her as a very funny person who simply everyone loved. may they rest in peace and may their memory be a blessing. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." you can always follow me on twitter and instagram @wolfblitzer. you can tweet the room. erin "outfront" starts right erin "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news, a bombshell from a official who served on the task force. trump could have saved more lives but didn't because he only cares about the election. that's what she says. that is not all the former aide is claiming to want. a town hall with joe biden like you've never seen, a drive through in pennsylvania. former national security adviser and biden support the "outfront." and more breaking news, a federal judge tonight saying president trump and the u.s. postmaster general are involved in a politically motivated

attack on the postal service and that damage has already been done to the election. let's go "outfront." and good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the breaking news, a blistering takedown of president trump from a former top aide to vice president mike pence. olivia troy accusing the president of failing to protect the american people from the deadly pandemic. you see her there in those shots with the coronavirus task force. it's a stunning attack from the vice president's former homeland security adviser. she was his number one aide on the coronavirus task force. olivia troy. there she is attending nearly every meeting, sitting behind pence in the situation room. here she is tonight in her own words. >> towards the middle of february, we knew it wasn't a matter of if covid would become a big pandemic here in the united states. it was a matter of when. but the president didn't want to hear that because his biggest concern was that we were in

election year and how is this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success. it was shocking to see the president saying that the virus was a hoeax, saying that everything's okay when we know that it's not. the truth is he doesn't actually care about anyone else but himself. >> let me just be clear about who olivia troy is. as i said, pence's top aide and the coronavirus task force, instrumental in it, also a life long republican. she saw the president behind the scenes during the pandemic. she's now accusing him of putting politics ahead of the health of americans, including the health of his supporters, who tonight have lined up for hours outside an airport hangar in wisconsin to hear trump speak. there you see, hours waiting, no social distance, no mask, a state where the virus is surging, wisconsin reporting more than 2,000 new cases in the past 24 hours.

it's the highest new cases in the state since the start of the pandemic. new pictures to show you. inside the hangar, you can see people lined up shoulder to shoulder packed in. no masks. and what does the president think of people like this, people who are so loyal that they're going to go to a rally and by god proudly not wear a mask, risk their lives to be there for him. what does he think of them? here again is olivia troy. >> when we were in a task force meeting. he said maybe this is a good thing. i don't have to shake hands with these disgusting people. those disgusting people are the people he claims to care about. >> disgusting people. that's how he referred to his supporters, the same people who wait hours to meet him, the most loyal, the ones he allows to show up proudly without masks and jammed together. today our ryan nobles asked them about why no mask, and this was the response. >> i haven't been a mask wearer

since the beginning. i feel it's important that we need to expose ourselves to different things. and i also think god's got by back. >> that is something that the president could stop if he stood by the science and made it clear that this isn't something about god. this is something about science and facts and you can protect yourself, something his top experts do day after day after day despite his undermining their words. >> we have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense. i might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against covid than when i take a covid vaccine. >> we believe that the governors and mayors at every locality right now would mandate masks for their communities and every american would wear a mask, we

can really get control of this virus. >> there should be universal wearing of masks. >> okay. like i said, and like you hear all the time, right, they say that sort of thing constantly. they are the top experts in the trump administration. masks work. masks are as effective if not more than a vaccine. but tonight they're not the only experts saying that masks are a vaccine. okay. wait for this. this is carlos dell rio. hess one of the doctors leading the moderna vaccine trials, one of the top two trials, a vaccine that is one of the top two contenders to be ready first. >> what i want to emphasize that we have a vaccine right now. it's called wear a mask. >> the vaccine trial doctor says we already have a vaccine right now. a mask. that is something the president could tell his supporters helping them, helping this whole economy get back on track, frankly helping his re-election, but we hont. ryan nobles is "outfront" live in wisconsin where the president

will be speaking meomentarily. i know you spoke to supporters there. olivia troy endorsing joe biden. another rebuke of the president as he's going to another rally against the advice of his scientists. >> reporter: that's right. i think the words from olivia troy struck me the most, having covered so many rallies with president trump and seeing how passionate his supporters are. in the case of the rally today in wisconsin, we saw supporters lined up as early as five hours ahead of the president's expected arrival here. these are passionate people. and the idea he was cavalierly throwing away their support and safety in these meetings is something to behold. the administration is pushing back against these comments much like they have in a long line of administration officials who have been critical of president trump after leaving his service. in particular vice president pence himself who troy worked

the closest with. he described her as just another disgruntled former employee. he described her comments as something that was just being said because we are in a political season. he even went as far as to say that some of his current staffers said that she voiced some of these concerns while she served on that coronavirus task force working closely with the vice president on a day to day basis, even admitting she was raising these concerns when she worked for vice president pence. that doesn't change the reality on the ground, erin. there's going to be thousands of people here tonight that have been packed in for a significant amount of time and none of them wearing masks, all of them shoulder to shoulder at great risk of infecting themselves or someone else with the coronavirus. one interesting wrinkle about the rally tonight in wisconsin which we haven't seen at many of the rallies, as folks walked in today, they had to put a mask on as they came inside the venue. they were given a wristband to

signify they had the mask on when they came in, but that was the only accounting of wearing a mask. as you can see here behind me, very few are wearing masks as we speak. >> none we can see in the videos we had. thank you very much. i want to go to dr. william schaffner, former cdc official, professor of infectious diseases at vanderbilt university. i'm glad to have you back to get perspective. i want to look at the trump rally tonight. they're there. they're packed in. they're not wearing masks. hangar, part of it inside. you've heard him reporting. he's been there all day. they were packed in line five hours ahead in a state reporting its greatest number of daily cases since the pandemic began. how dangerous is it? >> oh, erin, it makes me shutter because those people all packed together, so many of them, some

of them brought the virus with them. statistically that's absolutely correct. the virus is there among them. and as we're speaking, it's spreading from person to person. my friend carlos del rio is right. a mask would have provided huge protection, but of course they should have also social distanced. that's so important. those large gatherings with people close together, that accelerates the epidemic. it makes it spread. those people are going to go home, and they will spread it to others in their neighborhoods. some of them will get very, very sick, i'm afraid. this is exactly the wrong thing to do. >> dr. schaffner, the vice president's former lead staffer now speaking out on the white house's coronavirus toask force right? she happens to be a life long republican. she was the top aide to pence in every single one of those meetings.

she says trump failed to protect the american people because he only cared about getting himself reelect td. as i said, every task force meeting, she says that he spoke pejoratively about his supporters, that the good thing about the pandemic was that he wouldn't have to shake hands with the disgusting people. how disturbing is this allegation? >> it's beyond sad. it's beyond sad. i keep saying let's listen to the public health authorities. they have it right. let's not listen so much we can screen out the politicians, but let's listen to the public health authorities. their whole careers are devoted to the health of the american people. please everyone, wear a mask. social distance, and avoid those large group gatherings, please. covid is going to keep spreading in this country unless we buckle down and do a better job.

>> dr. schaffner, i appreciate your time. thank you, sir. i want to go straight now to gretchen whitmer, democratic governor of michigan. governor, i want to show again the pictures of what we're seeing right now. this is live in wisconsin right across lake michigan from you. when you see these images of all these people gathered, and there are -- not that i can see being used -- any action manies in this picture. and you have a state with a record daily case load since the pandemic began. what's your reaction? >> well, i think like dr. schaffner said, i'm sad. i'm sad to see that because we know that the president who's luring them out know that this activity can expose them to this dangerous virus that can take their lives. this is how covid spreads and he's known this for a long, long period of time. i don't wish them any ill will.

i just feel terrible that they are being treated so poorly, that covid-19 is going to spread amongst them and they're going to bring it home to their families and communities and it's going to make it harder on us to get this economy back running. and most importantly, people are going to lose their lives because of it. >> governor, the president has been blaming blue states, obviously including yours, for the high number of coronavirus deaths in the country, saying this would all be fine if it just weren't for these democratic states. here's what he said. >> the blue states had tremendous death rates. if you take the blue states out, we're at a level that i don't think anybody in the world would be at. we're really at a very low level. but some of the states were blue states. >> he obviously then went on to specifically mention your state along with that of north carolina and pennsylvania. what do you say, if you just

took out the deaths in your state, it would all look good. >> well, first of all, he's flat-out wrong. but i'm not surprised by that. he frequently gets the facts wrong. secondly, you know what? we're all americans. i tell you, we've lost over 6,600 people in the state of michig michigan. i've never asked which party that person voted in. their michigan ganders and that's enough for me. my job is to protect everyone in the state and the u.s. president's job is to ekt everyone in the united states. it should not matter what state they're from. it should not matter what side of the aisle they sit on. the fact of the matter is this is a virus that is deadly and it does not respect party line. it does not respect state line. we should be in this together against a virus, and we need an american president who understands that. >> you issued stay-at-home orders earlier in the pandemic and you have not ruled out issuing them again if there's a jump there. the attorney general bill barr spoke out about that sort of order today. here's what he said.

>> you know, putting a national lockdown stay-at-home order is like house arrest. it's -- you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greate greatest intrusion on civil liberties in american history. >> what do you make of the comparison to slavery? >> i just think the attorney general is unhinged and it is deeply disturbing that our chief law enforcement officer is promulgating this kind of craziness. the fact of the matter is that the worst thing that we can do for another american is to give them a virus that could kill them. that's the biggest violation of our civil rights is an administration and government that is undermining their ability to protect ourselves and our lives and livelihoods. >> i want to ask you about something else the president did today about you.

he tweeted the democratic trump hater purposely misprinted ballots for the military, putting the wrong names on the ballot and listing another member of the party as a replacement for the vice president mike pence. everyone is completely confused which is the way they want it. this was not a mistake. it was done illegally and on purpose. spokesperson for the secretary of state in your state did confirm there was a temporary error that resulted in 400 ballots being downloaded incorrectly saying it was unintentional. how did it happen? putting aside the president trying to stir the pot and stoke the flames, does it concern you about being able to say that ballots in michigan are all accurate and all clean? >> well, obviously, we have the duty to ensure that the integrity of this election -- and that means ballots that are accurate -- a computer glitch that printed 400 ballots incorrectly was caught quickly.

the secretary of state's office has handled it and taken care to ensure that the problem is fixed. but the fact of the matter is it's 400 ballots. it was caught immediately and it was a computer glitch. we are working overtime to ensure the integrity of this election. it is actually misinformation that's coming out of the white house that is the biggest, i think, threat to getting this election right and to ensuring that everyone can get their votes counted. as you've acknowledged, they've tweeted six times more about ballots than they have about the threat of covid-19 or taken a minute to even acknowledge the almost 200,000 people that have lost their battle with covid-19. we're going to get this election right. we've made great strides in michigan. this one computer glitch has been fixed. >> i appreciate your time. i'm glad to see you again. thank you. >> thank you. next, joe biden is about to take questions from voters at cnn's first ever drive-in town

hall in the era of covid. anderson's going to join me next and show you how it's go to work on the ground. plus attorney general bill barr urging justice department to get tough with protesters, charge them with sedition, which is plotting to overthrow the u.s. government. urgent man hunt in compton. you're clearly someone who takes care of yourself. so when it comes to screening for colon cancer, don't wait. because when caught early, it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your prescriber if cologuard is right for you. i'm on it. that's a step in the right direction.

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tonight joe biden vowing to ramp up his campaign schedule. biden seeking to reassure senate democrats today saying he is not taking polls for granted. it comes as biden is set to take the stage in a few moments at a cnn town hall like you've never seen before. we've had a few town halls, but this is a new one, a drive-in. anderson cooper hosting the town hall tonight, joining me from scranton. this is really cool, looking behind you at the cars. it's like modern meets 1950. tell me how it's going to work. >> i haven't been to a drive-in since i was a little kid in my pajamas to see a horror movie. this is the first town hall drive-in. we have about 100 people who have come. usually you have people who come with at least one other person with their family so they can

sit together. everybody is social distanced from each other. they were allowed to bring their own chairs if they wanted. if they want to sit out, it's a lovely evening here. we have about 100 people here, 35 cars or so. they will have the opportunity to ask questions to vice president biden. i'll be following up as well. but it's a really -- it's the first time we have done anything like this. and it's actually got an interesting kind of feel to it. a lot of folks have been waiting here for a couple of hours, and they are excited and wanting to put questions to the vice president. >> it's really -- i love how it looks. it really looks neat. so, we're going to see anderson doing that in just a few moments. you've got a few minutes left to prepare, so we'll look forward to see anderson with the vice president in a few moments. i want to go "outfront" to ambassador susan rice. she served under president obama and wrote the book "tough love:

my story of the things worth fighting for." i appreciate having you with us tonight. we've never seen anything like tonight's drive-in town hall, not physically how it look, not psychologically and how it's going to be executed. how challenging is it when you think about a moment like this for biden to connect with voters. i did a town hall before all this. in the commercial breaks he's going in amongst the people, talking to them. that's what he thrives on is that face to face. now that's taken away. how hard is it for him to connect with voters when you think about how things are now? >> as you know, erin, joe biden a people person. he cares about each of us individually. he cares about the american people. while it's a consequence of covid that we can't have the face to face, hand to hand warmth that we would like as individuals, and joe biden understands and respects that, i think what you'll see tonight out of him and his town hall will be in stark contrast to

what we saw from donald trump a few days ago. trump was disconnected from reality. he lied. he was mean spirited. he couldn't relate to the individuals he was speaking to. tonight you'll see joe biden be joe biden, warm, knowledgeable, empathetic, fact-based, and committed to doing his utmost relating to the individual concerns of each of the voters that he'll speak with. so, i think you'll hear him talk about the plan he announced today for a middle class tax cut, putting money in the pocket of regular americans opposed to trump, who wants to give $30 billion in additional tax breaks to the hundred richest billionaires in this country. he will talk about the bread and butter issues that americans care about from the pandemic to putting their kids back in school to recovering our economy and making it work for all of us. >> he's obviously in scranton tonight. as you point out, he has taken a very different approach to

campaigning, right? the vice president has been told you're not supposed to have all these people in a room, so he hasn't. trump though has held several packed rallies and has weaponized biden's choice not to. here he is. >> biden remains silent in his basement. joe hiden. we have a new one. joe hiden. we call him joe hiden. finally he left his basement, he said we've got problems. >> that's what he says in rallies across the country. it's not true. biden has been visiting the key swing states, michigan, florida, wisconsin, pennsylvania. he's gone to all of them. he's just held smaller events. so, you don't get the same image. and one democratic chair in a prushl pennsylvania county told t"the new york times," quote, i feels like asymmetric warfare. are you worried that the stark difference in images and the perception that biden isn't there because there isn't the pictures to show could hurt him?

>> no, i'm not worried at all. that's ridiculous. donald trump is out there incredibly irresponsibly doing huge rallies in packed venues with no masks. and it's emblematic of his total disregard for the health and well-being of the american people, even his closest supporters. and by contrast, joe biden is leading by example. he's showing the american people that this pandemic is serious, that it has killed almost 200,000 americans and has the potential, according to estimates, to kill another 200,000 before the end of the year. we've got to take this seriously. so, he's wearing a mask. he's honoring social distancing. he's following science. and he's refusing to politicize things like a vaccine. all of these are responsible steps that we need from our president to conquer this pandemic, and donald trump could care less. he's only out for his own personal political advantage.

that is the key theme of donald trump's presidency. >> you just said something else today, signed an executive order creating the quote 1776 commission. and the kwoel of it, and i want to quote, from the order, is to restore patriotic education to our schools, as if that education has been gone. he went after "the new york times" for it's quote, 1619 project, which cams to reframe this nation's history with a greater focus on slavery. here's what the president said. >> america's founding set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism and built the most fair, equal and prosperous nation in human history. >> what is your response to the president? >> this was one of the most astonishing speeches i've heard

him give. he taublks about patriotic education. i thought i was listening to tung running communist china. we don't have the education where the dear leader tells the people what they must learn. we open students' minds, give them facts, teach them how to analyze, teach them fizzics and the foundations of the constitution. when you study the constitution, which it appears donald trump hasn't, you understand it is a living document that has evolved. he heralded the signing of the constituti constitution. great day, it was. i love the constitution. i've sworn an oath to protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic. in 1787, you and i, erin, and all women in our country, couldn't participate in the democracy. we had no vote. if you were african-american and a male, the constitution said you are worth 3/5 of a human

being. so, to celebrate that and deny the realities of our history, positive and negative, and to wipe out the history of slavery in this country and to call the teaching of it un-american is the most communist retro crazy thing i've heard out of donald trump's mouth in a while. >> ambassador rice, a appreciate your time. thank you for joining me. >> thank you, erin. >> all right. next attorney general bill barr sounding more and more like the president, now going after hundreds of the prosecutors who work for him at department of the justice calling them preschoolers. plus a federal judge calling them politically motivated, an attack by trump, and saying it's too late, damage to this election is already done. ta-da!

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breaking news, the justice department doubling down on its threat to charge violent protesters with sedition, which is a formal term for plotting to overthrow the government. in a memo sent to u.s. attorneys across the nation, jeffrey rosen says he wants to, quote,

re-emphasize federal prosecutors, quote, consider seditious conspiracy as a charge against protesters. this comes as bill barr is under fire for comparing shutdowns to slavery. jessica schneider is "outfront." >> reporter: the attorney general ramping up his provocative comments comparing covid restrictions to slavery. >> putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders is like house arrest. other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in american history. >> reporter: the highest ranking black american in the house aghast. >> that statement by mr. barr was the most ridiculous, tone deaf god awful things i've ever heard. it is incredible. the chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives. >> bill barr used the speech to

assert his authority as attorney general and slammed the hundreds of doj prosecutors working under him. >> name one successful organization or institution where the lowest level employees' decisions are deemed sacrosanct. there aren't any. letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a preschool, but it is no way to run a federal agency. >> barr seemed to be criticizing the decision by several career prosecutors to resign from the roger stone case after barr stepped in to reduce stone's sentence. >> all of these matters that are causing so much consternation within the department are matters that seem to touch the president's personal interests or political interests. that's what's so troubling to these career officials and career officers. >> the attorney general is increasingly parroting the president. >> wait a minute, we just discovered 100,000 ballots. every vote must be counted. no, we don't know where these

votes came from. >> hinting at a rigged election without any proof. >> i don't have empirical evidence that on this scale these problems were materialized. >> barr bashed democrats on their covid response. >> they treat free citizens as babies that can't take responsibility for themselves and others. >> this comes as a source tells cnn the attorney general is frustrated with local prosecutors for handling riot-related crimes across the country and pushing them to explore a rarely used sedition law to charge protesters. >> they're not interested in black lives. they're interested in props. a small number of blacks that were killed by police during a conflict with police, usually less than a dozen a year, who they can use as props to achieve a much broader political agenda. >> and tonight we've learned the department of justice considered

criminally charging local officials in portland, oregon, for not doing enough to stop the violence that erupted after federal officers moved in to protect the federal courthouse there. erin, over the past summer, the department of justice has charged more than 250 people in connection with those protests all over the country, erin. >> thank you very much, jessica. i want to go to gloria borger and abby phillip. thanks to both of you. you hear congressman clyburn coming out calling these comments at best tone deaf. >> at best tone deaf, at worst, completely ahistorical. i think it's clear that the facts are not on barr's side. but what is astonishing about the comments is that bill barr is a very highly edge caughted person. he's been in this country for a long time, long enough to know what, you know, the jim crow south looked like at certain parts of this country's history, long enough to have an understanding of what the civil rights movement was all about n which, you know, people were

literally trying to have the same right to go to the same water fountain as white people. and so barr knows what this is about, but he's choosing the most provocative version of this argument, in part, i think, to stick a thumb in people's eyes. but i think it reveals this and a lot of other comments he made, he has a really expansive view of the federal government in some areas. and in other areas, he is disdainful of things like stay-at-home orders, which are designed to save lives. i think there's no rhyme or reason behind it, except in some cases it seems to align politically with what the president's narrative is. >> if you were going to be consistent with it, you could say it's my point of view of interpretation. when it becomes, you know, changeable, then all of a sudden your motives become in question. so, gloria, i want to ask you about this news that is breaking this hour. a former aide to vice president mike pence works on the coronavirus task force, appears

in an ad saying she's going to vote for biden. i just want to be clear, she was instrumental here. she was the top aide on the force for pence. she sits behind him in every single meeting. she's at every single meeting. she's a life long republican. here's a little bit more of what she says. >> i would come at night and look myself in the mirror and say, are you really making a difference? does it matter, because no matter how hard you work and what you do, the president is going to do something that is detrimental to keeping americans safe, which is why you signed up for this role. it was awful. it was terrifying. >> you heard ryan nobles talk about people who worked with her say she expressed these concerns while serving the vice president. >> sure. >> how effective will this ad be do you think? >> i think taken alone, probably not going to change a lot of minds. but given the fact that there are an increasing number of people at all levels from the trump administration who have said to varying degrees that

this president is dangerous or that he is unfit for office, ranging from generals to this woman. i mean, it takes a certain amount of courage for her to come out and do this. she knows that the white house is going to slap her down, which we've heard. the president called her just a disgruntled low-level employee. et cetera. she's going to take a lot of grief. she understands that. and so i think taken altogether, when you hear what the president said to generals about losers and suckers, when you hear what he said about john mccain, what you hear what former aides of his have said, when you look at bob woodward's book, which is not called "my friend." it is called "rage." his first book was called "fear." i think taken all together, there is a picture that has been drawn of this president that those who may be undecided, who might not like joe biden, take a

look at this and say, well, if they're standing out there and doing this, there must be a reason. >> abby, the president was asked about the ads this afternoon. olivia troy who i laid out very clearly was instrumental in the task force and vice president pence and said the president said it was good so he didn't have to shake hands of disgusting supporters. >> any time someone leaves our big massive government, they leave and try and get coerced. they're just saying bad things and it's very unfortunate. it's a very sad thing. >> abby? >> coerced by whom? the problem for president trump is that this doesn't actually happen to other presidents. this has not happened to other presidents. there have been no other presidents that have seen a parade of senior former

officials leaving and disparaging the person that they worked for. so, it's unique to him, and i think that that's what is notable about this. and you have to ask why. why are they all painting the same picture of this man, and why has he not been able to instill the same kind of loyalty on a very basic level that other political figures and other presidents have. >> it's a really good point. it has not happened before. people don't just come out and say this. next 60 wild fires raging in the u.s. 6 million acres burned. a hurricane season like we've never seen. and the president laughed off any connection to climate change. jerry brown is "outfront" next. investigators have new leads in the massive man hunt for the person who shot two deputies point blank. a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we made it for all branches and all ranks whether they served one tour or made a career of it. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids

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breaking news, the united states now has 59 uncontained large fires burning in western states with nearly 6 million acres burned so far. it's a jaw dropping number, and it comes as parts of florida and alabama are still under water from hurricane sally. and behind that hurricane

several other tropical storms active right now in the atlantic ocean, scenes adding to urgency on climate change. yet the president still consistently questions the science. >> it'll start getting cooler. you just watch. >> i wish science agreed with you. >> well, i don't think science knows actually. >> but what about the scientists who say it's worse than ever? >> you'd have to show me the scientists because they have a very big political agenda. men and women, we do have an impact. but i don't believe the impact is nearly what some say. >> "outfront" now jerry brown, former gov r no of california. governor, i appreciate your time. climate change is your passion. now your state burning. what's your reaction when you hear president trump again and again, it'll start getting cooler, californians, you just watch? >> look, this is the most

deviant human being in the history of the american presidency. by deviant, i mean far, far greater departure from the norms that have characterized presidents from washington right up to obama. so, we really are in a for a tough ride here. look, he says it'll get colder. yeah, the winter's coming. it will get cooler. but if you're saying will these fires continue to burn in the years ahead? yes. because of climate change, things are going to get worse and worse. and what we need to do is to immediately bring down emissions, carbon emissions, to the maximum degree. i say we. i mean the u.s., china, india, europe and the other countries. if we don't do that, what we're seeing today will be child's play. but to avoid making it even worse in the years and decades to come, we must have a national climate policy now. trump has his head in the sand.

he's dead wrong. 98% of all climate scientists say the opposite of what he said just said. i don't know why he's doing that, whether it's oil companies, whether it's a belief system. i don't know. but it's wrong. i can tell you i've been around politics for 50 years. i've heard everything, seen everything. this is unbelievable. >> so, i want to give you a chance to respond to one point he made that governor newsom did acknowledge is part of the problem here, basically forest management, burning regularly, controlling it and getting rid of underbrush, right? according to propublica, between 1982 and 1998, california burned about 30,000 acres a year. that number was then cut in half for almost the next two decades, which did include most of your second stint as governor. is it possible that these wild fires are a result of some of that, of the poor forest management not burning through, as the

>> yeah, no doubt. of course, that's monday morning quarterbacking. everything that you just said is absolutely true. we have to manage our forests a lot better. but it's not that easy. if it were easy, we would have done it. there's money. first of all, let's take president trump himself. he owns, as the leader of the federal government, 60% of the forests of california. >> fair. >> so he's got to clean up his act. so does california, so do private land owners. but it's going to cost billions of dollars. it takes technology to handle all the wind waisste, it takes fires you have to control, it takes personnel. this takes a commitment of money that no one has been willing to make. >> governor brown, a federal judge tonight is issuing a nationwide order blocking recent

changes at the postal service, calling it a politically motivated attack by the trump administration, but then add thing crucial comment, and i quote, harm has already taken place. the judge saying that could slow down ballot delivery, resulting in substantial voter disenfranchisement. these are deeply concerning things. harm already taken place to slow down delivery and result in substantial voter disenfranchisement. how worried are you about this election, governor? >> well, everything i hear and just this latest makes me more concerned. look, we now have a president who is sewing distrust in the ability of an election to pick a winner. number two, he's taking action through the post office to make it likely that tens of thousands or maybe millions of people's votes might not be counted. this is horrendous.

it almost borders on some kind of treason. we have to wake up and put measures in to protect. and maybe this court order will help us. we have to pull together. we can't really engage in this political discourse. but there we are. we have to build confidence for the election. we have to get trump or the post office to knock it off. and get those ballots out and get all these sowers of doubt. it's not just prudent. it's a lot of media people, it's a lot of politicians, and they're trying to undermine our democracy, and they're playing with fire. it's highly dangerous. and yes, i'm worried. >> governor brown, i appreciate your time. thank you tonight. >> thank you. and next, new information about that urgent manhunt for the person who ambushed two deputies. 's hard. eliminate who you are not first, and you're going to find yourself where you need to be.

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tonight, the los angeles county sheriff says there are new leads in the search for the gunman that ambushed two deputies. >> reporter: five days after two los angeles county sheriff deputies were shot in an ambush, investigators in a desperate search to find the man responsible. >> detectives, i've spoken with them recently. they're confident they're on the right path, they're making progress. >> reporter: the video shows the gunman shooting into a squad car and the heroics of the 31-year-old deputy and mother who saved her 24-year-old partner after both are shot multiple times. now her partner is out of the hospital, but her wounds are too

severe to allow her to be discharged. at the same time, the sheriff's department handling of a radio reporter is under investigation by the inspector general. josie clearly identifies herself in video, but the sheriff questions that and says she was too close to the action. >> she claimed that she said ktcc, but if you claim you're a reporter, but at that report she was being handcuffed. >> reporter: she was there outside the hospital, one calling for the death of the wounded officers. >> i hope they die, mother [ bleep ]! >> reporter: the relationship between the sheriff department and the community of compton is a strained one. theory cent deputy shooting after trying to stop him for a bicycle violation sparked anger. investigators say kizy was pointing a gun at them. over the years, so has accusations that the department's deputies formed their own gangs, including new

accusations of a deputy formed gang called the executioners in kocht compton. >> there are no gangs within the department. >> reporter: but in the same breath, the investigation into deputy gangs is not over. you're saying that investigation is concluded? >> no, we have not concluded that investigation. we did an investigation at east los angeles station that resulted in 26 employees being either disciplined or terminated. >> reporter: that happened in 2018 after a deputy formed gang called the banditos was involved in attacking younger deputies in a brawl. the deputy gangs are sporting the same tattoos. >> i'm sickened by the allegation of a deputy hurting anyone. >> reporter: but some residents say they want more deputies in their community, and are sickened by the shooting. >> i feel sorry for the families of the officers that that happened to. but, you know, it's kind of hard because now instead of looking at a person as an individual, it's like if you're in a

uniform, you're no good. and it's the same, they feel if you're black or brown walking down the street, you're no good. >> reporter: sara sidner, cnn, compton. >> thanks to all of you. our town hall with joe biden moderated by anderson starts now. [ applause ] >> and good evening. live from pennsylvania, just outside of scranton, welcome to cnn's first-ever drive-in presidential town hall. who knew drive-ins were coming back? it is certainly a sign of the times in 2020. we are at pnc field, home of the scranton rail riders baseball team. good evening. i'm anderson cooper. thanks for joining us. about 100 people are here tonight in and around their cars to hear from and ask questions of democratic nominee for president, former vice president

joe biden. of course, you know the first debate is just 12 days away. election day is 47 days from now. people around the country have already started voting in some dates. here in pennsylvania, people will begin mailing in their ballots within days. as you can see, i'm not wearing a mask tonight. i tested negative for coronavirus this morning. i'll be keeping my distance, as will all of the programs in tonight's town hall who are here. so let's get going. please welcome former vice president joe biden. [ applause ] >> hey, buddy. >> thanks for being here. >> i got tested, too. >> all right, we're good. >> how are you? >> i'm good. >> thanks for having me. good to be home. >> have you ever been to an event like this? >> in delaware, we did this on the night we did nominated. >> of course. >> hey, buddy. >> all right. let's start with the coronavirus in the united states. we're approaching