of voter fraud related to the election cycle because yet again, that jives with their political talking points.

And bringing this back to domestic terrorism, Erica, this posture could have really dangerous consequences.

Supporters of the president may think that Bill Barr's silence, his double standards on domestic terrorist threats, could mean that the Department of Justice and the attorney general won't bring their full weight to bear just as long as violent extremists ally with President Trump.

This could literally have lethal consequences.

HILL: Well, we will all be watching that. It will be interesting to see if we do hear publicly from the attorney general at all in the coming days.

[16:45:01]

You mentioned election security. We are now, of course, 24 days out from the election. How do things look to you in terms of election security?

VINOGRAD: Well, right now, U.S. officials are working overtime to protect us from the president. Just last week, the leaders of key agencies working on election

security issued a public service announcement indicating that foreign attacks, specifically influence operations, are ongoing.

Also last week, the top U.S. counterintelligence official explicitly stated that foreign adversaries are exploiting and amplifying Trump's lies to attack Americans.

I mean, think about that. President Trump is a key contributor to information warfare attacks against the American people.

And President Trump is also stirring the pot when it comes to physical threats to Americans during the election season. He has failed to say he would tell his supporters not to engage in civil unrest.

And the Trump campaign is deploying a 50,000-person army of poll watchers, which could lead to illegal voter intimidation.

So at this point, I think election security officials are trying to manage external threats while also trying to figure out how to contain the threat coming from the commander-in-chief.

HILL: Samantha Vinograd, good to see you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

VINOGRAD: Thank you.

HILL: Up next, signs that a key swing state may be turning on the president.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:07]

HILL: A key swing state may be turning on the president.

CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R-AZ): I'm Martha McSally.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the combat fighter pilot --

MARK KELLY, (D), ARIZONA SENATE CANDIDATE & FORMER ASTRONAUT: I'm Mark Kelly.

MARQUEZ: -- versus the astronaut. Early voting now under way across the Grand Canyon state.

(on camera): Why is the Senate so important?

QUIANA DIGGS, KELLY SUPPORTER: Well, first of all, I believe that with this thing it has done with accepting the things that Donald Trump has done to the country and looking the other way is unacceptable.

MARQUEZ: What draws you to Senator McSally?

BRADLEY FIEGEL-JOHNSON, MCSALLY SUPPORTER: Just, I mean, honestly, it's just who I've been following for a long time. And, yes, she does support Trump and that's something I'm big into because I do support Trump as well.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The contest to fill the last two years of the later Senator John McCain's term, his legacy in long-running feud with the president, a presence in the race.

KELLY: To hear Senator McSally not stick up for Senator John McCain when the president of the United States is attacking him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you not stick up for Senator McCain?

MCSALLY: Quite frankly, it pisses me off when he does it.

KELLY (voice-over): I launched on July 14 of 2006. Gabby thought I was going to propose from space.

MARQUEZ: Kelly, husband to former congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, who was seriously wounded during a mass shooting in 2011, Kelly has focused on a centrist message.

KELLY: I will work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to make health care work for all of Arizona.

MARQUEZ: Attacking McSally for her support of the president and for voting to eliminate protections for preexisting conditions.

AD NARRATOR: McSally voted to gut or eliminate protections for preexisting conditions.

(CHEERING)

MARQUEZ: McSally has attacked Kelly as a tool of progressive left, overly friendly toward China, and hiding his true agenda.

AD NARRATOR: He's too liberal for Arizona.

(APPLAUSE)

MARQUEZ: For McSally, a former U.S. representative from southern Arizona, it's her second run for Senate in two years.

She was narrowly beat by Democrat Krysten Sinema in 2018 when Republican Jeff Flake retired after clashing with President Trump.

SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA, (D-AZ): Her false attacks against me were desperate and over the top. Now she's doing the same to Mark Kelly.

MARQUEZ: Sinema even taking the usual step of going on the attack against her Senate colleague.

Polls have shown Kelly with a consistent lead over McSally.

(on camera): Arizona may have two Democratic Senators. Shock?

CHUCK COUGHLIN, PRESIDENT & CEO, HIGHGROUND, INC.: Not a shock in the sense that you've seen the direction of the Republican Party.

MARQUEZ: Arizona Republican political strategist, Chuck Coughlin, says the GOP here has two problems, an ideological base beholden to Trump and a rapidly evolving electorate.

COUGHLIN: If we have two Democratic Senators for the first time since 1952, as Senator McCain would say, it's always darkest before it turns black.

(LAUGHTER)

COUGHLIN: It's going to turn black for Republicans here.

MARQUEZ: Now, keep in mind all of this is to finish off the last two years of John McCain's term. That means whoever wins has to do it all over again in 2022.

And because it's a special election, if Mark Kelly wins, he could play a role in the nomination process for Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. That assumes she's not confirmed by Election Day.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Miguel, thank you.

Her strength after tragedy inspired America. Tomorrow night, the CNN original series "FIRST LADIES" profiles Jackie Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The president's car is now turning on to Elm Street and it will be only a matter of minutes before he arrives.

I was on Stemmons Freeway earlier and even the freeway was jampacked with spectators waiting to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're in the car and Jackie thinks that she hears some backfires.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she turns to look at her husband, and she sees, literally, his brains being blown out.

ANNOUNCER: It appears as though something has happened in the motorcade route. Something, I repeat, has happened in the motorcade route.

[16:55:05] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sounds and the screaming and the motors racing. For him then literally to fall into her lap so that she is staring into the wound and knowing that he's gone.

ANNOUNCER: There's numerous people running up the Hill alongside Elm Street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's in a war zone, and she starts to climb out of the car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent, pushes her into safety, pushes her back down. But now she's back into the horror of this chamber in which her husband has been murdered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: You can catch this brand-new episode of "FIRST LADIES" tomorrow night, 10:00, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)