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The Situation Room
US Nears 205,000 Coronavirus Deaths, Tops 7.1 Million Cases; Concerns About Misleading Info Given To Trump Echoing CDC Chief's Reported Complaints About White House Adviser; Trump Ducks Questions On "New York Times" Report On His Years Of Income Tax Avoidance, Financial Losses And Huge Debt; FBI Warns About False Claims Of Hacked Voter Data, Election Systems; Trump Campaign To GOP Members: Do Not Underestimate Biden; Police Body Cam Video Shows Confrontation With Ex-Trump Campaign Manager, Brad Parscale. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired September 28, 2020 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off. I'm Jim Acosta in THE SITUATION ROOM with breaking news. Tonight, as the US coronavirus death toll nears 205,000 and new cases are spiking, President Trump just announced plans to deploy 150 million rapid coronavirus tests across the country. Most will be sent to the states and territories as the rate of new infections is rising and nearly half the nation.
Also breaking, Dr. Anthony Fauci tell CNN, he's concerned about false and misleading information being shared with President Trump. Fauci echoing the CDC directors reported complaints about Mr. Trump's controversial Coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas.
We're also following the fallout from the bombshell New York Times report exposing details of the President's long hidden tax returns. A short while ago Mr. Trump ducked questions about the report that shows he spent years avoiding federal income taxes while piling up huge financial losses and debt.
First, to my colleague Boris Sanchez at the White House. Boris, the President wanted to talk about rapid COVID-19 tests. He did not want to talk about these revelations about his taxes and finances.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. The President dodging reporters' questions about that bombshell story in the New York Times about his tax returns, also not answering questions about the very public dispute between officials in his own administration.
As you noted Dr. Scott Atlas on hand for this announcement about testing in the Rose Garden today. Not on hand, Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Robert Redfield, both of whom have made statements contradicting the President's repeated claim that the United States is rounding the curve on coronavirus. Notably, though, the President are refuting the story from the New York Times about his tax returns, refusing to answer our shouted questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Two decades of Trump's tax documents obtained by the New York Times paint the President as a failed businessman who is still facing crippling debt.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: It's fake news. This is totally fake news. Made up, fake.
SANCHEZ: It shows Trump paid nothing in income tax for 10 of the last 15 years, exploiting the tax code by reporting enormous losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars across his business empire.
TRUMP: That makes me smart.
SANCHEZ: The data indicates Trump paid only $750 in 2016 and '17. The documents also revealing Trump owes more than $300 million in personal debt, with a bill coming due in the next four years leading to national security concerns about obligations to his creditors and questions about conflicts of interest.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: This president appears to have over $400 million in debt, or 20, whatever it is, million dollars in debt to home. Different countries, what is the leverage they have? So for me, this is a national security question.
SANCHEZ: Trump reportedly seeking to reduce his tax bill with an array of questionable techniques, including massive deductions for unusual business expenses, like writing off $70,000 for hairstyling and mysterious unexplained consulting fees. Trump's company ones paying more than $740,000 to an unnamed consultant, perhaps not coincidentally, records showing Ivanka Trump received the exact same amount that year from a consulting company she co-owned.
Trump has sought to keep his tax returns secret for years, citing an audit by the IRS.
TRUMP: It's under audit. They've been underwater for a long time.
SANCHEZ: And according to the New York Times that appears to be the case. The agency has been looking into a $72.9 million tax refunds since 2011. And an unfavorable decision could mean a penalty of roughly $100 million. But the audit does not prevent him from releasing his returns.
Meantime, Amy Coney Barrett set to make the rounds for meetings on Capitol Hill tomorrow.
JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Should I be confirmed? I will be mindful of who came before me.
SANCHEZ: There were some Democratic senators like Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are refusing to sit down with Trump's pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And, Jim, President Trump also preparing tonight for tomorrow's first presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. It is set for Cleveland, Ohio again tomorrow night, the President telling reporters that he's very much looking forward to it.
[18:05:05]
And our cameras, just about an hour ago, actually captured former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie entering the White House. We know that according to the President, Christie has been playing the role of Joe Biden in debate prep. Also with Christie a familiar but perhaps surprising face, the former counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway surprising because in an official capacity, she left the White House earlier this month, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you. More breaking news now on the growing concerns of top health officials about President Trump's coronavirus adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas. Tonight, Dr. Anthony Fauci appears to agree with CDC Director Robert Redfield warning that Atlas is sharing misleading information with the President. Listened to Fauci in an interview with CNN, Brian Stelter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN ANCHOR: The CDC director is concerned the Dr. Scott Atlas is sharing misleading information with President Trump. Are you also concerned about that happening?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, yes. I'm concerned that sometimes things are said that are really taken either out of context or actually incorrect. You know, I am not one of the people that likes to criticize people. I certainly don't do that publicly. If I have an issue with someone, I'll try and sit down with them and let them know why I differ with them and see if we can come to some sort of resolution.
So, I mean, my differences with Dr. Atlas, I'm always willing to sit down and talk with him and see if we can resolve those differences.
STELTER: But these news stories about Atlas and Redfield, they get to this question of, are the medical voices on the task force working together or working against each other?
FAUCI: Well, most are working together. I think, you know, what the outlier is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: All right. There's Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking with CNN's Brian Stelter. Now, let's get more on the pandemic as the US death toll is on the brink of hitting 205,000 lives loss. Brian Todd joins us now.
Brian, we're seeing more evidence that much of the country is just moving in the wrong direction. BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. You know, we haven't even hit the fall flu season yet. We're already seeing this worrisome uptick in cases across the country as one of the hardest hit states inexplicably decides to reopen bars and restaurants to full capacity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Beachfront bars and restaurants see larger crowds along one of Fort Lauderdale's main drags. People sitting close to each other, many not wearing masks over the weekend, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an order allowing those establishments to reopen, and lifting occupancy restrictions across the state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It honestly looks like it's business as usual. It looks like how it was free COVID era.
TODD: Governor DeSantis' order also suspended any enforcement of fines if people are caught not wearing face masks at those establishments. Even though Florida, today, reported its lowest number of new cases since the beginning of June. The governor's reopening of bars has experts sounding alarms.
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Florida, I would have thought would have learned his lesson because they saw what happened back just a few months ago, when hospitals became so overwhelmed and ICUs were becoming overcapacity, and patients had to be diverted to other facilities. That's going to happen again if this continues.
TODD: In previous hotspots, upticks in case numbers causing real concern tonight. New York State's increase has officials worried about this week's plan to send the remaining majority of New York City students back to school for in-person learning. New York City officials now may have to return to previous restrictions in hard hit neighborhoods as new clusters have been reported in Brooklyn and Queens.
Over the weekend, New Jersey reported its highest daily case count since early June. This weekend, Wisconsin just set a record for new cases in one day, around 2,800. A top official in the state's second largest county says college age people are major drivers of the spikes there.
JOE PARISI, COUNTRY EXECUTIVE, DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN: These young people, you know, they interact with people throughout the community, and they have parents and grandparents, and they go to the store. So we're incredibly concerned about the spike we're seeing.
TODD: After an encouraging decline earlier, the overall coronavirus case count in the United States is again on the rise, with a steady increase in cases every day for more than two weeks according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 20 states now seeing increases in infections.
The personal stories remain devastating. Shirley Bannister, a South Carolina nurse who tested positive the same day her daughter Demi died from the virus, has herself just passed away. SHIRLEY MILLS BANISTER, SHIRLEY BANISTER'S SISTER-IN-LAW: Anybody who's ever spent any time around surely will tell you that she was just a giving and a loving caring person. That's her legacy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:10:04]
TODD: And in another sign of just how seriously the states are taking this new uptick in cases, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has just announced that his state is now making some 200 rapid testing machines available immediately to the top ZIP codes in the state with the highest rates of positivity for COVID-19. The governor there urgently trying to head off a spike like the one that New York saw in the spring. Jim?
ACOSTA: It could be a very urgent situation. All right, Brian Todd, thank you. And joining me now is Dr. Tom Frieden, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Frieden, thanks so much for being with us.
I want to ask you, what do you make of these growing concerns among the top experts on the Coronavirus Taskforce that Dr. Scott Atlas is feeding the President misleading information? We're hearing from Dr. Anthony Fauci, an interview with our Brian Stelter earlier today, and this report earlier in the day that Robert Redfield at the CDC had some of the same concerns.
Dr. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CDC: Well, I'm not in the inside conversations, but if you look on the record what Dr. Atlas has said is flatly wrong. And these are his words. He has said, when young people get infected, that is a "good thing." Now, he's claimed that he's not promoting the concept of herd immunity, but lots of people get infected, and then the virus will go away. But that's exactly what he's saying.
He's saying it doesn't matter, his words, it doesn't matter if young people get infected. That's a good thing. That's not the case. Every infection is a step backward. Every infection is a risk that it will spread to someone vulnerable. The concept that we can somehow wall off seniors and people who are vulnerable just doesn't work. We're all connected.
And if you think that, oh, let it spread in the young people because they'll protect us by getting immune, this is really wrong. In the US, at most 15% of people have been infected so far, and we have well over 200,000 deaths. If we end up with 50%, 60% infected without a vaccine, you're talking about four or five times as many deaths. That's a million people dying.
The only way to get to herd immunity in the US without a vaccine, is through the graveyards of hundreds of thousands of Americans who wouldn't have had to die.
ACOSTA: And during your time as CDC director, did the President ever bypass the CDC to get advice from a doctor or an expert with zero infectious disease expertise? How unusual is this situation?
FRIEDEN: It is really unprecedented. Of course, the President can listen to anyone who wants to, but you'd really hope you listen to someone who actually has experienced fighting infectious diseases. There are certain things that you can debate. There are other things that are absolutely certain.
It is certain that wearing masks indoors will help tamp down spread of the infection. It is certain that we are nowhere near herd immunity. It is certain that getting to herd immunity through natural infection through people getting infected with this virus would be catastrophic. And so, anyone who is claiming otherwise is really not following the science.
Now, there are some things that Dr. Atlas says that are accurate. It is important that we get our kids back to school. The way to do that is to control COVID and open schools carefully.
ACOSTA: And the CDC released a statement about this growing rift between Director Redfield and Dr. Atlas. It says the CDC statement has a position on three issues, the value of wearing a mask, youth COVID- 19 infections and where we are currently with herd immunity are the positions that Dr. Redfield has different positions on than Dr. Atlas. The doctors agree on many issues.
It sounds like they're trying to downplay the extent of this disagreement. But the seriousness of these differences are critical, aren't they?
FRIEDEN: Well, look, the plain fact is the US is failing. If you look at our excess mortality, which the President mentioned, yes, it's lower than Spain and the United Kingdom, but it's five times higher than Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway. We are not protecting people here. And part of the reason we're not protecting people is we're not doing the things that work.
We have weapons that can fight COVID wearing masks, staying away from crowded indoor spaces, and carefully rolling out new technologies such as testing and vaccines as part of a comprehensive strategy. If we do that we can save lives and restore livelihoods.
ACOSTA: Well, that is the name of the game. And it would be nice if we get all these experts on the same page, or at least in line with the facts of the science. Dr. Tom Frieden, thank you so much for joining us with that perspective.
FRIEDEN: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Just ahead, we're on the bombshell report about President Trump's taxes and debt. We'll talk about that with CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former US Attorney Preet Bharara. That's coming up.
[18:14:57]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ACOSTA: We were following multiple breaking stories, including President Trump avoiding questions about how he avoided paying federal income taxes for years. Let's break down the revelations exposed by the New York Times with CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former US Attorney Preet Bharara. Preet, thanks so much for doing this.
In your view, did the President break any laws as he paid very little in federal income tax dating back to 2000? I mean, I can imagine people at home watching this thing. It sounds like he broke the law to them.
PREET BHARARA, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think it's too early to say. I think there are a lot of questions that have been raised, a lot of questions that have been raised by the report. It is not a crime, in and of itself, to not pay taxes or to pay low taxes. There are lots of loopholes as people understand.
The system is not perfect, and there are a lot of opportunities for people to take advantage of system, and game the system. It's not necessarily breaking the law.
[18:20:03]
We also know that obviously although the public is not aware of the tax returns and the information the tax returns beyond the New York Times article, because the President hasn't disclosed his tax returns contrary to President going back to the Nixon era. The IRS itself must have and understands the information in the various tax returns going back years.
And ordinarily, if there were a criminal investigation that would arise from weird things or nefarious things in the tax returns. There's a criminal investigative side of the IRS that may or may not have opened up a criminal investigation. There are questions that have been raised, including whether or not all the deductions taken by Trump, some of which are outlined in the New York Times article, were appropriate, cross the line, unlawful, under a few that have caught people's attention like the deductions for hair.
There's also a question of whether or not it was appropriate for him to use sort of as a back channel, one of his own children, as a consultant to avoid taxes there. And then, there also may be crimes that the IRS would not necessarily be aware of. If you see, the fact that the president of United States looks like he's coming into debt, or is in debt of up to $421 million. Aside from the question of who does he owe that money to and who put up that money for him.
The question is, what representations did he make about his own assets in getting that loan? And that's something that you would only know if you understood the representations made to the lending institution or the person. And that obviously, is not reflected in the tax return. So there's a lot of questions unclear whether or not a law has been broken.
ACOSTA: But, you know, the line is there. And what is the line between using the tax code to your advantage and illegally evading taxes at some point, if I assume it has to be a line that is crossed?
BHARARA: Yes. So it depends on the particular, you know, statute or regulation or tax rule that you violate. And so that's one way of crossing the line. But that in and of itself does not cause you to be considered a criminal with respect to the tax code. It has to be intentional.
We did a lot of tax fraud cases when I was the United States attorney, and the tough thing to crack is whether or not with respect to a particular tax rule that seems to have been broken, whether it's a deduction or anything else, was that the intent of the taxpayer, was the person trying to evade taxes, rather than just avoid taxes. And sometimes it comes down to a question of whether or not the taxpayer in good faith gave the proper information to the accountant, so the accountant could make recommendations on what deductions to take to use that example again, or whether it was a good faith reliance on the person who's preparing the taxes.
And sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the two. Sometimes the taxpayer and the accountant, in cases that we brought, are in cahoots with each other, and they engage in massive fraud on the government and on the IRS. I think it's just unclear, without more information, which of those two things it was.
ACOSTA: And the New York Times reports, the President has hundreds of millions of dollars in personal debt. It's an astounding level. We know the presence of significant debt is one reason why security clearances are denied. What are the risks of the President owing so much money to entities that are opaque to everybody else to the public?
BHARARA: Well, there's a transparency issue with respect to the public, and whether or not their votes are cast with full knowledge. There's an ethics issue for various reasons. Then, as you mentioned, it's a national security issue, and a conflict of interest issue. So all of those issues combined to make this a pretty extraordinary feature of the President's financial situation.
If, for example, as one of his sons once said, we don't get money from American banks. And there's some suggestion that there are lines of credit that you might get from foreign banks, or business interests in foreign countries, including those that are somewhat adversarial to United States, whether Russia, Turkey, and friendly, but otherwise, you know, sometimes adversarial with us in Asia. That presents a very substantial problem.
As the New York Times article itself points out, you will have an extraordinary situation. If Donald Trump is reelected in the second term and he owes $421 million and is unable to pay it, what happens? And how does the President alter his conduct to help him personally and financially.
ACOSTA: And that would be something to watch indeed. All right, Preet Bharara, we could go on and on about this. Thanks so much. We'll leave it there. We'll get back to you soon on this. We appreciate the perspective. Just ahead, how President Trump's mountain of debt could put American security at risk, and dramatic body cam video shows please tackling, yes, tackling right there, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale before he's detained and hospitalized. That's coming up.
[18:24:31]
ACOSTA: All sorts of questions are being raised about the ramifications of President Trump's financial situation as revealed in tax records obtained by the New York Times. We're joined by CNN Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt.
Alex, the Times reports that the President has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. It's just staggering, but what are the national security implications of a debt that size?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the number, Jim, that the times put on. It was $421 million. So the big question is, who are those creditors? That's the big concern, what kind of pressure could those creditors put on President Trump. It's an extraordinarily potentially large national security conundrum where these creditors could possibly impact the decisions that the President is making on foreign affairs, on the unintelligence, on the military.
The countries that the President dealt with as a businessman are the same that he's now dealing with as President, Russia, Turkey, the Philippines.
[18:30:08]
He has done deals with all of them. And in fact, as you know all too well, Jim, he has been relatively soft on their autocratic leaders.
Now, take Russia, for example, we have heard specifically from the president's son, Eric Trump, back in 2014, talking about the reliance on Russia. He said, quote, we don't rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.
Now, today, Eric Trump denied that, but we do know that top Trump officials have not been able to explain the president's deference to President Putin of Russia.
We heard most recently from the former director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, he spoke with the Author and Journalist Bob Woodward. And in Woodward's new book, he writes, Coats continue to harbor the secret belief, one that had grown rather than lessened, although unsupported by intelligence proof, that Putin had something on Trump. How else to explain the president's behavior? Coats could see no other explanation. So that is the fear, Jim, that a foreign country would be exploiting Trump's debt for their advantage.
Now, of course, the president doesn't get a security clearance himself. He's the president. But he has a whole vast number of people under him who are required to have security clearances. And one of the biggest things that people who are adjudicating security clearances when people apply is their level of debt, is their finances, their ability to be exploited, even black mailed, Jim.
So we did speak with a national security lawyer today who, when looking at this $421 million in debt, said it was beyond comprehension in the national security world. Jim?
ACOSTA: Alex Marquardt, thank you so much for that.
And joining me now, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat who serves on the Foreign Relation Committee. Senator, thanks for joining us. You heard Alex Marquardt there.
The fact that we still don't know who the president owes all this money to, how significant are the national security concerns raised by that? It sounds as though some of the worst actors on the world stage could have the president over a barrel.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, I think it's very serious, and in my mind, for two reasons. First, we do have some specific information in these tax returns about who the president has been doing business with in the past. And one of those countries is Turkey, a country where the leader has significant control over the economy.
Now, we really had our heads scratching when the president decided after a phone call with President Erdogan of Turkey that he would pull all of our troops out of Syria leaving our military partners in Syria, the Kurds, to slaughter. We now know, definitively, that the president has had some pretty significant business dealings there and may plan on having significant dealings in the future. That may have been part and parcel of what allowed us to abandon the Kurds in Syria.
But it's that second part of the Turkey question that leads to interesting avenues. Because what we also know from this tax return is the president has some huge bills coming, right? He's going to have to pay back some sizeable loans, and maybe have a big bill coming to the IRS.
And so is he using his time in office right now, to set up future real estate deals, right? Why is he been so cozy with the Saudis, right, beyond any national security comprehension? Maybe it's because he is, in fact, hoping that he's going to be able to get some business out of the Saudis or other countries in order to be able to pay back these enormous liabilities that are coming.
ACOSTA: And, Senator, it's not just the money he owes. It's also the money he's not paying in taxes. Just take a look at the difference between the $750 Mr. Trump paid in taxes while in office in 2016, 2017 compared -- according to The New York Times, compared to what past presidents have paid. How do you make sense of that to your constituents who might ask, you know, how can the president of the United States get away with this?
MURPHY: Well, I mean, likely because of a very broken tax code. I mean, the fact of the matter is there are all sorts of loopholes that allow for the richest 1 percent of Americans to pay less as a percentage of their income in taxes than plumbers pay, than teachers pay, than fast food workers pay. But there also made clearly have been some cheating going on here. I struggle to figure out the legal explanation for compensating your own kids as consultants to your business as a mechanism to write off those hundreds of millions of dollars of expenses.
And so, the president may have some sort of serious legal questions to answer when he's done. It also speaks to how fundamentally skewed our tax code is in favor of people who have the mechanisms and means that somebody as wealthy as president Trump has.
ACOSTA: Yes, $750, that just doesn't make any sense. But how much legal trouble could the president face if he loses re-election, do you think?
MURPHY: Well, you know, again, I'm not a tax lawyer, but what I know from spending the last 12 hours digging into The New York Times reporting is that it's very likely that some of the techniques the president and his accountants used to try to get around tax liability are not legal.
[18:35:15]
There are some business expenses that seem to be reported here that look much more like personal expenses. And there are many taxpayers who have gone to jail over misreporting business expenses who have engaged in these kinds of tax avoidance schemes in the past.
So, listen, I can't speak to the exact nature of the president's legal liability, but this doesn't all seem to be above board. And, of course, that would be in keeping with the president's way of doing things.
ACOSTA: All right. Senator Chris Murphy, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Good talking to you, sir.
Just ahead, as the President Trump attacks mail-in ballots, claiming the vote will be rigged, Democrats are making preparations for a post- election fight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
ACOSTA: We're following breaking news. A new FBI warning cautions people to be weary of false claims about hacked voter data and compromise election systems, this as the president attacks mail-in ballots and question the integrity of the vote.
CNN Political Correspondent Abby Phillip is following all of this for us. Abby, what are you learning?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, President Trump has been attacking the electoral system and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. And all of that have prompted Democrats to prepare a massive legal army to deal with what could happen on Election Day and beyond. They are preparing for a series of seemingly improbable scenarios that now because of President Trump's own words seem anything but improbable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP: As the president continues to cast doubt over the legitimacy of an election that is just over a month away --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to be a disaster.
PHILLIP: -- Democratic officials tell CNN an army of lawyers are preparing for a wide range of obscure election scenarios that Trump himself has floated from sending law enforcement to monitor polls to having the election decided in Congress.
TRUMP: We have an advantage if we go back to Congress. Does everyone understand that?
PHILLIP: A disputed Electoral College result could put the fate of the election in the hands of the new House of Representatives elected in November. With each state delegation getting one vote, Republicans currently have a 26-22 advantage.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is ready for this possibility.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I have been working on this for a while. I've been working on almost every scheme he might have to steal the election.
PHILLIP: Sending a letter to her caucus urging them to focus on winning a majority of state delegations in November, and flipping the Senate writing, we must achieve that majority of delegations or keep the Republicans from doing so.
Trump has also floated the idea of an election that's decided in the Supreme Court like Bush V. Gore in 2000.
TRUMP: I think this will end up in the Supreme Court and I think it's very important that we have nine justices.
PHILLIP: One of the Florida judges at the center of that recount who sided with Bush to stop the count and has since retired making his fears of Trump clear in a rare letter to colleagues saying, Trump is a threat to democracy and giving only one real solution.
CHARLES WELLS, FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE, FLORIDA SUPREME COURT: There will not be a problem if the Democrats win the Senate and Biden wins the presidency. The problem will result if there is continued to be a divide between the House and the Senate.
PHILLIP: Trump falsely claiming that voter fraud is rampant, tweeting this morning, the ballots being returned to states cannot be accurately counted. Many things are already going very wrong.
But the president has been building a case against absentee ballots or mail-in voting for months, none of which is based on facts. Widespread voter fraud is largely nonexistent in the United States. TRUMP: You can forget about November 3rd because you're going to be counting these things forever. And it's very dangerous for our country.
PHILLIP: But there are real risks for the election. The FBI issuing its latest election warning this time about fake cyber attacks. They caution the public to be weary of internet claims of hacked voter data and compromised election infrastructure, things that manipulate public opinion and discredit the electoral process.
Today, courts in New York and Pennsylvania ordered the post office to stop policy changes that would slow down the mail, echoing last week's settlement with the post office forcing it to prioritize election mail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP: And tonight, we're also learning about a cyber attack, known as a ransomware attack, against a major software company called Tyler Technologies that provides software to some U.S. election officials. Now, this is raising the questions about whether state and local I.T. departments are prepared for potential cyber attacks heading into this November election. Jim?
ACOSTA: All right, very important reporting. CNN's Abby Phillip, thank you so much for that.
Just ahead, we have newly released video of the confrontation between police and former Trump Campaign Manager, Brad Parscale, there he is right there, being tackled by police.
Plus, we'll preview tomorrow's highly anticipated presidential debate as Donald Trump and Joe Biden get ready to share the stage for the first time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:59:25]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: President Trump and Joe Biden are set to square off in the first of three high stakes presidential debates tomorrow night.
CNN political correspondent is at the debate site in Cleveland, Ohio.
Arlette, the Trump campaign is warning congressional Republicans not to underestimate Joe Biden despite repeatedly attacking his mental acuity.
Is the campaign trying to soften the blow if the president does not do well?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, you know, there are always expectation setting games played heading into the debate and tonight we've learned that the Trump campaign has told Republicans to say don't underestimate Joe Biden heading into the debate. [18:50:03]
That he has had a lot of debate experience, a lot of time in government.
We've heard mixed messaging from the Trump campaign about this but we know the candidates have been preparing for this debate in their own different ways. Biden has been diving into his briefing books huddling with his advisers as he strategizes for what he thinks will be personal attacks from the president.
One question is how will this story about the president's taxes play into the debate? The Biden campaign argues that it fits exactly what the messaging that they've been promoting, that this is a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue, and that the president is only interested in his own self-interest, not those of the American people.
Now, Biden and Trump have sparred from afar for about a year and a half but tomorrow night here in the debate hall in Cleveland, we will see the two of them face to face as they make their case to voters in this first debate.
ACOSTA: And, Arlette, what coronavirus precautions are being taken? We know members of the press have to be tested for the virus.
SAENZ: That's right. I got tested when I arrived in Cleveland and everyone who is attending this debate will be tested for coronavirus. The commission is taking a lot of precautions to ensure that the health and safety of the candidates, those attending, the media, are all protected due to the pandemic.
There will be no traditional handshake between the candidates when they take that stage. They will maintain social distance. The audience here is also a much smaller size, just one of the many signs that we're seeing in this changed debate due to the pandemic.
ACOSTA: All right. And we hope everybody stays safe.
CNN's Arlette Saenz, thanks so much for that breaking news.
Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, have released body cam video with their confrontation with a former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. He's now hospitalized following a reported suicide scare.
Let's go to CNN's Randi Kaye.
Randi, this is very disturbing. Tell us more.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim. This all started yesterday afternoon about 4:00 when his wife called police saying he had barricaded himself inside the home with a bunch of weapons. She was afraid he was going to shoot himself. At one point, she thought he did.
But police were able to coax him outside. We have the body cam video running about three minutes long. It was edited by Fort Lauderdale police. Take a look at this clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's acting crazy so I went outside to the backyard to let him chill out. He was going irate.
I opened the blinds in the front yard and then he closed them and then I heard what I thought was a gunshot.
POLICE OFFICER: What's going on?
BRAD PARSCALE, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Not doing anything. Relax. What happened?
POLICE OFFICER: She started saying all these --
POLICE OFFICER: Get on the ground, man. Get on the ground. Get on the ground, man.
PARSCALE: Easy. I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything.
POLICE OFFICER: Stay down.
POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind the back.
POLICE OFFICER: We'll figure it out, all right? Don't worry about that.
PARSCALE: I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything.
POLICE OFFICER: We'll get you off the ground in a second. Okay?
POLICE OFFICER: You're all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Once again, I want to point out the video was edited by Fort Lauderdale police so we don't know what took place in between the moments they have given us and made public. But we can tell you from the police report inside, they found ten homes at the house -- ten -- sorry, ten weapons inside the house.
They found hand guns, rifles, and shot guns as well. He is in the hospital now getting some treatment for what appears to be a suicide attempt.
I can also tell you that he was demoted over the summer as campaign manager so now he is just a part of the digital strategy team. So, it's unclear if that had anything to do with it, but we can tell you the communications manager for the campaign, Tim Murtaugh, did release a statement to CNN about this saying that Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible.
So, certainly, Jim, very disturbing video and very difficult time for this family. It's incredible that those police were able to coax him outside and get him to safety and get him some help.
ACOSTA: And, Randi, what can you tell us about Brad Parscale's wife? There's been some information that's been I guess divulged in the police report.
KAYE: Yeah, there's some information coming out about some bruising on her arm. She spoke to a woman whose cell phone she used to call 911 and that woman you could hear her on the 911 tape asking her about the bruising on her arm. When the police released that 911 call, they redacted her answer.
But in the police report, the police themselves did ask her about the bruising on her arms and she said that it happened a few days ago during a physical altercation with her husband, Brad Parscale and she did not report it. So, very interesting information in that police report.
ACOSTA: Very disturbing information.
All right. CNN's Randi Kaye, thank you so much.
We'll have more news just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Finally tonight, we honor some of the victims of the coronavirus pandemic here in the United States.
Carolyn Williams of Virginia was 60 years old, a minister who brought joy by spreading the gospel. Her nephew says she was fun and centered her life around family including her husband, four children, and six grandchildren.
Anthony Mucci of New York was 71. He was an amazing cook. He was trained as a chef but ended up working as a shoe maker for 30 years. Husband and father of three, he had a fourth grandchild on the way. His family remembers his corny jokes and big smile.
May they rest in peace.
I'm Jim Acosta. Thanks very much for watching.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
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