good evening. as we come on air, 199,816 people in this country have been killed by coronavirus. some of their names are on the screen you see next to me. that number from johns hopkins university will rise. on average, about 800 people are dying every day. so within hours, perhaps within this hour, or the next several hours, it'll cross 200,000. it makes you want to stop every clock on earth. instead, tonight, we remember. the first recorded fatalities bu were back in february and the projections show many more of us will die in the months ahead. mask wearing and social distancing could have saved many more lives on that list if more of us were willing to wear masks and maintain distance. the numbers are staggering. the list of names, staggering. it's easy to start viewing them as just numbers. but each is a person with a family, and people who love them and miss them terribly. there are mothers and fathers on

that list. there are wives and husbands and sons and daughters and beloved grandparents. there are doctors and police officers and musicians and teachers and nurses. they're as young as five months old. some are more than 100 years old. over the next hour, we are going to show you as many of their names as we can. we pulled them from our own cnn reporting, as well as local and national listings from all over the country. that list that we are showing you, that's just a fraction of the 200,000-plus people who will have died. in fact, to show all their names, even if we knew them all, would fill every hour of this program, for the next two months. we wish we could tell you all their stories, show you all their names, but there are simply too many. over the course of this program, we will show you what our time allows. we will remember them, and as you do, too, i want you to listen how the president started this day. a day that will likely go down in history. 200,000 dead. >> we've done a phenomenal job,

not just a good job. a phenomenal job. other than public relations but that's because i have fake news. i can't -- you know, you can't convince them of anything. they're fake. but we have done -- on public relations, i give myself a d. on the job, itself, we take an a plus with the ventilators. and now, with the vaccines that are years ahead of schedule. >> phenomenal job, he says. the list says otherwise. nearly 200,000, dead. and the number will go up. other than the 1918 pandemic, the civil war, and world war ii, this is the single-largest loss of life in the entire history of the country. many, if not most, of the deaths were preventable, using tools and methods that this country, scientists in this country we, ourselves, pioneered and taught to the world. what the president is teaching, now, to the country and the world is how to spread disease and death. yet another rally, this time in ohio. the crowd booing when ohio's lieutenant governor tried to encourage them to put on masks.

they actually booed the lieutenant governor for encouraging them to put on masks. months of watching the presidenpresident has, i guess, trained them well. some, perhaps not knowing just how protected he really is inside his biological bubble. his biological bunker. or how unprotected he is willing to let them be. and it's no accident cnn has reviewed internal documents detailing a plan by department of health and human services to mail out 650 million reusable face coverings. five to a pack to every household in the country. that was the plan. never came to pass. an administration official telling "the washington post" that the white house squelched the idea out of concern, the official says, about creating a panic. that was back in april. and the notion dovetails neatly with what the president told bob woodward just a few weeks before that. >> i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing it down. >> yes. >> because i don't want to create a panic. >> when he said that, 3,400

americans had died. by the end of april, as the mask plan was debated and discarded, the death toll rose from 6,300 to 65,000. another 165,000 have died, since then. so think how different that might have been if the president had gotten behind the plan, had encouraged people to wear masks. instead, he was fatalistic. was already on record, as far back as late march, talking about deaths in the millions and willing to claim victory for less than 200,000. >> if we can hold that down, as we're saying to a 100,000, it's a horrible number. maybe even less but to 100,000. so we have between 100 and 200,000. we, altogether, have done a very good job. >> well, just think, that was in march. think of everything else he has done and not done as the death toll rose. he's pushed unproven drugs and pushed the fda commissioner to tout unproven treatment.

he's learned -- or leaned on states to reopen against cdc guidelines. the administration has pressured the cdc to loosen guidance for reopening schools and testing people who don't have symptoms. but have been exposed to people who have tested positive. first, it was yes. then, it was no. then, on friday, it was quietly changed back to yes. and just today, new cdc warning was pulled from the agency's website. it detailed what many researchers already believe, that covid-19 lingers in the air in a kind of viral fog. well, now, it's gone from the website. a federal official saying it was posted to the site in error. someone at the cdc pushed the wrong button. it would be laughable if it weren't so tragic. they also said there was no political pressure involved in the change, which would have been easier to believe, before this pandemic. before the knee capping of doctors fauci and birx and the cdc's redfield. before hospitals were told to send all their case and mortality data straight to the administration. before we learned just today, the fda, cdc, and others, will

now have to submit any new rules to the administration to be signed off on. throughout it all, including now, with the death toll about to pass 200,000, the president has been giving himself a-plus grades. saying he's done a phenomenal job, and of course, always moving the goalpost. >> one person coming in from china. and we have it under control. >> of the 15 people, the original 15 as i call them, eight of them have returned to their homes. and again, when you have 15 people and the 15, within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done. but we're going towards 50 or 60,000 people. 80 or 90 and it goes up and it goes up rapidly. and look. we're going to lose anywhere from 75, 80, to 100,000 people. >> if we could hold that down, as we're saying to a 100,000. it's a horrible number. so we have between 100 and

200,000. we, altogether, have done a very good job. >> joining us now, cnn chief medical correspondently, d, dr. sanjay gupta. dealing with the consequence of awf all this on the front lines, where he is director of global health and emergency medicine. sanjay, this -- this grim milestone that didn't have to happen. it's horrific. and avoidable. when you see those names slowly scrolling on the side of the screen and as i said, it's just a fraction of those who've actually died. what goes through your mind? where are we, in this pandemic? >> well, i mean, you know, it's really sad to see those names. you know, i talk to some of these people's families who have died. i still stay in touch with them. i'm sure dr. spencer does, too. and i'm -- you know, i just -- it's just a conversation that i want to have and understand that they -- that i can still reach out to them and they can lean on me. but it's tough to see all those numbers just scrolling. didn't have to happen.

i mean, it's hard because no one wants to hear that their loved one's death was preventable or avoidable. you know? no one wants to hear that and yet, that's what they are hearing, over and over again. so that's really tough. you know, anderson. i mean, you know, we showed this i think last time craig spencer and i were on together. but if you look at columbia's modeling, in terms of what was possible in terms of preventing infections, preventing deaths. this modeling was done becoack may. and they said at that point, had the country just acted a week earlier, 36,000 people's lives could have been saved, at that point. that's back in may. if we can show this. they show 80 to 90% of infections and deaths could have been prevented. that was back in may. if you extrapolate that to now, i mean, that's -- that's -- you know, so many people's lives. also, you mentioned this earlier, anderson. just look at this. remember, we all were paying attention to italy in the beginning. we don't want to become italy. italy is sort of the cautionary tale. and we sort of paralleled

italy's trajectory. but then, italy went down. because what did we do at that point in april? we started to open things up and pulled back on all the measures that may have worked. may have had an impact. but so, it's awful to hear this number, anderson. >> dr. spencer, you have been on the front lines of this pandemic. trying to save lives, day in and day out. the president giving himself an a-plus rating, except for public relations. as someone who is on the front lines deal being thing with thi you deal with that? >> maybe, from a political standpoint, there is an a plus. but from a public health standpoint, it's failure. and for my role as a provider, it's been a failure as well. in my last shift, i took care of two patients back to back. one had acute covid, short of breath, was on oxygen, and was struggling to breathe. just a few rooms over was a patient who had been infected in late march and still suffering from symptoms. that's when it hit how long we have been dealing with this.

we've lost 200,000 people. th's population of ft. lauderdale, florida. or salt lake city. or montgomery, alabama. we have more deaths, in the united states, than brazil, spain, italy, kpicombined. we're eight months into this pandemic and we're still concerned about having enough n95 respirators in our hospital. if he thinks that this is a political a plus from a public-health standpoint and from the standpoint as a physician and health care provider, every day, it's felt like a failure. and in many respects, i feel like, in some ways, we're almost worse off than we were three to four months ago because we don't have the credibility of the institutions like the fda and the cdc. just back then, in march and april, no one would have second guessed the guidance coming out on a daily basis from the fda or from the cdc. now, every time something gets put up, gets posted, and gets retracted. we have to wonder was this for a public health reason? or was this the political thumb of this administration trying to

change guidance that should be based on public health alone? >> yeah. i mean, sanjay-l the president almost daily, saying we're basically rounding the corner. wear we're in the turn. you know, he used a lot of different phrases. but the idea that we are rounding the corner. do you see any sign of that? >> no, i mean, i think we've -- we've plateaued, really, at a really high level of viral spread in this country. and we have plateaued at a time when we're going into colder weather. where people aren't going to have the luxury of being able to be outdoors as much. they are going to be clustered inside and superimposed on top of flu season. maybe, it's going to be a milder flu season, as we have seen in australia and dr. fauci's talked about. we don't know. maybe, that's just because people are better about wearing masks down there. but -- but it's -- it's worrisome, right now. if you go back and look at 1918, even. in the first six months of that pandemic and the sort of timeframe in the year was sort of similar. 75,000 people died in the first six, seven months.

195,000 people died in one month, alone, after that -- when that second wave started. that's the worrisome thing. that month was october. so this is what we are trying to prevent. i'm not saying that to unnecessarily scare people. but, you know, we keep talking about this, in some ways, in the l retrospective. there are things we can do right now to prevent it being that bad in the next few months. >> i think it's good to look back at the pandemic in 1918. it is -- look, i'm taking this as seriously as anyone i know. and it's hard, day after day, to continue to just be vigilant. and i mean, hearing that number about what happened in october, you know, in the 1918 pandemic about the second wave is scary. and -- and i'm going to keep that in mind because i think it's important to stay vigilant. you know, dr. spencer, the u.s. postal service. they had planned to distribute 650 million face masks. five masks for every household. so back in april. white house apparently squashed that.

would that have helped? >> i think that would have been crucial. if you remember, at the end of march, we weren't exactly sure the value that face masks could have in getting this virus under control. that science really changed. and we knew, in early april, the cdc itself recommended that americans wear face masks in public to reduce the spread of this virus. if we had, at that time, sent out hundreds of millions of face masks to people all over this country, it could have, one, sent the public health message saying that this is important. if we had that, coupled with this administration supporting this and actually wearing masks, at the same time, that would have set a really wonderful public health precedent. at that time, we could have increased the amount of people wearing masks. we could have made it a public health, not a political or partisan issue. the result would have been fewer people infected and fewer deaths in this country, undoubtedly. >> sanjay, dr. spencer, appreciate it. thank you very much. we have breaking news just ahead. more republican senators announce their decision on whether to go along with the vote on the next supreme court justice. details on that, coming up. and as you see, the names of

only some of those who have died due to the pandemic. we approach 200,000 deaths in the u.s. in the next few hours. i will talk with the family of a frontline doctor who died after a long battle with the disease. ♪ ♪ ♪ only lexus asks questions like these, because we believe the most amazing machines are inspired by you. experience the rewards of our curiosity.

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serious infections, which could need hospitalization, skin problems, and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. are you ready? ask your doctor about prolia® fda approved for 10 years. on the right of your screen, tonight, we are scrolling through just some of the nearly 200,000 lives that have been lost in the u.s. from coronavirus. as we approach that grim milestone, we expect, some time

in the next few hours, to cross over the 200,000 mark. 200,000 dead in this country. we go to our breaking news now on capitol hill. we are getting some information about a number of republican senators who, until now, have been silent about whether they'll go along. so two more republican senators going on the record. where do they stand? >> anderson, it's been less than 72 hours since ruth bader ginsburg passed and to push forward on her replacement as soon as before the election. tonight, senator chuck grassley, former senate judiciary committee chairman. one of the leading proponents in 2016 of not considering president obama's supreme court nominee at the time. as well as, senator gardener. both, coming out saying they will support moving forward on a vote on a potential nominee. both, saying they wanted to get a look at that nominee. but, anderson, what this all underscores is over the course

of the last two or three days, republicans have rapidly gotten behind the idea of moving forward. at this point in time, democrats need four of the 53 republicans to say they will not move forward, that they will not vote on any nominee. right now, they have two. senator susan collins and lisa murkowski. and right now, anderson, there's very little hope, at least according to democrats i am talking to, that they'll be able to find two more. grassley and gardener were two of the biggest opportunities democrats thought they had. right knenow, mitt romney is th only possible person. now, everything starts to kick in gear. keep in mind, we don't actually have a nominee yet. and snaenate republicans have me clear over the course of this day that they are deferential to the president. senator mitch mcconnell, majority leader, i am told made clear to the president, in a private phone call, that while

he would advocate for whoever the president selected, he believed amy coney barrett would go best with where republicans stand right now. so once you get the nomination, then the mechanisms will kick into gear. anderson, you are going to have tens of millions of dollars on both side of this fight from the outside. on the inside, you are going to have both sides trying to figure out every possible way to, for the democratic side, to try to stall it. and for the republican side, to try to speed this as quickly as possible. make no mistake about it. the president is on the record saying he wants it before november 3rd. and republicans i am talking to say while that is a very tight timeline, it is possible, anderson. >> phil mattingly. phil, thanks very much. that decision by senator grassley surely couldn't have come as much after prize to key democratic senators. joining me now, one of the key democrats. senator chris murphy of connecticut. senator murphy, seems senator

grassley and senator gardener have essentially said they will be on board with mcconnell. this is over, isn't it? i mean, republicans seem to have the votes. >> well, it's not over. in part, because we don't even know who the nominee is. i mean, maybe you can come to the conclusion that the republican party has just become a big, cultive personality. but let's be clear what the stakes are. you have noted that today we will cross the 200,000 threshold with respect to the number of americans that have died from covid. right now, pending before the supreme court, is a case that would invalidate the entire affordable care act. robbing people, 20 million of them, of health care in the middle of a pandemic. and raising rates for anybody in this country who's had covid or tests positive for antibodies of covid. and so, i still am going to make the argument to my colleagues that if they are looking at a nominee that is going to invalidate the affordable care act, they better think twice. especially, given that so many of them are on the ballot. i think this will ultimately end

the political career of some of my republican colleagues. and so, i'm just going to keep the fight up to win this on the merits. >> how would that actually work in terms of -- i mean, if -- if all this did -- you know, if the nominee was selected and confirmed. and the affordable care act was ruled unconstitutional in the senate. how would -- what -- what would that actually look like? i mean, how quickly would people lose their health insurance? >> they would lose it immediately. so the case that's pending before the supreme court asks for the act to be invalidated, immediately. the entire act. every piece of it. the medicaid expansion. the prohibition on discrimination because you have a pre-existing condition. the exchanges. so if this lawsuit, which is being brought by republicans and the president, was ultimately won by the plaintiffs. and that's where this would go if they get this nominee confirmed. you would have the immediate

loss of insurance for 20 million americans. and then, you would have insurance companies back in the position of being able to increase your rates if you have a pre-existing condition. and covid is a pre-existing condition. and insurance companies will clearly go back and start using those practices again. so it's a humanitarian nightmare. and it happens, you know, potentially, as soon as this case is reheard by the new court. so, maybe, beginning of next year. >> the president keeps saying he has a health insurance plan. but for some reason, it can't be seen, at this point. he's certainly been saying he has a great health care plan for -- for years, now. and nothing has been shown. i mean, is -- am i missing something? is there something out there? >> well, i mean, republicans have been saying that, you know, since the act was adopted. i mean, back in 2011, republicans were crying repeal and replace. but they never, ever had any plan to replace the affordable care act. and, you know, what people are

figuring out over time is that the affordable care act is a pretty good deal. it provides, as i said, 20 to 25 million people with insurance that wouldn't have it. and it stops these insurance companies from raising your rates if you have cancer. we almost can't remember the time when, if your child had a leukemia diagnosis, you couldn't get insurance for them. and, again, this is really scary, now, because you know, when we do the antibody tests. it may be that big portions of the american population have actually had covid. that's a pre-existing condition. you might get denied health insurance if this supreme court nominee gets on the bench. and there is no replacement coming. the president doesn't have a replacement. republicans don't have a replacement if the affordable care act goes away because of the supreme court nominee. all that happens is the massive loss of life in this country because people can't afford insurance. >> what can democrats do? i mean, obviously, you know, say you want to urge your colleagues. obviously, you want to urge people to -- to vote. other than that, is there anything to be done?

legislatively? >> i mean, i was on the floor of the senate -- yeah, no, i was on the floor of the senate tonight. arguing with my republican colleagues about what the stakes are here. obviously, you know, we see -- we haven't given up on trying to convince a few of our republican, senate colleagues to do the right thing here. i mean, it's just treachery, by the way, for them to deny president obama's nominee under the rule that you can't confirm anybody in an election year. and then, just four years later, admit that they were lying in 2016 when they set that rule. and then, we'll argue this on the merits of the stakes of the -- the nomination. we'll rally the american people to the cause. i think with an election pending, it's not a guarantee that some of these republican senators who are in tough races are going to vote for a radical, conservative, anti-affordable care act nominee. but that's up to their constituents. it's up to the american people to help us and rally to the cause to make the political consequences of a bad vote for republicans very clear and apparent to them.

>> yeah. senator murphy, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we have more, next, on breaking news. legal analysis from two top court watchers and the answer to the question, how long could the president go without trying to smear the late justice's memory? that's next. is not the same. it's our sharpest ever, and while some other companies would charge more for something new, we don't. because why be like everyone else? harry's. not the same. i'm a delivery operations manager in san diego, california. we've had a ton of obstacles in finding ways to be more sustainable for a big company. we were one of the first stations to pilot a fleet of zero emissions electric vehicles. the amazon vans have a decal that says, "shipment zero."

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it's a busy night hanging over all of this that the raw fact of nearly 200,000 lives lost to the coronavirus. the number remains as it was at the top of the hour. 199,816 people in this country

have, so far, known to have died. we are showing you some of their names on the screen beside me all through the hour tonight. and will be for the entire broadcast. at some point, in the next few hours, perhaps even by the end of this hour, given the fact that, on average, 800 people are dying every day, the number will cross 200,000. 200,000 dead. we're talking, of course, about breaking news on the supreme court and given the president now appears to have the needs he needs to proceed with the replacement for justice ginsburg. >> well, i'd much rather have a vote before the election. because there's a lot of work to be done. and i'd much rather have it. we have plenty of time to do it. i mean, there's really a lot of time. so let's say i make the announcement on saturday, there's a great deal of time before the election. that'll be up to mitch in the senate. but i'd certainly much rather have the vote. i think it sends a good signal. and it's solidarity and lots of

other things. and i'm just doing my constitutional obligation. i have an obligation to do this. so i would rather see it before the election. >> with that, cnn's jim acosta joins us now from the white house. what more is the white house saying about the timing of all this, jim? >> well, anderson, you heard the president say he would like to have this done before the election. and just to give you a sense as to how quickly things are moving along, judge amy coney barrett, one of the president's top contenders on his short list, met with the president at the white house earlier today. but, anderson, you know, there are lots of different ways this could play out. i talked to a source close to the white house this evening, who said one of the, you know, prevailing thoughts going on behind the scenes is that, perhaps there might be some hearings for a nominee before the election. but the actual vote to confirm the nominee would come after the election. they're gaming all kinds of strategies because, frankly, anderson, there's a potential

that this could backfire, whether or not the president decides to do this before or after the election. even though you are talking about how the president and republicans seem to have the numbers on their side, at this point. they are well aware this could backfire and blow up in their faces. >> when do we expect to know who his pick is? so far, teasing out. you know, kind of a big reveal. >> absolutely. the president has said he would like to do this on saturday. name somebody on saturday. that would follow the services for ruth bader ginsburg that are expected to take place later on this week. but anderson, you can already see the president enjoying himself on the campaign trail this evening. teasing the idea that this could perhaps be a man or a woman. even though, the president and all his top advisers have told us that this is going to be a woman that he's going to appoint to the high court. but -- but keep in mind, anderson. you know, this is one of the situations where the president faces a critical test. if he puts forward a nominee

that, you know, devolves into a very partisan, very disruptive, process fight between now and election day. you know, this could drag past the november election. that puts the president in a dangerous position. if he loses the election. and let's say, because voters are outraged that this was rammed down their throats before the election. and the senate goes to the democrats. then, the president, in a republican-controlled senate, in a lame-duck session, face the prospect of going against the will of the american people in the november election. so even though the president, republicans, appear to have the numbers on their side tonight. it doesn't mean that this is all over, yet. >> that -- that's what you mean by it could blow up in their faces? >> absolutely. i mean, you know, if the president and the republicans, you know, come up empty on election night. then, they face a critical test. and, that is, do they go against the will of the american people? and at that point, do they maintain those numbers? do people, like cory gardner, do people like mitt romney, mitt romney hasn't said where he is

going to end up on all this. but if he comes out tomorrow and says i am going with my caucus, i'm going with the republican caucus, do those minds change in the lame duck? as we have seen from previous court fights, anderson, we're not there, yet. >> jim atcosta. appreciate it. thanks very much. during the president's remarks on the south lawn, he repeate a repeated -- clara says her grandmother dictated a statement to her before she died. my most fervent wish is that i will not be replaced until a new president is installed. the president was asked about it this morning on fox. >> well, i don't know if she said that or was that written out by adam schiff and schumer and pelosi? i i would be more inclined to the second. that came out of the wind. it sounds so beautiful. but that sounds like a schumer

or pelosi or shifty schiff. >> perhaps, backtracked on the remarks. this president added to them. he told reporters, quote, yeah, it just sounds to me like it would be somebody else. it was just too convenient. perspective, now, from legal -- from national public radio legal affairs correspondent, nina totenberg, who spoke with the justice's granddaughter. also, close to the justice. also, cnn chief legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, whose latest piece is titled the legal fight after the election. the aftermath of november's vote has potential to make 2000 look like a mere skirmish, jeff wrote. nina, when you heard what the president said about the late justice's words. how do you -- what do you think? >> well, there were other people in the room when she said that, including the justice's doctor who i checked with. so i don't think anybody made it up. let's put it that way. and clara spara, the justice's granddaughter, was sitting there with her laptop.

and she wrote it down. and it was confirmed by others in the room, as i said, who were not family members. >> i mean, the idea, frankly, that family members, even in a highly-charged situation like this, would make up the last words or the last wishes of somebody like the chief justice or any family member, frankly, is kind of abhorrent. the idea of it. jeff, regardless of what the president says about justice ginsburg or anybody else, the vast majority of republicans are on board with pushing a nomination through. either, before the election or during a lame-duck period. seems almost impossible that democrats can peel away two more republicans, in addition to collins and murkowski, doesn't it? >> it certainly seems like mitch mcconnell is going to win, yet again, because mitch mcconnell almost always wins when it comes to the united states senate. but i think as jim acosta was saying, there are still a lot of moving parts here. and there is no nominee. and the nominee has to go

through a hearing and -- and scrutiny about her and, presumably, it will be a her. and, you know, the timing remains a problem. there are just more than 40 days left, before the election. the average number of days between supreme court nominations and confirmations is somewhere between 60 and 80 days. now, it is possible they could jam things through. but i mean, it's -- the senate is hard to move quickly. not impossible. but hard to move quickly. and democrats will be doing their best to try to slow this process down. and if it goes into the lame duck, things could change because we will know the outcome of the election. if donald trump wins, this thing will go very smoothly. but if donald trump doesn't win and if the senate goes democratic, then there are a lot of imponderables. so, you know, yes, things are looking very good for the president. they are looking good for mitch

mcconnell. but this thing is not over, yet. >> nina, how do you think this might play out? >> well, i don't think there's any way to know. and i don't even think there's any way to know who has the upper hand, right now. in the last election, the president definitely, donald trump, definitely got a big boost by releasing his list of potential nominees and energizing his base. but this is a different election, a different time, a different candidate he's running against. and you can see that the democratic base is very energized. you can see it by the hundreds -- over $100 million i think that they've raised since -- just since justice ginsburg died. so it's -- i think it is imponderable. but i definitely think that mitch mcconnell is the craftiest guy around when it comes to confirmations. there are -- none of the old blocks that used to be there.

and i'm not talking about the filibuster. i'm talking about all kinds of little, procedural things that could slow things down. almost all of those -- in fact, every one of those, that i am aware of, is gone. so, you know, i -- i think that it's conceivable that they could do this before the election. and then, rule the de the day afterwards. and the country might rue the day because what we are seeing in not just the polarization of the united states, but the -- the wings of the party are driving the party. and there is -- there is a fairly aggressive movement, now, on the left, to add more justices and to offset whatever the president does if biden were to win. and they were to control the senate. and that would -- would hardly be the first time in american history. but it would be the first time in -- in about a century. it's been done, i think, six or

seven times in american history that they've -- it's just by statute. but justice ginsburg said she thought it would be very bad for the court. that it would just lead to swirling back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. but we're not there, yet. but it's -- it's pretty -- this kind of ugliness breeds worse results than you could even imagine. >> jeffrey, it seemed like vice president biden i think had been on the record in the past as not seeming too enthusiastic. obviously, this was before the whole ginsburg think. of enlarging -- of growing the cou court, the size of the court. what do you make of that idea on democrats? >> i think it's a very realistic idea. i mean, you know, how much do democrats have to take? and how many seats have to be stolen from them? one stolen from barack obama. and now, one, you know, in -- in the greatest collective act of hypocrisy in american, political history. all these republicans deciding, oh, it's fine to nominate, you

know, to nominate and confirm someone on the eve of an election, while the election is actually going. people are voting now. you know, it's just how much -- how much of a patsy does the democratic party want to be? and, you know, how many more seats will they steal before they do something? you know, i think the filibuster, which is a relic of jim crow and a -- and a anti-democratic institution, from the start. that's something that should go, immediately. and whether they add more seats, i think it's a very realistic possibility. >> jeff toobin, nina totenberg. really appreciate it. thank you very much. also, i just want to remind everybody should read jeff's article in new yorker. nina, i also re-read your piece on justice gins buburg and i kni praised you on it the other day. but i just re-read it. i urge people to. npr.org. thank you so much. one final week on how the week

will unfold and make history. justice ginsburg's body will lie in repose at the supreme court on wednesday and thursday so that members of the public can pay their respects. the casket will arrive wednesday morning. close family and friends and justices will take place in the hall. and the casket will be moved to the top of the building's front steps. former law clerks will serve as pallbearers. then on friday, lying in state in the u.s. capitol. lying in state is distinguishfo distinguished. we are showing you a list of only some who have died during the pandemic as the nation approaches 200,000 deaths sometime in the next few hours. coming up, i will talk with a doctor on the front lines of this disease and helping family cope, but who died because of it.

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throughout the program, tonight, we have been showing you some of the names of the victims of this pandemic as we near the terrible milestone of 200,000 people killed by the coronavirus in this country. dr. rebecca was a specialist in epidemiology in bowling green, kentucky. she was a frontline doctor in the battle against covid-19 and helped establish a coronavirus unit for her local honesspital. she was also busy helping her local government deal with the disease when she was diagnosed back in may. she died september 11th. shortly before air time, i spoke with her husband and their two children, katherine and jesse. >> david, katherine, and jesse, thank you you so much for being with us. i am so sorry for your loss. david, you -- you called rebecca the glue of your family. first of all, how are you all doing? how are you holding up? >> we're getting back day to day. it's been a struggle. >> yeah. katherine, if you could, what do

you want people to know about -- about your mom? i mean, she sounds like such a remarkable woman. she was a specialist in infectious diseases. she was outspoken from the start, i know, about wearing masks and taking precautions and it seems like so many people loved her. >> she was easily one of the smartest, most driven people i knew. she kind of taught me who i wanted to be as a person. she always said to have the grace to let people be who they are and, kind of, really believed and lived out the idea of treating everyone the way you'd want to be treated. >> jesse, how about for you? >> she was a person that didn't take a lot of crap. she knew what she was talking about when it -- when it came to her field.

and when it came to a lot of other things. she was someone that i really trusted and i think she is someone that a lot of people trusted. >> and, david, how did you two meet? >> we met in college. then, we got married after our first year of med school. >> o wow. she was very good. x-rays and things like that. >> at the age of 15, she started having that idea in her mind. did you know how she got the virus? >> my mother had been ill and had people staying at her home helping about. she had no symptoms and took care of my mother one night and

a few days later, she was diagnosed with covid and a few days after that my mother was diagnosed. and how is your mom doing, david? >> it is amazing. she's 90-years-old now and she's back home healthy. very well. and jesse, i understand you are the only one in the family that did not get infected and yet you probably are exposed as much as anybody else. >> yes. >> so three-day prior to my grandmother being diagnosed with covid, my father and i going over there and helping her around the house, the day she was diagnosed, dad i and you know she had trouble walking so

he lowered her into the car and took her to the hospital. the day that my mom was diagnosed, i was the one drove her to the hospital and sat in the car with her for 45 minute to an hour. while they were in there to be quarantined, i was living in the same house with them. i had plenty of chances to catch it but never did. >> david, what do you want people to know about rebecca? >> she lived and be what she wanted to be. she took care of patients. she stayed on and did that. she knew being in healthcare was a risk. she enjoyed taking care of patients and working with the nurses and doctors. that's what she lived for was in the field of medicines. she did know risk of covid.

she still want to be in medicine. >> that's the extraordinary thing, knowing the risk and still willing to roll up her sleeves and help other people. >> yes, she was, she was always like that and even before covid. willing to put everyone's needs in front herself whether it is her patients or her kids. she took care of everybody as she could. >> even before she wanted people to wear a mask and social distance and stay out of crowds. at her funeral, just small and

preventing people from getting covid. >> if she were here, that's message she would want to get out to helicoptcontinue to wear. >> wear a mask and social distance always. when flu vaccine comes out, you want to take it because you do not want to get those two diseases. my son will be the first in line to get it. get yourself protected. >> david, katherine and jesse, thank you so much, i really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> next, final thoughts about nearly 200,000 people in this country now died.

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. . . to put on me about having hiv isn't gonna fit. that's for sure. my name is zach and i'm on biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment . . . . . . used for hiv in certain adults. it's not a cure but with one small . . . . . . pill, biktarvy fights hiv . . . . . . to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a build-up of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding . . . . . . or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv . . .

. . . keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. 200,000 lives lost. our coverage continues with chris for "primetime." these 200,000 people, more than the people killed -- so many

families, so many family lives forever changed. we remember them and we remember them all. we honor them.