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With Re-election In Jeopardy, Trump Calls For Rivals To Be "Locked Up"; Trump Attacks GOP Sen. Ben Sasse As "Stupid And Obnoxious"; Rudy Giuliani's Daughter Urges Americans To Vote For Biden And Harris To End Trump's "Reign Of Terror"; U.S. Reaches Eight Million COVID-19 Cases, As The Pace Of New Infections Signals A Tough Winter; NY College President Resigns After 700-Plus Students Test Positive; Trump, Biden Supporters Square Off In Pennsylvania; Manchester Resists Highest Level Restrictions. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired October 17, 2020 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The Coronavirus pandemic front and center as the election enters the home stretch the U.S. has now surpassed 8 million COVID cases with the record number of cases on Friday. More than 69,000 people infected in a single day and experts fear it will get much worse in the weeks to come.

Still, a defiant President Trump is holding his sixth day of campaign rallies since he was diagnosed with the virus, downplaying its dangers, threatening to lock up his political opponents and even suggesting that he believes the country if he loses and his supporters taking their cues from him.

Georgia State Congressman Vernon Jones, a Democrat, who has endorsed the President for re-election crowd surfs, mask less on a sea of mostly mask less people at a Trump rally. The pandemic not stopping voters from turning in their ballots early in fact, the pandemic may be largely galvanizing the record turnout. This is a live look at voters lined up in Georgia.

Across the country, already 21 million have cast their ballots. And with just five days until lawmakers vote on the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Nominee, thousands are marching to the nation's Capital in protest against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the high court.

President Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in Wisconsin today despite officials in his own administration warning about a record number of new cases in the key battleground state. CNN's Sarah Westwood joins me now from the White House. Sarah, what more can you tell us?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN REPORTER: Well Fred, last night President Trump was reprising some familiar attacks on his opponents, the Bidens, saying that they should be locked up. And that's obviously an attack we heard him direct quite frequently at Hillary Clinton in 2016 and he was heavily criticized for that for advocating for the detention of a political opponent. We heard him do some of that last night.

Now that came on the heels of a report from "The New York Post" that the Trump Campaign promoted aggressively about Joe Biden's son's contacts in Ukraine during Joe Biden's Vice Presidency but we just need to stress there's no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Bidens here. Nonetheless, Trump at a rally in Macon, Georgia, last night was describing the Bidens as corrupt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm telling you that Biden family, and others, but that Biden family is corrupt. It's a corrupt family. And with me and my kids, I'll tell you something, though. That's right. Lock them up. You should look them up. Lock up the Bidens. Lock up Hillary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now again no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Bidens, no evidence of illegal activity. They are not under investigation for anything here. But that raucous rally last night in Georgia was a real departure from the more somber tone we heard the president strike earlier in the day in Florida.

He was at an event addressing seniors and he struck a more empathetic note talking about the losses that many people have experienced of loved ones throughout the pandemic. Now seniors are a key demographic that he'll need, especially in Florida, a must-win state for him that he visited yesterday.

The president has been on this campaign blitz here on a final sprint to Election Day. Later today he's set to head to Wisconsin and Michigan, two states that are experiencing surges in COVID cases, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then let's talk about Republican Senator Ben Sasse. You know his comments through a recording about Trump and then now then Trump is unleashed via Twitter, being critical of him. And then now you have Sasse's office responding.

WESTWOOD: That's right Fred, some back and forth this morning between President Trump and the office of Senator Ben Sasse the president describing Sasse this morning as an embarrassment to Nebraska, calling him obnoxious and stupid the way that he's acted.

Ben Sasse earlier this week was reported during the constituent call criticizing the president. I want you to take a listen to a part of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): Looking at the possibility of a Republican blood bath of the Senate, and that's why I've never been on the Trump train. Its why, I didn't agree to be on his re-election committee and it's why I'm not campaigning for him. I think we're staring down the barrel of a Blue Tsunami.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now Sasse has never ban a major Trump supporter he criticized the President in the past. The president has also praised the Senator, though, so they've had sort of a love/hate relationship, two of them.

[12:05:00]

WESTWOOD: Now, Sasse's spokesperson responded on Twitter moments ago saying that Ben Sasse is focused on his re-election and didn't say anything in that constituent call that he hasn't told the president privately in the Oval Office, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Alright, Sarah Westwood, thank you so much for that. All right, Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden issued a statement criticizing President Trump's planned rally in Janesville, Wisconsin. Biden notes that Wisconsin is in the grips of one of the worst Coronavirus outbreaks in the country. Biden reiterated these concerns while campaigning in Michigan yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said we have turned the corner. My grandfather - might say where here he has said he has gone around the bend. Turned the corner my Lord it's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse as predicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, is returning to the campaign trail on Monday after being temporarily grounded when two people on her team tested positive for COVID-19. And now 17 days until the official Election Day, but already nearly 22 million Americans have cast votes in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Take a look at these pictures, live pictures from Marietta, Georgia, where voters began lining up well before sunrise to cast their early in-person ballots. And take a look here. This was New Orleans on Friday where thousands lined up for the first day of early voting there.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is with me. This is a record year for early voting. I mean, wow. Is it mostly the pandemic that is driving this rush to vote or something else? Other things, I should say?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: You know it's a lot of things. People are saying the pandemic is one factor. People are also saying they are a bit worried about the postal service so they want to do it in person. So we've been looking at the data across the country.

More than 20 million Americans have already participated in this election according to our survey of almost all the states and data from Edison Research and Catalyst. You mentioned the in-person turnout. That is not a fluke. If you look at some of the most important states here, Georgia, North Carolina. We looked at their turnout for the first day of in-person voting just a few days ago, compared it to four years ago, and it's off the charts. They've doubled the turnout in North Carolina. It was up by 42 percent in Georgia and not just the battlegrounds, too.

Tennessee as well as you can see. So it's really something that we think at this point is a trend strong interest in in-person participation. You know, doing their part before November even arrives, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Marshall, you mentioned concerns people have about the U.S. Postal Service. People worried about their mail which has been so slow everywhere and now this ruling from an appeals court in the critical Battleground State of Michigan rejecting counting Michigan's late ballot. So, the ruling is seen as a major win potentially for Republicans. Explain why.

COHEN: Yes, that's right. So here's what we're talking about. Mail-in ballots, absentee ballots, when they can arrive in order to get counted. Now, last night Republican judges on the state appeals court overturned a previous ruling that would have allowed late-arriving ballots to still get counted as long as they were postmarked before the election.

So in the old ruling, it would have still been counted if it arrived up to 14 days after Election Day, November 3rd. But the judges on that appeals court reversed it last night. They said in their decision that the pandemic is not compelling enough to change the rules. They're going with the original law.

Ultimately, Fred, this could end up with thousands or tens of thousands of votes not counting. And it was the Republicans who brought this litigation to the appeals court to stick with that strict deadline.

WHITFIELD: All right, Marshall Cohen, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much from Washington. All right, joining me now to discuss is Margaret Talev, a CNN Political Analyst and White House and Politics Editor at AXIOS. Margaret, good to see you.

MARGARET TALEV, POLITICS AND WHITE HOUSE EDITOR, AXIOS: Hey Fred.

WHITFIELD: So, in addition to all that, CNN has now learned that President Trump's Former Chief of Staff, Retired Marine General John Kelly, has disparaged the President in private conversations saying, "The death of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty the transactional nature of every relationship, though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life" that coming from John Kelly.

[12:10:00]

WHITFIELD: So Margaret, what do you make of Republicans like General Kelly? We heard the audiotape from Senator Ben Sasse, distancing themselves from the president after, shall we say, for so long being complicity silent and now to unleash and unload like this?

TALEV: You know, Fred, I have talked to a number of Republican and Democratic friends, sources. And there are sort of two camps of reaction about this. And they meld together in this way.

There's a group that says that what this points to is a growing belief that President Trump is going to lose the re-election and it's freeing people up to not only freeing people up to say things like this but people scrambling to get on that side of history to say, you know I have always been concerned about all of this.

And it raises those questions that you just mentioned like if you were concerned, why didn't you speak out publicly? But there's another component to it and that is I think, even if you are cynical, as I am to some degree after covering politics for so many years, I think it is true that many, many Republicans, both inside this administration and in Congress have, in fact, been mortified or deeply disappointed by a lot of these elements and felt trapped and didn't know what to do?

Do you, you know if you can see statistically if you fight the president you're much more likely to get lose a primary, to be run out of office. Is putting yourself on the line going to change anything anyway? Very few people have run up against the president and won within his own party.

So I think to some extent there's a confessional element in this. People finally being freed up to express some of their deep, you know, frustrations with themselves and the situation. And on the other hand, also, it does seem to point to a growing belief inside the White House as well as among formers and in congress that the president is really in trouble and that if you've always wanted to say these things, it's much less dangerous to now.

WHITFIELD: So, then there's the daughter of the President's personal lawyer and Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani you know announcing that she will be voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Caroline Rose Giuliani making her feelings known in a piece for vanity fair writing this in part I'm quoting it now to anyone who feels overwhelmed or apathetic about this election, there's nothing I relate to more than desperation to escape corrosive political discourse.

As a child, I saw firsthand the crucial selfish politics that Donald Trump has now inflicted on our country. It made me want to run as far away from them as possible but, trust me, when I tell you running away does not solve the problem. We have to stand and fight. The only way to end this nightmare is to vote.

There is hope on the horizon, but we'll only grasp it if we elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. So in your view, does opining like this move the needle at all? And she did support Hillary Clinton, too, so this isn't like an epiphany right now. But it's pretty remarkable. Her dad is you know best is with the president and that she would you know now try to separate herself from Giuliani and this administration, this president. TALEV: I think she's already separated herself from her dad. He's at

the tip of a lot of the misinformation that came out earlier this week et cetera. But I'll say this to some extent it's like the adult version of Kellyanne Conway's daughter using your position as the children of prominent parents to try to put out there in sort of for stark public consumption these issues to have the sounding board and to attempt to effect turnout on the Democratic side is really what this is about.

As you said she backed Hillary Clinton, she supported Barack Obama back in 2008, although I don't think she was old enough to vote, but she was an Obama supporter. So it's not a political shift on her part but it is an effort to use her unique voice to impact turnout now.

WHITFIED: You mentioned that earlier that you know the White House seemingly very desperate, the president desperate. I mean quite remarkable for the president to say, and if I lose, while rallying, you know, just yesterday, if I lose I might leave the country?

I mean, that is extraordinary coming from the incumbent presidency. And I mean, there are other things, too, perhaps that underscore moments of desperation as you just mentioned. But how do you assess this?

TALEV: Our reporting over the last couple of days, my colleague Jonathan Swan has done some remarkable reporting. I think really like in the last 36 hours.

[12:15:00]

TALEV: Two things to flag, one is reports from insiders about the Campaign Manager Bill Stepien's private assessments which many of them walked away feeling that what he was signaling was a belief that they probably can't win.

He has not said that in fact, he told us for the record the opposite, but - and it all does come down to turnout. No election is over until it's over but a real feeling of resignation. And second Jared Kushner and the RNC Chairman Ron McDaniel's move to bring back in the very final days of his campaign.

A woman named Katie Walsh Shields, Republican, a key part of the 2016 operation who was kind of exiled from the White House early in the administration to bring her back in now just to try to figure out what can be done to reset this dynamic in the closing days?

And some of the president's own moves, campaigning in places like Georgia does give you a sense that he's very much at this point the campaign's feeling is he's playing on defense trying for anything to turn the dynamics in the closing weeks of this race.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps even another indicator, I mean, this refrain from really talking policy in detail. Any ideas or flushing out what his ideas are moving forward? He just says it's going to be better. It's going to be great. But he's not give anything details about what's going to replace Affordable Care Act or what are you going to do specifically about making a dent on these Coronavirus numbers?

TALEV: Well, that's right. He was going to have the alternative to the Affordable Care Act in two weeks, like several months ago and every time it comes up, it's two weeks later. I wouldn't expect to see any kind of meat on the bone about any of these issues, before the election and honestly, over the course of the presidency. He's not been a detail heavy in terms of this sort of thing.

WHITFIELD: But now is the time if you want to keep your gig, right?

TALEV: Well, I think the president has signaled that this is going to be much more about trying to turn out his base, trying to depress the Democratic base, Democratic turnout, and to push not for a popular vote win but an Electoral College win following - trying to follow the same road map as 2016.

WHITFIELD: All right, still lots of uncertainty. Anything can happen, right? Margaret Talev, thank you I appreciate that.

TALEV: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, 8 million cases and counting. The number of Coronavirus cases soaring in the United States but will the country have to shut down again? Dr. Anthony Fauci answers that key question straight ahead. Plus, Trump or Biden, as voter's way in on the state of race in the Battleground State of Pennsylvania.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:00]

WHITFIELD: All right a troubling spike in Coronavirus cases across the country has health experts warning that we could be in for a very long and difficult winter. The U.S. has now surpassed 8 million COVID cases and is averaging more than 50,000 new infections every day.

More than half the states in the U.S. are seeing a surge in cases over the past week. For more on this, let's bring back Polo Sandoval. Polo, the U.S. added more than 69,000 new cases Friday. That's the largest one-day total since the end of July. This is very frightening.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's deeply concerning Fred especially when you hear from some experts including one prominent COVID modeler that we've heard from Dr. Chris Murray who says, what's happening right now is exactly what we expected for these spikes and many of these threshold numbers that we've been following that really determined what parts of the country are able to reopen?

And that includes, of course, infection rates that also include death rates as well. And then we look at the map alone we can see that up to 10 states, at least ten states reported their highest number of new daily COVID cases since the start of the pandemic.

So that's certainly telling here, that those numbers are certainly not going down, especially Wisconsin, showing about 3800 cases yesterday alone. That's breaking its previous record that we had seen. And when you hear from the nation's top infectious disease expert, there is still some hope there that it is not too late to bring some of these threshold numbers either down or at least have them flatten.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can't enter into the cool months of the fall and the cold months of the winter with a high community infection base line. And looking at the map and seeing the heat map how it lights up with test positivity that is in more than 30-plus states is going in the wrong direction. It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures. And again, I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So here there Dr. Anthony Fauci saying it's not necessarily about shutting down. In fact, just a few moments ago we heard from the Chief Executive here in the State of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying that starting October 23rd that movie theaters outside of New York City will be able to reopen at least at 25 percent capacity.

So that means that people outside of New York City, as you well know, was once seen as sort of the epicenter of this COVID pandemic earlier this summer will now be stepping in the direction of at least some normalcy, certainly not ideal right now for New York City.

But the big focus remains parts of Brooklyn, parts of Queens, and certain religious communities there with those restrictions that are where a lot of the focus is right now here for New York City officials trying to keep those numbers from going up any more than they have.

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval in New York, thank you so much for that. All right, Dr. Chris Pernell is a Public Health Physician in Newark, New Jersey. Good to see you, doctor.

DR. CHRIS T. PERNELL, PUBLIC HEALTH PHYSICIAN: Good Fred to be here.

[12:25:00]

WHITFIELD: Given all of that, do you see that there's light at the end of the tunnel, that it is near or that we are rounding the corner as the president says?

DR. PERNELL: Well Fred, I'm always a - woman but we have to hunker down. And when I say we have to hunker down, we have to keep doing those public health measures that we know matter just like Dr. Fauci just said in the previous clip that you showed.

We can't lessen up. We can't dilute what we know to be working. We can't stop following the public science and data. So is there light around the corner? Should we be vigilant? Yes, should we be optimistic? Yes. Should we let down our guard? No.

WHITFIELD: So that was kind of the forecast the rosier you know look from the president. Meantime, you know he continues to be on the campaign trail. He's going to be holding an event or several events in Wisconsin and Michigan today.

Wisconsin especially facing a rise in cases, even though, you know, the president says he is free of the virus himself. Are these still, you know, potential super spreader events that concern you?

DR. PERNELL: Definitely these are potential super spreader events, and they definitely concern me. Look, I've been very clear. As a public health physician, especially one who is focused on health equity, we need smart leadership from the White House and the administration and we haven't been getting that.

That is so important so that the public can trust our public institutions and that the public can trust that our public health infrastructure is prepared to do what we need to do to keep the Americans safe.

WHITFIELD: The Head of the National Institutes of Health you know is warning about a rise in hospitalizations and a subsequent rise in deaths. How well prepared are hospitals for what may be - what really may be around the corner?

DR. PERNELL: Right. So our hospitals, even all across the country, even in our state here in New Jersey, we've been following the data. We've been tracking our supplies. We've been tracking stockpiles and things of that nature.

We've been closely monitoring communities, communities where there are vulnerabilities. And when I say communities where there are vulnerabilities, I'm specifically talking about marginalized communities black and brown communities.

Here in New Jersey in Essex County, it's one of the top 12 counties that is a majority color community that's had staggering death rates due to Coronavirus. So we can't afford not to pay attention when we've had such a disproportionate impact.

If we look at the latest data that's available, about 1 in 1,000 blacks die to Coronavirus. About 44,000 blacks have died to date. If you look at that number, have they died at the same rate as white persons? About 22,000 of those persons would still be alive. So it's important for hospitals to know the communities that they serve and those vulnerabilities which I just mentioned.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and this hits home for you in so many levels. Your dad was lost to COVID. Your sister you know, who is a breast cancer survivor. This makes her particularly susceptible and then she is in that category of long haulers, right? So, you know, how are you managing this? Here you are a care provider but then your loved ones are in your heart and you're feeling the pain of their pain and loss.

DR. PERNELL: Right. I'm just doubling down Fred on the public health physician and the support that I can be for my community. Why do I say doubling down? Because public health is very much looking at those things that are important to people and how they live providing emotional support on providing accurate information speaking up for those who feel like they don't have a voice.

I get letters from people all across the country saying please, Dr. Chris, continue to talk about the reality of what we're facing. Especially in marginalized communities. And I've been doing that for my own family. I've been doing that for our community. And we need more in public health and more in the administration to realize just how important it is to have.

WHITFIELD: And then you're also volunteering yourself as part of the human trials, so should people be hopeful that there will be a vaccine, whether it be next year or even in 2022? What's your experience been?

DR. PERNELL: So I've been participating in the vaccine trial, you know, I've had both of my injections to date. I've been closely monitored. I've been more broadly tuned in to what's happening across all the vaccine trials?

As I've said before, I think we should be vigilant that's the word that I would use. I'm very eager to see what type of safety and effectiveness data comes out of these vaccine trials? We don't have a particular candidate yet but we're hopeful.

But just because we're hopeful it doesn't mean that we should rush the process, especially when we see public support for public health institutions to be waning. In particular there was a poll that was released in September where only about half of U.S. adults said that they would take a vaccine if one were to become available.

[12:30:00]

PERNELL: -- But just because we're hopeful, it doesn't mean that we should rush the process, especially when we see public support for public health institutions to be waning. In particular, there was a poll that was released in September, were only about half of U.S. adults said that they would take a vaccine if one were to become available.

So it's going to be important that we have this conversation with the public in a way that they feel informed, in a way that we say we follow all the scientific guidelines. We've had the rigor in place to emphasize the importance of that.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Chris Pernell, thank you so much, and best to you, stay well and to the family.

PERNELL: Thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:04]

WHITFIELD: The president of a State University in New York has resigned as the campus at Oneonta grapples with more than 700 cases of COVID-19. Jim Malatras is the chancellor of the system of 64 college and university campuses across the state known as SUNY or State University of New York. Good to see you, Chancellor. So what is happening on the Oneonta campus?

JIM MALATRAS, CHANCELLOR, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: Well, we had to had a recent leadership change, as you mentioned, it was a wakeup call for the entire system. We went from two cases when I first got the call, even before I was on the job, I'm relatively new to the job to 700 cases in the course of about two and a half weeks. So it shows you how quickly the virus can still spread and how serious of an issue it still is. So it's really helped solidify our aggressive approach.

WHITFIELD: So what was or wasn't happening to go from the two cases you were familiar with to 700?

MALATRAS: The real issue was there were a number of off campus parties, small parties that led to the virus, the spread so dramatically, and those parties weren't being stopped. So unfortunately, that was the main issue where a handful of cases were growing and growing and growing, which led to the campus having to close.

WHITFIELD: So I mean, this SUNY system is huge. I mean, it spans, you know, the entire state of New York. So is it an issue of uniformity, to make sure that every campus is addressing, you know, the issue of this pandemic the same? I mean, what kind of, or is there room for adjustments? I mean, what are you hoping should happen?

MALATRAS: So what happened was, Fredricka, I've been in as chancellor for about a month and a half now. And we bought a uniform approach to the problem, a four-pronged approach to the problem. First, we require every campus now to do testing. We have SUNY Upstate Medical University, one of our premier medical universities in the country that can provide 120,000 tests a week.

We've done more testing at SUNY, than the entire state of Wyoming has done over the course of that the crisis in just about a half of a semester. Our testing positivity rate is 0.5 percent. So we're lower than most states in the entire nation. So we've been highly successful when we've done more testing to surveil the issue. We put in place uniform compliance, it's tough. I know students are coming back. They like to meet with their friends and partners than in usual time.

So we put in uniform compliance, severe penalties for people who violate those guidelines, because this virus spreads fast as we saw at Oneonta. There'll be suspensions and other things for people who fail to comply with that. We've done data transparency, because our parents and our students and our faculty were demanding transparency. So we have a uniform transparency dashboard at the suny.edu website so people could see what's exactly going on, on campuses.

And then the fourth piece, which is really important is, this is an isolating time for many people. This is really hard for specially our students. We've expanded mental health services to every one of our 400,000 plus students all across the SUNY system. And we've appointed the first ever student advocate to really listen to the needs and concerns of students. That person reports directly to me. And we're really aggressive and addressing student concerns from meals to what it feels like to be in quarantine and those other things. So all together, I think Oneonta served this a wakeup call. But as the largest university system in the entire country, we've been highly successful in bringing our students back, lots of testing, low positivity rate, and our students are back on our campuses and learning.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chancellor Jim Malatras, thank you so much, all the best to you. Congratulations on the new job a month in and good luck.

MALATRAS: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's quite the task. Thanks.

[12:38:47]

All right, straight ahead, of voters in Atlanta lining up right now to cast their ballots in the presidential race. We'll go there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right live pictures right now of people lining up in Marietta, Georgia where voters have been lined up since before dawn. Voting in swing states will be key in this election especially in Pennsylvania.

President Trump's narrow 2016 victory helped propel him to Office and the state is once again center stage in the 2020 race. Biden has made his campaign headquarters in Philadelphia. And Trump is relying on his base support from the last election. Here's CNN Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A line forms outside well before opening, waiting to enter the Trump House.

LESLIE ROSSI, OWNER AND CREATOR, THE TRUMP HOUSE: We're ready for the next group. Come on in.

BASH (voice-over): A mecca of sorts for the President's supporters in southwest Pennsylvania, where Trump's record turnout four years ago helped deliver his surprise Pennsylvania victory and the White House.

ROSSI: Shirt or hat per person get a sign of her flag.

BASH (voice-over): Leslie Rossi created the Trump House in 2016 where she pushed disaffected Democrats and never before voters to choose Trump.

ROSSI: We gave people a place to come to, to believe they could win.

BASH (voice-over): Now Trump supporters show up daily for swag and yard signs and help registering to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need Trump in there again. I'm 65. I think it's time to register. BASH (on camera): Have you not voted ever?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

BASH (voice-over): Rural Westmoreland County has seen a surge in Republican registrations. They help with that here to.

RITA BLAIR, CHANGED PARTY AFFILIATION FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN: I changed my registration from Democrat to Republican.

BASH (on camera): Why?

BLAIR: From what I've seen in the last past couple of years, I'm ashamed to say I was a Democrat.

BASH (voice-over): Joe Biden is ahead in Pennsylvania polls, yet his campaign motto is every vote matters, campaigning here in Westmoreland County this month, which Hillary Clinton did not in the 2016 general election.

(on camera): It's not an area Democrats come and campaign very often, but you're here. Why?

JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: I'm here because, like I said, we are not taking any vote for granted.

[12:45:00]

GINA CERILLI, WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER: They've seen in the past four years --

BASH (voice-over): Gina Cerilli county commissioner of Westmoreland PA. Ten years ago she was Miss Pennsylvania in Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant. Now she's an elected Democrat working to blunt Trump's advantage here.

CERILLI: In 2016 Donald Trump was a fresh face. He was new to politics. Everyone was excited. He made big promises, bring back jobs. But frankly, Donald Trump broke those promises.

BASH (voice-over): In small-town Pennsylvania, signs matter. Trumps are everywhere, big and bold. But Biden's are out there, too.

CERILLI: When you see signs like this, it makes the Republicans and the Democrats that voted for Trump in 2016 realize I'm not alone.

BASH (voice-over): A big Biden challenge, his supporters are being COVID careful.

PHYLLIS FRIEND, HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC WOMEN OF WESTMORELAND: Never did we think we would be meeting by Zoom.

BASH (voice-over): Phyllis Friend, head of Democratic Women of Westmoreland County, organizes from home. She's clear-eyed about the Democrats' goal here in Trump country.

FRIEND: We can't win Pennsylvania for him, but we can add to the total numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, David, this is Joe, and I volunteer with the Trump campaign. How are you doing?

BASH (voice-over): As for Republicans, they never stopped traditional ways of getting out the vote -- knocking on doors, walking in neighborhoods in masks, and using a GOP data driven app to find and persuade voters.

BRITTNEY ROBINSON, RUNS PENNSYLVANIA RNC OPERATION: Depending on who that voter is, we're able to tailor that message at the door and on the phone to how we think we need to target that voter and turn them out.

BASH (voice-over): Given the President's struggles in the suburbs, boosting the vote here is critical for Trump.

(on camera): How important is it for him to get his numbers even higher than it was four years ago?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that we need to increase our voter turnout here for the President to offset some of what may be happening in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania.

BASH (voice-over): Back at the Trump House, Leslie Rossi shows us the log of visits from thousands of Trump supporters.

(on camera): What are you seeing this year?

ROSSI: My numbers have tripled, tripled. Four years ago, my work was really hard here. I had to convince the voters to vote for the candidate. I had to convince them President Trump was the best choice for them. This time, I don't have to do any of that. They're all in.

BASH (voice-over): Whether enough are all in could determine whether Trump can overcome the headwinds he faces to win Pennsylvania and a second term.

Dana Bash, CNN, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And don't forget the final presidential debate is on its way and special live coverage starts Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:55]

WHITFIELD: Coronavirus infections are reaching alarming levels across some parts of Europe again, especially in Manchester, England. CNN reporter Salma Abdelaziz joins us from there. Salma, the mayor of Manchester continues to oppose implementing the highest restrictions because he fears the economy will suffer. So how close are you all to a resolution? SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, this is an absolutely extraordinary standoff between the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Manchester. The Prime Minister essentially issued an ultimatum saying either the mayor reengages with the government and holds conversations. Otherwise, the Prime Minister said, he will intervene to save the lives of Manchester's citizens.

Now, the Mayor's argument against raising the tear is essentially two parts. First, he disagrees with the Prime Minister's strategy. He says these small limited regional lockdowns are not enough to stem the virus. Second, he says if the Prime Minister insists on his strategy, well, he needs to provide the economic packages necessary to save businesses from collapse. And while he is doing this, of course, the virus continues to spread through Manchester and around the U.K.

According to officials, if the virus continues at the existing rates, Manchester will run out of hospitals in a matter of weeks. All of this political volume of course happening over the weekend, we are expecting some sort of resolution coming next week but, Fredricka, this just shows the difficulties in implementing these procedures.

WHITFIELD: Difficult indeed. All right, Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much.

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a toll on everyone's mental health, especially among the elderly. For seniors, social isolation can increase the risk of dementia by 50 percent. And it can have an even bigger impact on those already experiencing cognitive decline. So our 2014 CNN Hero, Carol Rosenstein, moved her music program online to mend minds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL ROSENSTEIN, CNN HERO: COVID just makes this doubly difficult for people to sustain their levels of wellness. Because they've got so much isolation going on, we are going to see people deteriorating faster.

(SINGING)

ROSENSTEIN: But we can provide a great substitute that is going to keep us healthy and well during quarantine.

(SINGING)

ROSENSTEIN: Music is medicine for the mind.

(SINGING)

ROSENSTEIN: The complexity excites so many senses in our brain. All of that excitement, miraculously, pushes neurotransmitters that help us function.

(SINGING)

ROSENSTEIN: Medicine with a side effect that is pure joy. Where is my Kleenex?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:55:00]

WHITFIELD: For more information visit CNNHeroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:08]

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone.