new garlique healthy blood pressure formula helps maintain healthy blood pressure with a custom blend of ingredients. i'm taking charge, with garlique. and good evening. thanks for joining us. as you look at the president's third-straight night, on his potential superspreader tour, think about this. minnesota's department of health, tonight, reports it now has traced 16 cases of covid to one of the president trips there, last month. it's clear, the president doesn't care about the virus spreading at his rallies. just, as he seems unconcerned about spreading it at numerous indoor and outdoor events over the last several weeks and months. the question, tonight, has the president decided to go for so-called herd immunity? is that, in fact, already the unstated policy of this white house? now, the idea, as you probably know, simply put, is to let as many healthy people as possible catch the virus. it's not a new idea. and it's one the president, once, said he rejected.

but now? he certainly seems to be willing to let as many of his own followers risk infection at his own rallies. the idea made headlines again recently, when three scientists put out what they call the great barrington declaration. to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally, to build up immunity to the virus, through natural infection. while better protecting those who are at highest risk. we call this focused protection. now, the declaration presents no data, was not published in a peer-reviewed publication. but it does sound familiar. here's what radiologist and the doctor who now has the president's ear, scott atlas, was saying in april. >> we can allow a lot of people to get infected. those who are not at risk to be -- to die or have a serious, hospital-requiring illness, we should be fine with letting them

get infected. generating immunity, on their own. and the more immunity in the community, the better we can eradicate the threat of the virus, including the threat to people who are vulnerable. that's what herd immunity is. >> dr. atlas, now, seems to be the president's closest adviser on the pandemic. now, that dr. fauci, birx, and redfield, have, pretty much, been shoved aside. it looks more and more as if herd immunity, or its euphemism, focused protection, is now something he may be okay with, without actually saying so. early last week, though, scientists behind this great barrington declaration met with dr. atlas and alex azar who tweeted, quote, we heard strong reinforcement of the trump administration strategy of aggressively protecting the vulnerable while opening schools.

what he did not do, and what dr. atlas has not done, is say that reaching herd immunity, if that's even possible, could put thousands or even millions lives at richk. risk. again, take a look at tonight's crowd. how many of the young people, you see there, live with or come in contact with older people? how many healthy-looking people are on chemotherapy or have diabetes or are overweight or have other risk factors for dying of covid that some might not even know of? who, amongst these people, might get the disease and recover but suffer long-term complications, as a lot of healthy people who had mild covid infections, were never even hospitalized, are experiencing. >> herd immunity is another word for mass murder. that is exactly what it is. if you allow this virus to spread, as they are advocating, we are looking at 2 to 6 million americans dead, not just this year but, every year. the reason for that is that, there is no such thing as herd immunity. these viruses, coronaviruses,

come back, year after year, and infect the very same people. >> that's professor william haseltine, who unlike dr. atlas, does specialize in infectious diseases. he is not alone in his view of herd immunity. just over an hour ago, 80 scientists pushed back in a letter to the lancet, which is perhaps the world's most foremost medical journal. quoting now, this, meaning herd immunity, is a dangerous fallacy, unsupported by scientific evidence. the authors point out in some regions, 30% of the population is at high risk for severe forms of covid and isolating that many people, as they say, is scientifically and ethically problematic. they go on to say, quote, we cannot afford distractions and undermine an effective response. that appears to be precisely what the white house is entertaining. without coming clean about the downside of it. without saying the whole letting lots of people get infected part, out loud. only by implication. recall secretary azar's tweet. he said, quote, aggressively

protecting the vulnerable. not everyone. the vulnerable. so, does that mean not aggressively protecting everyone? does it mean letting some people or many people get sick? we don't know. here's the president, late last month. >> we are relentlessly focused on protecting the vulnerable, while enabling healthy americans to go back to work. we can do both, as florida, arizona, and other states have recently shown. >> relentlessly focused, he says. not on keeping us all safe. not on wearing masks to protect ourselves and to protect others. just some. no mention of herd immunity. told the administration does not endorse a herd immunity plan. protecting the vulnerable, while reopening schools and businesses. but if that's all there is to it, there have been moments the president, himself, has suggested otherwise. although, he didn't quite get the words right. >> you'll develop.

you'll develop herd -- like a herd mentality. it's going to be -- it's going to be herd developed and that's going to happen. that will all happen. >> that'll all happen. the question, tonight, is trying to make it happen? is he trying to make it happen? or let it happen? is that, also, his policy? and if so, why isn't the public being given a say in this? another quick note. late, today, the first lady revealed her son barron contracted covid, suffered no symptoms, and has since tested negative. jim acosta joins us now from the rally in des moines. so, jim, what are you hearing from people there? >> anderson, what we are hearing from trump supporters, tonight, is that they are placing their trust in the president, as opposed to what top health experts have been saying for months. that people should avoid crowds. they should practice social distancing. they should wear a mask. hardly any of that is happening here when you look at the crowd here this evening. you don't see people wearing masks. you don't see people practicing social distancing. and when we talked to trump supporters coming into this rally, earlier tonight, they were all but saying if i get sick, even if i die, so be it.

here's what they had to say. >> again, just any health concerns about being at the rally? >> i don't have any concerns, at all. can't live your life in fear, and i'm not really scared of this virus. there's all kinds of other viruses out there, that could jeopardize your health as well. so, can't stop living. >> and, ma'am, what do you think? you feel the same way, i guess? >> it's a 99.9% survival rate, and i am going to continue to live my life. and i hope -- i hope everybody else does, too. i mean, i'm going to -- i'm going to continue to -- to live, and i'm not going to be in fear of it. >> and what do you think about trump getting the virus? what did you make of that? >> i think anybody can get the virus. >> yeah. >> and trump getting the virus

shows that we are all human, and anyone can get the virus. and you can be cautious and you can get the virus. >> what about getting all these people together, in one space? they call that a superspreader. >> you could have two people, in one space, and you could get the virus. >> we're just asking folks. we're just wondering how people feel about the safety of going to the rally, with all those people there, do you think it's a health risk? >> i don't. i don't, because i feel like, yes, the covid's -- it's kind of dangerous and it can be, for some people. but for the most of us, we're going to go on with life. you know, if i'm going to get sick and die, i guess it's my turn. but i trust god and i'm not scared. >> but if you don't put yourself at risk, you might not die. >> i put myself at risk every time i go to the grocery store, i go to mcdonald's, i go to

work, i do anything. i'm not going to stop living. >> anderson, after speaking with some of those trump supporters, we could see them filing into this event. they were still not wearing their masks. one thing we should point out to our viewers, anderson, the campaign is trying to pull a fast one with the audience tuning in at home. they have placed trump supporters behind the president wearing maga masks, to give the false impression that most of the people here are wearing those masks. that is not the case. the people behind the president represent, really, a minority of the folks who are in this crowd tonight, anderson. >> yeah. just -- i don't understand why they do that. i mean, if they feel so confident, you know, encouraging people not to wear masks, i mean, the president has certainly downplayed masks, from the very get go. why would they, other than to manipulate people's belief, all of everybody who is not there's belief, that everyone is wearing a mask? but if they are so proud of people not wearing masks, why are they, you know, putting masks that they've clearly given out to those people, all of which have the slogan of the

campaign on it? >> anderson, i think they -- they understand that there is some serious apprehension out there with a lot of voters. a lot of independent-moderate voters, who see these events and just think that they're plain crazy to have all these people packing in here, and not practicing social distancing and not using masks. and there are people in this community, anderson, who are sharply critical of what's happening. positioned just outside of the des moines airport, where we're standing right now, there is a billboard that says trump superspreader event with an arrow pointing over here, to where this rally is taking place, tonight. very big concerns, in this community, that the president is going to be throwing gasoline on the coronavirus problem in iowa, which has been getting worse, over -- over recent days, anderson. >> jim acosta, appreciate it. thank you. perspective now from dr. richard besser, former acting director of the cdc. dr. besser, does it make any sense to you that anyone in the white house or connected to the white house would argue for massive, widespread infection, in the name of herd immunity?

i mean, if you look at the washington -- university of washington projections, they showed that, you know, 1.2 million people in the u.s., alone, could die with a herd-immunity strategy. and even the president, early on, used to mock sweden for the choices they made. it seems like he's not doing that, anymore. >> well, you know, if you look at sweden, they have the highest death rate in europe. and they've taken an approach of having people go about their businesses, no masks, none -- none of the precautions that public health is calling on here. this great barington approach that is getting a lot of discussion, today, it calls on young people to go out, live their lives, not wear masks, and get infected. what we've seen, where that takes place, this summer in florida and in texas and arizona is that the rise in cases, in young people, doesn't stay with young people. it's followed, a week or so later, by rising cases in groups that are at much greater risk of having severe disease or dying. the elderly. people with underlying medical conditions. and the other aspect of this, anderson, is that, you know, as

you look at who's been infected, to date, the most, people of color. black americans, latino americans, native americans, dying at rates that far surpass the proportion of the population. three to five times that of white -- of white americans. if we go with this strategy, we will see a continuing disparate impact on people of color, on lower-income people, who have to go to work who don't have the choice of working remotely. and that -- the fairness of that, anderson, is just -- just unbelievable. >> the other thing to this herd-immunity idea is it's sort of predicated on what seems like a early in the pandemic notion that it's only old people who are going to get sick and are at risk and young people bounce back from it. when we now know, i mean, there are what they call long-haulers. people who have long-lasting symptoms. six, seven months out. who had relatively mild cases, weren't even hospitalized. but they're coming down with these -- they have continuing

symptoms, and we don't -- and doctors don't really know a whole ton about that. >> i -- i -- i think this kind of approach really underestimates how little we still know about this virus. we don't know what proportion of the population would need to be infected for the virus to not be able to spread easily within communities. and we don't know. you're right. we don't know the answer to the question of what's the long-term impact? we don't know, for children, who tend to have very low rates of hospitalization and death, whether there's any long-term consequences, anything later in life, from having this infection when they're young. so, the idea that we would just go forward and say go ahead and get infected is -- is -- is a strategy that is willing to sacrifice thousands and thousands of lives in america. for something that is unproven, untested. when the possibility may be out there that there's a vaccine or other strategies that can get us back to a more working society. >> obviously, the president is, you know, using the fact that he

had covid. and, you know, as a sign not only of his own strength but, also, that he's able to bounce back. it's not so bad. he's now saying he is immune. step -- you know, put aside the fact that he got medical care, that most people who get covid will never be able to get. but the very little experts know about covid-19 and immunity, it's not clear, correct me if i'm wrong, how short lived or how long that immunity may last for. >> right. it's one of those unanswered questions. it does look like, if you have this infection, it's likely -- you know, to date, we've only been able to follow people now for eight, nine months. it's very rare to get a second infection. there have been about five documented -- documented cases of this. but we don't know. we don't know how long that -- that protection lasts and that's a very important question. >> this whole idea of -- with herd immunity of, you know, focus everything on protecting the vulnerable. and let, you know, others, you know, go to school, work, and they'll get infected and they'll

bounce back cause they're young. i mean, first of all, there's a huge pool of those who are particularly vulnerable. people -- elderly. people with pre-existing conditions. obesity. the idea that you're, somehow, going to magically be able to protect them. it's not like they're all in nursing homes. i mean, it's -- it's -- i just -- i mean, what are you going to do? round up all these people and, somehow, protect them? >> and that's how the argument is laid out. is that, well, you could protect people in nursing homes. you could test the workers in nursing homes. but people at risk are not limited to nursing homes. so many young people live in multigenerational households. and so, they'd be coming home with infection and infecting others. so many people don't have a choice of whether they go to work, and they are going to work with underlying medical conditions that put them at risk for severe disease. it's -- it's a really bad decision to think about going forward this way, when, you know, one of the -- one of

the -- the false arguments around this is that -- you hear the description of either totally shut down as a society or we're totally open. what public health is allowing us to do by -- if we follow the guidance of public health, is that we can gradually open parts of society. get people back to school. we're seeing colleges, where it's going quite well. we are seeing some schools where it's going quite well. if we follow that roadmap. if people were all to wear masks, we would have a lot more economic activity than we currently have. the idea that you have to just allow young people to get this infection, from a public-health standpoint, from an epidemiologic standpoint, just doesn't make sense. >> lastly, we knew the first lady was infected with covid-19, in addition to the president. today, mrs. trump announced young son, barron, was also infected. she said thankfully, he is okay and has tested negative. but it does underscore the risk for people in the same household. clearly, enough precautions were not taken in the white house,

nor were they being taken at the president's rallies. >> you know, when -- when we talk about herd immunity, you know, as a pediatrician, we talk about it as protecting those who are unable to get vaccinated. who really need our protection. so, people who have cancer and are getting treatment. people who have immune problems and can't get a vaccine and are at greater risk. we don't talk about it as a way of, well, let's just get everybody infected so the disease stops transmitting. it's a specific concept that's used, you know, to let you know what percentage of what population has to be vaccinated, in order to protect those who are at the greatest risk. you know, i'm very grateful that the president's son had a mild infection. but not all children do. and we want to do everything we can to protect all children from this as well. >> yeah. dr. richard besser, appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. >> coming up next. new reporting with evidence that as the public was being told it was under control, some republican donors were getting a different, more troubling

message, one that reportedly enabled wall street investors to potentially cash in. later, remember the masking scandal the president kept talking about? the greatest political scandal in history. the one he said joe biden and obama should go to jail for? the scandal, itself, has been unmasked as a whole lot of nothing. (♪ ) keeping your oysters growing while keeping your business growing has you swamped. (♪ ) you need to hire i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base so you can start hiring right away.

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acting tonight as though the pandemic is behind us. or at least shouldn't be a concern for most of us. which, in a way, has been a constant going back to the very beginning. we already know from conversations with bob woodward reporting he knew how bad this could be, which he didn't share with the public. tonight, "the new york times" has an earlier example. security national analyst and "new york times" national investigative correspondent. and, well, we just lost him but we will try to get back in touch with mark. it's a fascinating report, in "the times." we'll wait to get back to it. tonight, trump and his allies are sifting through the wreckage of what they said and what they convinced supporters was a major scandal at the tail end of the administration. and the president hoped provide a boom for the president just in time for the november election. >> the obama campaign spied on

our campaign. and they've been caught. all right? and now, let's see what happens to them. >> we caught them spying on my campaign. who would've believed that one? >> they have been caught. they've been caught red handed. it's probably treason. it's a horrible thing they did. >> the unmasking is -- it's a massive thing. it's -- i just got a list -- it's -- it's -- who can believe a thing like this? >> it probably never happened, before. at least, nobody got caught doing it. but they used the intelligence agencies of our country to spy on my campaign, and they have been caught. there was absolutely spying into my campaign. i'll go a step further. in my opinion, it was illegal spying. unprecedented spying. this was all obama. this was all biden. these people were corrupt. the whole thing was corrupt. >> so, none of that was true. according to "the washington post," the federal prosecutor, appointed to investigate whether

obama officials improperly requested names redacted in u.s. intelligence documents and helped, thus, prove that, quote, spying occurred, has concluded his report and found no substantive wrongdoing. none. more from cnn's jessica snyder. >> reporter: president trump reacting to the news of his much-hyped conspiracy theory fizzling in an afternoon interview. >> it's a disgrace. they're guilty as hell. >> reporter: mr. trump also expressing exasperation with the attorney general, refusing to say if he will keep barr around. >> bill barr. will he be around in a second term? >> i have no comment. can't comment on that. it's too early. >> too early? >> i'm not happy with all of the evidence they had. i can tell you that. i'm not happy. >> reporter: it's a sudden end to the unmasking investigation republicans were lying on to prove wrongdoing by the obama administration. >> if we weren't involved in the covid-19 crisis, this would be a

scandal, the biggest thing since watergate. >> reporter: so much for that. the president's self-created conspiracy, accusing his predecessor of treason, involving flynn. flynn was swept up in foreign-intelligence gathering when he spoke with foreign officials who were being monitored by u.s. intelligence. typically, americans' names are kept secret but several obama officials unredacted or unmasked flynn's identity. and in may, released the names of obama officials who allegedly requested that unmasking and they included former vice president joe biden. >> this was all obama. this was all biden. these people were corrupt. the whole thing was corrupt. and we caught them. we caught them. >> reporter: but unmasking is not illegal. senior government officials have the ability to ask for names, in certain circumstances. in fact, the trump administration unmasked nearly 17,000 americans' identities, in 2018. compared with about 9,000 under

president obama in 2016. >> to turn this into some sort of a conspiracy, in an effort to support the president's political narrative. and for the justice department to pick that up and pursue an investigation, on absolutely no grounds, it's -- it's -- it's disgusting. it's just absolutely horrible. >> reporter: just last week, trump called for charges against obama and biden. >> these people should be indicted. this was the greatest political crime in the history of our country. and that includes obama, and it includes biden. >> reporter: with word that the investigation into what trump falsely labeled as treason is over, top trump allies say they're going to be asking for more answers. >> i saw that. i'm going to follow up. and if they've completed their report, i'd like to know what it is. >> reporter: jessica snyder, cnn, washington. >> let's get perspective, now, from two top-ranking intelligence officials in the obama administration, whom republicans tied to try to these unfounded allegations of spying. retired general james clapper and cnn national security

analyst, the author of facts and fears, hard truths from life and intelligence. also with us, john brennan. author of "undaunted." my fight against america's enemies at home and abroad. i am wondering what your reaction was when this whole unmasking probe just fizzled out? >> well, i think, anderson, that it is consistent with what i thought was going to happen. that once they looked into this, they would realize there was absolutely nothing inappropriate or wrong that took place. i think, from the very start, this was a politically motivated probe that attorney general barr initiated in order to please donald trump. and so, i'm glad that it resulted in no charges and even no report because the unmasking that went on was consistent with the practices that are used in the national-security arena, when senior officials need to have understanding of who might be involved in some type of activity, of concern to the

intelligence officials. >> director clapper, i mean, i guess it's not surprising that they didn't -- that, you know, attorney general barr didn't announce that this has all come to nothing. that, they just kind of -- they just -- they're just hoping this news just disappears, like the investigation, itself, because they don't want to draw attention to the fact that the president was just making stuff up. calling -- you know, saying that the former president committed treason, et cetera. but it's pretty -- it's pretty weak for them to launch this investigation, call these people treasonous, and then not make any public declaration. not have the attorney general stand up, and say, you know, the investigation's over. >> well, yeah. you'd certainly prefer that the attorney general would announce that the investigation's over, and there were no findings of wrongdoing. but that wouldn't support the narrative that the president wants.

and he's, as you showed, you know, kind of disappointed in all this. but, like john, it certainly came as no surprise because this is a longstanding, routine procedure. when a u.s. person is engaged with a valid, foreign-intelligence target, and that's an important phrase, it is particularly legitimate and appropriate to find out who that is. and -- and -- and in the context of does this pose a threat to the safety and security of the country? >> director brennen, this conspiracy was being pushed, for a long time, not only by the president but, you know, his allies in congress. fox news. i'm wondering has the well been poisoned so deeply that it won't change the minds of those convinced something occurred? >> well, unfortunately, donald trump and other members of the republican party continue to propagate these conspiracy theories. and try to besmirch the

reputations of former officials. and unfortunately, i think the -- those who want to believe them will believe them and will not understand, exactly, that this is all being done for political purposes. and as -- as jim said, it, again, is a normal practice that, unfortunately, has been mischaracterized by those who want to paint the obama administration as having engaged in something that was inappropriate. but the investigation of russian interference and the activities that the intelligence law enforcement engaged in, during that period of time, were obligations, on the part of those agencies, to ensure that the president and others understood the extent and the scope of what the russians were doing to try to interfere in our election. >> director clapper -- yeah, go ahead. >> just to add to that, anderson, i'd just say we'd have been derelict, had we not looked into this. i also might add that while the

justice department investigation, apparently, is over. john and i, among many others, are still on a subpoena list for the senate homeland security and government operations committee, which i -- i believe is still in -- investigating unmasking. >> director clapper, i mean, this is -- in some ways, it's -- it's sort of another example of the president, you know, throwing something out there. and then, using the arms of government to try to validate his unsupported conclusion. it's like his voter-fraud commission, that was launched with great fanfare because he believed, you know, hillary clinton won the popular vote because, you know, millions of undocumented immigrants were, you know, voting multiple times in california and elsewhere. and then, that just gets disbanded because they can't find any, actual proof of this. except, what's different, this time, is he was talking about treason, which is punishable by death. >> well, which is completely absurd.

and i think reflects a misunderstanding of what treason is. but to john's point, i'd just reinforce something that he said. that, you know, unfortunately, words matter. when the president of the united states says something, people listen to it. and for some people in this country, his base, they're always going to be believers, regardless of whether there is actual fact to back -- to back up what he says. >> director brennen, your new book is titled "undaunted, my fight against america's enemies at home and abroad." "the new york times" wrote undaunted opens and closes with scathing discussions of trump. do you think of the president of the united states as an enemy? and, if so, of who? >> well, i certainly think that he has been ill prepared, ill

equipped, and incompetent, in terms of carrying out the duties of the president of the united states. which, that office is designed to keep this country safe and strong. unfortunately, as we have seen, in terms of his interactions with vladimir putin, as well as with other authoritarian leaders around the world, i do not believe that he is helping and strengthening u.s. national security. in fact, he is undermining it, including by, not relying on those alliances and partnerships that have been so important to the united states and to global stability and security over the last 75 years. so, i do consider that he has been a problem, from a national security standpoint. that he is not fulfilling the responsibilities that jim and i have, not only expected from a president of the united states but, have seen in previous presidents that we've served. >> director brennen. director james clapper. thank you so much. i appreciate it. >> thanks. >> just ahead. we fixed our technical difficulties with "new york times"' mark mizetti. we are going to have his fascinating, new reporting, next.

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difficulties getting to mark mazzetti. his reporting tonight in "the new york times" and what the administration was and was not telling the public in february and what they were telling investors. he joins us now. mark, thanks so much for being with us. it's a fascinating report. you begin with the reminder that, back on february 24th, weeks before this was declared a pandemic. read, quote, the coronavirus is very much under control in the usa. and stock markets starting to look very good to me. that was in public. and members of his economic team

were delivering a different message to others. what did you learn? >> well, what we're reporting is that, over those next couple days, the 24th and the 25th, there were some private meetings with a group of board members of the hoover institution, which is a conservative thinktank, research institution. and many of them, big, republican donors. and in private, some of the economic advisers to the president were being far more cautious about what the impact could be. and when i say cautious, they were effectively warning that it actually could be worse than what the president and his advisers were saying in public. and what we report is, from those meetings, there was a memo that circulated, very quickly, around the hedge-fund world. and some very big hedge funds spread it to their friends, some of their clients. and this fueled this big, stock mar market selloff that happened this week. it was this critical period of time, when any information about

what the government really knew about coronavirus was essential, not only for the public but, also, for people trading the market. >> larry kudlow, president trump's director of the national economic council said this on cnbc about the virus, the next day, after this presidential tweet. oh, actually, he said -- oh here it is. >> u.s. is concerned. i mean, when you look at this, you have a little higher head count on the infections because of the cruise ship people coming off. we have contained this. we have contained this. i won't say airtight but pretty close to airtight. >> so, was he saying something else, in private? >> yeah. so, a couple hours after that interview, which became, kind of, infamous, for the trump administration not really leveling with the public about extent of the problem. after that, there was a private session with this group and he is asked about it. and he kind of back peddles

according to our reporting and according to the memo that was written. which is he said, well, it's locked down to this point, but now, quote, we just don't really know. and this was read as another sign, for the person who wrote this memo, who attended these sessions, that clearly the economic team is concerned. they're far more concerned, in private, than they are showing in public. and then, this is a signal, a red flag, for investors to start, basically, shorting -- shorting the stock market. >> right. shorting is if they expect the stock market to go down, they can benefit by shorting -- shorting where the market's going to go. >> right. if you are betting the stock market's going to fall, then if it does, you make money. and an interesting thing, cooper -- sorry, anderson -- is that it's -- if you are short the market, you want other shorts, along with you. you want people to go along with you so, in effect, your bet pays off. so, that's what we saw the first

was this hedge fund appaloosa run by david tapaloosa, who is a very successful hedge fund manager. and other people start following his lead. so it's sort of how some privilege information can be used by investors, to gain advantage, before the public really has this information. >> it's fascinating reporting in "the new york times." mark mazzetti, thank you so much. >> thanks, anderson. >> up next, long lines for early voting. what does it mean for turnout less than three weeks from election day? we will take a look at that. also, obama on calls to indict him from president trump. that's when we continue. 133 million americans have pre-existing conditions

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proposition 16 takes on discrimination. some women make as little as 42% of what a man makes. voting yes on prop 16 helps us fix that. it's supported by leaders like kamala harris and opposed by those who have always opposed equality. we either fall from grace or we rise. together. proposition 16 provides equal opportunities, levelling the playing field for all of us. vote yes on prop 16. the unfair money bail system. he, accused of rape. while he, accused of stealing $5. the stanford rapist could afford bail; got out the same day. the senior citizen could not; forced to wait in jail nearly a year. voting yes on prop 25 ends this failed system, replacing it with one based on public safety. because the size of your wallet

shouldn't determine whether or not you're in jail. vote yes on prop 25 to end money bail. of the 14 million ballots already cast with less than three weeks to election day. long lines. with sometimes controversial issues like glitches but also huge enthusiasm. georgia, today, said it had record turnout, when early voting began on monday. and that 10% of total voters have already cast their vote. both, trump and biden campaigns now trying to figure out who benefits from this voting surge. want to break down the campaign as it stands with john king. >> anderson, 20 days out, the math is indisputable. in the race to 270, joe biden leads and he leads quite comfortably. we have him at 290, right now. joe biden, at 290.

takes 270 to win. the president, at 163, meaning he has a long way to go. now, where the candidates campaign, where they go, tells you a lot about how they see the race. so let's start by looking at that. if you look at campaign travel just this week. kamala harris in washington for the supreme court hearings. joe biden visiting florida, north carolina, ohio, and pennsylvania. yes, he needs pennsylvania. these others, though, joe biden does not need them. he is on offense, not defense. the president and vice president, florida, iowa, michigan, all states the republican ticket carried in 2016. all states, they are in peril of losing, in 2020. that's one way to look at it. here is another way to look at it. yes, the president came back in 2016. but look at this. ten recent, battleground state polls. what's missing? nowhere, is the president ahead. joe biden leading with a big lead in pennsylvania. a big lead in wisconsin. a healthy lead in michigan. yes, north carolina's close,

georgia's close, iowa's a tie. those states, all in play for the president. but nowhere, if you look at the battleground polling, are you getting numbers saying the president has momentum. the president is pulling ahead or pulling away. again, advantage, biden. show, let's come back to this map. here's what is striking. tossups, right? most people think, at the moment, that's going biden's way. so let's put it off the map. one, two, three, four, five states. joe biden can win the presidency without winning florida. without winning north carolina. without flipping more republican states like ohio. can the president win? yes. yes. yes. but it's a steep climb. he must win ohio. no republican can win the white house, without it. he must win florida. he must keep georgia red. he must keep north carolina red. and he must win iowa. so, if the president sweeps our tossups, he's back in the game but he is still short, which is why it gets so complicated. even at this point, even if he won all the tossup states still

on the map, he has to take something away and not just one. let's say the president won out in arizona. it's not enough, right? so he would have to take away something big like pennsylvania to do it, where joe biden has a big lead right now. let's say the president does get pennsylvania but joe biden holds onto arizona. look at that. biden's still in the lead. this is why the chess game gets so complicated. the president must win the tossups on this map. but then, he has to take sm something away. at the moment, what he did in 2016, pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin, at this moment, looks out of reach. and then, he is going to have to find, anderson, even more possible. at the moment, though, very tough. >> john king. john, thanks very much for political perspective. let's bring in congresswoman val demings, who represents in florida. obviously, critical. how are you gaging voter enthusiasm, so far? and how do you see the election playing out there? >> anderson, it's great to be back with you. and let me just say this.

all of the enthusiasm, from what i have seen, from what i've heard, and talking with voters is, clearly, in biden's camp. . i heard john say that joe biden could win without florida, but i tell you what. we're working hard to make sure we give him plus-one, and that is florida. you've seen the response as vice president biden talked to seniors, for example, and you've seen them pull away from the president at really what should be for his campaign an alarming rate. so while we're taking nothing for granted here on the ground, the vice president is certainly not taking anything for granted here on the ground. i think he's spending the time with the voters that he needs to, and we really feel good although not relaxing too soon. we feel good about vice president biden's chances in the sunshine state. >> i want to play something that president obama just said on a podcast hosted by his former aides responding to president trump's call to indict him. let's play that.

>> the allegations are so absurd that even republican-controlled committees, you know, looking into it have dismissed them. you know, attorney general barr has dismissed them. one of the central foundation stones of a democracy is the idea that you do not -- you do not allow the politicization of the criminal justice system, the intelligence system, the military, right? i'm disappointed that republicans who know better have not checked him on this, and i think a very important question after the election, even if it goes well with joe biden, is whether you start seeing the

republican party restore some sense of norms that we can't breach because he's breached all of them, and they have not said to him, this is too far. >> i wonder what your reaction to that is. a lot of your republican colleagues on capitol hill do know better and, you know, if what president trump had been doing -- if president obama had been doing what president trump has done, their heads would have exploded, and they would be, you know, calling for investigations and whatnot. >> anderson, it is so good to hear president obama's voice of reason. he's absolutely correct. look, i worked in the criminal justice system for a number of years. i serve on the intelligence committee, serve on judiciary. i served as an impeachment manager. and what was quite disappointing, as president

obama has said, that the republicans never, never -- i witnessed them never check president trump on any of it. and so it has been very, very disappointing, but we know if we continue to work hard, we have just a couple of more weeks, and i believe that there will be a change at the top. but it has been -- i tell you what. there were times i was just quite frankly shocked at the republicans, my republican colleagues' lack of checking the president. i mean he went as far as he wanted to go, and that was clearly disgraceful. >> do you worry about democrats being overconfident because i mean, you know, i love john king, and everything he said is true, and he also said, you know, the president can still win. there is a path for him. it's a difficult one. same thing four years ago. it was a difficult electoral path for him, but he got it.

>> anderson, i do not believe that we are overconfident. i mean you've seen the lines. look at the lines in georgia. look at the lines in texas. they are certainly not taking anything for granted. we know based on the last four years how high the stakes are. something else that president obama said was basic competence can save lives. i believe that every person who was out there standing in those lines for hours waiting to vote understand that we do not have even basic competence in the white house right now. so we're not taking anything for granted. we're working hard for every voter that you see standing in those long lines. and i do believe that their sacrifice, their commitment to exercising their right to vote will pay off for them. >> congresswoman demings, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. as you saw with john king, pennsylvania critical to

president trump's chances of winning the election. our chief political correspondent dana bash traveled there to see if president trump's successes there in 2016 was a onetime upset or if he's on the road for a repeat performance. what she discovered when we continue. and you're going to find yourself where you need to be. ♪ the race is never over. the journey has no port. the adventure never ends, because we are always on the way. ♪ ♪ (vo) i'm a verizon engineer and today, we're turning on 5g across the country. with the coverage of 5g nationwide. and, in more and more cities, the unprecedented performance of ultra wideband. the fastest 5g in the world.

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new garlique healthy blood pressure formula helps maintain healthy blood pressure with a custom blend of ingredients. i'm taking charge, with garlique. as john king showed us earlier, pennsylvania could decide the election again. both candidates certainly know that. our chief political correspondent dana bash went to what's considered to be a trump-friendly part of the state. here's what she found. >> reporter: a line forms outside well before opening, waiting to enter the trump house. >> ready for the next group. come on in. >> reporter: a mecca of sorts for the president's supporters in southwest pennsylvania, where trump's record turnout four years ago helped deliver his surprise pennsylvania victory and the white house.

>> shirt or hat. >> reporter: leslie rossi created the trump house where she pushed voters to choose trump. >> we gave people a place to come to to believe they could win. >> hi. welcome to the trump house. >> reporter: now, trump supporters show up daily for swag and yard signs and help registering to vote. >> we need trump in there again. i'm 65. i think it's time to register. >> reporter: have you not voted ever? >> no. >> reporter: rural westmoreland county is seeing a surge in republican registrations. they help abowith that too. >> changed my registration from democrat to republican. >> why? >> from what i've seen in the last past couple years, i was ashamed to say i was a democrat. >> reporter: but joe biden isn't giving up here. campaigning in westmoreland county last month. hillary clinton didn't come here in the general election. >> it's not an area democrats come and campaign very often, but you're here. why? >> i'm here because like i said,