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Trump Recycles 2016 Campaign In Final Weeks Of Campaign; Trump Incites Domestic Terrorism In Campaign; Trump Refuses To Disavow QAnon; Final Presidential Debate Between Trump And Biden; U.S. In Second Wave Of Coronavirus; Travel Restrictions In Connecticut And New Jersey; Deadline For Stimulus Deal Set At 48 Hours; CNN Original Series, First Ladies: Nancy Reagan. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 18, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for joining me. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And just over two weeks until Election Day now, 16 days, to be exact, and stories of a superstitious President Trump are emerging.

The president is trying to recreate the atmosphere of 2016, believing that is the key to victory. That means gathering the same advisers, the same rhetoric, the same big rallies including another one in Nevada tonight after stops this week in Wisconsin and Michigan, Florida, and Georgia.

According to a person briefed on President Trump's Oval Office sessions this week, the president is convinced that his 2016 strategy will yield lightning in a bottle results again. But 2020 is not 2016. The reality star is now an incumbent saddled with a pandemic and a rising death count.

Point to almost any spot on a map of the U.S. and COVID cases are trending in the wrong direction. The country is averaging more than 55,000 new cases a day. That is up more than 60 percent since a dip in September.

Experts say we have arrived at a fall surge we have been warned for months about. And yet the president who contracted COVID himself, is attacking the governor of Michigan for her pandemic restrictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Democrats would terminate our recovery with a draconian, unscientific lockdown like your governor is doing right now.

And then I guess they said she was threatened, right? She was threatened. And she blamed me. She blamed me. And our people were the ones that worked with her people, so let's see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That "lock her up" chant, another nod to 2016, but this time it's said in the wake of very real and violent threats. Just over a week ago, federal authorities revealed Governor Whitmer was the target of a domestic terror plot. More than a dozen men allegedly planned to kidnap her and attack the state government. This morning, the governor put blame on the president's rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: You know, it's incredibly disturbing that the president of the United States, 10 days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial and execute me, 10 days after that was uncovered, the president is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism. It is wrong. It's got to end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's head to Nevada. CNN's Ryan Nobles is in Carson City where the president will soon hold a rally. And Ryan, the Trump campaign is defending the president's comments over Governor Whitmer, right?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Ana. There's really no change in the president's rhetoric from before this alleged terror plot was uncovered until after it. The president still very critical of Gretchen Whitmer and inciting in many ways these crowds that are angry with her in the way she has responded to the pandemic.

We should point out, restrictions that she put in place that were from the CDC guidance that was put out by the Trump administration. Still, this is very typical for President Trump at rallies like these. Going after his political opponents with very harsh terms and with very harsh rhetoric.

And it's led to some of the targets of this rhetoric to say that the actions that have come after are specifically the result of that. Gretchen Whitmer said it. Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, who was also part of this alleged terror plot, also said the same thing.

This morning on "State of the Union," Jake Tapper pressed Lara Trump, one of the president's senior advisor, his daughter-in-law, and a chief spokesperson about how the president is responding to all of it. And this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARA TRUMP, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Well, look, he wasn't doing anything, I don't think, to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. He was having fun at a Trump rally. Look, the president was at a rally. It's a fun, light atmosphere. Of course, he wasn't encouraging people to threaten this woman. That's ridiculous.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Well, I don't think lock her up is fun.

(EMD VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: And I should point out, Ana, having been to a lot of these

Trump rallies. I've been there for many lock her up and lock him up chants, depending on who the political opponent the president is talking about, if the president is joking about it, you certainly don't get the sense that those in the crowd are joking about it.

They seem very serious about it. And the fact that the president fires them up in that respect is a big part of the reason why many of them show up at these rallies and are supporting him in the fall, Ana.

[17:05:00]

CABRERA: And as we look at these images, it's hard to believe that Nevada is seeing a rise in cases. In fact, their positivity rate was 17.35 percent as of Friday, that's a seven-day average, and yet we see no social distancing, very little mask wearing there. Thank you, Ryan Nobles.

I want to bring in now Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman. He is a Republican congressman from Virginia. He lost his party's nomination earlier this year. He recently blasted President Trump's refusal to condemn QAnon. And so thank you, congressman, for taking the time to talk with us. I want you to listen once more to the president and his supporters last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Lock them all up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Congressman, the FBI is investigating an alleged domestic terror plot to kidnap and potentially harm the governor of Michigan. Is it appropriate or responsible for the president to not only not stop the chanting of "lock her up," but then also add, lock them all up?

REP. DENVER RIGGLEMAN (R-VA): Stop the chanting. You know, thank you for having me on, first of all, but I wish I could give you my bona fides right now, Ana, you know, on what I did in the intelligence world but I can't because I have lifetime obligations where I can't say that how bad things really are when it comes to conspiracy theories or people that are actually planning to do harm to sitting officials.

There's a real danger of cascading effects, right. When you say something bad, sometimes people believe it. And right now, you know, when you look at tyranny, when you look at people that are uninformed, QAnon and conspiracy theories are really the vessels to which ignorance flows.

And if you continue to hype this rhetoric or you don't tamp it down immediately, it can lead to very damaging things, and I think making light of any executive that has a kidnapping plot against them is very dangerous. CABRERA: In fact, Michigan's attorney general told me last night she

believes the president's earlier tweet to "liberate Michigan" was partly responsible for this plot to kidnap her. We also learned this group may have been targeting the governor of your home state of Virginia, another state Trump singled out to "be liberated." Is the president inciting potentially domestic terrorism?

RIGGLEMAN: You know, Ralph and I, we know each other. I don't know Gretchen Whitmer. I don't if he's inciting, you know, terrorism or see inciting these types of acts. I think, you know, liberate Michigan or things like that, I don't know if he's directly meaning that.

The issue that we have is that this is -- it's sort of -- its evidence that's been building up with this type of rhetoric for some time. And that's the issue that we have, right, is that you have to be very careful about what you say after bad things are already happening especially when you see conspiracy theories like QAnon, that's also just labeling, and you probably know this, Ana.

So we should hang Vice President Biden because, you know, he was the one who was responsible for SEAL Team 6 dying. And that's the issue that we have, is that you can't have autocracy like that. You know, where we go one, we go all. You know, that's really what QAnon's motto is. And some of these conspiracy theories had these interesting mottos.

You know, that's from a movie. It's fictionalized, right. And that also could be the motto for Lemmings (ph). We've got to stamp out this ignorance and, you know, before you know it, we're going to have somebody saying that we should be spraying Gatorade on crops like from "Idiocracy." We can't go down this line of people acting like this. It's irresponsible and it's dangerous.

CABRERA: And the president himself continues to encourage groups like QAnon. In fact, this is what he said this week when he was asked again about whether he would denounce this group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS HOST: I just told you.

TRUMP: I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesn't necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to --

GUTHRIE: They believe it's a satanic cult run by the deep state.

TRUMP: -- study the subject. I'll tell you --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, the president was given another chance to condemn this far-right conspiracy group. He didn't take it. What did you make of his answer?

RIGGLEMAN: It has to happen. You know, first of all, do you know who's against pedophilia, Ana? Everybody who is not a pedophile.

CABRERA: Everybody. Right.

RIGGLEMAN: Well, everybody. I mean, and you know, everybody that's not a pedophile. And that's what I find a little bit ludicrous about this, is that, you know, a lot of conspiracy theories, and I'm sorry, my background on domestic terrorism and counterterrorism, a lot of conspiracy theories actually start with something that seems innocuous like save our children, right?

Well, guess who talked about love and bringing people together and doing these incredible things for those and having a community where everybody is accepted, Jim Jones, right. So, you can't do this. You've got to look what's deeper. You got to go underneath the hood and see what's going on out there.

And we certainly don't want our country to turn into a reality show. We got to know between truth and what's not true. And that means that public officials have to have facts and they have to do the research to really present a message that's cogent.

And if we don't do that, we really run the risk of having sort of this un-logic or non-truth running our political discourse. And I think that's -- I think that would be awful, Ana. It would just be awful.

CABRERA: It's refreshing but unusual to hear a Republican lawmaker say what you're saying, but now because we're just a couple weeks out from the election, we are starting to see some Republicans at least, publicly criticize the president.

[17:10:04]

We heard Senator Ben Sasse on a call with constituents saying among other things the president "kisses dictator's butts." Today, in the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" there is this about Republican Senator John Cornyn, "Cornyn initially described his relationship with Trump as maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they're going to change their spouse and that doesn't usually work out very well."

Cornyn continued, "I think what we found is that we're not going to change President Trump. He is who he is. You either love him or hate him and there's not much in between. What I try to do is not get into public confrontations and fights with him because as I have observed, those don't usually end too well."

As someone who has been endorsed by the president and defended the president and now become critical on the way out the door, is your party in an abusive relationship with the president? I know they're now having buyer's remorse?

RIGGLEMAN: I think, you know, and I think you know my history a little bit why I'm going out the door. When President Trump says something I agree with, you know I did, but when he did and I didn't, and that got me in a bit of trouble. And as you know, you know, officiating a same- sex weddings, being for pre-existing conditions, you know, voting to open the government, you know, all of these stuff is what I got hit on.

And, you know, as I sort of got railroaded out of it, and I think that's the issue. I think we have people that are afraid to say what's needed. Listen, I don't work for the president. I work for the people of the district, the 750,000 people, and I am not a big fan of autocracy.

You know, I give a note to the constitution. I fought for this country. And really it's a disservice and disrespect to service members when you see, you know, conspiracy theories sort of put out there or perpetuated. But right now, you have to tell the truth. You have to say facts.

And if QAnon is ridiculous, it's absurd, it's ignorant, you have conspiracy theories like that, you can't pander to the fringes just to make things happen, and that's the thing. I got into -- I was never in politics, Ana. I got into politics, I thought I could make a difference.

This has been the most humbling thing I've ever went through, you know, when I'm -- you know, I get, you know, endorsed by the president at the same time I'm getting my teeth knocked in. It has been an absolute bizarre two years of my life, you know, to get into this. And I would say it's been one of the most humbling things I've ever been through and actually a little scary, too.

CABRERA: Quickly, if you will. Who will you be voting for in November?

RIGGLEMAN: Well, I'm telling you right now, you know, some of the policies of President Trump helped my rural district and I was leaning that way, but I think there's going to be a lot of people voting for Jo Jorgensen or looking for somebody else right now when you see the candidates.

You know, I want to vote for President Trump based on USMCA, you know, based on what he did on criminal justice reform, but if he doesn't come out and repudiate this type of insanity, it's hard for military members like me to vote down that line.

You have to vote for what's right and I'm going to look for integrity first and that's what I'm going to be voting that day, and if people don't like it, again, I really don't care.

CABRERA: Would you consider voting for Joe Biden?

RIGGLEMAN: I would consider it. I'm a free thinking American. I'm going to consider voting for everybody regardless of party because I think you've got to put people over party at some point.

And I think you're going to find people looking for a third party or unaffiliated or independent candidates almost like this courageous center that says, we've had enough of this. And the fact that I haven't been in politics long and I've had one of the most bizarre two years of my life, it gives me the freedom to say what needs to be said.

And I think what we're talking about right now is we have got to stop the insanity of conspiracy theories. And I think the only way to do that is to stop conspiracy theories that are anti-Semitic, and really that are fictional and really combines, you know, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" with Dr. Sleep from Stephen King. That's ridiculous, Ana.

And it's hard for me -- I don't even have the words. I want to use military terms that are very harsh, but I'm on national television and I just think it's ridiculous and I think people need to look at the facts themselves and not get it from one source.

CABRERA: Well, Congressman Denver Riggleman, thank you very much for taking the time. Thank you for your service as well.

RIGGLEMAN: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

CABRERA: After a chaotic first debate, a presidential health crisis, a controversial debate cancellation, competing town halls, Joe Biden and President Trump face off one last time. The final presidential debate is coming and special live coverage starts Thursday night at 7:00 eastern here on CNN. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

CABRERA: Democratic Presidential Nominee, Joe Biden on the campaign trail today urging North Carolina voters to cast their ballots early in that crucial battleground state that Trump won in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT NOMINEE: Folks, as my coach used to say in college, its go time. I'm running as a proud Democrat but I will govern as an American president. No red states. No blue states. Just the United States. I promise you, I'll work as hard for those who don't support me as those who did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And you hear all that honking. It's a drive-in event to keep social distancing. Biden will have some big help on the trail this week by the way. On Wednesday, former president Barrack Obama will campaign for him in Pennsylvania, his first event officially campaigning for Joe Biden. And there are expected to be a series of stops in the final stretch before Election Day.

I want to bring in our senior political analyst, former adviser to four presidents, David Gergen and "USA Today" columnist Kirsten Powers. David, what impact do you think can Obama can have for Biden in this final stretch?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't think he can change the dynamics of the election overall but he certainly can help and persuade more people of color to vote and that's a big, big deal. Now, the early voting has been thunderous, it's been enthusiastic and Democrats seem to have a lead in it.

In effect, if you continue that, you know, that would mean the front- runner is going to have (inaudible) November 3rd. I do think Obama can do some good for Joe Biden and Joe Bidens is lucky to have him out there.

CABRERA: Kirsten, we are four days out now from this highly anticipated final debate between President Trump and Joe Biden. The first debate, of course, was a mess. Unless any of us could forget, here's a reminder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Under my proposal --

TRUMP: That's not what you said and that's not what the party has said.

BIDEN: That is -- that is simply a lie.

TRUMP: Your party doesn't --

BIDEN: The election is all --

[17:20:00]

TRUMP: You don't know what's on the ballot.

BIDEN: Donald, would you just be quiet for a minute.

TRUMP: And you don't know her view on Roe v. Wade.

The things that we've done, insulin. I give you an example, insulin (inaudible) medicine.

BIDEN: Look, hang on. I'm not going to listen to him. He has --

TRUMP: You'd be surprised. You'd be surprised.

BIDEN: You know, you picked the wrong guy, the wrong night, at the wrong time.

TRUMP: Listen, (inaudible)

BIDEN: The question is -- the question is --

TRUMP: -- Supreme Court radical left --

BIDEN: Will you shut up, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That stresses me out reliving that. At this point, we still don't know if the debate commission is going to make any specific changes that would prevent the constant interruptions. What should they do?

KIRSTEN POWERS, COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: I mean, I feel like what they should do is they should have somebody in the control room in charge of the microphones and that when you're out of time, you know, the microphone is cut off. You don't even put it into the debate moderator's hands, otherwise, then they can start, you know, Trump would start yelling at the moderator.

Because the problem is there's no way to stop Trump from doing this unless he has decided that it was harmful to him doing this in the first debate, you know, which I'm not sure that he has come to that conclusion, even though it clearly was. And even if he comes to that conclusion, I don't know if he can control himself. I mean, this is kind of how he interacts with people when he's agitated.

CABRERA: David, the president has been visiting states experiencing large spikes in COVID cases. He's holding rallies, devoid of social distancing, largely without masks. But then take a listen to what he told a local station in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I had a rally yesterday where I didn't see anybody without one. I mean, and you could see because the people were behind me. I mean, almost everybody has it. And you know, we hand them out at the rallies. We give masks to everybody at the rally.

But the rallies, again, are outdoor and we have heard of no instances where -- and I've had big rallies. We're having 35,000, 40,000 people come at the rallies, and we've had no instance where we have had a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: First of all, when you look at the videos from the rallies and our reporters there are telling us many if not, most of the people are not wearing masks, so that is a fact check. But we also just learned the Minnesota Department of Health has traced 20 cases of COVID back to his rally there last month.

So, the facts haven't changed regarding the coronavirus and these rallies aren't helping the COVID situation, but David, are they helping the president politically?

GERGEN: There's no evidence so far that they're helping the president politically, you know, because he's -- partly because, well, I guess big crowds and you have to give him that. And he bounces all over the place in terms of what his message is.

Normally by late October, he ought to be hammering away at a message. (Inaudible) that is very simple, everybody understands what it is and people vote on that message. What is there to vote on, I mean, he hops around one subject to the next.

But beyond that, we've just had a weekend that's just incredible that a president's adviser, a top adviser, has been cut off at the feet because he's sending out information about COVID and how to protect yourself that is simply untrue and Twitter has taken down, Dr. Atlas.

And he put -- what message was he sending? Masks don't work. That was the message coming from a top White House adviser to the president, at the very time the president is saying, we take masks seriously. They don't. They're saying mixed messages and more Americans are going to die.

CABRERA: Yes, and that tweet from Dr. Atlas, you're right, has since been taken down by Twitter because it violated their policy about tweets that have false information and that could lead to harm, in fact, at a time when we know that not even Mitch McConnell will go to the White House because he doesn't think there are enough safety precautions.

Kirsten, is there anyone left who can reason with the president and say, Dr. Atlas isn't the person you should be listening to?

POWERS: I don't think so. He seems really dug in on this -- whatever it is that he's doing. And I guess it's supposed to please his base, but I don't really understand why he ever went this route in terms of thinking, you know, this is what would please my base because the truth is, if he had told them to wear masks, they would have worn masks. They'll do anything that he says.

You know, they make them wear masks, you know, standing behind him at a rally, no problem. They'll do it. If the president was wearing masks and he told them to wear masks, it wouldn't be a problem. Instead, he just cannot resist like fanning the flames of polarization.

He cannot resist turning something into a political food fight that doesn't have to be because somehow that feeds him when -- if he would have just done this from the beginning, who knows where we would be. We'd probably be where other countries are. You know, we probably wouldn't be in a situation where we're looking at things actually getting worse.

[17:25:05]

CABRERA: And we're looking at live pictures right now from Carson City, Nevada. And you can see the big crowds there and people not all wearing masks, not social distancing, taking their lives and risking their lives by going to this event. David Gergen, Kirsten Powers, really appreciate both of you being here with us. Thank you.

GERGEN: Thank you, Ana. Good to see you, Kirsten.

POWERS: Thank you.

CABRERA: Good to see both of you. Be well.

Public health experts warn the dreaded second wave of coronavirus is upon us as virtually every single state trends in the wrong direction. So, what is it about winter that makes the virus so much more dangerous? We'll ask a doctor next, live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:30:00]

CABRERA: Scientists agree we are officially in the dreaded second wave. With temperatures cooling off across the country, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar explained what's behind the new coronavirus surge earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, HHS SECRETARY: Cases are increasing and we're seeing this happen because we're getting colder weather and losing that natural social distancing that happens from being out of doors. And people are getting tired. The American people have given so much. We're seeing mitigation fatigue right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Perhaps the most fatigued is President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're rounding the corner. You'll see it. We're rounding the corner, but you got to open up. You got to go open up. Got to get the place going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And here he is, heeding his own advice, attending large gatherings like church this morning in Las Vegas where you can see very few masks are being worn there. No social distancing whatsoever. And here's his rally in Carson City just set to start in a short time from now. Live pictures. Same scenario there.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is a CNN medical analyst, the chief of the infectious disease division at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Walensky, do you think that -- is it mitigation fatigue, is that to blame for the new surge in cases?

ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Ana. I think mitigation fatigue is part of it. Certainly, those of us who have been engaging in the distancing and the masking for months and months now are tired of it, but many of us are still engaging in those. And what I would say is you actually have to engage in mitigation fatigue or in mitigation efforts in order to fatigue from them.

And I think what you're seeing from the footage is that there are so many people who are actually not even engaging in those efforts. And in fact, you see it in Nevada. I mean, the case rates in Nevada, the test positivity rates are over 28 percent. For every 100 tests, 28 are positive. And so, yes, mitigation fatigue may very well be a part of it, but I would say just lack of adherence to the protocols is a big part of it.

CABRERA: What is it about the winter months specifically that makes the season so much more dangerous for transmission? WALENSKY: It's a great question. There's numerous things. First of

all, we know that dryer air -- in dryer air, the virus can be suspended for longer. So those aerosols that might be more likely to fall to the floor are more likely to stay suspended in dryer air, and in fact, the virus can potentially travel further. So, it stays in the air for longer. It can travel further

In terms of our own defenses, our host defenses, we know that our vitamin D levels start to drop in the winter, our melatonin levels drop and even our mucus membranes in our nose for example, are dryer and that it's more permissive for the virus to enter.

And then of course, there are all the behavioral things, the facts that we intend to be inside more. We tend to gather more. We go to movies. We congregate more in the winter than we do in the summer where we're protected by the outdoors.

CABRERA: So, in addition to, you know, not gathering and, you know, staying inside but with our own families, would you also recommend people take melatonin and vitamin D supplements? Should we be using humidifiers? Could that help?

WALENSKY: You know, I would say all of those things -- well, certainly I would say that vitamin D has not been demonstrated to actually help and data, I think, are further needed. We have seen that some people with more severe disease have deficiencies in vitamin D, but if you have normal vitamin D levels, it's not at all been shown that vitamin D helps.

So, I think potentially humidifiers could be helpful. They will keep your mucus membranes moister, but I think that we have to do all of these things in concert. And I wouldn't say that if you decide to have a humidifier in your bedroom that you can ignore any of the other efforts that we need to pay attention to.

CABRERA: I've heard some of the president's supporters pointing to the fact that numbers are going up everywhere, even in countries that had strict mandates and other restrictions in place. The E.U. for example, saw a day this week with more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases. It's above what we're seeing here in the U.S. So what do you tell people who argue against restrictions and other mitigation factors suggesting this big surge is inevitable regardless?

WALENSKY: I think that there is some truth to the fact that we anticipated that the fall and winter would get worse. And I guess the question is, we don't know how much worse it could have and would have gotten in the absence of all these efforts.

And I would have guessed and I would guess today that in the absence of all of these efforts, we would be in a much deeper space than we are now. And I would say the more we can do to mitigate -- continued mitigation.

You know, where we were in March, April in New York and Boston, we ran out of hospital beds. We were running out of hospital beds. We were running out of ventilators. We need to do everything in our power not to be in that space in the wintertime.

[17:35:05]

CABRERA: And we are hearing from some states, especially in the Midwest right now, who are, you know, raising the flag to say our hospital ICUs are starting to fill up and they are concerned. They're very concerned. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, thank you so much for bringing us your expertise and taking the time.

WALENSKY: Thanks so much for having me, Ana.

CABRERA: For months, New Jersey and Connecticut have put travel restrictions on states with high infection rates. Well, it appears both states have now qualified for their own restrictions. So, what happens now? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: As coronavirus cases surge across the country, spikes in New Jersey and Connecticut appear to have qualified those states for their own joint travel restrictions with New York put in place back in June. Meaning, possible quarantine for travelers in the tri-state area? CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro is following this for us.

[17:39:59]

Evan, the big question, I guess, is what does this mean for travel between these states and people who might have to commute for work?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, that is the exact right question. And the short answer is, we don't know yet. But the answer does have huge implications for the economy here in this tri- state area. Just to put in perspective, I'm standing on the west side of Manhattan just outside CNN headquarters and I can see New Jersey over my left shoulder without having to look very hard.

People cross back and forth between these three states all the time. And that's why the three governors really got together in the early days of this pandemic to create this tri-state partnership, try to combat the pandemic.

And one of the ways they did it was with this quarantine procedure, which basically says there are two metrics, and if a state has one of those two metrics, people who travel in the tri-state area from those states have to quarantine for 14 days before they interact in the state.

Now, that's been perfectly fine. That's been working. And the number of states currently across the country that qualify for that is 38 states. But now, CNN figures have shown that in recent -- in the last month, New Jersey and Connecticut have now crossed one of those thresholds. Meaning that, in theory, people traveling from New Jersey or from Connecticut into New York City would need to quarantine for 14 days.

That's a crazy idea if you live in New York City. It's just a wild idea for the economy here. Is that going to happen? We just don't know yet. We do have some statements. Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut told CNN in a statement that as our case rates climb -- one of his spokespeople told us, "As our case rates climb similar to the rest of the region, the administration will continue to work with our regional partners."

And the governor's office in New Jersey point us to previous statements from the governor saying he's focused on bringing his numbers down. The person we really need to hear from is Governor Andrew Cuomo. He's the one that's going to help to decide whether or not this partnership stays in place or these quarantine rules go into place having just a huge impact on the economy for this very populous, very important part of the country, Ana.

CABRERA: Things just got a little more complicated. Evan McMorris- Santoro, keep us posted. Thank you.

Coming up, the son of Ronald and Nancy Reagan join us live on what his parents would think of the Republican Party of today. But first, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a deadline for stimulus talks warning an agreement must be reached within the next 48 hours if Congress wants to pass a bill before the election. So, how could this impact markets when they open tomorrow? Here's CNN's Christine Romans with your "Before the Bell Report."

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Hi, Ana. Rising COVID cases and waning hopes for stimulus could trigger a pullback on Wall Street. Last week, stocks slipped as a pre-election fiscal aid package looked less likely. New coronavirus lockdown measures in Europe also rattled investors.

This week, quarterly earnings will drive market action. Several airlines and big consumer brands deliver their corporate report cards. American Airlines, Southwest, Tesla, Coca-Cola, and CNN parent, AT&T are among the companies reporting results. So is Netflix.

Analyst expect the streaming giant to report another quarter of strong subscriber growth. Shares have been on fire this year, up about 70 percent. Of course, investors will also be watching the final presidential debate this week.

More than anything, Wall Street is hoping for a smooth election. Last week, Fitch warned that a contested outcome could cause it to downgrade America's AAA credit rating. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

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[17:45:00]

CABRERA: She was Ronald Reagan's strongest supporter, his sharpest negotiator, his lifelong protector. Tonight, the CNN Original Series First Ladies, looks at the life of Nancy Reagan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reagan carries an unprecedented 49 states in the '84 election. And Nancy's eye turns towards securing his legacy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 1997 I asked her, is there some area you felt you have an effect? And she said, oh, no, no, Ronnie knew exactly what he wanted to do from the moment he was elected. And then she paused and very, very softly added, well, maybe the whole Russian thing. And I was, like, the whole Russian thing? You mean the main thing of his administration?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining us now, Ron Reagan, son of the former president and First Lady.

Thank you so much for being here.

RON REAGAN, SON OF RONALD AND NANCY REAGAN: Thanks for having me.

CABRERA: Your mother is credited as being so instrumental to your father's political career. She was often called the brains of the operation. What was the dynamic like between them in private with your family growing up?

REAGAN: Unaffected affection. My mother and father really just loved each other. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. In private, they were always telling one another that they loved each other. And so, I grew up in an atmosphere of a very romantic couple.

CABRERA: Which sounds wonderful. But, again, she was involved in, you know, what he was doing as president. I just wondered, did that involvement in White House matters extend to the family, to you and your siblings the way it does with this current White House?

[17:50:00]

REAGAN: No, not the way it does in this current White House, no. It would be terribly inappropriate. I'm sure my father would've thought so to practice the kind of nepotism that we see now. I mean, he would not be of a mind to appoint an unqualified person, whether that person was his child or not, to a position high in the White House, you know, given no experience there. Why would you do that? Why would I even accept something like that?

CABRERA: So here you are now, an outspoken liberal, despite your father being a Republican icon. You weren't just his son. You share the same name. Did you feel any added pressure to follow his path or was there actually more pressure to veer from that path, to chart your own?

REAGAN: I didn't really feel any pressure either way. I was never particularly interested in participating in politics as a politician. People would always ask me the question, of course. So, there was no -- no, there was no pressure. There was certainly no pressure within the family to do that. In fact, I think my father was probably relieved that I didn't go in that direction.

CABRERA: I guess what are your thoughts or what's your impression of how we have seen the president, President Trump's children, and their involvement in his administration and his campaign?

REAGAN: Well, they're certainly entitled to go campaign for their dad. My brother and sister, eldest brother and sister did that. And there's nothing wrong with that. When you cross the line is, you know, I hate to say it here and I don't mean to be blunt, but we've got a bunch of drifters there in the White House. They're treating this as a grift and, you know, that is no good.

CABRERA: How do you see it that way?

REAGAN: How do I see it that way? They're mixing business with pleasure I would say. They're mixing business with state craft. They're using the hotels and the golf clubs to profit off of the presidency. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have no qualifications whatsoever to be in the position they're in, zero, zip, and they're using it to make money, basically.

CABRERA: We learned this week Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, cast a write-in vote for your father in the 2020 election. And he told "The Washington Post," "I know it's simply symbolic. It's not going to change the outcome in my state. But I thought it was just to cast a vote to show the kind of person I'd like to see in office." I asked CNN presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley, about that and he made this prediction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think if Donald Trump loses that you'll see the Republican Party go back to, say, where the party of Ronald Reagan. You know, Reagan has been kind of downplayed by Donald Trump. He was really the golden person of the Republican Party, and suddenly he seems second tier. But without Donald Trump -- and you're seeing Senator Sasse doing the same thing, basically reclaiming a rebranded Republican Party for 2021 as a conservative party of Ronald Reagan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Ron, what's your reaction to that?

REAGAN: I don't think the Republican Party or any other party can profit by looking backwards. We have to look forwards. Whatever party you belong to, you have to look to the future, particularly now we're at a crucial point in history.

I think everybody feels that this is one of those notable points in history where we're going to take one fork or we're going to take the other. It's going to a dark road or it's going to be a more progressive road.

So, I don't think going back to the days of Ronald Reagan is the answer for the Republican Party. But they don't have much else. They really don't have much else. And Donald Trump has done a tremendous amount of damage to this party.

When I think of my father, I think of words like integrity, decency, dignity, honor, and patriotism, not nationalism but patriotism, all of those qualities are in very short supply in this White House. And, frankly, the Republican Party has been complicit in degrading those values.

CABRERA: Do you think your father would recognize the Republican Party right now?

REAGAN: He would be horrified by the Republican Party right now. The spinelessness in the face of this pathological entity in the White House right now would shock him.

CABRERA: George W. Bush has stayed silent on the race so far. If your father were alive today, do you think he would say something publicly and pick a side?

REAGAN: I have no idea what my father would do publicly. I can't speak for him that way. I know his character and I know what would horrify him, and I know that this administration would, but beyond that, I can't say what he would do.

CABRERA: Ron Reagan, it's a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you for sharing the insights about your family and the state of our country right now. And again, we're looking forward to hearing more about your mother tonight in our new episode of "First Ladies," all about the life and legacy of Nancy Reagan.

[17:55:001]

It airs tonight at 10:00 right here on CNN. That does it for me this evening. I'm Ana Cabrera. Thank you so much for joining me. Wolf Blitzer picks up our coverage with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" after a quick break. Have a great night.

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[17:59:59]