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The Situation Room

At Least Five Pence Aides Test Positive for COVID-19; Stimulus Talks Stall, Leaving Millions of Americans in Limbo; Pence Stays on Campaign Trail Despite Aides Testing Positive; Trump Mocks News Coverage of Pandemic at Campaign Rally; Interview with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on State of Election; Melania Trump to Hit Campaign Trail This Week. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired October 25, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:01:01]

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 Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

The 2020 race will be wrapping up in just nine days but the harsh reality is the coronavirus pandemic will be with us long after that. The U.S. reported its second highest number of new coronavirus cases just yesterday. A staggering total of 83,713 infections, made even more alarming when considering that COVID reporting tends to lag a bit on weekends.

As Americans contend with this dangerous new surge, President Trump's chief of staff signals that the White House has seemingly given up on fighting the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Here's what we have to do. We're not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, STATE OF THE UNION: Why aren't we going to get control of the pandemic?

MEADOWS: Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu. It's --

TAPPER: Yes, but why not make efforts to contain it?

MEADOWS: Well, we are making efforts to contain it. And that's --

TAPPER: By running all over the country not wearing a mask? That's what the vice president is doing.

MEADOWS: Jake, we can't get into the back and forth. Let me just say this, is what we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure that people don't die from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The stunning remarks came as we learned that at least five close aides to Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for coronavirus. A source tells CNN that Mark Meadows and the vice president's office tried to keep news of this second Trump administration outbreak under wraps.

The vice president was in very close contact with some of those infected staffers and based on CDC guidelines he should be quarantining right now for 14 days. But the vice president who heads the Coronavirus Task Force is ignoring the CDC experts. Just a little while ago he spoke at a rally at North Carolina and he'll spend the next nine days crisscrossing the country to campaign, deemed an "essential worker," close quote, by the White House.

Our White House correspondent, John Harwood, is joining us right.

John, so what do we know about these five staffers, associates of the vice president who have tested positive?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know, Wolf, they include his -- a political adviser, his body man, the one who travels most closely with him around the country. It includes his White House chief of staff, Marc Short. Marc Short told me in a text message tonight that he's feeling OK. His symptoms are mild. But mostly the White House has tried to say as little as possible about this, and follow the same playbook they did a few weeks ago when the president got sick.

That is, suppress the news as much as you can and let it interfere as little as you can with the conduct of the campaign. So Vice President Pence was out on the trail today. He sprinted across the -- an airport tarmac at his rally in North Carolina to show his vigor, and when the president himself was asked whether it was appropriate for the head of his Coronavirus Task Force to remain on the campaign trail, he ducked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Should the vice president come off the campaign trail?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have to ask him. He's doing very well. Good crowds. Very socially distanced. He's doing very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARWOOD: But of course the problem is, Wolf, this comes at exactly the wrong time. Nine days left in election. The president right now is losing badly to Joe Biden. And these events simply underscore the president's failure on the biggest issue to voters in this campaign. That is his failure to control the coronavirus pandemic. BLITZER: Yes. They're trying to move away from it. But with these

record numbers of new cases yesterday as well as Friday, record numbers since the start of this coronavirus pandemic, it's going to be impossible for them to ignore what's going on and nearly a thousand Americans, John, are still dying almost every single day.

[21:05:04]

HARWOOD: It's relentless, Wolf. And what they've tried to do, you know, the president, he's taking to saying at rallies all Joe Biden says is COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. He wants to talk about the economy. Obviously the pandemic limits the extent and vigor of economic recovery, but it also strained a lot of people and the coronavirus pandemic seems to be peaking this new wave right around the election at a time when the Trump campaign is counting on people to turn out for in-person voting, while Democrats have banked the larger percentage of their votes already.

BLITZER: Yes. Record numbers in several of the major battleground states as well.

John Harwood, we'll get back to you. John Harwood's over at the White House.

More now from Dr. David Shulkin, the former secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Trump, and CNN medical analyst, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Shulkin, you were there, you were on the inside of the Trump administration. What is your reaction to the vice president simply ignoring the recommendations of the CDC and health experts, his own Coronavirus Task Force? What's your reaction when he simply goes out there as business as usual, even though five of his close associates have sadly come down with coronavirus?

DR. DAVID SHULKIN, FORMER VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY UNDER TRUMP: Wolf, if there's anything that we can say is that what the White House is doing to protect the staff and the president and the vice president simply isn't working. We're seeing large numbers of staff getting infected, and this certainly is not behavior that we want modeled around the country. We see that the pandemic, the numbers are increasing, 45 states having record numbers. Hospitalizations going up.

And what we need now more than ever is to double down on what we know works and what we know has worked in other countries like in South Korea, where we've not seen anywhere near this devastation. So the vice president should be following the CDC recommendations here. A quarantine does not involve running around the country. It involves staying isolated and making sure that other people aren't exposed and aren't infected.

And as the head of the Coronavirus Task Force, it's really important that we tell people how you handle when you have had direct exposure and contact to individuals we know now have COVID-19. So we simply just have to do better.

BLITZER: We certainly do. And we could be doing better, we could have been doing better all along, Dr. Walensky. You know, Dr. Shulkin mentioned South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea actually had their first confirmed cases back in January. First confirmed deaths in February. Since then the U.S. has sadly lost more than 225,000 Americans to coronavirus. 225,000 confirmed deaths here in the United States.

South Korea with a population of around 55 million, they have lost under 500 people since then. They clearly controlled the virus, they knew how to do so. The United States clearly failed in controlling the virus. And sadly, we're still failing to do so.

What do you think, Dr. Walensky?

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Wolf. You know, the death rates per million in the United States are about 590. In South Korea, they're three. I think it's quite disturbing to see that the head of our task force could not keep the president and his colleagues safe. He could not keep his own staff safe. And yet that plan is the one that's supposed to keep America safe.

We know what works. We know that masks not only protect others which is what we were saying when we presumed that this was largely droplet, but it can protect ourselves now that we know that it's aerosolized. And we also know there's increasing data with these masks that if you are wearing a mask and you were to get sick, then you will likely have a milder case, and that is because you have less volume of -- less bolus of the virus coming in.

We know these masks work. I don't understand why we are looking to treatment and therapies when in fact, Ben Franklin said it, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

BLITZER: Dr. Shulkin, what did the South Koreans do right? The leadership there. What did they do right to keep their death toll now under 500 and what did we do wrong that we have more than 225,000 deaths here in the United States?

SHULKIN: Well, I think South Korea implemented a really effective playbook. The first thing that they did is they had effective bio surveillance so they knew when this virus was coming. They had better diagnostic capabilities. They deployed testing in a much more rapid way. They developed a national strategy where they clearly communicated that this is the way that we're going to respond as a country. And they certainly adhered to mask wearing in a way that we haven't seen yet in this country.

[21:10:06]

Still today, we have about 70 percent compliance with mask wearing in this country. We know that if we continue to not improve, if we continue at this rate, by February of next year, we may have 385,000 deaths of Americans. We know that if we simply could get that rate of compliance of mask wearing higher we could save up to 100,000 lives, Wolf. And so the South Koreans knew this. They stayed focused on a plan. The people on the country adhered to the plan and that has saved a lot of lives in their country.

BLITZER: Yes. In South Korea, wearing a mask did not become a major political issue as it is a political issue here in the United States. That is so tragic.

Dr. Walensky, as you know, Dr. Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the FDA, now says it's time to at least consider a limited and temporary national mask mandate in the country. He wrote about it in a new op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal." Do you think he is right?

WALENSKY: You know, I wish we didn't need a mandate in order for people to want to protect themselves, their loved one and others. But in the absence of it, as Dr. Shulkin as noted, we are not getting full adherence with masking. And we know that it works. With 80,000 cases a day, it's only the end of October, we have some cold months ahead. We have some dark months ahead.

We have the holidays ahead. We know that it's easier to wear a mask in the winter than it is in the summer. And I think it would be very reasonable to put forward a mask mandate because people are otherwise not doing it.

BLITZER: Dr. Walensky, thank you so much for joining us. Dr. Shulkin, thanks to you as well.

Meanwhile, only nine days until election day here in the United States, but for millions of Americans suffering the economic hardships as a result of the pandemic, hopes for some sort of economic stimulus package are growing dimmer and dimmer. So why can't Washington not get a deal done?

Andrew Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate, he's standing back. We will discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:16:17]

BLITZER: Record numbers of Americans tested positive for coronavirus this weekend and millions of Americans are simply out of work. According to the "Washington Post," some 100,000 small businesses here in the United States permanently shuttered from March to May. No matter what metric you look at, it's so clear that so many Americans are suffering during this pandemic and desperately need help and they need help right now. But talks over economic relief they are clearly still gridlocked here in Washington.

I'm joined now by former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang.

Andrew, thanks so much for joining us. Before I get to the stimulus talks, I want to get your quick reaction to the news that the vice president, Mike Pence, will keep campaigning even though he was in very close contact with five staffers who tested positive for COVID. Speaking for your experience in the primary, is campaigning, quote, "essential work" right now?

ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This unfortunately fits a pattern we've seen from this administration, Wolf, where if they are forced to balance preserving the health and safety of themselves, the public, their teams or political campaigning, fundraising, and preserving this administration's hold on power, they tend to choose the latter, unfortunately, so it's disappointing but not wholly surprising.

BLITZER: The CDC says he should be quarantining for at least 14 days right now given the fact he was in close proximity for so long with these five associates.

Many people were hoping this administration learned a lesson and would change its approach to the coronavirus after the president was infected, but this seems to be playing out, Andrew, the same way as that first White House outbreak.

Do you think this will actually drive away some of those remaining -- I don't know how many there are, remaining undecided voters?

YANG: There are many Americans who are deeply concerned about how the coronavirus is being handled by this administration. And campaigning in the midst of it, having events where people are showing up that aren't properly socially distanced or in some cases not wearing masks fits a pattern that is turning off many, many voters. You're seeing it in some of the local media coverage that's following -- after these events take place where a bunch of journalists are asking, was this event truly necessary and in the public's interest?

BLITZER: Let's discuss the stalled COVID relief talks. This is what we heard from the two sides earlier today. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEADOWS: We've continued to make offer after offer after offer and Nancy continues to move the goal post. And as you know, we're up to $1.9 trillion. I personally have talked to the leader multiple types. I have talked to senators multiple times. And at the end of the day, it was the Democrats just last week who said that they were not going to support a $500 billion deal. So they said no to some relief coming to Americans.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-NY): They keep moving the goal post. They -- every time they say we move the goal post, that means they're projecting what they did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Andrew, as you know, millions of Americans are so desperately. They're out of work right now. So many of them, they can't pay the rent. They can't even buy enough food for their kids. Who should they blame for this impasse? YANG: They should blame the dysfunction in Washington, Wolf, though

I'm still cautiously optimistic that we're going to see a deal emerge in the next nine, 10 days, in large part because the interests of the American people are so on the line.

A study just came out that said that 1/3 of American workers have either lost their jobs or had to change jobs because of the pandemic, and that 25 percent of workers have had their wages go down.

[21:20:06]

So in the face of that kind of overwhelming need, if you look at the politics involved, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats should be chopping at the bit to get a deal done for the sake of their constituents and Donald Trump and Steve Mnuchin have signaled that they want a deal as well. So if a deal can be struck early this week, I believe it still has a chance to get relief into the hands of American people during this window. If we miss this window before the election, we could be waiting until February which would be devastating for millions of Americans.

BLITZER: If it doesn't happen before November 3rd, you think it could get happen during the lame-duck session irrespective of who's elected president?

YANG: The politics unfortunately shift in a way that make it less likely. Big bills seldom get done during lame-duck sessions after an election. And if you look at the president's interest, his interest will be sky high to try and get relief or signal relief to his supporters before they come out and vote next Tuesday. But then after that day, do we really think Donald Trump is going to be as concerned with trying to get relief into people's hands?

So this window is crucially important. Really just the next several days early this week in order to get legislation pushed to the Senate while they are still in session before election day.

BLITZER: I know you're not involved in the negotiations, but do you think both sides, at least at this sensitive moment, are simply playing politics with this relief bill that is so desperately needed by so many millions and millions of Americans?

YANG: I heard today from a laid-off tour bus operator in New York. He's 64 years old. He doesn't have a job anymore and he says where is my stimulus check? Those are the people that I'd be thinking of if I were on either side of this negotiation. And if it were me, I would look at that interest and say, look, this may not be the perfect deal, but we need to get a deal done before election day.

And then to the extent that there were imperfections and problems, we can always come back together and pass a new bill in the New Year. But people need relief right now, from that tour bus operator to millions -- or former tour bus operator to millions of other Americans around the country.

BLITZER: So many suffering and desperate people out there right now. Andrew Yang, thanks so much for joining us.

YANG: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: President Trump's campaign is trying to shift the focus of the campaign from the president's mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. But with multiple members of the vice president's orbit now testing positive, the virus is front and center in these, the final days of the campaign.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:27:09]

BLITZER: We're just nine days out from the U.S. election, and one thins is very, very clear. Nothing will keep Vice President Mike Pence off the campaign trail. Not even a coronavirus outbreak within his own orbit. Five of his staffers have now tested positive including his own chief of staff, Marc Short whom Pence spent Thursday and Friday with.

And despite the very close contact the vice president has declined to quarantine, a measure that the CDC recommends quarantining for 14 days. Instead, he's pushed forward with a campaign rally in North Carolina just a little while ago. And that's where we find CNN's Natasha Chen.

Natasha, the vice president is planning to spend the next nine days crisscrossing the country. What more can you tell us?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, he's not stopping in this final sprint before election day. After the rally tonight, he's in Minnesota tomorrow. He's back in North and South Carolina on Tuesday. So this despite the fact that according to CDC guidelines, perhaps he should be in quarantine given the number of people in his inner circle who have now tested positive for coronavirus.

He did not address those people who tested positive for COVID during tonight's rally in front of about 250 enthusiastic people. He did however job toured the podium when the rally started with his mask on and also put that mask back on before entering Air Force Two when he took off. All his staff were wearing masks tonight.

And at this rally, about an hour before it began, there was an announcement over the loud speaker telling people that masks are required. We saw many people wearing them but some people not. And there wasn't anyone there to enforce that rule. But the people were hearing a message we've heard before, arguments on why this president should be re-elected. It struck me that Vice President Pence talked a lot about Judge Amy Coney Barrett and President Trump being extremely pro-life.

Yet he did not really the talk about the more than 225,000 lives now lost during this pandemic. He touted the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that Trump saved lives in the beginning with that travel ban to and from China, and reassured the crowd that a vaccine is coming -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Natasha Chen, in Kinston, North Carolina, for us. Thank you, Natasha, very much.

Here is President Trump this weekend just hours before the world learned that new coronavirus outbreak among the vice president's inner circle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: That's all I hear. You turn on television. COVID, COVID. COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don't talk about it. COVID, COVID, COVID. COVID. By the way, on November 4th, you won't hear about it anymore. It's true. COVID, COVID, please don't go and vote, COVID.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:30:01]

BLITZER: All right. Let's discuss with our national political reporter, Maeve Reston. She's been writing some really excellent analysis of the administration's approach to COVID-19 on CNN.com.

Maeve, it's been less than a month since the president, the first lady, their young son were infected. Single day cases just broke a record here in the United States. We've seen the virus sweep across the White House now to five more key players in the vice president's orbit. Is there any indication at all that the president will actually change his tone with only nine days left in this election?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Absolutely not, Wolf. I mean, covering President Trump's rallies all weekend. All you heard from him over and over again was that optimistic tone that the virus is fading away, that we're rounding the turn. All of those statements that are completely contrary to the facts that you just laid out. And in fact, you know, yesterday when he landed in Ohio, we heard him chide a reporter for using the word cases, suggesting that it was in some way a tactic, a scare tactic to scare the American people.

So you really have the president being completely disconnected from reality, not acknowledging in any way the surge that we're in, and really only making passing references to the ways in which that people can keep themselves safe. And of course what all of this does is just remind people of the fact that they really disapprove of his handling of the virus and it's just -- it's very bad news for him in this final phase of the campaign -- Wolf.

BLITZER: In addition to the more than 80,000 cases a day that we're now seeing here in the United States. Nearly a thousand Americans are dying every single day as well. It's so heartbreaking when you think about their loving families, what they've all been forced to go through.

I want to show you, Maeve, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris, after the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told our Jake Tapper earlier today that, in Meadows' words, we are not going to control the pandemic. Here's the senator. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They are admitting defeat and I have been saying that and Joe Biden has been saying that since the beginning. This is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of America and he went on to say, you can't control it like the flu. And yet again, they are suggesting to the American people that this is like the flu. When we have known from the beginning and they knew since January that it's five times more deadly than the flu.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Is Mark Meadows' comment, Maeve, a gift for the Biden-Harris campaign?

RESTON: It's definitely a gift, Wolf. And it's really puzzling why he would say something like that because, in part, the medical experts on the White House team like Dr. Anthony Fauci have said that this is in fact in our control, it is in our hands. It's -- you know that we can double down on all of these measures like washing hands and wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings. And instead, you know, what you see is the president again modelling the opposite behavior, the way that he did on the rope line and in Maine earlier today in an orchard, where he was fist bumping people. You know, very few masks.

And it allows the Biden campaign and Senator Harris to have an opening to completely relitigate President Trump's handling of the virus going back all the way to early January, what they knew, what measures they didn't take. As you've talked about many times on your show, there was that kind of lost February where a lot of people thought that we could have taken the kinds of testing and tracing measures that other nations did like South Korea to really get control of this.

And so it becomes this very potent weapon on the campaign trail for the Biden campaign to talk about how different their approach would be. And you saw Joe Biden do that, Wolf, yesterday several times in Pennsylvania making that contrast.

BLITZER: Yes. You point South Korea, and I've been pointing it out all day now. The South Koreans clearly knew how to control the virus. They had the first cases, the first deaths right around the same time in January and February. The U.S. had the first cases and first deaths over that time. We've had 225,000 plus Americans die. South Korea, a country of 55 million people, less than 500 South Koreans have died from coronavirus. They controlled the virus, the United States failed to control the virus. That's unfortunately a fact.

Maeve Reston, thank you very much for your analysis.

RESTON: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: We are grateful to you.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Pennsylvania election officials to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after election day. But now the Pennsylvania Republican Party is asking the high court to review the case again before election day, and with Amy Coney Barrett, potentially, potentially on the bench. Pennsylvania's attorney general standing by live, we'll discuss.

[21:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Some breaking news coming into the SITUATION ROOM. Federal authorities are investigating whether a ballot drop box was deliberately set on fire in Boston. Police have released these images showing a male wanted in connection with the incident which occurred just after 4:00 a.m. this morning. The Boston Elections Department says 35 ballots were damaged and advises anyone who deposited their ballot at that drop box between 2:30 p.m. yesterday and 4:00 a.m. this morning to contact them.

Ballot drama in battleground Pennsylvania, meanwhile, continues. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked, 4-4, on whether Pennsylvania could count mail-in ballots that arrived after the election. That left in place a ruling by the state's Supreme Court granting a three-day extension allowing mail-in ballots to arrive up until November 6th and still be counted. But now Pennsylvania's Republican Party is asking the nation's highest court to block the extension and rule on the merits of the case.

[21:40:01]

Pennsylvania's attorney general Josh Shapiro is joining us right now.

Attorney General, thanks so much for joining us. So tell us what exactly is happening here. Is the state GOP counting on the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett and hoping she will tip the case in their favor?

JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, it appears that is what they are looking at. You know, this is a matter of state election law. Decided by the highest court in our state, our state Supreme Court. The state Republicans took it up to the U.S. Supreme Court. As you noted, they deadlocked last week. They were actually asking the court to stop this aspect of our mail-in ballot law. And now they're going to make another pitch, presumably to a nine-person court if Justice Barrett is seated.

But here's the deal. I mean, whoever sits on the bench, the law is clear and it's actually summed up in something known as the Purcell principle, which says that matters of state law, the state election law, ought to be settled by state courts. And in fact that deference, Wolf, if you will, is even more intense the closer you get to an election.

We're in the midst of an election right now, Wolf. We're late in the fourth quarter. Three million Pennsylvanians have already requested mail-in ballots. More than 50 percent of them have returned them. We're nine days away from election day. You can't be changing the rules at this late state in the game. I think it's time to just let people vote and drop these lawsuits.

BLITZER: President Trump tweeted about Pennsylvania earlier today accusing your governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, of making deliberate ballot mistakes, calls for Justice Department investigations to begin, says Philadelphia is simply out of control.

What's your response to this tweet from the president of the United States?

SHAPIRO: Yes. I guess probably the only thing I can call it is a term he loves to use which is fake news. I mean, he seems to be referring to a case that one of the candidates he supports has already withdrawn. He makes more attacks on Pennsylvania, more attacks on Philadelphia that's just simple baseless. I think what he's trying to do is just make a whole lot of noise, and sow a lot of chaos and doubt in our election process.

But what I have noticed, particularly over the last week, Wolf, is that the president is shrinking in a lot of ways. That the noise that he is using to try and infect this process is really just being drowning out by the voters who were having none of it, who are saying it's time to vote. And whether they're voting by mail or they're going to a satellite election board to cast their ballots early, or they're making their plan to vote on election day, I think the voters are just tired of the noise and the chaos, they've made up their minds, and they're ready to vote. I don't think they're paying a whole lot of attention to his tweets anymore.

BLITZER: As you know, Attorney General, the Trump campaign has also been accused of intimidating voters by actually filming them at those ballot drop boxes. The Trump campaign counters with accusations it's seen voters illegally depositing multiple ballots. What can you tell us about the situation in Pennsylvania right now?

SHAPIRO: Yes. Well, that particular situation is being looked at by local law enforcement. I can assure everyone watching that local law enforcement, state law enforcement and our federal partners here in Pennsylvania, we are all working together to make sure that this election goes smoothly.

What I'll tell you in general is, you know, the active videotaping seen in downtown Philadelphia, Center City, Philadelphia, is not inherently unlawful. However, it hinges on the intent of the person doing the videotape, right? If that person is videotaping you while trying to intimidate you as you go to vote, that's against the law and we take that very seriously.

You know, the Trump campaign talks about people that apparently or suggest that they videotape dropping off multiple ballots. This is actually an issue that came up in a lawsuit that Donald Trump's campaign filed in the western district of Pennsylvania where they tried to use this type of video evidence as evidence of widespread voter fraud. And you know what the judge did in that case, Wolf, based on that slim evidence? He tossed that case, too. He dismissed it. It's just more noise coming from the president and his enables, trying

to sow doubt in this process. Look, in law enforcement, we take very seriously the idea of voter fraud. What we don't take very seriously is the noise coming from the president and his enablers.

BLITZER: We do know Pennsylvania is a key, key battleground state right now.

Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania, thanks so much for joining us.

SHAPIRO: Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Good luck over there and stay safe.

After a race like no other, it all ends here. Join us for a special live coverage the way only CNN can bring it to you from the first votes to the critical count. Understand what is happening in your state and across the country.

"ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA." Our special coverage starts Tuesday, November 3rd at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

[21:45:04]

We're getting some breaking news on Melania Trump and her role in the president's reelection campaign. We'll have that coming up. Our White House reporter Kate Bennett is getting new information. She'll join us right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Tonight, in a break with tradition as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump did not hand out candy at tonight's Halloween event over at the White House. The first couple did not have masks on but children and parents attending the event were required to wear masks.

[21:50:01]

Just nine days remaining until election day but Melania Trump has not been on the campaign trail since June of last year. June of last year. This as her husband struggles to win over suburban women, that's a key voting bloc.

Our White House reporter Kate Bennett is joining us right now.

Kate, I know you have some new reporting about Melania Trump's involvement with the campaign. What are you learning?

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: So, Wolf, talk about 11th hour. Melania Trump is going to go on to the campaign trail. We are hearing this upcoming week she will do some solo events, and she will also do events with the president. Now whether or not that happens in battleground states, I assume that it will be happening. She is getting out there, 11th hour, with a week to go, to campaign on behalf of her husband.

BLITZER: And it's true, she hasn't really done this since June of last year? Is that right?

BENNETT: Yes, so the last time she was with him at an official campaign event was June, 2019, at the kickoff of the reelection campaign officially in Florida. And since then she spoke at the RNC here at the White House. She's attended the debates. Of course she had coronavirus that kept her down for a couple of weeks this month. But, yes, not in over a year.

BLITZER: And very interesting indeed. Tonight, as you well know, Kate, on a new episode of CNN's Original Series, "FIRST LADIES," we get a close look at the life and legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt. Watch this little preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, FORMER FIRST LADY: I was rather a rebellious first lady. I'm afraid I did some things which were not usual for the lady in the White House.

PAUL SPARROW, DIRECTOR, FDR PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: The role the first lady traditionally had been so constricted. Was about socializing and being a hostess and that was it. And that was not Eleanor's life.

ALLIDA BLACK, FOUNDING EDITOR, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT PAPERS: At that point, she was on the board of 17 major reform organizations in New York state. Had her own career as a journalist and as a social activist.

ROBIN GERBER, AUTHOR, LEADERSHIP THE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT WAY: She is an absolute powerhouse. She's writing for the Women's Democratic News and working for the Democratic Party, so leaving all of that to come to the White House and do what? Hold teas? Pick new China? This is a privilege not to live in the White House and have fancy dinners. The privilege is you have a megaphone to speak to the world. If you can figure out how to use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Kate, why didn't that typical first lady role work for Eleanor Roosevelt? How did she change it?

BENNETT: In every single way, Wolf, to be honest. From starting her own press conferences as first lady. A first lady had never done that before, and she did it mostly because female journalists weren't allowed at the president's press conferences. So she said, oh, I'll have my own, started giving them scoops, and then they of course became part of the White House Press Corps. So that was just one example.

I mean, she was very concerned about civil rights. She was empathetic about poverty. She was his eyes and ears around the country. The staff in the West Wing used to say, in the beginning of the administration, we need to take the pants off of Eleanor and put them on Franklin because that's how much she was taking charge. She did all sorts of things during her tenure to raise awareness for things like civil rights.

Her sons were in the war. She was able to talk to families about what that was like. She wasn't the type of woman to just sit back as we heard and have teas. And I think she used the platform in a way that first ladies since really haven't had the opportunity to do. Of course she was first lady for 12 years, longer than any other first ladies. So she certainly had ample time. And she also lived to see a lot of her work come to fruition.

She was able to watch her work with human rights be expanded around the globe. She was able to watch the, you know, rise of equality in America for women. To watch disparities come to terms. And she did all this because she was forceful about this, and she sort of refused to sit back and be complacent.

BLITZER: She was truly, truly an amazing, amazing woman.

Kate Bennett, thank you so much for that.

And to our viewers, stay with CNN. Our original series, "FIRST LADIES," following the life and legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt, will start right at the top of the hour, right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

[21:55:00]

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BLITZER: I'll be back tomorrow 5:00 p.m. Eastern in THE SITUATION ROOM. But before we go, take a look at this. More than 220,000 white flags were installed this weekend by a local artist here in Washington to represent all the Americans who have lost their battle with COVID- 19. As of this evening the death toll has eclipsed 225,000. And that brings us to our nightly tribute to the victims of this pandemic.

Brother Bill Barnett was the longtime pastor at Union Hill Baptist Church, just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. He passed away after spending weeks in the hospital fighting the virus. Barnett is remembered for being an advocate for everyone in his community regardless of whether they belong to his congregation or not. He leaves behind his wife Nancy and three sons.

Irving McPhail was the president of St. Augustine's University, a historically black college in Raleigh, North Carolina. When the university reopened in the late summer, McPhail was outspoken in making sure students were adhering to the CDC guidelines. He's remembered as a transformative leader who instilled confidence in his students.