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U.S. Surpasses 8 Million Coronavirus Cases; Pfizer won't Apply for Emergency Use of its Vaccine until after Election; Wolf One-on-One with NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins; Trump Approves California Wildfire Disaster Aid Request, Reversing Earlier Denial By FEMA; New Restrictions On Indoor Gatherings In London; Russia Approves Second Vaccine Without Late-Stage Trial; U.S. Investigating If Recently Published Emails Are Tied To Russian Disinformation Effort Targeting Biden. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 16, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Sunday morning on "State of the Union" Trump campaign senior adviser and the president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, Democratic Senator from Delaware, Sen. Chris Coons, plus Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. It's at 9:00 a.m. and noon, Sunday.

And then, Sunday night, a CNN Special Report, "The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials." "The Insiders" airing Sunday 9:00 p.m. and midnight right here on CNN.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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

A sobering new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. The United States has now confirmed more than 8 million cases. That's more than any other country in the world, and one million of them in just the last three weeks.

Also, tonight, the death toll has topped 218,000 people here in the U.S. But President Trump campaigning in Florida, is spreading new misinformation about the greatest public health crisis in this country in a century. He's falsely claiming that the U.S. is, quote, "rounding the turn" in the pandemic, even as experts forecast that tens of thousands more Americans will die from COVID-19 in the coming months.

And the president's hope for a vaccine before the election is taking a hit. Pfizer has just announced it won't seek emergency use authorization for its vaccine until the third week in November at the earliest.

In a moment, we'll talk to the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins. He's standing by live. But first, let's go straight to the White House. Our White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins is joining us. Kaitlan, a big day for the president out there, campaigning and yet, new misinformation emerging about the pandemic.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And the president is continuing to try to defend his record as he's in Florida today making his appeal to seniors while Joe Biden is in Michigan, pitching health care, of course, that's his message throughout this campaign all along. But Wolf, this comes after these two competing town halls last night where Joe Biden and Donald Trump were not on the same stage, but of course, they were still going after one another. And Wolf, we just got the ratings in for those town halls and of course, this is a ratings-obsessed president who'll not be happy with these numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): President Trump and Joe Biden battling in battleground states today, one night after going head to head, but not face-to-face in town halls.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't watch Sleepy Joe last night. I just wanted to see what he looked like.

COLLINS (voice-over): In Florida, Trump making his pitch to seniors as polls show Biden is leading nationwide with voters 65 and older.

TRUMP: Seniors will be the first in line for the vaccine. We are rounding the turn, I say that all the time, some of the media doesn't like hearing it but I say it all the time, we're rounding that turn.

COLLINS (voice-over): President Trump also holding a campaign rally in Georgia after spreading misinformation about mask wearing during last night's town hall in Miami.

TRUMP: Hey, Dr. Fauci said, "Don't wear a mask," right?

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS HOST: At first, but then everybody agreed.

TRUMP: Oh, I don't know. Then he changed his mind. But then, you have a report coming out two days ago, that 85 percent of the people wearing masks catch it.

COLLINS (voice-over): The CDC report Trump is referring to did not find that 85 percent of people who wore a mask got coronavirus. It wasn't even about masks, and instead, found that people who got COVID- 19 were twice as likely to have reported eating at a restaurant than those who did not.

The president sowing down about wearing a mask even as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was recently released from intensive care after his coronavirus diagnosis, admitted he was wrong not to wear a mask at the White House.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: It was a mistake, you know, I was led to believe that you know all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested and it gave you a false sense of security.

COLLINS (voice-over): Trump told NBC News he's not tested on a daily basis like staff claimed, and that he can't remember if he was tested before his debate with Joe Biden.

TRUMP: I don't know. I don't even remember. I test all the time.

Again, the doctors do it. I don't ask them. I test all the time.

COLLINS (voice-over): Last night, Trump quickly denounced white supremacy but stepped on his own message when he danced around condemning the conspiracy group QAnon.

TRUMP: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you'd like me to --

GUTHRIE: They believe that it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.

TRUMP: -- study the subject.

COLLINS (voice-over): Trump was also pressed on why he retweeted an absurd conspiracy that Osama bin Laden's death was a hoax and President Obama and Joe Biden had SEAL Team Six killed, a baseless theory debunked by a Navy SEAL who was there.

TRUMP: That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody --

GUTHRIE: But --

TRUMP: And that was a retweet. I'll put it out there. People can decide for themselves. I don't take a position.

GUTHRIE: I don't get that, you're the President. You're not like, someone's crazy uncle who can just --

TRUMP: No, no. No, no.

GUTHRIE: -- retweet, whatever.

COLLINS (voice-over): Joe Biden stuck a more subdued tone during his own town hall as he criticized the president and sidestepped questions about expanding the Supreme Court.

[17:05:01]

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: But don't voters have a right to know?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They do have a right to know what I stand, and they'll have a right to know where I stand before they vote.

COLLINS (voice-over): According to television ratings, from the dueling town halls, more people watched Biden than the ratings obsessed president who went after NBC's Savannah Guthrie for her tough questioning.

TRUMP: It's a nice pleasurable evening, as I have somebody going totally crazy last night. But I told you, I told you that. Another evening in paradise, I call it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Now, Wolf, yesterday we saw Republican Senator Ben Sasse going after the president and today, it's his former Chief of Staff John Kelly who according to new CNN reporting has said this of the president to friends of his.

And I'm quoting him now, "The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship though it's more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life."

Wolf, that's from John Kelly, who worked for the president as one of his top aides in the West Wing for a little under two years. And so, you've got to wonder if there are going to be more aides speaking out against the president, whether it's privately like John Kelly apparently is or even publicly like Ben Sasse did in recent days.

BLITZER: Yes. We'll see happens in that front. Kaitlan, thank you very much.

Let's get some more on the breaking pandemic news. We're watching.

CNN's Nick Watt is joining us from Los Angeles right now. Nick, the U.S. leads the world in coronavirus cases, now more than 8 million since January.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Wolf. And as we accelerated past that 8 million mark, the surgeon general, who's in Wisconsin, why? Because they're opening a new surge testing site up there.

Jerome Adams said that Wisconsin, one of the red states right now, and why? He said because cases are in the red and going in the wrong direction. Wisconsin's going to get another visitor from Washington this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (voice-over): There's a MAGA rally in Wisconsin tomorrow night. Will the president mention the state is now seeing all-time record high new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths? Unlikely.

MAYOR TOM BARRETT (D-WI), MILWAIKEE: We saw it at Rose Garden just a couple of weeks ago, and we could see another superspreader event in Janesville tomorrow.

WATT (voice-over): Hotspots are popping up again in Connecticut. 12 now dead in a nursing home outbreak in California. New Mexico's average daily case count, more than doubled. Over the past few weeks.

GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): Pay attention to the facts. It is a deadly highly contagious virus. The virus is now winning.

WATT (voice-over): Nine states just set a record. Most new cases in a day. Latest national numbers, yesterday, we topped 60,000 for the first time since mid-August. Second wave, third wave. Ominous either way.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you think that by getting infected and saying poo-pooing the prevention modalities, that you're living in a vacuum and you're becoming part of the problem.

WATT (voice-over): The CDC now has thanksgiving guidelines, among them, dining inside only with people you live with, drinking too much might cloud your judgment. In-store Black Friday shopping is high risk.

Meanwhile, disappointing news on remdesivir used on the president, the only drug explicitly authorized to treat COVID-19 in the U.S. It has little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients, according to the W.H.O.

Better news on vaccines, "Assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November."

So, after the election. The word assuming is doing a little work there.

The data "would be reviewed not only by the FDA's own scientists but also by an external panel of independent experts at a publicly held meeting convened by the agency."

To ensure public trust, some say the president has eroded that trust.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: And among the first people who will see that vaccine data will be Dr. Anthony Fauci, that had just been confirmed. And despite the president's repeated baseless attempts to malign Fauci as a Democrat, Dr. Fauci says he has no political allegiances whatsoever and he's just trying to do his job. Wolf?

BLITZER: And he's doing an excellent job indeed. Nick Watt reporting for us. Thanks very much.

Let's get some more on all of this. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins is joining us right now. Dr. Collins, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for everything you and your team do, of course.

[17:10:02]

And as you know, the United States has just surpassed 8 million total confirmed cases of COVID-19. Did you ever think, Dr. Collins, that our country, a leader in health care and innovation around the world, would see this virus run rampant like it is?

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, there's so many reasons to be sorrowful about where we are. Of course, this is the most significant global pandemic in more than a hundred years but the way in which it has taken a toll in so many individuals and families in the U.S. is truly heartbreaking. And to see us cross that 8 million mark for infections and 218,000 people that have lost their lives is truly tragic.

And we should be doing everything we can and as a physician and scientist, I'm certainly part of that effort to come up with better ways to prevent and treat, and prevent -- and come up with vaccines, ultimately, that will keep this from going on forever and ever. And we are on that path but we still have ways to go.

So, this is a good moment, Wolf, for people to stop and ask themselves, what can I do to try to be sure that we limit the further infections that otherwise seem to be looming in front of us as cold weather is kicking in and people are indoors and those curves are going upward in the wrong direction.

BLITZER: It's absolutely true. Because yesterday alone, there were more than 63,000 new infections here in the United States in one day. So, how dangerous is it, Dr. Collins, for numbers to be that high at any point but especially now that many of us will be forced inside for the winter months?

COLLINS: Well I also look at not just the number of cases but hospitalizations because that indicates people are really severely sick and they need to be in the hospital. And that curve has also started up again, which is really troubling. That probably means, unfortunately, that we may start now to see also an increase in the number of deaths each day, which is the thing we most want to prevent.

We're working really hard at NIH with our partners across government and in the private sector to come up with ways to help people who get that sick. In fact, we just announced today a new trial, immunomodulators to help the sickest people in the ICU to try to get them through that. But still, the best thing we could do is to have fewer people falling ill.

And when you look at the country right now, especially in the Midwest, to places like Wisconsin and the Dakotas and Montana, it is really troubling to see how things are going up so steeply. And we all have a lot of work to do to try to get this turned around again.

BLITZER: Yes. It's hard to believe the United States has had more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other country in the world. Your colleague of long standing, Dr. Fauci, says it's not too late to turn things around with basic public health measures, without necessarily resorting to the kind of broad stay-at-home orders we saw earlier in the pandemic. But clearly, Americans haven't -- have not universally embraced the basics. So, why should we expect that to work now? COLLINS: Well, good question. Why have we not been effective in getting the facts across? Because they are facts. Let's step aside from any sort of political perspectives and just look at the evidence. Wearing a mask is the best way to keep yourself from transmitting this illness, even though you might not know you have it. You might to other people.

I mean think about it. If you were rolled into the operating room to have some sort of operative procedure and everybody in there just took off all their masks, you would be pretty nervous, wouldn't you? Same idea. Those people don't want to be involved in giving you an infection by what's happening in terms of what they're speaking and droplets coming out of their mouth. It's the same idea.

It is such a simple thing. And certainly, no more difficult than thinking about wearing your seat belt. We all kind of do that. You do that to protect yourself but also to protect other people. If we could just turn that one around, stop thinking about this as a political issue and think about it as the kind of generosity of the human spirit of trying to protect other people, maybe we could do something.

Thanksgiving is coming. Let's be thankful and be safe. And let's also be thankful that we have something we can do to help others.

BLITZER: Yes, let's be thankful and at the same time, let's wear a mask.

Pfizer now says it expects to apply for emergency use authorization of its coronavirus vaccine perhaps by the third week of November. That would be the earliest. So, what will the FDA be looking for in order to make this kind of decision and if this vaccine does get this emergency use authorization, explain what happens next?

COLLINS: I want everybody to realize just how stringent the rules are going to be for any emergency use authorization. First of all, the trial has to be run on very large numbers of people, and there is a data safety monitoring board that's watching day by day to see if anything happens like an adverse event you didn't expect. And in fact, they just happened with the Johnson and Johnson. Vaccine is currently on a pause because of a single patient that had an unexpected event, probably not even related to the vaccine but you want to be sure.

[17:15:06]

Once the DSMB sees that there does appear to be an efficacy signal, that is that the people who got the vaccine seem to be protected against illness, and that there's enough safety data, then they will tell the company and the company will decide whether they agree and whether they want to go to the FDA.

The FDA will then look at the application. They will study it with great care. And they look at the raw data. And then they will hold a public meeting to see exactly, what is the evidence and is it sufficient to grant this. And only then will this idea of an emergency use authorization happen. And as Pfizer has pointed out, that's extremely unlikely to be happening until sometime in middle to late November. And only then if the data supports the fact that the vaccine work.

It's too bad this has gotten all tangled up in other calendar issues. This is kind of the way science is supposed to go. You do the work. You do the careful analysis. You try to make sure that every standard has been met. And then you try to put something out that's going to help people.

I'm still pretty guardedly optimistic that by the end of the year, we'll have one or more vaccines that is safe and effective and we can start distributing it but even that is not a guarantee. This is a very complicated science and sometimes, things don't work the way you want it to.

BLITZER: Yes. We got to make sure it's not only effective but it's safe. That the side effects are not going to really hurt individuals out there. We're going to be relying on the expertise.

As you mentioned, Dr. Collins, the NIH launched a phase three trial today. Three drugs that aimed to stop people's immune systems from going into overdrive, what's called cytokine, I think I pronounced it -- cytokine storm -

COLLINS: Cytokine, yes.

BLITZER: Cytokine, I think that's how you pronounce it. Cytokine storm.

COLLINS: Yes.

BLITZER: How are these drugs supposed to work and how much promise have they shown so far?

COLLINS: Well, we know that people who get the sickest with SARS-CoV-2 viral infection are people whose immune system actually overreacts to the presence of the virus. That's how you end up in the ICU, maybe even on a ventilator. The virus is the initial problem but then the immune system gets a little too carried away.

Think about it this way. Think about the virus is like a fire in your house. Maybe it's not terribly big fire and your sprinklers turn on to put the fire out and sometimes they put the fire out but the sprinklers keep going and then you end up with more water damage than you actually had from the fire. So, the virus is like the fire. The immune system is like the sprinklers. Sometimes we have to figure out how to get those sprinklers to calm down because they are overdoing it and causing more harm than good.

That's what this new trial aims to do. Three different drugs. Two of them have already been in use for a long time for other conditions but they might be just the thing here. One of them is a new drug but it's also been in trials for other purposes. And we're going to find out whether these are the kinds of things that can help the sickest people with this condition where we most need to save their lives. BLITZER: Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. We're so grateful to you - once again, to you and all your colleagues for what you're doing. Dr. Collins, thanks so much for joining us.

COLLINS: Always glad to be with you, Wolf. Call me any time.

BLITZER: I will. We certainly will.

Up next, Joe Biden trying to flip a key battleground state that President Trump won back in 2016.

Plus, a stunning assessment of President Trump by his former White House chief of staff, retired General John Kelly. He's telling friends, his former boss is, quote, "the most flawed person he's ever met."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:23:02]

BLITZER: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is trying to flip a key battleground state which President Trump won nearly back in 2016. Just moments ago, Biden said that in Michigan, President Trump is living in a dream world. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: He's still living in a dream world. He keeps telling -- he keeps telling us that this virus is going to disappear like America. He said I think last night in his town hall. I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said, "We have turned the corner." As my grandfather Finnegan might say, we were here, he said, "He's gone around the bend."

"Turned the corner?" My Lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted. And we all know the terrible price this nation has paid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's discuss with our chief political correspondent Dana Bash and CNN senior political commentator, former Obama senior adviser, David Axelrod.

Dana, CNN has learned that the former White House Chief of Staff retired General John Kelly told friends that President Trump in his words, "is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life." Both the strength of these comments and the timing coming out right now are truly remarkable.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They would be remarkable if it were the time when David Axelrod was working in the White House or people that we know who worked in former Republican White Houses. Any other White House besides the Trump White House. And you know it certainly is very, very strong. But not surprising, given the fact that we have heard similar statements from so many other former Trump advisers.

[17:25:00]

And even from John Kelly, not this strong in public, on the record. But, you know, he did join with General Mattis and others during the protest when the president had you know law enforcement get rid of protesters and put -- not tear gas but really go after them and clear Lafayette Square. And so, this is just more of that and we are seeing and hearing the frustration that comes with not just working for the president in many respects, but seeing that he just won't change and in some ways, he is becoming his own worst enemy both on policy and politically.

BLITZER: That's an important point too. You know, David, these comments from General Kelly, although damning, were made to friends despite his easy access to a much larger platform. Why won't the president's former White House chief of staff come out publicly, given how strongly he clearly feels about his former boss' character?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know it's a very good question, Wolf. They would be more powerful if he were to make these comments directly. He's chosen a different path. You know we saw a very damning piece a month ago in "The Atlantic" by Jeffrey Goldberg in which General Kelly was a major piece of the story telling and he did not comment publicly in that story and he did not comment about the story. He could have knocked the story down.

This was a story in which the president was quoted as calling those who served and died in the military as losers and suckers. He chose not to comment and here too, I suspect that he knew that this comment was going to find its way into public and this is the way he's chosen to communicate it. He probably feels as a former military person, he doesn't want to go out and make these disparaging comments publicly as a former White House official. Perhaps he feels he doesn't want to make these comments publicly.

But at this point, I think the game is up here. You know, people understand what his feelings are and maybe its best that if he expressed them publicly. I think that it would be more effective if he did.

BLITZER: Yes. And I'm sure he's not alone among former officials and of course would be welcome to come here into THE SITUATION ROOM. We'd be happy to have him express his views as honestly as he wants.

You know, Dana, with just what, 18 days to go until November 3rd, Election Day, the president is clearly on defense. We saw that last night in the town hall. We're seeing it out on the campaign trail. We're seeing a lot of that, aren't we?

BASH: We are. Look, I mean, first of all, you see where he's traveling or going to be traveling. Florida today is legitimate. It is the ultimate battleground state and it is a must-win for the president if he sees a real path with the electoral college to victory, but we understand he's going to go to Georgia. That is definitely in a defensive crouch. And just the fact that rhetorically, what we have not seen or heard much from the president is what every incumbent president tries to do, or at least in recent times, when he's got a challenger that's nipping at his heels and that is to find the other guy as a worse alternative than what you're seeing right now. And he hasn't been able to do that because the story continues to always be about him and not in flattering ways.

Everything from his handling of the coronavirus, which is the most important thing that affects everybody's lives in this country to things like him not - you know pretending to not know what QAnon was and stepping on what he tried to do which is denounce white supremacy by claiming he didn't know what this conspiracy group is, despite the fact that it basically came about in order to support him and claim that there's a deep state and all kind of theories around it which a lot of people are seeing and hearing on their social media feeds, including from people who see his social media feeds because he's retweeted some of that stuff.

BLITZER: He was on defense last night in that town hall because Savannah Guthrie did an excellent job -

BASH: Yes, she did.

AXELROD: She did.

BLITZER: -- pressing him, following up, asking excellent questions and not letting him just respond with an answer and then moving on. She deserves a lot of credit for that.

All right guys, thank you very, very much. A quick programming note, tune in this weekend for an inside look at the Trump presidency from those who work for the president. Jake Tapper's, CNN Special Report. "The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials" airs Sunday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and midnight right here on CNN. It will air right after our special SITUATION ROOM Sunday night.

Coming up, California relaxes some pandemic rules even as the country tops 8 million COVID-19 cases. I'll talk about that and more, there he is. The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti.

[17:30:00]

Plus, the White House reportedly warned that Rudy Giuliani was being used, used by the Russians to feed misinformation to President Trump. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:10]

BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking stories including President Trump approving California's request for disaster aid. Because of the recent wildfires, the decision actually reverses and earlier denial by FEMA. Joining us now, the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. Mayor Garcetti, thanks so much for joining us. We have a lot to discuss including coronavirus, but what do you make of this reversal, sudden reversal by the Trump administration?

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D-CA), LOS ANGELES: Well, it's a good thing and I'm very grateful for it. We should never politicize hurricanes or fires. The decision might have been on some formulas and not a conspiracy here. We certainly have heard words that colleagues of the President have said, he sometimes does wonder whether he should give money to states that didn't vote for him. But we have no evidence of that today. And we're just grateful that he did the right thing, and that we can help a lot of people who have suffered at the hands of these fires that we have faced here in California.

BLITZER: Yes, those people in California, they deserve it. And that was a wise decision to reverse the earlier denial.

Let's get to the pandemic, Mayor, the country is clearly facing a false surge in cases. California, though, just relaxed some of the rules on outdoor private parties. When public health experts are warning we need to actually double down on the basic health precautions, does that send the wrong message?

GARCETTI: Well, not if we do it safe. I keep saying we learn a lot about this disease, the longer that we deal with it. And here in Los Angeles, we have the lowest hospitalizations since this started, one of the lowest positivity rates we've ever had. But there are tripwires that we watch very closely. A little bit more demand for tests right now, the flu season coming. So we reminded people look, having three households that can go outside for a brief gathering doesn't mean three different households each night. And we've shown our ability to learn from this, to be smart about it.

So my slogan is just don't be stupid. Don't be stupid, you know now how this spreads, we know and we're with new people in concentrated settings and indoor when nobody's looking. That's how it spreads. But we're confident we can continue to do the work that's really helped us dodge any of the major outbreaks, this entire pandemic that we've seen in other parts of the country.

BLITZER: Like the CDC, Mayor, you're discouraging families from Halloween trick or treating. How worried are you, though, that these upcoming holidays could become super spreader events?

GARCETTI: Well, you know, we shouldn't let one night set us back many weeks, and then many months. And I just remind people, look, I'm a father of an eight-year-old, we're going to be dressing up, maybe I hide some candy in the backyard. There's other ways to mark this holiday to make it special but without putting your family and putting your city and this country at risk.

I know how tough this year has been. We feel that as human beings. Elected officials are human too. And I certainly have a daughter who's going to miss doing that. But we're going to have a lot of fun, we're going to figure out a way to celebrate it without infecting anybody here in L.A.

BLITZER: And God willing, there's always next year. The President, meanwhile, is giving Americans completely false information, saying that 85 percent of people who wear mask actually catch the virus. That's obviously not true. So, how far do his words go in setting back public health messaging when it comes to the dangers of this deadly virus?

GARCETTI: You know, Joe Biden put it well in the town hall. But words matter what leaders say matters. It's one of the reasons I tried to communicate at the beginning of this pandemic every night with my city now at least once a week, letting them know the hard truth, the realities, and not just trying to sugarcoat this. The President said this week that this is going to disappear anytime, but we've heard that time and time again. We've heard that we should possibly look at bleach or ultraviolet light. We've heard that it was just going to go away on its own, when the summer month came when the hot days were here. None of those things are true.

Leadership is about telling the truth, even when it's difficult. And I think that's the contrast that we see on the ballot. For those of us who are on the front lines, we wish we could have out of Washington, D.C., whether it's a Democrat or Republican, consistent advice that's rooted in the science, the medical advice, and then listening to the people about how we can safeguard lives and livelihoods together.

BLITZER: Yes, I keep coming back to those words. The President said when he emerged from the hospital and I wrote it down, don't be afraid of COVID. Don't let it dominate your life. Well, there's a very strong reason to be afraid of COVID. Eight million Americans now, over these past several months, have been confirmed with coronavirus.

Mayor Garcetti, good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in L.A. Stay safe out there. Thanks for joining us.

GARCETTI: Thank you. Great to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, new coronavirus cases are surging across Europe as well. A new restrictions are not going into place this weekend in both England and France. And despite approving two vaccines, Russia just set a record for new coronavirus infections there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:44:26]

BLITZER: In global coronavirus headlines, new cases in Europe actually are outpacing the second wave of the coronavirus here in the United States. New restrictions are going into effect in England but the mayor of one city is pushing back.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Manchester. Salma, tell us more.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Wolf, London has raised its COVID alert level to high. That is the middle tier. And starting on Saturday, Londoners will be banned for meeting anyone outside their household in an indoor setting. That means no meeting your friends at pubs, bars or restaurants.

Meanwhile, here in Manchester, the mayor is in an open standoff with Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his plans to raise the alert level of this city to very high, the top tier.

[17:45:10]

The mayor argues he's unwilling to gamble the economy of Manchester over what he says is an experimental strategy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded by essentially hinting at an ultimatum saying that he hopes the mayor will reconsider and engage constructively. Otherwise, the Prime Minister says, he will intervene to save Manchester's hospitals and the lives of its residents. The Prime Minister went on to say that the situation in Manchester is grave and gets worse with each passing day. That means the clock is ticking to get a grip on the virus, Wolf?

BLITZER: Salma Abdelaziz in Manchester, thank you very much.

Hard hit cities in France are enacting a harsh new restrictions as the country grapples with a record setting number of new cases. CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Paris for us, one of the cities where new curfews going into effect tonight. So Jim, what are you seeing?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the coronavirus case numbers here in France have been going in the wrong direction. And as a consequence, the government is going to impose starting this evening, a curfew which will go on for four weeks in 10 major cities. It means that people will have to stay off the streets between the hours of 9:00 in the evening and 6:00 in the morning. And there'll be 12,000 police out on the streets to find people who don't comply with that. In a country that values its nightlife in a big way, it's going to put a considerable damper on things. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Jim Bittermann in Paris, thank you.

Russia, meanwhile, is breaking all sorts of records for new coronavirus cases. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow for us. Fred, what's the latest there?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. Another grim milestone for Russia as the country continues to see record numbers for new coronavirus infections. For the first time, the authorities in this country recorded more than 15,000 new coronavirus infections in the span of a single day.

Now, the main hotspot in this country continues to be where I am right now, the capital Moscow which saw more than 5,000 infections in the span of 24 hours and all this is happening, despite the fact that the Russians have already approved two coronavirus vaccines, none of which actually went through the phase three tests and trials to determine whether vaccines are safe and effective. Now, the Russian authorities seem to be acknowledging that vaccines aren't going to be available for the broader public anytime soon. And they're urging people to abide by anti-pandemic measures, Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Fred, thank you. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow.

Coming up, are the Russians using Rudy Giuliani to interfere in the U.S. presidential election? We're learning new information. We'll be right back.

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[17:52:36]

BLITZER: Serious questions tonight about whether the Russians are using Rudy Giuliani to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. CNN's Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt is joining us. Alex, there are fears that what Giuliani is now pushing here in the United States could actually be part of Russia's latest and very massive disinformation campaign in the U.S. presidential election.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Massive indeed, Wolf. We do know that it's a very active Russian campaign that's according to the U.S. Intelligence Community and that Rudy Giuliani already had open contact with a person that the U.S. has called an agent for the Kremlin. Now, we are being told by two people who've been briefed on what the FBI is doing that they're looking into whether these unverified e-mails about Hunter Biden that were published earlier this week by the New York Post about his business dealings in Ukraine and China are part of this bigger Russian disinformation efforts in the 2020 election.

Now, those efforts, according to the Intelligence Community are to denigrate the Biden campaign and the former Vice President in favor of President Trump. The New York Post says that they got these e-mails from Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon. Bannon did not respond to our requests for comment. But last month, he told a Dutch broadcaster that people should stand by for a release of documents about Hunter Biden. Now, this is far from the first time that Giuliani has tried to dig up dirt and promote disinformation on the Biden's. He's been photographed with a Ukrainian politician whose name is Andrii Derkach.

He has been named, Derkach, as -- by the Intelligence Community as a Russian agent and actually been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. So you have Rudy Giuliani openly working with a known Russian agent. And the President was reportedly warned about it. The Washington Post now reporting that the Intelligence Community was so concerned about this, that they told the White House and then the National Security Adviser himself told the President that any information that Rudy Giuliani brought to him could be contaminated by Russia, Wolf.

BLITZER: That's pretty stark indeed. So what's Giuliani saying to this idea that he's become what his critics are calling a tool for the Russians?

MARQUARDT: Well, of course, he's denying all this, he's trotting out the deep state argument that we've heard from many of the Trump orbit saying that members of the Intelligence Community are out to get Trump. Take a listen to what he had to say earlier today on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, PRES. TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: No one in the Trump administration warned me, no one in the Intelligence Community warned me, the President didn't say that to me. This is the first time I'm hearing that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right,

[17:55:03]

GIULIANI: And I have a pretty good idea where it's coming from. And these are people who are trying to tear down Donald Trump and destroy his presidency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Mr. --

GIULIANI: And the intelligence community of which there are many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Now, Wolf, despite what he says there, it is clear that this latest effort by Giuliani is raising all sorts of red flags enough for the FBI to now be looking at this as potentially part of Russia's broader attacks on the U.S. Wolf?

BLITZER: Significant development indeed. Alex Marquardt, thanks very much. And we're going to have much more on this coming up shortly here in "The Situation Room", the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, he is standing by live.

Plus, there's breaking news we're following. The former White House Chief of Staff, Retired General John Kelly telling friends what he really thinks of President Trump using words like flawed, dishonest and pathetic.

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