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The Situation Room

Interview With Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE); Biden Arrives In Cleveland To Face Trump After Releasing 2019 Tax Returns; Trump, Biden To Face Questions On Race And Violence; NYC Reopens School Campuses Amid New Case Clusters In Brooklyn, Queens; Former Pence Adviser: W.H. Pressured CDC Officials To Downplay The Threat Of The Virus To Children. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 29, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We're just hours away from the first debate between President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, in what no doubt we'll be in a story contest. We're told both Ben have been preparing to try to get under the other skin and that attacks could get very, very personal targeting each other's children. Tonight's face off will be the first general election presidential debate in U.S. history to take place amid a pandemic.

And there's breaking news, the coronavirus death toll here in the United States has now topped 205,000 people with more than 7 million known confirmed cases, and new infections are trending up right now in almost half the country.

Let's get straight to the scene of tonight's debate. CNN Political Correspondent Arlette Saenz is on the scene for us at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Arlette, first of all, tell us more about how this is going to play out later tonight.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf after about a year of sparring against each other from afar, President Trump and Joe Biden are set to face off here in person in Cleveland. And both sides are bracing for this debate to turn personal.

President Trump has shown an eagerness to go after Joe Biden's son, Hunter, over his business dealings in Ukraine and China. But there's a possibility tonight that he brings that front and center. The Biden campaign has been preparing their candidate for that possibility.

And on the President's side, he has also been preparing just in case Biden tries to bring up his own children in this debate.

Now, another issue that is expected to be a hot topic tonight is the President's taxes after that explosive "New York Times" reporting about how much he had paid in federal income tax over the past few years. The Biden campaign has tried to seize on that moment over the past few days.

Today, Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris releasing last year's tax returns as they're trying to emphasize this argument that the campaign is about one between Scranton middle class values and Park Avenue. Suggesting that the President is only caring about his own interest and those of the wealthy, while Biden would argue for middle class Americans.

Now this debate will look like nothing we've seen before due to the coronavirus pandemic. When Biden and President Trump take the stage they will be safe standing socially distance at separate podiums on that stage. They will not be shaking hands as is traditionally done. At the start of a debate. The size of the audience will be much smaller this time around due to COVID-19.

And everyone who is in that hall will be tested for coronavirus before they enter. The debate commission taking a lot of precautions to ensure the safety and health of the candidates, the audience and also the media that are in attendance. This will be a 90 minute debate with no breaks. The first question will be going to President Trump. No opening statements.

But ultimately this night will give voters a direct contrast of these two candidates who have really been going at it from afar. And tonight here in Cleveland, they will do that in person. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, normally debate like this there would be probably a thousand people in the audience tonight under a hundred. We're told maybe 60, 70 or 80, something like that.

Arlette Saenz on the scene for us in Cleveland. Arlette, thank you.

Let's go to the White House right now. Our Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us.

Jim the President, he has arrived in Cleveland already. A campaign official says he's feeling confident about tonight's debate. What are you hearing?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. A senior Trump campaign official said just what you said a few moments ago telling reporters earlier this afternoon the President feels confident about tonight's debate with Joe Biden.

But a Trump campaign adviser told me earlier today, Wolf, the President must make up some ground tonight. The advisor pointed out that some recent polls showing Mr. Trump running behind Joe Biden in key battleground states including the latest "Washington Post," ABC News members from Pennsylvania indicating the former vice president maybe building up a sizable lead in that state.

This advisor said of the President's mission for tonight, he needs the debate to break his way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: After days of dodging questions about his tax returns, President Trump is headed to the one place where he'll be pressed for answers, his first debate with Democrat Joe Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, who do you owe money to? Don't the American people deserve to know?

ACOSTA: The President is trying to sidestep revelations reported in "The New York Times" that he's only paid hundreds of dollars in federal income taxes and could owe hundreds of billions of dollars in debt? What Democrats are describing as a potential national security threat?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: What is this about? Who -- where does the President intend to get this money, this over $400 million dollars to pay back? So it's not just about who he owes it to, it's about where he's going to get it to pay it back.

ACOSTA: White House officials are brushing off those concerns insisting the President is more than capable of paying off his debt.

[17:05:00]

ALYSSA FARAH, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: It's just at this point ridiculous. The President has assets all over the world and that's something that the public is aware of. There's nothing here to see in terms of any sort of a national security concern. He has put out statements that he's able to on his finances and is ready to answer questions.

ACOSTA: In a free debate document rob, Biden released his own tax returns for last year showing he and his wife Jill earned some $944,000 and paid nearly 300,000 in federal income taxes, far surpassing what "The New York Times" says Mr. Trump sent off to Uncle Sam in 2016 and 2017.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You've got, you know, frontline workers. You got people who are doing God's work to protect and lift us up. Paying more in taxes than the self-professed billionaire? It's inexcusable.

ACOSTA: The Trump campaign is pointing to the President's go to explanation for keeping his tax returns a secret that he's under audit.

TIM MURTAUGH, TRUMP CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR: The New York Times confirmed that the President remains under audit and has been under audit for the last 10 years.

ACOSTA: Aides confess the President hasn't done much preparation for this first debate.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a little debate prep before we came here. I think this whole thing though, is debate prep. You know what I do is debate prep. Every day, I'm taking questions.

ACOSTA: Mr. Trump has instead made baseless claims about Biden's mental acuity.

TRUMP: We're going to ask for a drug test. We are. I'd like to have a drug test. Both of us. I'll take it, he'll take.

ACOSTA: But hold on. That's just a rerun of what the President alleged in 2016.

TRUMP: We should take a drug test pry, because I don't know what's going on with her.

ACOSTA: The President will also have to answer for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that's claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Americans. Mr. Trump has frozen out experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci in favor of Dr. Scott Atlas, who doesn't have any expertise in infectious diseases.

DR. SCOTT ATLAS, ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: He clearly listens to a lot of people. He understands in a very common sense way what the science shows and what should be done to save the American, really American lives and that's why I'm here. I'm not here to make friends.

ACOSTA: Former White House official Olivia Troye says aides to the president pressure the Centers for Disease Control to downplay the risks of children returning to school.

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER HOMELAND AND SECURITY ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: I think there are still people walking around the White House today who don't actually believe this virus is real. A lot of them disregard it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: President is expected to be joined by his adult children at tonight's debate. But Mr. Trump will be taking aim at Joe Biden's family in an attempt to dredge up old unproven claims about the former vice president son Hunter.

Trump campaign advisor said it's critical for the President to land some punches on Joe Biden. Tonight the polls are moving in the wrong direction for the President and he's running out of time to change voters' minds. Wolf.

BLITZER: Jim Acosta reporting for us from the White House. Thank you.

Let's get some more in all of this, Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware is joining us. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee, as well as a strong supporter of Joe Biden.

Thanks so much, Senator, for joining us. As you know, you just heard the former vice president just released his own tax returns for last year. So clearly he plans to go on the offense tonight on that specific issue. What more can you tell us about his strategy going into this first very, very important debate? SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Wolf, what we know about Donald Trump is that he's a master of spectacle. He was a reality T.V. star and he's someone who, as a developer, has a long history of putting forward false fronts of making misstatements and even occasionally whoppers.

So I know the former vice president is prepared for Donald Trump to repeat baseless and uncalled for attacks on his family.

What I think the average American wants to hear is instead how having Joe Biden in the White House will make their family safer and healthier and more prosperous next year. Joe's got a strong and clear plan for how to get us out of this mess that Donald Trump has gotten us into. And that should be the focus of this evening's debate.

BLITZER: Clearly, President Trump's debate performances, they resonated in 2016. Are Democrats under estimating the President right now heading into tonight's debate?

COONS: Well, I certainly take President Trump very seriously as a debate opponent. And I know Joe Biden does as well. President Trump has demonstrated his mastery of the public spectacle and a visibility to distract and to change an audience's attention from what ought to be right in front of us, 200,000 Americans dead, more than 7 million infected because of President Trump's bungled mishandling of the pandemic.

BLITZER: How confident are you, Senator, that Joe Biden won't be tripped up, let's say by the President's plan personal attacks on his family specifically his son Hunter Biden?

COONS: Well, Joe is very close to his family. His love for his family is one of his real strengths. It's part of his character and who he's always been.

And so, you know, anyone would resent and push back on attacks on their own family. And I fully expect to hear Donald Trump once again tried out tired disproven baseless claims about Joe's family.

[17:10:05]

But what really matters to the audience, to the American people is what's the impact going to be on their family?

So, tonight's debate really shouldn't be about Donald Trump attacking Joe Biden and back and forth, it should be about who's got the better plan. Who's got the experience, the credibility, the character? Who listens to experts?

Wolf, what we just learned from the New York Times is finally which experts Donald Trump does listen to. It's not doctors, it's not public health experts, it's tax accountants and lawyers who've helped him dodge paying his fair share of taxes for a decade.

How has Biden been preparing for all of this specifically, the personal attacks that almost certainly will be coming from the President?

COONS: Well, you know, Joe is someone who is motivated for public service by his concern, his compassion for all of us. He's never forgotten, where he's from, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and from Claymont, Delaware.

And he fights hard for the folks who work to get by here in America, the essential frontline workers, the people who've helped us all come together and get through this pandemic so far. So, I think Joe is prepared by being reminded about what matters most in life.

BLITZER: Senator Coons, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

COONS: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Let's stay with CNN tonight for complete coverage of this. The first 2020 presidential debate that's coming up starting at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Also coming up, we'll talk to the governor who state is hosting tonight's debate Ohio's Mike DeWine, a Republican standing by to join us live. I'll ask him what President Trump needs to do tonight to win over undecided Ohio voters.

Plus there's breaking news and a possible new treatment for COVID-19. We'll share that with you. Lots going on in this important news day, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:16:15]

BLITZER: Right now we're counting down to tonight's historic first debate between President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. And we're learning new details about what we can all expect later tonight.

Let's get some more from our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash, CNN's Senior Political Analyst David Gergen, and CNN Political Commentator Bakari Sellers.

Dana, I know you've been doing some excellent reporting on how these candidates are preparing. What are you learning?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just in terms of the approach that I'm hearing from sources in both camps, starting with President Trump. On the one hand, I'm told from people familiar with his preparation, that he's being encouraged to really try to focus on things that he promised four years ago, and that he delivered on, for example, trade.

NAFTA was something he railed against. And now today, it is something that has been renegotiated, that looking back at 2016, as the President told has done, he's looked at the tape of himself in 2016, and Joe Biden, and his recent debates, and that he's being encouraged to kind of stay away from the personal attacks.

At the same time, Wolf, if I am told that he is prepared to be very specific in going after Hunter Biden, the former Vice President son for some lucrative business deals that he got during the former vice president's time in the Obama administration.

On the flip side, as you can imagine, I'm told Joe Biden, who has had very extensive preparations, including some mock debates that he is trying to stay on course. And yes, he's can fact check and is preparing to fact check when it really is impossible not to, but to not be drawn into some of what they consider the President's lies so that he doesn't go off of what he wants to present as his vision for what he would do as President of the United States.

And so the key is going to be whether or not what each man has practiced. I think Biden certainly has been added a lot in a lot more intense of a way whether or not they are going to deliver on that tonight.

BLITZER: Very interesting. You know, David Gergen, does President Trump face potentially a bigger challenge in tonight's debate than he actually did four years ago?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, he does, Wolf. This is shaping up probably the most important moment and the most consequential election in our lifetimes. And the pressure is on Donald Trump. He can't seem to find a toehold or hold on. Biden it really delivers it for him. Biden's been ahead by six or seven points steadily.

And tonight, Donald Trump has to be in turning it around or time will run out on him. That's why this has been so important. He needs to, in addition to what Dana said about where he's going, he needs some humor.

I was reminded, well, if you'll remember this, when Fritz Hollings went in for the Senate and his opponent challenged him to take a drug test just a Donald Trump is challenging Biden to take a drug test. And Fritz said, I'll take a drug test the day you take an IQ test.

BLITZER: That was a pretty good line at that time.

You know, Bakari one of the topics, there are six topics, 15 minutes each in tonight's 90 minute debate. One of the topics is entitled race and violence in our cities. Biden has been working hard to not be painted by the President as a far left person on these issues. But does he potentially risk losing some support among black voters who will desperately need to show up this time to come out if he wants to win?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: First, Wolf, let me just say that this is a completely ignorant and asinine topic. Whoever thought coupling these things together was a good idea. It needs to be removed from the presidential debate commission. That's first.

[17:20:06] Second. Yes, Joe Biden has to come out very strong and authoritative in answering questions about race because we do know that Donald Trump will attempt to gimmick his way through any questions that come up about race. We do know that he's going to talk about criminal justice reform as if that's all black people want to talk about.

But Donald Trump has a clear line of attack or delineation. He can talk about the fact that this virus has killed disproportionate numbers of African Americans, how our businesses have been hurt. He can talk about the violence that we see perpetrated that a state sanction when we talk about George Floyd to Brianna Taylor.

So, I think that there is a clear delineation between him and Donald Trump. And he doesn't just have to get bogged down in the criminal justice. He can talk about making sure that this country finally keeps his promises to people of color.

This is a very difficult and nuanced issue because of the way that it's been coupled together. And Joe Biden has this propensity to retreat and say, oh, my God, please stop writing. I want Joe Biden to say, oh, my God, please stop writing but also please stop killing black people.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Dana, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they have -- today they released their tax returns for last year clearly gearing up for an attack on President Trump later tonight. He has not released his tax returns.

"The New York Times" has released a lot of details, though, of his taxes. How do you think all of this is going to resonate tonight with voters?

BASH: Well, I am told and this shouldn't surprise anybody that Joe Biden is prepared to work in the big news over the last couple of days from "The New York Times" of what they found or didn't find from the President's tax returns, or tax filings. And so that's what we expect on the Biden side.

On the Trump side, he has been told -- I am told by sources familiar with the preparation to try to pivot as much as he can to what the tax policy is and should be for all Americans to say he didn't do anything illegal, to say, you know, I did what I could do within the confines of the tax structure as it is. We'll see if he actually delivers on that. But that is what I'm told that they have been pressing him inside his debate prep, to get him to do to try to pivot as much as possible away from the story and not to get as backup.

BLITZER: Dana Bash, David Gergen, Bakari Sellers, we're all going to be very, very busy throughout the course of this important and historic night. Guys, thanks very much.

There's more breaking news just ahead. New details just released on a study -- of a study on a possible, possible treatment for the coronavirus infections.

And up next the Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, he's standing by to talk about tonight's debate in his home state what he wants to see from President Trump. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:47]

BLITZER: So the stage is now set at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio is hosting tonight's historic first debate between President Trump and Joe Biden.

Ohio's Republican Governor, Mike DeWine is joining us right now.

Governor DeWine, thanks so much for joining us an important historic night in your home state. You've expressed your support for President Trump in this race. What does he need to do tonight, from your perspective, Governor, to convince those undecided Ohio voters to back him? As you know, we used to say Ohio, Ohio, Ohio a key battleground state in any presidential contest.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Well, Wolf, I think he's got a great story about the economy and jobs. You know, we've been derailed a little bit because of the virus, but we're going to come back strong. We are already starting to come back in Ohio. So I think he's got a good story there.

But, you know, I spent 12 years on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Joe Biden. And I think, you know, what I saw was a guy who really knows how to debate. A guy who can talk very, very well. I've seen him go after witnesses. But I've also seen go back and forth with other senators, myself included.

So you know, he's going to be tough. I mean, he is a very, very tough debater. And I think people sometimes forget that, you know, because I haven't seen him that much in a debate format, you know, this year. And I think they sometimes forget that long history of, frankly, being, you know, very tough and very strong in that.

BLITZER: Yes. Well, we know the President has been sort of belittling him as far as his debate performance. We do expect Biden to criticize President Trump tonight for paying just $750 in taxes in his first year in the White House, $750 for supposedly a billionaire. I would imagine a lot of people in Ohio probably, maybe even yours -- I'm sure yourself, you pay a lot more than that in federal income tax. How do you expect this to play out on the debate stage and among the electorate, specifically the undecided electorate in Ohio?

[17:30:00]

DEWINE: Well, I think Biden has clearly indicated, you know, he's going to make that an issue. I really don't think when you get down to it, people vote their pocketbook. I think they vote -- I think there's a lot of Trump supporters very happy with his -- not only his most recent Supreme Court pick Judge Barrett, but he's other ones and also his district court and circuit court.

So, I think there's a lot of voters who are very happy about that. I know, some are not. But, you know, this is an area where he really kept a pledge that he made. He said, I'm going to put conservatives on the bench, and he has done that consistently.

So, I think those issues are, frankly, more important than, you know, a tax issue. And, you know, that'll play out, and you'll see that discussed, I'm sure tonight. But I think, you know, people kind of look at it and say, you know, how well has he done in these different areas?

And then for Biden, you know, I think it's really almost to some extent, this may sound strange, but a reintroduction of himself to the American people because, you know, they have not seen him for an extended period of time in a format like this, 90 minutes. And, you know, they've seen a lot of the President, and people have sort of made up their mind, you know, about the President. But I think Biden, in that sense, you know, a lot of the spotlight is on him and I think people will be examining him.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes. He, certainly, has an opportunity right now to reintroduce himself to 80 or 90 million Americans who will be watching later tonight. The President is planning we're told --

DEWINE: It's a huge crowd.

BLITZER: Huge, yes. The President's planning, we're told by some of his associates, personal attacks on Joe Biden, specifically going after his son Hunter Biden. Do you think that strategy will resonate with Ohio voters if it gets really ugly and dirty on the debate stage?

DEWINE: Well, look, each candidate is going to do what they're going to do. But I do think, I'll go back to what I said, Wolf, Ohioans vote their pocketbook a lot. I think you have a lot of voters are concerned about who is on the court. I think, you know, as they -- people try to assess, where am I going to be? Am I going to be better off with one guy or better off with the other one?

I think it comes down to, you know, bread and butter issues and basic issues, such as the court. And I think people will make those decisions to a great extent on that.

BLITZER: And we know that that's one issue that clearly is uppermost in your mind the future of the Supreme Court. That's an important issue for you and why you've supported President --

DEWINE: It is.

BLITZER: -- Trump. Even though over these past few months, you've been critical of some of his decisions on the coronavirus. We've discussed that plenty, but we don't have time, unfortunately, to discuss more of that right now. But --

DEWINE: We got good news yesterday, though. Yes, it was really good news yesterday, though, you know, his announcement in regard to these rapid tests. It's going to be a -- it could be a game changer for us in Ohio and other states. It's going to -- you know, it's a lot of them and we're going to deploy them to nursing homes and schools and try to make sure that we keep kids in school. So that's very important. BLITZER: Well, good luck on that front as well. Governor DeWine as usual, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for --

DEWINE: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: -- your state, your home state hosting this important debate tonight. We'll be watching. Appreciate it very much.

DEWINE: We're honored to host it, we're honored. Thank you.

BLITZER: I know you were.

All right. There's more breaking news coming up next here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Promising results just released from tests of an antibody cocktail to fight coronavirus. We'll share that information with you.

Plus, Disney, got this, just announcing tens of thousands of layoffs because of the coronavirus pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:38:16]

BLITZER: We're following breaking pandemic news as well. The coronavirus death toll here in the United States now climbing past 205,000 with more than 7 million known cases and new infections are actually trending up right down in almost half the country.

Let's get some light breaking developments. Brian Todd is joining us. Brian, I understand we're just getting some positive news about a possible new treatment?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The biotech company Regeneron has just released some early results of tests using its antibody cocktail on some coronavirus patients. The company says those early results are promising seeming to reduce the levels of virus and improve the symptoms in some of the patients. But this does come as we're hearing new concerns tonight across the country and especially in New York City about students returning to school.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Teachers greet students in Queens on an anxious first day back to in-person learning in New York City. The nation's largest school district open today for hundreds of thousands of students in kindergarten through middle school. High school students will come in later. Some teachers are nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live in a state of fear forcing this very large school system to go back to normal as kind of forcing a square peg into a round hole.

TODD (voice-over): Adding to the trepidation, the city has a daily coronavirus positivity rate above 3 percent for the first time in months. Clusters in Brooklyn and Queens worrying city officials. The governor making a solemn promise to parents.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: I say to every parent in the city of New York, if those schools are not safe, I will not allow them to operate. Period.

[17:40:03]

TODD (voice-over): This comes as the White House is accused of putting political pressure on the CDC to minimize the reported risk of reopening schools for in-person learning. Olivia Troye, a former Homeland Security Adviser to Vice President Mike Pence says she was in important meetings where people were pressured to make it seem less grim than it really was.

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: People within the White House specifically tasking more junior level staff to try to find alternate data, data that fit the narrative that they wanted, which was it only affects, you know, people above the age of 75. And it doesn't affect younger school children. It was all part of the narrative of we need to open up the schools, we need to open them up now.

TODD (voice-over): Contacted by CNN, a White House spokesman said all of the President's top health officials, "Agree that it is in the public health interest to safely reopen schools and that the relative risks posed by the virus to young people are outweighed by the risks of keeping children out of school indefinitely".

Meantime, questions tonight over whether some portions of the country are ready for reopening specifically the Midwest. Chicago's mayor is easing restrictions on certain businesses reopening bars for indoor service. But in neighboring Wisconsin, a new surgeon cases has a local hospital official in the Northeastern part of the state saying his hospital system is about to be overflowing with patients.

DR. PAUL CASEY, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, BELLIN HOSPITAL: Remarkable surge I n COVID patients after being down to one invitations in the first part of June.

TODD (voice-over): Wisconsin, one of more than 20 states seeing an uptick in cases as America and the world hit a grim milestone. The global death toll from coronavirus has just crossed 1 million and the U.S. ranks at the top and the percentage of those reported deaths more than 20 percent.

DR. AMESH ADALJA, JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: In September of 2020, we still can't test trace and isolate. We still have problems with testing, testing availability. We still don't have the ability to contact trace every case. We still have people that are not taking this seriously.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And we have this just in some more terrible economic news regarding the pandemic. Disney has just announced it's laying off 28,000 U.S. employees at its theme parks. The pandemic clearly just hammering Disney's theme park business. The company says 67 percent of those will be part time workers, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, the economic pain from the coronavirus clearly continues as well. Brian Todd reporting for us, thanks very much.

Let's get some more on all of the breaking news developments. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us, as well as Dr. Len Schleifer, co-founder and CEO of Regeneron. Dr. Schleifer, thank you so much for joining us. Tell us more where Brian just was telling us about this encouraging new development, this cocktail of antibodies from your company Regeneron, one of the early trials shown and how significant potentially could this be?

DR. LEN SCHLEIFER, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, REGENERON: Right, Wolf, well, thanks very much for having this on. I think we learned some very important facts. The first thing we learned is that when people are infected with the coronavirus, a race starts and the race is between the virus taken over the body and the person's immune system taken over the virus.

The consequences of losing that race are dire. You can get sick, you can go in a hospital, you can have long-term problems, and you can even die. The consequences of winning the race is that your virus levels go down quickly, your symptoms go away and you make a quick recovery. What we found in studying patients with the disease is that there are these two types of people, those winning the race and those losing the race.

We hypothesize that those losing the ways are the ones we could help because their immune system wasn't doing what it should be doing. And we could basically give them an immune response in a vial in the form of a drug and that drug could equalize the race and hopefully win the race.

And that's exactly what we saw. We saw evidence, we looked at the first 275 patients of nearly 1,000 that we've already enrolled to get an idea of what was going on. We saw these two types of people, people winning the race, people losing the race, and we saw that we could help people.

And the more you were losing the race, it turned out the more we could help you. The more you were losing the race, the higher your virus levels were and the more rapidly giving this cocktail could not those virus levels down. And there was also even indications in this small group that it was making this symptoms go away faster. So we were really very encouraged by this initial book. And we're very excited. We'll talk to the FDA about it and keep going.

BLITZER: All right. Well, Sanjay, you obviously know a lot more about all this stuff than I do. I know you have some questions for Dr. Schleifer. Go ahead.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we are talking about monoclonal antibody therapy here just in case that hadn't been mentioned yet, I believe. And Dr. Schleifer, thank you.

One other quick question, are you -- so are applying for an Emergency Use Authorization now for this treatment? Does that what today's announcement is about?

[17:45:02]

SCHLEIFER: I think what today's announcement is about is informing the entire community of how important notes work because I think they have implications for others (INAUDIBLE) as well as for those working in the vaccine field, as well as what are the actual implications of our data. Is an Emergency Use Authorization appropriately?

We're going to down (ph) with the FDA, we're going to be in contact with them very quickly, I'm sure by tonight or tomorrow, and we'll be talking with them about it, and seeing what they think we've already as you know, started manufacturing the product under contract with the Department of Defense.

We've set up a relationship with Roche, so that we can manufacture even more over time. So we're well prepared. The data are exciting and encouraging. And we'll go through the appropriate processes.

GUPTA: I looked at the study, you know, as you point out early data, Doctor, 275 patients sick but not hospitalized average age of 45. Now, are those the types of patients that you think would be going and getting these antibody therapy? You know, because if 45 years olds pretty young, they're not in the hospital? What is the expectation? How do you think this will matter for the average person out there who may get sick or develop some symptoms of COVID?

SCHLEIFER: Sure. So we're developing the drug in three different settings. The setting we're talking about today is treating the outpatient, helping these symptoms go away faster and, hopefully, as there's a hint in the data, prevent them from going into the hospital or needing more medical care.

But we're also studying it in household contacts. So if somebody in your family has it, and you have an elderly person in that family, we hope we can prevent that person from getting infected from the person who already has it.

And, finally, we're also studying it in patients in hospital. And what we already know from that study, just looking at the baseline information is that people in the hospital are actually losing that race. Their viral levels are even higher. They're not lower, they're higher than people who are in outpatient.

So we hope that our cocktail will work in that setting as well. And we hope to get results across the board. But you're right to raise the issue of where to best deploy this cocktail because we won't have enough to give it to everybody, whether we want to use it as a preventative, whether we want to treat outpatient, or whether we want to treat hospitalized patients, high risk patients. Those are all decisions we're going to have to make depending upon what approvals we get and how much product we can supply.

BLITZER: We're out of time, Dr. Schleifer. But best case scenario, assuming the FDA, the government approves what you're doing right now, and they grant you Emergency Use Authorization. What is the timeline when Americans who are infected with coronavirus will start to be able to get this drug?

SCHLEIFER: Yes. So we're in the midst of a contract which will produce some ways in the neighborhood of 300,000 or 400,000 doses. We've already produced a significant fraction of that. I think we have in the neighborhood of between 50,000 and 80,000 doses already on hand. So we could start pretty quickly, almost immediately after an EUA was granted if it were to be granted.

BLITZER: Well, Dr. Schleifer and Sanjay, thanks to both of you for what you're doing. Let's hope this works because it potentially could save a lot of people, a lot of problems from this coronavirus if it works. But as Sanjay points out still early, let's continue with your work as you always do.

Dr. Schleifer, thanks to Regeneron for everything you're doing. Sanjay, thanks as well.

Coming up, President Trump's war on voting. Will he launch new attacks during tonight's debate? We'll be right back.

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[17:53:35]

BLITZER: Ahead of tonight's debate, President Trump has been escalating unfounded claims of mail-in voting fraud and slamming the integrity of ballots. Our Senior White House Correspondent Pamela Brown has a closer look.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At tonight's first presidential debate, President Trump is expected to continue his attacks on the election itself.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is really a recipe for chaos. You could forget about November 3rd.

BROWN (voice-over): It's one of six topics he and Joe Biden are expected to be asked about tonight. A source close to the campaign tells CNN, Trump plans to amplify cases of alleged voter fraud, arguing that even one case is too much which he's already started hammering.

TRUMP: We have a big problem and you see it every day. You see it happening every day with ballots.

BROWN (voice-over): But there is no proof of that so-called big problem. Instead, Trump's rhetoric equates minor voting issues to massive voter fraud where isolated incidents are exploited.

KATIE HOBBS (D), ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: These are baseless attacks and they're part of the national playbook that we've been seeing around the country.

BROWN (voice-over): In Brooklyn and New York City Board of Election spokesperson says nearly 100,000 voters received absentee ballots and the wrong return envelopes. The voter ID and address on the envelope didn't match the ballot inside. The board says it was a printing error made by the vendor and new corrected ballots will be sent out.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: They have to fix this immediately. This is appalling. It is so easy to avoid this mistake and it is very easy to fix this mistake.

[17:55:03]

BROWN (voice-over): And Pennsylvania Republicans are going to the U.S. Supreme Court over absentee ballots after a lower court ruled by Why'd this mistake and it is very easy to fix this mistake.

And Pennsylvania republicans are going to the US Supreme Court over absentee ballots after a lower court ruled ballots could be counted up to three days after the election, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day. And the President has seized on that too.

TRUMP: The only way they can win, Pennsylvania, frankly, is to cheat on the ballot.

BROWN (voice-over): The GOP lawyers say the extended deadline opens the door for people to cast ballots after Election Day, saying it would, quote, inject chaos into the system. And in North Carolina, minorities are having their ballots rejected at an alarmingly high rate. Hispanic and Black voters have had more than 3 percent and 4 percent of their ballots rejected compared to a little over 1 percent for white voters. In many cases, voters can still fix the errors like missing witness signatures, but rejected ballots can sway a close election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And if President Trump continues his war on mail-in voting tonight, he would be going against this bipartisan Senate Intel report warning sitting officials to use the greatest amount of restraint when questioning the validity of the election because of grave consequences. Wolf?

BLITZER: Pamela Brown reporting, thanks very much. Much more news right after this.

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