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The Situation Room

Will Trump Use White House For Acceptance Speech?; U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Passes 160,000; Seven-Year-Old Boy Becomes Georgia's Youngest COVID Victim; U.S. Intel Officials Say, China Prefers Trump not Re-Elected, Russia Spreading False Information about Biden; U.S. Intel Officials: China "Prefers" Trump Not Re-Elected, Russia Spreading False Information About Biden; Trump Says U.S. Sending Aid to Beirut After Deadly Explosion. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 07, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:15]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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

This hour, the United States is on the brink of five million confirmed coronavirus cases. That's about equal to the population of Chicago and Houston combined. The case count is going up, despite a decline in coronavirus testing in more than half of the country.

The rate of new deaths on the rise in 15 states. Tonight, more than 160,000 Americans have now lost their lives over the past five months, and yet the one-time epicenter of the pandemic, New York, has turned things around enough that the governor there says schools can reopen, including in New York City.

Also, tonight, there's breaking news on the economic front. The White House and Democrats say talks of a new economic stimulus package, they have hit a wall. President Trump is threatening to take executive action on his own.

Let's get details on that from our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

Jim, so many Americans, they are in desperate economic pain right now, but stimulus talks seem to be going nowhere right now. What's the latest?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

With negotiations falling apart over a coronavirus relief bill, White House officials say President Trump is now expected to take some kind of executive action to provide financial support to Americans who are struggling to find work during this pandemic.

The executive orders are likely to include some kind of effort to provide enhanced unemployment benefits, as well as some kind of action on suspending evictions from rental homes. There may be some other proposals in the mix.

In the meantime, we should point out the president just hinted out the path ahead in the last hour, tweeting, "We are going a different way."

That tweet coming from the president in just the last hour. And in the meantime, administration officials are throwing cold water on the president's goal of having a coronavirus vaccine ready by Election Day. One senior administration official told me earlier today the timeline is highly unlikely.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): President Trump's claim the coronavirus vaccine could be ready by Election Day is receiving an injection of reality, as top administration health officials are saying, don't bet on it.

QUESTION: Sooner than November 3?

(CROSSTALK)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I think, in some cases, yes. It's possible before, but right around that time.

ACOSTA: A senior administration official told CNN that timeline is just not realistic, saying it's -- quote -- "metaphysically possible," but highly unlikely.

And Coronavirus Task Force Dr. Anthony Fauci said scientists may have to wait until November or December just to find out if a vaccine really works, adding: "Maybe we will get an answer as early as October, but I doubt it."

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Trying to put a finer prediction on the timetable right now, I don't think any of us have enough information yet to know how that's going to shake out.

ACOSTA: The pandemic-battered economy recovered somewhat in July, with the unemployment rate falling to just above 10 percent, with 1.8 million jobs added.

Even with so many Americans still out of work, congressional Democrats and White House officials have been at odds all week over a coronavirus relief bill, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointing the finger at top aides to the president.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I have been in the White House when the has president slammed the table and walked out. Well, that's really what Mr. Meadows did, slammed the table and walk out.

ACOSTA: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is jabbing right back.

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I think for those that are suffering, they should be asking the Democrats in the House and the Senate, why have you failed to meet the needs that we have so rightly expressed? ACOSTA: Without a deal, the White House is signaling Mr. Trump will

take executive action.

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: The legal drafting is complete. We have had intense discussions about this in the last several days. I don't want to make a prediction.

ACOSTA: Democrats are also keeping an eye on Election Day, accusing the administration of making changes to the nation's postal system that could slow down mail-in balloting.

In a letter to the Postal Service inspector general, a group of Democratic senators wrote: "The changes appear to pose a potential threat to mail-in ballots and the 2020 general election."

The president likes mail-in voting in Florida, but not in other states, like Nevada.

TRUMP: Florida's got a great Republican governor, and it had a great Republican governor. It's got Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott.

ACOSTA: The president is seizing on comments made by Joe Biden, who seemed to say African Americans are less diverse in their political views than Latino voters.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community, with incredibly different attitudes about different things.

ACOSTA: Biden tried to clean that up, tweeting: "In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith, not by identity, not on issues, not at all."

Mr. Trump tweeted: "Biden is no longer worthy of the black vote."

TRUMP: I don't know what's going on with them, but it was a very insulting statement he made.

ACOSTA: The president's attacks on Biden are tricky for Mr. Trump, who has a long track record of racially offensive behavior, including sharing this video featuring a supporter shouting "White power."

[18:05:10]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White power!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now, the U.S. intelligence community issued a startling statement on election security today, as the U.S. is closing in on the fall campaign.

In that statement, intelligence officials warned Russia is trying to damage former Vice President Joe Biden's chances to win the White House. The statement also from the intelligence community says China prefers that President Trump fail in his bid for a second term.

These warnings from intelligence officials come at a critical time for American voters, who are largely unaware that the Russians were interfering with the election four years ago. This time, the voters know all too well what could happen -- Wolf.

BLITZER: OK, Jim Acosta at the White House, thanks very much.

Now a new snapshot of the pandemic, as the total number of cases here in the United States, approaches the five million mark.

Let's go to our national correspondent, Sara Sidner.

Sara, as the U.S. nears another alarming milestone, there's a huge new development in the debate about reopening schools. What are you hearing?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There absolutely is.

With more than a million students and 120,000 teachers and staff, the largest school district in America, New York City, has been given the green light to reopen, but the governor of the state and the mayor of New York, de Blasio, both saying they are going to be watching those infections rates really closely, because, if they spike too high, schools may have to shut down again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice-over): New Yorkers just learning all public schools may begin in-person classes. The Department of Education chancellor making this promise:

RICHARD CARRANZA, CHANCELLOR, NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: We will be able to maintain the social distancing and all of the medically advised requirements.

SIDNER: In Georgia's largest school system, in-person learning has already started, and already dozens of students have had to be quarantined due to positive tests, sparking protests from some teachers.

AIREANE MONTGOMERY, TEACHER: They are worried about their selves. They're worried about the students. And it has been a catastrophe.

SIDNER: In another Georgia district, a student was initially suspended after sharing this photo to illustrate her concerns with in-person learning.

HANNAH WATTERS, STUDENT: I took it out of mostly concern and nervousness after seeing the first (AUDIO GAP) of school.

SIDNER: The school today reversed her suspension.

Across the country, the number of coronavirus cases are trending down, that ray of hope darkened because the number of deaths are rising, the death toll topping 160,000, now projected to nearly double by the end of the year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention on the beach. Attention on the beach.

SIDNER: Hawaii is now the hottest of hot spots, beaches in popular Oahu closing once again, as cases jump 85 percent from the past week.

In Maryland, a different story, Baltimore restarting indoor dining, but the city's health director says:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I wouldn't advise it.

SIDNER: The World Health Organization revealing a new trend. People fueling the spread are skewing younger, more than 60 percent of the newly infected between the ages of 25 and 64. The share of cases among teens and young adults has gone up sixfold.

The Food and Drug Administration also highlighting the shortage of surgical masks, saying it's taking emergency measures to help shore up the supply.

Five former leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blasting the individualistic approach taken by the Trump administration and others.

DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The idea that my wearing a mask or not wearing a mask is my individual choice, when wearing that mask can help protect your health, that's not steeped in American tradition.

SIDNER: Case in point, a new scientific model shows 70,000 American lives could be saved from COVID by December if masks are worn, but some following the president's lead.

Virtually no masks in sight as 250,000 people are expected to descend this weekend on Sturgis, South Dakota for the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

One business owner saying masks impede his freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't mean to make light of it, but I mean to be dang serious about the freedom aspect of that. And these are freedom- loving people. They're not going to give it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And in preparation for a potential spike there in Sturgis, South Dakota, the hospital system has said it is now dedicating more than 170 hospital beds, turning those into COVID beds just in case, as well as upping the ability to get tested.

We're also learning more about what universities are doing. Two more major universities have decided to go online-only. That's Howard University and Princeton -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Sara Sidner reporting for us, thank you. Let's bring in Dr. Christopher Murray. He's the director of the

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington's Medical School.

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.

Your new model, as we have just been hearing, projects nearly 300,000 Americans will die by December 1, but with widespread mask wearing, nearly 70,000 Americans will be alive, as opposed to being dead.

That means we could save more than 1,000 American lives almost every day by simply wearing masks. Are you seeing evidence, Dr. Murray, that masks are becoming more widely used?

[18:10:07]

DR. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH METRICS, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: We're seeing some evidence, Wolf.

Mask use rate for the country as a whole has gone up by about 5 percentage points in the last 10 days or so. And in some states that have bigger epidemics, where I think people get scared, we're seeing quite a bit higher mask use, Florida, Texas, California as examples of that.

BLITZER: When you compare the daily death toll here in the United States with other countries -- and we have been doing that -- we are losing far more citizens.

And look at this. Yesterday, yesterday 1,250 Americans died from coronavirus, in the U.K., 49, in Germany, two, in South Korea, one, in Spain, one, for that matter, Canada, 3.

It's an awful situation. Why are we seeing this disparity?

MURRAY: Well, you know, once you get the virus out in the community, as we did back in March, and it spread widely, it's really hard to use things like contact tracing and isolation to control it.

For a while, when most states, not all, but most states went into strict lockdown in March and April, you know, things were trending in the right direction. We opened up too soon, and, no surprise, we have had transmission widely in the country.

If you look at the mobility data collected from cell phones, we're -- in many parts of the country, we're almost back to pre-COVID levels of mobility. So we're just not being as cautious as other people are in other countries.

BLITZER: So, what did they do right, South Korea, for example, Germany, or Spain, or Canada, where we failed so awfully?

MURRAY: Well, it's different in each of those places.

So, in Korea, I think what they did is, they worked very quickly and early before there was really widespread transmission. And they were able to shut down transmission. There's very high mask use as well. And so they were able to sort of contain it before it got truly widespread.

Spain, as we know, had a huge epidemic, and they went into a very strict lockdown. The mobility levels went down about 80 percent. Mask use was nearly universal. And they have -- then, when they came out of that, they have been very cautious to go back, although I have to say some regions in Spain are seeing an uptick in cases.

So, even there, it's very tempting for people, once they have been in lockdown for a long time, to sort of want to go back to life as it was before. And that's the real risk.

BLITZER: Yes, that's understandable. We did check yesterday in Spain. There was one confirmed death in all of Spain.

You have described, Dr. Murray, the response to this pandemic here in the United States as a roller coaster, a seemingly endless one, at that. Explain what you mean by that.

MURRAY: What I mean, by that, Wolf, is that, when things get bad in your own community, that's when people start sort of being really worried for their own families, for themselves, they seem to start wearing masks more, they avoid going into settings like bars and indoor restaurants, and local government also acts to shut down bars and restaurants, and so that that level of caution creeps in.

That puts the brakes on transmission. And then I think what happens is that, as cases peak and start to come down, then people are tempted to sort of go back to more interaction with others. And so we're going to get this up-and-down phenomenon that we have been seeing in a number of states in the U.S.

BLITZER: Your studies have also found that infection rates drop in places where masks are mandatory and bars and restaurants are closed.

Based on the data you have gathered -- and you have gathered a lot of it -- do you think these policies should be required nationwide?

MURRAY: You know, I think our view about this is that there should be a universal mask mandate in the U.S. that should come with some penalty, if you're caught without a mask, because we know penalties actually increase mask wearing even more than just a mandate.

And then it just makes basic common sense, from everything we know about the virus, to avoid any setting where there can be a large gathering of individuals. And that, of course, includes bars and indoor dining.

BLITZER: Dr. Chris Murray, as usual, thank you so much for joining us.

MURRAY: Thank you, Wolf.

Just ahead, President Trump appears ready to trample on conventional behavior at his nominating convention. We are going to tell what you we're learning. Also, we're going live to South Dakota. That huge biker rally is

getting under way without any rules for wearing masks or social distancing. Will it become a virus super-spreader?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:19:14]

BLITZER: We're back with our breaking news coverage of the coronavirus crisis, as the number of cases here in the United States nears five million.

Let's break down the politics of the pandemic and more.

Joining us, our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, and our senior political commentator, David Axelrod.

Gloria, Dr. Fauci today refused to talk about the safety of mail-in voting, simply to avoid being pitted against the president. Why can't one of the country's top public health officials give public health advice without fear of upsetting the president?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think he was very honest about it.

This is a man who has been in science his entire life, and now finds himself at the receiving end of death threats, as does his family. And I think he finds it very upsetting. I don't think he wants to be pitted against the president of the United States.

[18:20:07]

But he knows that, when he disagrees with him, it's inevitable that there will be an onslaught. And I think -- I commend Tony Fauci for saying, look, I'm not going to go there, because you are going to pit me against the president, and I don't want to do that.

Now, he did go on and say that, in a lot of areas of the country, including where he lives, it's probably fine to go vote in person. But he wasn't going to give any kind of blanket statement, because he knows this is such a political hot potato right now.

BLITZER: What do you think, David? The president, he has been railing against mail-in voting.

Do you expect him to continue to ramp up those attacks to lay the groundwork before the election?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I do, although he's run into a complication, which is, there are a lot of Republican governors who are unhappy because they feel he's discouraging their voters from using mail-in ballots, and they feel that it's going to put him and their candidates at a disadvantage.

So you saw he kind of had carve-outs for Florida and Arizona. And so it's become a little more complicated as a message. But there is no doubt in my mind that he is setting up a scenario whereby, if there is a lengthy counting process after Election Day, and that process turns against him -- and you know, Wolf, that polling suggests that a preponderance of the people who are going to vote mail-in are going to be Democrats -- I think he is setting up a scenario where he casts doubt about the outcome and the process.

And that is a real problem for the country. That's not a partisan issue, but that's going to create a real problem for the country.

BLITZER: It certainly will.

Gloria, the president...

BORGER: You know, Wolf...

BLITZER: Go ahead, Gloria.

BORGER: I just want to add something to that.

The president, the other day, said the American public won't wait a week. They will not be able to wait a week. And, of course, we all remember Bush v. Gore, when, in fact, the American public waited until the middle of December for the final election result, which ended up being adjudicated by the Supreme Court.

Now, the public did not demonstrate, with few exceptions. The public accepted the result, as did Al Gore. And the world continued.

AXELROD: Yes.

BORGER: And so hearing the president yesterday saying, the public won't stand for this, well, the public has stood for it in the past, and they were perfectly fine letting it play out.

AXELROD: Gloria...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: I want you to weigh in, David, but, remember, a lot of people are nervous about waiting in long lines at polling stations on November 3, especially older voters.

AXELROD: Yes.

BLITZER: And a lot of those older voters are Republicans. This may be self-defeating on the part of Republicans if they continue to rail against allowing people to vote by mail.

AXELROD: It may well. And I think that's what the Republican governors and others in the party are worried about.

This has been an issue from the beginning. Republicans actually have in the past been more adroit at using mail-in voting and absentee voting than the Democrats. So he is putting them in a bad position.

But I just want to say about Gloria's point, you raised a really important point, which is, at the end of that process, Al Gore acknowledged the result, and did it in a very classy and important way.

Still, it was divisive for the country. It was difficult for Bush as he came in as a new president. Here, we have a situation where the high likelihood is that, if the result isn't what the president desires, that he's not going to stand in front of a group of cameras and say, the people have spoken and I accept their verdict.

It's more likely that he is going to cast doubt on the process, which we have never really faced before. And I worry that that's where we're headed.

BLITZER: A lot of people are worried about that.

Gloria, the president also has tried to move on from the coronavirus, but the pandemic is clearly affecting almost everything about how he campaigns. And now we're learning the White House is still under -- is still considering the venue, the actual venue of the White House, for the president to accept the Republican presidential nomination.

He's even considering, we're told, giving the speech from the Truman Library -- Truman Balcony, I should say.

What are the pitfalls, potential pitfalls, of that?

BORGER: Well, the pitfalls are the optics of it.

I think they're not going to do anything that they brief would be illegal. The Hatch Act does not apply to the president of the United States himself. But a president giving his speech from the Truman Balcony, it's iconic, as the place where a president resides.

[18:25:01]

And I think that there are lots of people who think, well, you really should not do that, even if it were legal.

However, this is a president who has broken all norms and gives political speeches from the Rose Garden constantly.

BLITZER: And a lot of Republicans up on Capitol Hill say, don't do it, Mr. President, find another location.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: Gloria, thank you.

AXELROD: Yes.

BLITZER: David, thanks to you as well.

Just ahead, we're learning right now more about the death of the youngest, the youngest coronavirus victim in Georgia, only 7 years old. And we will also go to the scene of a huge motorcycle rally this

weekend. It's now getting under way without any rules for wearing masks or social distancing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: Tonight, new details on Georgia's youngest coronavirus victim, a seven-year-old boy without any underlying health conditions. Authorities say he died after attending a church where two elderly members tested positive and died as well.

Our National Correspondent, Dianne Gallagher, is in Atlanta. Dianne, this is certainly driving home concerns about the reopening of schools where you are in Georgia. What's the latest on that?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And, again, this is the youngest death known at this time for COVID-19 in the State of Georgia. That seven-year-old boy, according to the coroner, was in the shower and he had a seizure. They took him to the hospital where he later died.

Now, the coroner points out that seizures are not uncommon in children when they have very high fevers, and his cause of death is listed as COVID-19. Again, we know that children can get COVID and we see that children can die from COVID, and that is a concern among parents and teachers and kids themselves here in Georgia, because they did go back to class, and for some of them, it was in-person instruction this week.

Several school districts across the state have already reported positive cases and had to send home dozens of children to quarantine because they came in close contact. And then there was this photo that went viral from North Paulding High School of a class change, a hallway with kids shoulder to shoulder, many of them not wearing masks. The young girl who took that photo, Hannah Watters, was originally suspended for posting it. The school today rescinded that suspension, saying it wouldn't be on our disciplinary record but Hannah says she doesn't regret it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNAH WATTERS, NORTH PAULDING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I was concerned for the safety of everyone in that building, and everyone in the county because precautions that the CDC and guidelines of the CDC has been telling us for months now weren't being followed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And, of course, the superintendent of that school district has said that while the photo looks bad, there is additional context, Wolf. He says that, look, the kids aren't next to each other too long when they're in the hallway and that they are going to continue to take what they've learned from this week and try to implement it with additional standards and try and change things up. One thing they're not going to be doing at that school is issuing a mask mandate, Wolf. The superintendent says that it's just too hard to enforce. But, again, I'll point out that they were trying to enforce a cell phone policy on the girl who posted on social media that picture earlier, but they say it's just not possible to do with masks in a high school.

BLITZER: Yes, so sad about that little seven-year-old boy. All right, Dianne Gallagher, thank you very much.

Let's go to South Dakota right now, where a huge annual motorcycle rally is getting under way in defiance of deep concerns about the pandemic, mask wearing and social distancing. Our National Correspondent, Ryan Young, is on the scene for us.

Ryan, so how big of a turnout are they expecting? What precautions, if any, are the bikers taking?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you're talking about maybe 250,000 people who may arrive on this area, and I can tell you so far, we've been out here today as the crowds have continued to grow. In fact, take a look at the shot from above, and you can see just the lines of motorcycles that go down as far as the eye can see. What we're told is this would have been a bigger event if it wasn't for COVID.

But we talked to so many people who traveled from all across the country to be here. We've seen people from Florida, from Connecticut, from New York, who also said there was no way they were going to miss this event. There's a lot of pent-up anxiety just about COVID-19. They were not going to let this event be canceled.

They love the fact that South Dakota is open and they say they plan to be here. In fact, listen to this rider who came all the way from Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Talking about the social distancing, wearing masks --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's crap. That's crap. We don't agree with it. We think it's political.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: So, look, I do want to show you one thing. There are people in this community who were a little concerned about this. This business is closed for right now. There are some in the downtown area who did not want this event to happen. But a lot of the folks are not talking because they realize the economic impact that this event has each year brings millions of dollars to this area.

There are some people who believe there would have been more than 1 million who would have shown up if it wasn't for COVID-19. But this year, they're expecting 250,000 people. There will be outdoor concerts. But we're told they're going to try the best they can, especially on the wide acreage, to have people spread apart.

But as you look at people coming down the way, it's like pre-COVID times, haven't seen a lot of masks besides me and my crew, a lot of people choosing not to wear them as they walk around this area. They feel there's enough distance not to be worried about the pandemic.

[18:35:01]

BLITZER: All right. Ryan, be careful over there. Thank you very much, Ryan Young on the scene for us.

Joining us is now, Dr. Peter Hotez, Professor and Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hotez, thanks very much for joining us.

How likely is it that this rally, a quarter of a million people are going to be gathering in South Dakota this weekend, how likely is it that it will result in an outbreak of coronavirus?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, from my standpoint, it doesn't look good at all, Wolf. I mean, think of it this way. Over the last seven days, the United States has been the global leader in number of new COVID cases, also deaths, and we've been that way now for many, many weeks. So the U.S. is the epicenter of the COVID pandemic, point one. Now, you bring everybody from all over the country into one small town. I think the normal population is around 7,000. You're going to expand it to 250,000. You know, as we say jokingly, although it's no joke, what could go wrong, right? It's going to be a disaster.

And so there's going to be -- this will do two things. One, it will ignite COVID-19 transmission in South Dakota. That's going to be a big tax on the health system there, and a cost to their economy, that has to be factored in, and then people are going to become infected and spread it back to wherever they live. So this is not a helpful event and it's going to just exacerbate our current epidemic.

BLITZER: You make an important point, Dr. Hotez, that, in addition to the concerns for the residents of Sturgis, South Dakota, these participants, they're going to -- they

have come in from all over the country, they're going to be going back to their communities and potentially spreading this disease.

HOTEZ: Yes. And, tragically, that part of the country, I can't say, it's been doing great but it's been doing okay, and especially the adjoining states where presumably a lot of people are going to be coming from.

So, right now, this epidemic is raging at a high level across the southern states of the U.S. It's moving up the Mississippi and to Tennessee and St. Louis, and as we heard from Dr. Birx, Ohio and Indiana. Now, we're going to have to worry about the great plains as yet another major focus. And all of this preventable and predictable, and it's just devastating.

BLITZER: We've just learned, Dr. Hotez, the U.S. ranks among the sixth worst performing countries in the world in terms of a response to this pandemic. Is it a failure to follow public health guidelines as we see with this and other large events that landed us at the bottom of this list?

HOTEZ: Well, we're really, in my opinion, landed at the bottom of it all was never creating a roadmap, a plan for containing the virus. That was never in the cards. It was always about let the states figure it out with very weak guidance and backup FEMA support, providing PPE manufacturing support, but it was doomed to fail from the beginning.

And we heard from Chris Murray, that we opened up prematurely, we never really extended the lockdown to where it needed to go. And even now, it's still not too late to re-implement a lot of those things. We do not have to lock down every state but some states, we might. We can bring it back down to containment mode, one case per million residents per day, then open up schools safely, then even open up colleges, maybe have sporting events.

But the White House refuses to go that route. And instead they are accelerating towards certain disaster. We are, 300,000 deaths by December 1. Wolf, by January, we might be looking at 400,000 American deaths. And to put that in perspective, that's the number of Americans who perished in World War II. We're looking at something that catastrophic a scale, I'm sorry to say.

BLITZER: And what really worries me also about a couple hundred thousand bikers and friends gathering in Sturgis, South Dakota, local officials, we're told, are not require that they wear masks or even engage in social distancing.

HOTEZ: Well, you heard the individual interviewed, right? There's outright defiance. Somehow, some way, people have now tied not wearing masks to some sort of twisted or distorted political identity, and it's a killer, literally, it's a killer for our nation.

BLITZER: Dr. Hotez, thanks very much for joining us, always good to have you here. I appreciate your work.

Just ahead, we're getting new warnings from the U.S. Intelligence Community right now about foreign interference in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. We'll update you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: We have some breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM. President Trump says he will hold a news conference right at the top of the hour. He's expected to discuss the collapse of negotiations under new coronavirus economic relief package. We'll have coverage of what the president has to say. That's coming up shortly.

We're also returning to the latest on the coronavirus crisis but we're also following another breaking story emerging right now, new warnings from U.S. intelligence officials about foreign interference in the upcoming U.S. presidential race. China is said to prefer President Trump lose re-election and is stepping up its influence efforts while Russia, according to the intelligence officials, seeks to undermine Joe Biden with Kremlin- linked actors boosting President Trump on social media.

Let's discuss with CNN Anchor and Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto.

[18:45:03]

He's coming out this week with a brand new, very important, timely book entitle, there you see the cover, "The madman Theory: Trump Takes on the World."

We'll talk about the book in a moment, Jim, but let me get your thoughts on these new warnings about foreign interference in our election, and what they reveal to you.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's talk about Russia first, right, because this happens as Republican lawmaker, Senator Ron Johnson, Devin Nunez in the House acknowledge that they've been in touch with Russian-backed Ukrainian lawmaker individuals who have been supplying information about Joe Biden. They have questioned whether that sort of thing involves Russian interference, whether that's the intention here.

But in no uncertain terms you're hearing from the intelligence community now that Russia very much intends to interfere in the election again, been a consistent read throughout and that they intend to focus their efforts on denigrating vice president, former Vice President Joe Biden, to weaken him, much as they did in 2016 to weaken Hillary Clinton, strengthen President Trump and Russia they're saying again in 2020 prefers President Trump.

Interestingly, they're saying that China has a different view, they would prefer that Trump does not win, of course the question is to what degree, right, does each of those countries interfere, because to date, Russia's interference going back to 2016 and again in 2020 has been more consistent, more aggressive, more impactful.

BLITZER: And really important and timely new book "The Madman Theory," it's interesting because you delve into the president's penchant over the years praising dictators and discrediting the U.S. intelligence community.

Does that make these new warnings about election interference even potentially more dire?

SCIUTTO: Well, it's interesting. I asked and this book by the way is based on interviews entirely with current and former Trump administration officials, so people who served him and his administration at the highest levels. I asked every one of them to explain to me the president's deference to Russia and particularly to Vladimir Putin, why, and their most consistent answer is that he has an admiration for Vladimir Putin for his power, for his view of the world, similar to President Trump's, sort of nihilistic view of the world, no one is better than anyone else, kind of the end of American exceptionalism which is a remarkable position to have for a sitting U.S. president.

But it's consequential because U.S. intelligence officials believe that Vladimir Putin is the source or influences at least the president's view of many key national security issues that Putin, for instance, is a source, one source of the president's hostility towards European leader. So a remarkable relationship there between the U.S. president as Russia continues to interfere in the election.

BLITZER: It's a really great book, and I've read it all, it's amazing. We're going to continue our conversations about the book, Jim Sciutto is the author, "The Madman Theory: Trump Takes on the World."

Jim, thanks for joining us and thanks for writing this really important book. Appreciate it very much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BLITZER: Just ahead, we're going live to Beirut for the latest on this week's deadly explosion.

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[18:52:55]

BLITZER: We're following breaking news. President Trump just announced the U.S. is sending urgent aid to Lebanon after the deadly explosion that killed at least 150 people and wounded thousands more.

Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is joining us live from Beirut.

So, what's the latest there, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, we've heard from the White House that President Trump contacted his Lebanese counterpart Michelle Aoun, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president. They are taking part in a conference call of the European and Arab leaders to try to figure out how to help Lebanon in its time of need, and need it is because in addition to the horrible loss of life that took place as a result of the blast Tuesday evening, the port of Beirut, which takes about 60 percent of Lebanon's imports, including food imports, is basically destroyed. It is out of action.

And also, you'll remember, Wolf, that right next to warehouse that blew up is Lebanon's main grain silo that contained 85 --

(VIDEO GAP)

BLITZER: I think we've lost our connection with Ben Wedeman.

But the president, President Trump, did say he's going to be having a conference call also with President Macron of France, leaders from Lebanon, leaders from various parts of the world. Everyone wants to help the people of Lebanon, according to President Trump, that in a statement that just was released. He's going to be having a news conference coming up shortly. He's going to be speaking about Lebanon, coronavirus, other issues. We'll have coverage here on CNN.

And we'll also have much more news right after this.

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[18:59:09]

BLITZER: Finally, we want to share with you a very important milestone we're celebrating. Tomorrow, we mark 15 years in THE SITUATION ROOM on the air. The show look aid little different and so did I back on August 8th, 2005. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive in one place simultaneously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Since that day, we've covered so many remarkable stories and historic events. Our mission is more important now than ever before, especially during these truly unprecedented times.

I want to thank everyone who's worked on that supported this news cast since day one.

And a special thanks to you our viewers here in the United States and around the world. All of us in THE SITUATION ROOM are dedicated to bringing you the news now and for years to come.

Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.