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Doctor: Trump Reports "No Symptoms" Today, Vitals "Stable"; Trump Abruptly Ends Talks With Dems On COVID-19 Relief Bill; Pelosi Says It Shows WH "In Complete Disarray"; Trump Falsely Claims COVID Is Less Deadly Than The Flu; Fourth Press Aide In WH Test Positive For COVID; Biden: Mask Wearing, Social Distancing Aren't Political Statements; New York Imposing New Restrictions, Introduces Color-Coded Plan To Identify COVID Cluster. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 06, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:05]

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 following breaking news, President Trump abruptly ending talks with congressional Democrats on another stimulus bill to help millions and millions of Americans facing increasingly dire financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the virus is spreading further through the U.S. government with a third White House press aide testing positive right now.

And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with several members of the Pentagon senior leadership are quarantining after a top U.S. Coast Guard official tested positive.

The White House doctor says President Trump himself is reporting no symptoms today from his COVID infection but sources are telling CNN there are lingering concerns about the President's health after he showed some apparent trouble breathing on his return to the White House.

All of this as the U.S. death toll now tops 210,000 people with almost seven and a half million, million confirmed coronavirus cases.

First let's get straight to the White House. Our Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us, Jim, another chaotic day here -- over there at the White House, first day back, complete day for the President at the White House.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The President's physician insists Mr. Trump continues to do extremely well as he recovers from the coronavirus.

At the White House sources tell CNN the President would like to deliver an address to the nation on his progress. But it does not appear at the moment that an address to the nation will happen tonight as he's grappling with the virus.

Mr. Trump did tweet out one major announcement calling off negotiations with Democrats over a new stimulus relief bill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): With the President's heath cloaked in secrecy, Mr. Trump's lead physician Dr. Sean Conley released a statement claiming the coronavirus patient and chief is doing just fine saying "The President reports no symptoms, overall he continues to do extremely well."

Back at the White House, Mr. Trump is throwing his weight around announcing he's ending talks with House Democrats over a new coronavirus relief bill, tweeting, "I've instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election. When immediately after I win we will pass a major stimulus bill.

Sources tell CNN there are still lingering concerns inside the White House about the President's health after he appeared to be having trouble breathing as he stood on the balcony following his return from Walter Reed Medical Center.

In a White House video, Mr. Trump downplayed the virus yet again.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know there's a risk, there's a danger but that's OK. And now I'm better and maybe I'm immune. I don't know. But don't let it dominate your lives.

Get out there. Be careful.

ACOSTA: The President is still super spreading misinformation about the virus tweeting "Flu season is coming up, many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the vaccine die from the flu. Are we going to close down our country? No, we have learned to live with it just like we are learning to live with COVID, in most populations far less lethal."

Twitter slapped a warning label on the tweet saying the post violated the Twitter rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.

The fact is more people in the U.S. have already died from coronavirus this year then from influenza during the past five flu seasons combined.

Aids to the president are making blatantly false claims as well and defending Mr. Trump insisting he was all alone when he removed his mask on the balcony.

HOGAN GIDLEY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN NTIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: The President is alone on the balcony, outside he takes his mask off.

ACOSTA: But that's not true. There are White House staff photographers and other aides nearby. The Trump campaign is also claiming the President is a leader on wearing masks.

GIDLEY: This President has led on the issue at every single turn. And right now is no different. ACOSTA: But that's also false as Mr. Trump has mocked Democrat Joe Biden for using them.

TRUMP: Every time you see him he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from it. He shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen.

ACOSTA: The President is sounding more desperate for a coronavirus vaccine. CNN has learned Mr. Trump has been pressuring some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies to speed up the development of a vaccine as he keeps promising Americans one is coming quickly.

TRUMP: We have the best medicines in the world. And they're all happened very shortly and they're all getting approved. And the vaccines are coming momentarily.

ACOSTA: But the virus is still taking its toll even at the Pentagon where the vice Commandant of the US Coast Guard has tested positive, forcing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other military leaders to isolate at home. As a defense official said in a statement, "Out of an abundance of caution all potential close contacts from these meetings are self-quarantining and have been tested this morning. No Pentagon contacts have exhibited symptoms and we have no additional positive test to report at this time."

As for the spread of COVID at the White House, more staffers including a third press aide are coming up positive. Still a federal health official tells CNN West Wing aides have been rejecting help from the Centers for Disease Control to do contact tracing after a rash of positive test following the announcement of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, though the White House is dismissing the notion that the event was a super spreader.

[17:05:13]

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Certainly several of the people who tested positive were at that event, but many of these individuals interact routinely on a daily basis, certainly when it comes to White House staff. So, there's no way to put a pinpoint on it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just slammed the President's decision to pull the plug on stimulus talk saying, and this is a quote, "clearly the White House is in complete disarray."

In the meantime, the President's moved to end stimulus talks, has had an immediate effect on the financial markets as the Dow posted a big drop after the announcement showing you this right now, Wolf, this -- the Dow going down 375 points immediately going down after the President made that announcement on the coronavirus stimulus talks and how he's pulling the plug on those talks.

So that's an indication that the President's decisions which are coming as he is battling this deadly virus can have a major impact across the country, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jim. Thank you, Jim Acosta at the White House. Let's get some more in all of this. Our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us. Our Chief political Correspondent Dana Bash is joining us as well as our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger.

Sanjay, let me read from this note, very brief note from the President's physician, and then I want to get your analysis. This is from the note, "This morning, the President's team of physicians met with him in the residence. He had a restful first night at home. And today he reports no symptoms.

Vital signs and physical exam remain stable, with an ambulatory oxygen saturation level of 95 percent to 97 percent. Overall, he continues to do extremely well, I will provide updates, as we know more".

Very brief, very vague, what questions did this note answer? What questions did it raise? What questions did it not answer?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, like a lot of these notes in these statements, even the briefings, I mean, they -- it's more about what they don't say than what they do say.

I mean, first of all, you know, the -- if you read the note and summary, it sounds pretty good. I mean, the President's doing well, that's obviously good news. It means that he's doing well at this moment in time. They still have to obviously anticipate this disease course, we know that there can be significant ups and downs, and the doctors have acknowledged that he's not out of the woods. So it's good to hear.

But they also point out little things that basically the President reports no symptoms. Did they examine the President? Did they listen to his chest? Does he have pneumonia? Still a very basic question we don't know the answer to.

And we know that there is an answer, because they've examined him. They've done this imaging. That's an important question.

Even little things like, they say his ambulatory oxygenation is 95 percent to 97 percent, I believe. So when he's walking, that's as oxygenation, which is good. Is he getting oxygen? Shouldn't have to ask that question, but of course, they didn't reveal that, you know, on Saturday during the press briefing.

So, there's a lot that isn't there. In summary, if they're painting a good picture, and it is a good picture, that's great. But they still have to be very closely monitoring him, given what we know about the course of COVID

BLITZER: After the President, Sanjay, tweeted that he was ending the stimulus negotiations with the Democrats up on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi actually suggested that in a phone call with House Democrats, that's the steroids, the President is taking for coronavirus potentially could be impacting his thinking, is that a vital concern?

GUPTA: We know there's a lot of side effects from these steroids. I mean, anybody who's taken these high dose steroids or doctors who prescribe them know they can cause behavioral changes. People can become more aggressive, restless, they don't sleep as well. They're often ravenously hungry.

But I don't know the answer to the question, Wolf. I mean, it's hard to say that someone would now adopt a certain position because of these medications. They may be more aggressive, adamant, whatever about that position. But I, you know, I understand what she's saying. It's just as you might guess, very hard to draw that connection, Wolf.

BLITZER: And you know, Danna, it's interesting because in the past 24 hours alone, the President returned to the White House immediately took off his mask. Then he tweeted a false comparison between the coronavirus and the common flu. And just a little while ago, he ended these negotiations on a stimulus bill that could have helped millions and millions of Americans who are suffering from the pandemics economic fallout.

It seems like things have only grown more chaotic since he returned to the White House from the hospital. What's your analysis?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you from some reporting I've done before coming on with you that it's not just the Democrats who are scratching their head, it's some of his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Sources I talked to are going so far as to call this basically roid rage, but they are saying that they don't get it. You know, there's an understanding that the two sides have been far apart on some of the key substantive issues that has prevented them from getting a stimulus deal, really for the past many, many weeks. But -- that's one thing.

[17:10:09]

Another thing is just the basic politics of it. And the President sending this tweet out, basically accepts blame for these stimulus talks breaking down. And this isn't just some esoteric, legislative fight in Washington. This is real. This is real money, real life for so many people who are hurting.

And I was just down in Pennsylvania last week, and even people I talked to who support the President, one of the things that they were talking about, we're stimulus, the stimulus talks. Now, they were blaming Nancy Pelosi. I'm not saying that they won't still do that. But it will be a lot harder to do that after the President of the United States tweeted that he's pulling back from these talks.

BLITZER: You know, it's -- Gloria, it's really amazing what's going on the President ending these stimulus talks. The economic pain, the economic pain from coronavirus is enormous right now. The U.S. Department of Labor says the U.S. economy right now has 11 million fewer jobs than the U.S. economy had back in February. Why would he scuttle a stimulus bill? A stimulus package potentially that could have perhaps boosted his reelection chances in these final four weeks?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, it's really hard to understand even when the chairman of the Fed said, you know, this country really needs a good stimulus. If you look at his tweet, and you try and parse his tweet, he makes the political point, of course, that he didn't want to send money to the blue states would -- and just pour bad money to blue states who have misspent their money and overspent.

And so that's the political, you know, that's what he's going to say politically. And clearly, he did this after a phone call with Mitch McConnell, where he was told, of course, that if they were to vote on the stimulus package, they would lose a bunch of Republicans, maybe it would have to be passed by Democrats. So if you're looking at it in a rational way, maybe he figured, OK, well, I don't want Democrats to get the credit for this.

But what is so striking about it as Dana was saying is we're not used to the President throwing the grenade in and then taking responsibility for scuttling something that would actually help people in this country. And, you know, it just comes back to me what he said the other day, which is, don't let COVID dominate your lives.

Well, if you've lost your job, if you're worried about your kid's school, if you're worried about your friends who have lost their jobs, COVID is dominating your life. And if you're depending on that check, how can the President say that when he just said sorry, never mind, no stimulus deal?

Particularly, one other thing, he hasn't exactly been involved in these negotiations for the last month. Suddenly he comes back from the hospital. He gets on the phone with Mitch McConnell and he says, never mind. What's that about?

BLITZER: Yes. It makes no sense at all. You know, Sanjay, I want you to facts up -- fact check something that the President tweeted earlier today, I'll put it up on the screen and read it. This is from a tweet.

"Flu season is coming up, many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the vaccine, die from the flu, are we going to close down our country? No. we have learned to live with it. Just like we are learning to live with COVID in most populations far less lethal. So there's a lot wrong in that tweet, break it down for us.

GUPTA: Well I mean, yes, there's a lot wrong, first of all, just the basic numbers. And I think we have a graph to sort of show this. I mean, when you look at the last seven, eight months in this country, and what you know, the number of people who have sadly died from coronavirus around 210,000. As you know, that's more than the last five years of flu deaths combined.

I mean, flu is, it causes significant, you know, death every year. A lot of people are surprised by that. But still far less than coronavirus.

We obviously there is a vaccine for the flu. I mean, a flu shot, that is a flu vaccine. And, you know, there's not enough people every year who get it, hopefully more people get it this year. But it obviously is a huge difference.

But overall, Wolf, just mortality rates, if you want to look and say, well, what's the likelihood? What's the mortality rate with flu? It's around 0.1 percent in the United States.

COVID is probably five, six times that, you know, depending on how you actually look at the numbers. So, it's far deadlier as it cost many more lives sadly.

BLITZER: Yes, very sadly. You're absolutely right. This is the time right now for everyone watching to go out there and get a flu shot. Very, very important.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Danna bash, Gloria Borger, guys, thank you. I know you'll be back.

Up next. Joe Biden talks about the pandemic in a major speech he just wrapped up moments ago at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:19:07]

BLITZER: Joe Biden speaking just moments ago saying mask wearing is not a political statement. And with Election Day exactly four weeks away, our exclusive new CNN poll shows the Democratic presidential nominee leading President Trump by 16 points nationally.

Let's go to our political correspondent Arlette Saenz. She's covering the Biden campaign for us.

Arlette, he just wrapped up the speech at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, key battleground state. So what was the former vice president's message?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Joe Biden traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the sight of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War to push his message for unity, which has been central to his campaign. He invoked the words of President Abraham Lincoln saying that right now we are a house divided but that we need to no longer be that way.

Biden called for bipartisanship and overcoming both racial and political divisions.

[17:20:00]

And He also talks about this in the context of coronavirus, saying that people need to put politics aside and do the responsible thing. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's estimated that nearly another 210,000 Americans could lose their lives by the end of the year. Enough, no more. Let's just set partisanship aside. Let's end the politics and follow the science.

Wearing a mask, wearing a mask is not a political statement. It's a scientific recommendation. Social distancing isn't a political statement. It's a scientific recommendation. Testing, tracing, the development and all approval and distribution of a vaccine isn't a political statement. It is a science based decision.

We can't undo what has been done. We can't go back. We can do so much better.

We can do better starting today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now Biden also issued a call to action for Americans to vote saying that once the country votes, Americans voices will be heard. Now this comes as our latest CNN poll shows that Joe Biden's lead over President Trump is at its widest yet. Biden right now is up 16 points over President Trump among likely voters nationwide. That support is really bolstered by Biden's double digit support among older voters and women.

Now, as this is all playing out, Biden's speech in Pennsylvania, that critical battleground state today, tomorrow, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris are set to face off in their first vice presidential debates. And today Vice President Mike Pence's team is objecting to the use of a plexiglass barrier between the candidates.

Right now the candidates are scheduled to be seated at about 12 feet apart. Yesterday the Commission announced that there would be a plexiglass barrier placed between the two of them. The Vice President's team says that they haven't seen medical advice or information requiring that to be necessary.

So they are pushing that back and issue that Kamala Harris's team had thought was settled. So we'll see how that gets sorted out over the next day as the two are set to face off in Salt Lake City tomorrow night.

BLITZER: Right, we shall see fairly soon.

Michelle Obama, Arlette, released a video message, a very important video message today, which she called the "President of the United States a Racist." What was her goal?

SAENZ: Michelle Obama released this 24 minute video that's acting as her sort of closing argument heading into the campaign. And she had very blunt and frank words for the President.

Take a listen to what she had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: They're stoking fears about black and brown Americans. Lying about how minorities will destroy the suburbs, whipping up violence and intimidation? And they're pinning it all on what's been an overwhelmingly peaceful movement for racial solidarity.

So what the President is doing is once again, patently false. It's morally wrong. And yes, it is racist. But that doesn't mean it won't work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So Michelle Obama using her powerful platform, she's one of the most revered figures within the Democratic Party to push this message about the President and the need to vote for Joe Biden. You also heard Biden in his speak talk -- in a speech talk about the need to deal with racial justice issues in this country.

Michelle Obama telling voters today to vote like their lives depended on it and vote for Biden,

BLITZER: Very strong statement from the former first lady. Arlette, thank you very much. Let's get some more on Joe Biden in just a moment.

But first, I want to update you on some more disturbing news. We're learning from the White House, a fourth press aide in the West Wing of the White House has now tested positive, positive for COVID. That's very, very disturbing. It doesn't include the Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany for press aides. The lower press office over at the White House are now positive. It's raising a lot, a lot of concern. Who else might be coming down with a positive confirmation for coronavirus among the press corps as well as among the staff at the White House?

Let's bring in our senior political commentator and former Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod.

You spent a lot of years in the West Wing working for President Obama. You know how small that area is.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BLITZER: I spent seven years working there. People think it's a huge West Wing. It's a really small area.

AXELROD: It's tiny. That's the first thing that strikes you when you get there for the first time. And so it's not surprising if a highly contagious virus gets loose in that building, that it becomes epidemic very quickly.

[17:25:08]

Their images hope that everyone's going to be OK. But I suspect, sadly, Wolf, that this is not the end of the story. BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you're right. I think it's going to grow and grow and grow. Every day, we're getting more and more confirmations of COVID-19 among the White House staff and associates. And all of them, they go home, they meet with their family, they meet with others. And this thing could clearly, clearly spread hope it doesn't. But it looks really awful right now.

So David, you just heard the former vice president make an appeal for unity in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, whether that's wearing a mask or fighting racial injustice, Biden's campaign has made an effort to keep their messaging positive right now. But that didn't stop him from drawing sharp contrast with President Trump, did it?

AXELROD: No. No, look, I think the gloves are off. The President has, you know, declared in his strange return to the White House yesterday that everything is full speed ahead. And so, you know, I think whatever deference was being paid to him as soon as convalescing I think becomes sort of moot, because he has said he wants to reengage.

And I'm really not surprised that Biden has chosen this theme because as Arlette said this is the thing that's driven his campaign.

You know, people associate the President with this unity. He is someone who has relentlessly in mind divisions in our society for his own political purposes. And there has been a lot of chaos that has resulted from that. And there's a hunger for unity, and there's a hunger for --

And when you look at the poll, you can see that 61 percent of Americans say Biden is the guy to do it, almost a two to one lead over Trump, that he can unify the country. This is a huge advantage for Joe Biden's campaign.

BLITZER: Certainly he is. We want to apologize. Some of the audio, we can hear what you were saying, David, but some of the audio was a little crummy, shall we say, it's a technical term.

But we understood, of course, exactly what you were saying. David Axelrod helping us better appreciate what's going on right now. Very disturbing developments, indeed.

Coming up. Why did the Trump administration turn down to the CDC offer to actually help with contact tracing after the coronavirus outbreak over at the White House? We're standing by to discuss that, all the national security implications of the crisis with the former National Security Adviser Susan Rice. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:21]

BLITZER: The breaking news we're following in addition to Kayleigh McEnany, the White House Press Secretary now a fourth, a fourth press aide of the West Wing has now tested positive for COVID. This, as President Trump's behavior since his return to the White House is raising new questions about U.S. national security. Let's discuss some of those concerns with Susan Rice, she served as President Obama's National Security Adviser. She was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to all of that, she's the author of the best-selling book, "Tough Love: My Story of the Things worth Fighting For".

Ambassador Rice, thanks so much for joining us. So, the President's now back in the residence at the White House where he potentially, you're familiar with that area, could expose other top administration officials, White House staff, White House workers, how much -- but on the big picture, though, how much of a national security risk is he bringing on his own administration right now?

SUSAN RICE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, there are many dimensions to the national security threat that the President of the United States himself is personally posing. But let's start with the people around him whose job it is to help do the nation's business on a daily basis.

He could care less about his top advisors, his staff, not to mention the household staff and the ushers and the butlers and the housekeepers in the Secret Service. All these people who are doing their utmost in the most trying circumstances to serve this man in this country, to whatever effect, he could care less about them.

He doesn't seem very bothered about the fact that most of the Joint Chiefs now are quarantined. Because, you know, one of the vice chiefs came into the White House earlier in the week and caught COVID because the White House is, guess what, Wolf? The nation's biggest hotspot right now for the coronavirus, certainly in this area.

And Washington, D.C., which had been doing quite well with respect to COVID-19 in the last several weeks, with a low positivity rate and a low transmission rate and low numbers is now starting to spike because of the hotspot at the White House which is now a congressional and Pentagon hotspot.

So, this is very dangerous. When our adversaries look at this, they have to be looking for opportunities to catch us while they may suspect that our guard is down, while we're at least dispersed and focused on many things. But perhaps not as well focused as they think they'd like to think we are on matters of national security.

BLITZER: As you know, the White House is still refusing to tell the American people when the President last tested negative for the virus.

[17:35:02]

And today we've learned they're even refusing contact tracing help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All of that makes it really tough to know who else might have been exposed last week. It was reckless, what was going on clearly in the Rose Garden with the announcement of the Supreme Court nominee, and we saw what happened there. How reckless from your perspective as a former National Security Adviser is all these? RICE: It's mind-boggling and it's callousness and recklessness. We've never, in my knowledge, in my memory, had a President of the United States who literally doesn't give a damn about anybody around him, perhaps about himself, at least his health, he seems to care about power and wealth. And it's just unbelievable. He doesn't care who he infects.

He doesn't care what this does for our economy now that he is, you know, completely thrown the white flag on trying to get a new stimulus package and COVID legislation through. He doesn't care about the American people. It's unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it.

BLITZER: Your former colleague, the former Homeland Security Secretary, Jay Johnson, a man, you know well, he told me the other day that he thinks the line of succession to the presidency, that the top leadership there, the Vice President, the speaker, the President pro tem of the Senate go down, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, they should at least consider quarantining until the President makes a complete recovery. Do you agree?

RICE: Well, I think we all need to see care taken by our senior most leaders. I'm concerned, for example, not only with the President's reckless behavior. Now, we learned that apparently Vice President Pence doesn't want to agree to precautions, including what the debate commission was recommending it for plexiglass around all the key participants.

We see the White House trying to block the FDA's critical guidance that would ensure that any vaccine that gets to emergency you use is both safe and effective. The callous disregard among those leaders for their responsibilities of office is really quite extraordinary.

I have much greater confidence than others in the line of succession, particularly Speaker Pelosi is trying to do her best to protect herself. We can't just shut down entirely. But when you have people who have been immediately exposed, as the Vice President has been to the President and as many others have been to the President, it is their responsibility according to CDC guidelines to quarantine and they seem not to care about that.

I think the model that we should look to is what the Pentagon leadership is doing. They are responsibly responding to a threat that they face from COVID coming out of the White House.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, because it's not just the White House staff and their families, their friends that's at risk right now, it's the Pentagon as well, as you as you noted. Several members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff they are now quarantining after being exposed to the coronavirus. How concerning is the possibility of a widespread outbreak of this virus among the senior U.S. military leadership?

RICE: Well, obviously, we have to be concerned about that. And I think they're taking the appropriate precautions. And, Wolf, it's important to know that these senior military leaders also are always in communication, they're never cut off. They're paying very close attention to what's going on around the world. They have access to all the classified communications and information that they need. So nobody should view their quarantining as itself, a moment where people are not vigilant.

But, you know, we do need to be worried not only about the Pentagon, but frankly, about all the agencies because just like the vice chief of the Coast Guard was in the White House, people from all the agencies are coming in and out of the White House on a daily basis, or at least they were for many days after this became an issue.

BLITZER: Ambassador Susan Rice, thanks so much for joining us. I want to remind our viewers, the book is entitled, "Tough Love: My Story of the Things worth Fighting For". Ambassador Rice, thanks so much for joining us.

Coming up --

RICE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: -- a closer look at what may happen if the President were to become too sick to govern. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:44:03]

BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking news as the United States nears 211,000 deaths from the coronavirus including new restrictions aimed at tamping down coronavirus outbreaks in parts of New York. CNN's Erica Hill is monitoring all of today's breaking developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This bustling New York neighborhood one of nine hotspots in the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think there's fatigue. I think it's been a long six months.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: COVID isn't tired. The virus isn't tired. The virus still energetic and strong enough to kill you.

HILL (voice-over): Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing new statewide measures for areas with high positivity, limiting gatherings, closing non-essential businesses and schools. 300 have already closed in those New York City hotspots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to get ahead of this.

HILL (voice-over): New York among the 22 states reporting an uptick in new cases over the past week. And with a five with an increase of more than 50 percent.

[17:45:02]

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: There are a number of us who fear that over the next six to 12 weeks, we could see a very substantial increase in COVID-19 cases that would far surpass even the peak that we saw earlier this summer.

HILL (voice-over): Alaska, Utah and Kentucky just saw their highest seven-day average of new cases. Governor Andy Beshear urging his state to mask up.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: And now is our test. Test of values, test of faith. Are we willing to live for other people?

HILL (voice-over): The CDC updating its guidance, again, adding information about airborne spread. Guidance is posted and then removed last month. Hospitalizations hitting record highs in a half dozen states.

DR. JOHN LOWE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: This is potentially a perfect storm for Nebraska.

HILL (voice-over): New research shows 82 percent of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 developed neurological symptoms ranging from headaches and muscle pain to altered brain function. Meantime, the push for a vaccine continues, Dr. Fauci sticking with his timeline.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think comfortably around November or December, we'll know whether or not the vaccine is safe and effective.

HILL (voice-over): We already know masks can save lives. A new Axios- Ipsos poll finds 21 percent of Americans are more likely to wear one after the President's positive diagnosis. He's defiant photo op striking a nerve.

FIANA GARZA TULIP, MOTHER DIED OF COVID-19 IN JULY: It was the cruelest tweet yet. And I truly do wonder how many people he killed with his actions yesterday.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: How we behave over the next few months will determine whether we have 270,000 dead Americans. By the end of this year over 400,000. The President has sent a message to the American people, let's go for the 400,000 number.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: The FDA today making it clear there's little chance of vaccine will be granted Emergency Use Authorization before the election. Posting guidance for vaccine manufacturers will require at least two months of data after a second dose of the trial vaccine. The head of the NIH today saying just a short time ago, for anyone concerned about mischief, this should make it pretty clear there's little chance for any mischief to enter into the process, Wolf.

BLITZER: Erica Hill in New York for us. Erica, thank you.

Coming up, what happens if President Trump were to become too sick to govern? We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:21]

BLITZER: President Trump's battle with COVID-19 is raising some urgent national security concerns. CNN's Brian Todd is working that part of the story for us. Brian, there are multiple scenarios should the President become too sick to govern.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf. There are plans in place for an orderly transfer of power to Mike Pence or to others if Pence gets sick, but this virus does present some concerning scenarios.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): President Trump's doctor says he's doing, quote, extremely well. His vital signs stable. But America's top voice on the pandemic warns Trump could have a setback.

FAUCI: Sometimes when you're five to eight days in, you get to have a reversal. His physicians know a reversal meaning going in the wrong direction and get into trouble.

TODD (voice-over): Trump's doctors have not revealed information from a scan of his lungs. He's on a steroid, which experts say could mask some dangerous symptoms and suppress the immune system. And there are questions about the President's mental state following his bizarre display on the Truman balcony. And his tweet yesterday telling Americans don't be afraid of COVID.

BOB WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "RAGE": If they don't put the brakes on, what's the next tweet going to be? What's the next decision that's going to come out of this?

TODD (voice-over): One Trump aide says the staging on the balcony was designed to show strength to the American people and America's allies. But with all the questions being raised about whether President Trump is healthy enough to lead, another key question arises tonight. If he gets too sick to govern, what happens next?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There is a real question of whether or not, if real, existing responsible leadership prevailed, whether or not the 25th Amendment would be invoked to turn over the powers of the presidency to Vice President Mike Pence.

TODD (voice-over): The first step would be to determine whether President Trump is incapacitated. According to the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, Trump could make that determination himself.

JOHN HUDAK, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: He can notified Congress, the House and Senate that he's going to be incapacitated because he'll be sedated on a ventilator. And until he says so that the powers of his office would be transferred to Mike Pence who would serve as acting president until the President's health improve. TODD (voice-over): But what if the President is so sick and incoherent that he can't make the determination himself to hand over power? The 25th Amendment says Pence and the Cabinet can essentially take it from him or a super majority of Congress could. Pence has so far tested negative for coronavirus and his doctor says he's in good health. But COVID has infiltrated the White House and President Trump has been in close contact with Pence.

If Pence gets the virus and becomes incapacitated, next in line to be acting president would be the Trump team's political archrival, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

[17:55:06]

PROF. LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I don't think they'd let it happen. They find a way around it. Possibly, the Secretary of State, someone in the Republican line, either the elective line in the Senate or the Cabinet line would take over. It's just untenable. And Nancy Pelosi would recognize that as well.

TODD (voice-over): If Pelosi is bypassed or doesn't want the job, the rules call for the presidency to go to the Senate's President pro tempore, who at the moment is 87-year-old Republican Chuck Grassley. But political experts say, getting to that point is very unlikely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Another key question tonight, what about the election? What if Trump or Biden have to drop out because of the virus? Well, then their parties would have to select a new nominee and really scrambled to do that. Pretty dicey proposition this late in the game, Wolf.

BLITZER: Certainly is. Brian Todd reporting, thank you.

There's breaking news next, President Trump suddenly ends talks with congressional Democrats on another economic stimulus bill.

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