Coronavirus, no longer fighting the spread. I want you listen to what the chief of staff mark meadows told jake tapper. Were not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation why arent we going to get control of the pandemic . Because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu yeah, but why not make efforts to contain it . Well, we are making efforts to contain it. By running all over the country, not wearing a mask . Joining us now, cnn medical analyst dr. Lina nguyen. Shes an Emergency Room Physician and the former Baltimore City health commissioner. Also with us, dr. Paul offit with the Childrens Hospital of philadelphia and cnn political commentator, errol leaouis. Dr. Nguyen, i want to start with you and what weve just reported in terms of the Vice President. You say by the Vice President ignoring the cdc guidelines, the ones that all americans are told to look at if theyve been exposed, hes been exposed, the guidelines are clear, hes supposed to stay home for 14 days. Hes not doing that. Hes going back out to interact with voters. You say that is making doctors jobs harder. How . Well, alisyn, the Vice President s actions are irresponsible. And theyre dangerous. We have cdc guidelines for a reason, because we know that the incubation period for covid19 is 14 days. And before that, you could be testing negative and have no symptoms, but you could actually be harboring the virus and be able to transmit it to others. So i worry about the Vice President spreading it to others and also worry about his inner circle, the other people in the white house that are probably also not following the restrictions and the guidelines to quarantine. For us as physicians, its hard enough to convince our patients to quarantine, to forego a paycheck, potentially, for 14 days. Many people live in crowded housing, where they have to separate from their families. Its difficult enough to do. And it makes our job that much harder when the Vice President , who is the head of the Coronavirus Task force in the white house, doesnt follow these very same restrictions. He is not doing what he should to stop the spread of coronavirus. Period, full stop. He just isnt doing it. The cdc guidelines are crystal clear. Quarantine for 14 days. Hes not doing it. So dr. Offit, i want you to overlay that with the statement from mark meadows, white house chief of staff, who says, were not going control the pandemic. A statement out of the white house, were not going to control it. And he said that with one week plus a day left to vote. Well, certainly, other countries have done a much better job of controlling it than we have. So the issue isnt whether or not its controllable, were the worst country in the world in terms of number of cases and deaths proportioned to our population. So were not helpless here. I mean, its been shown redundantly, not surprisingly, if you maintain social distance, wear a mask, wash hands, you can dramatically reduce the chance that you or those who come in contact with you get sick. It is remarkable to me the sort of cult of denialism. Maybe it would help if instead of these virus particles were submicroscopic, they were actually little purple dots and everybody could speee. And if you see a picture of that rose garden ceremony, you see all of these purple dots around as people are hugging each other and shaking hands, et cetera, maybe that would help. Because right now its just simple denialism that is just impossible to imagine. Yeah, it would help if the virus was visible. I wish for those little purple dots. I mean, that would change everything. But as you heard mark meadows say, theyre not going to change anything, errol. They, i guess, feel impotent to stop anything. There could be a National Mask mandate. That doesnt require any work or any taxpayer money. So the fact that Vice President biden sorry, Vice President pence is not going to following the cdc guidelines, he wants to be back on the campaign trail, that tells you what about these next eight days . It tells you theyll try to sprint to the finish and go into full denialism and pretend this is not happening. They want to tell the public its all about turning the corner and were going to have therapeutics and vaccines and some magical escape from this crisis some time in the coming months, but please vote for us next week. Thats basically what theyre trying to do, is get out of this conversation right now. The problem with that, of course, is that weve seen what this all means. Even if you wanted to accept the president ees oftrepeated explanation that this is all about testing and thats why numbers are going up. Well, hospitalizations, when people check themselves into a hospital, thats not testing, thats not a statistical flu. Thats people that are in real trouble. And thats local news in every market where its happening, in states like wisconsin, where the medical system is being stretched to the breaking point. So to the extent that we know that a Public Health crisis is also a communications crisis, they are trying basically to communicate in a fantasy world rather than the real lived experience that a lot of people are going through right now. It is, i guess, a version, politically, of a hail mary play. Just hoping beyond hope, they can run with some shoddy information and get over the finish line next tuesday. Look, by not quarantining, what shes showing to me is that the Vice President cares more about winning votes than he does about protecting lives, period. Thats just what it shows at this point. He would be following the cdc guidelines if his priority was protecting lives. Hes showing that its not. And dr. Nguyen, we are in this situation right now where the sevenday moving average of new coronavirus cases is at its highest level yet. Hospitalizations are rising. 42,000 and rising. Errol was just talking about the situation in wisconsin, el paso, texas, theyre talking about having to airlift people from hospitals there. Theyre instituting a new curfew there. Talk to me about the strain right now on some of the systems in the country. Weve seen what happens earlier in in pandemic when hospitals become overwhelmed and patients end up not receiving care. Not only patients with coronavirus, but also patients with heart attacks and strokes and in Car Accidents who may find it difficult to Access Health care. That potential could be okurg all over the country, as our hospitals become overwhelmed. And unlike last time where it was only certain parts of the country that were experiencing this, now we have virus hot spots that are occurring everywhere. And thats what makes the comments from mark meadows and others so troubling, because this is not inevitable. We actually have a narrow window of opportunity right now to stop the explosive spread that is coming. There is a tidal wave thats coming, but we have this window to take action now that includes things like National Mask mandates. That include other targeted policies. This is not an all or nothing. President trump tends to frame this as either we shut down completely or literally do nothing. Actually, theres a lot that we can do that will both save lives and also keep our economy going. We should be implementing those policies now. Right, but the Trump Administration has decided not to do that. They decided if they were going to set up this impossible decision of herd immunity versus complete shutdown. And for some reason, they have advocated any control of anything that could have been done to mitigate it in the middle. Of all of the things youre talking about, dr. Wen, all of those things in the middle, theyre not optioning. So mark meadows say, were not going to control this pandemic. Are they forcing herd immunity on us . Right now today is the worst day of the pandemic that we have seen in this country in terms of cases. So are we all being subjected to herd immunity . Is that whats happening . Well, again, the there has never been an example in the history of medicine where immunity induced by National Infection has severely limited the spread of a virus. If you want the perfect virus, it would have done that, it would have been measles. If youre infected with measles, youre protected for the rest of your life. Youre protected against all manner of disease. In other words, not just moderatetosevere disease, but mild disease or even asymptomatic infection. That virus will bounce off of you for the rest of your life. And it was highly contagious. About ten times more contagious than this virus. Nonetheless, despite that, every year, 1 to 2 Million People would get measles, about 50,000 would be hospitalized and 500 would die. The notion that you can stop a virus spread by just letting the population become naturally immune has never happened. You know, the virus has been eliminated. Its made up. Its basically taking an administration that doesnt have a policy and trying to make it a policy by saying, were trying to induce Natural Immunity from herd infection, something thats never happened. And its instructive whats happening at the highest level. Were talking about the number of new coronavirus cases and how its infecting the entire country. The smaller level is the president and his political rallies, which in some ways is a microcosm of the Overall National policy, errol. And i want to play for you what the president said on 60 minutes. This is the president defending these rallies, which may very well be super spreader events to lesley stahl. Listen. Le lessley, we hand out thousands of masks. But you look out and theyre not wearing. Okay, whats your next question, lesley . Were outside, the rallies are bigger than theyve ever been, theres more enthusiasm than weve ever had. There has never been anything like youre witnessing now. Hes right about that, theres never been anything like what youre witnessing right now. And alisyn was asking a good question last hour, which is the president is going all in on these campaign stops. Hes holding as many of these rallies as he possibly can. And it my energize his supporters. But there is a flip side of that politically speaking. There is a risk that people see the president in a way ignoring the Public Health guidelines. How do you, errol, consider and weigh these risks . Yeah, well, look, the president is living in a world where he can sort of replay the 2016 campaign, which ended up with big enthusiastic rallies and so hes going back to that. Hes not a lifelong politician. Its the only way he knows how to win. So hes doing this, but at the same time, people are getting conflicting messages. They know that after, say, the tulsa rally that he held a couple of months ago. A lot of people got sick and some people died. We know that after the super spreader event at the white house. A lot of people got sick and were hospitalized. And some away like Chris Christie saying, i wish id never done that. Its going to be a mixed message. What hes hoping will be a local headline saying, the president came to erie, pennsylvania, or the president came to wisconsin or came to minnesota and hes hoping thats going to give him a lot of exposure and get voters to the polls for him. At the same time, right behind that, theres going to be the local newspaper saying, the hospitals overwhelmed. Spreading is increasing. Problems are real and people have to wear masks. And so, you know, look, its going to be up to the voters, obviously, to sort all of this out. But the president is telling people something that i think, if Public Health information is good at a local level, they know is not true. Thank you all very much for all the information. Our next guest spent two weeks observing 13 trump rallies. What hep learned about the president s closing message. Thats next. When i was in high school, this was the theater i came to quite often. The support weve had over the last few months has been amazing. Its not just a work environment. Everyone here is family. If you are ready to open your heart and your home, check us out. We thought for sure that we were done. And this town said not today. Akeeping 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. Claim your seventyfivedollar credit when you post your first job at indeed. Com promo im one of those competitors, where its not over until the bell rings, and i feel superstitious if i predict anything other than, its going to be a hard fight. We feel good about where we are, but i dont underestimate how he plays. That was joe biden on 60 minutes last night. The president was also on 60 minutes, until he walked out of the interview. Both candidates spreading out across the country with Extensive Campaign travel. You can see, the president s itinerary right there. Hell be in pennsylvania today. Former Vice President joe biden goes to georgia tomorrow. When i look at this map, thats what jumps out at me, is joe biden is going to georgia. Youll also notice that President Trump is going to omaha, nebraska, to fight for one single electoral vote. Thats how hard hes working right now. Joining us, cnn senior political analyst, ryan lizza. Also with us, kerstin powers, a columnist at usa today. And ryan, youve been on the trail with President Trump. I guess, what, 13 different rallies all over the country. Ive been following your tweets and dispatches. Is there a coherent or what is the coherent Closing Argument that youve detected from President Trump . Theres no single coherent Closing Argument. It depend on the day, the hour, the minute. Most of these events, as you know from watching them, are pretty stream of consciousness. Whatevers on his mind. At one event, recently, he spent 15 minutes just talking about plumbing restrictions on toilets, showers, and sinks. So classic trump. When he talks about biden, he goes into, obviously, this very exaggerated, incorrect, false account of his relationship with his son and foreign influence and china. You know, i think one thing i am struck by is the number of false statements at these rallies. I know we all know this. I know we all know he has a problem telling the truth, but i think watching rally after rally and then rereading the transcripts, you just sort of are struck by this Misinformation Campaign that, you know, theres a false statement at the heart of almost everything he says at these rallies, john. I know that sounds, you know, that sounds like im exaggerating, but thats the big takeaway, when you kind of immerse yourself in trump world right now, is he has built this sealed information bubble, where his supporters absolutely adore him. One of the main chants at a trump rally these days is just simply we love you. You know, no content, just, we love you. But he set out in 2015 to discredit the media and create his own information environment where he is the source of information. And for a lot of his people, he has done that. And i think that is just one of the major stories in american politics right now, that it is hard to wrap our heads around, because were sort of witnessing it in realtime and were sort of used to it. And kerstin, heaven help his supporters if hes their sole source of information. Because what hes telling them, according to ryans reporting, as well as our reporters, is coronavirus is fine. Everything is fine. And then what we learn from contact tracers in these different states is how many dozens of people get sick after going to these rallies. Yeah, i mean, it is an alternative universe. And you know, especially if you read ryans piece. Truly, almost every line that he speaks is untethered to reality. So, you know, obviously, its always problematic when people arent being honest, but i think when it comes to Something Like the coronavirus, it adds on a really extra meaning in terms of the effect that it could have on somebody. Because if youre telling somebody that theres nothing to worry about, if, you know, youre obviously not asking people to, you know, wear masks, even though the president keeps insisting, oh, we hand out masks, but then you look out and the only people Wearing Masks are the people near the president. And you look at everybody else and most of them arent Wearing Masks. And so theyre all exposing themselves to a deadly virus, just to see the president. Ryan, if we can put the map back up of the planned travel for the coming week, i do think its somewhat instructive here. Joe biden is going to georgia tomorrow. Two stops in georgia. And if you had said to someone two years ago that the democratic candidate was going to be important, valuable time a week before election day or the final day that people can vote in georgia and that the president is going to have to go to omaha to fight for one electoral vote, its pretty striking. Absolutely. And they Just Announced, its not on the map, but they Just Announced that trump will also be back in nevada and arizona. He didnt win nevada in 2016, so that is a real long shot for him. And suggests his troubles. Arizona, the fact that he won that. The fact that biden is very competitive there is a big deal. He probably doesnt a path without arizona. Im here right now in texas. Im not here on vacation. Im here because texas is you know, we dont call it a swing state, but it is a close, close state. A lot of pressure on democrats to send highprofile people here, either biden or obama. Jill biden was just here in texas. Kamala harris it was Just Announced is coming to texas. Look, biden doesnt need texas to win, so i doubt theyre going to go all in here in the next week, but the fact that texas is a competitive state in this last week, the fact that georgia is a competitive state, that biden sees a real path there, that shows you that this that trump does still a narrow path. He could still win on the low end, in the sort of 280 to 290 electoral vote range. Thats one possibility. But on the other hand possibility, biden has a 400plus electoral vote path. This could be a complete blowout. Its an unusual election in that those are the range of possibilities. Narrow trump win to absolutely massive biden blowout. But anythings possible in the next eight days, kerstin, obviously. And now that President Trump is doing this battleground blitz, do you think, as someone who has studied this and watched this for many different elections, do you think donald trump is at a disadvantage of not doing a battleground blitz . No, not necessarily. Look, the campaign is doing what they you know, theyre looking at the state of the race, we can assume by the fact that hes in georgia that they believe that theyre in pretty good shape, looking at some of the states, for example that Hillary Clinton lost. And they also have been spending a lot more time there obviously than Hillary Clinton did. And so i think that i very much have ptsd from the polls last time. So i see the polls, if the polls are correct, absolutely, joe biden is in much, much better shape than drrp is for a variety of reasons, but definitely, as ryan was saying, you know, if it is true that texas is as close as it is, that would suggest very bad terrain for donald trump, but i think we still have to wait and see what happens on election day. Kerstin powers, ryan lizza, our thanks to both of you for joining us this morning. Really appreciate it. President ial race isnt the only one in the country, not by a long shot. The senate also up for grabs. And one of the most closely watched senate races in the country, South Carolina. Lindsey graham in the race for his life against challenger Jamie Harrison. Jamie harrison joins us next. Greetings mortal your journey requires liberty mutual. They customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Liberty power wow. That will save me lots of money. Youre insured this games boring. Lets get tacos. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. fisherman vo ce how do i register to vote . Ential election. Hmm . Hmm . Hmm . woman on porch vo can we vote by mail here . grandma vo youll be safe, right . daughter vo yes four girls vo the polls voted grandma vo go out and vote its so important man at poll vo woo grandma vo its the most important thing you can do one of the most closely watched senate races in the country is South Carolina, where incumbent senator Lindsey Graham, republican, finds himself in the race of his life against insurgent democrat Jamie Harrison, who has raised record amounts of money over the last several months. And Jamie Harrison joins me now from South Carolina. Thank you very much for being with us. If i can ask you about a little bit of news first, its that Vice President mike pence is planning on visiting South Carolina tomorrow to campaign for Lindsey Graham. As you know, five people in the Vice President s inner circle are now positive. The president , Vice President , has chosen not to quarantine, as is cdc guidelines. What do you make of the fact that the Vice President will still be in your state . Well, two things, john. First of all, its good to see you this morning. Two things. Listen, first, the Vice President was over the covid relief effort and the covid effort for the administration. So i think its probably not the safest thing for him to be traveling around with five members of his staff, including his chief of staff have been infected with the virus. You know, weve got to be responsible. We have to demonstrate the right type of leadership. But the second thing is this. You know, i dont think im old enough to remember the last time a president ial candidate or Vice President ial candidate traveled to South Carolina in last week of an election. It goes to show you that when a 25year incumbent has to call the sitting Vice President , who is trying to battle for his own reelection in places like ohio and pennsylvania and michigan, when he has to call in that type of favor, it says that lynd su graham is in trouble. That hes going to lose his race. But weve seen this, because Mitch Mcconnell has put 10 million into South Carolina in just the last two weeks. We are building a movement here that Lindsey Graham doesnt understand and he cant control. And thats why hes scared that hes about to lose his job. And if folks want to join us, go to jamieharrison. Com. Lets make it happen. How concerned are you for the health of south carolinians given that the Vice President and his people will be coming to town . Well, im very concerned about the health of south carolinians. I was a guy who brought the plexiglas in my debate with Lindsey Graham, because he had been exposed to several people who had covid. South carolina has been in the top ten of the state consistently over the past few months in terms of the rate of increase of covid. Weve got to be much more responsible. And i try my very, very best, in whatever we do in terms of campaigning, making sure that my golden rule making sure that efperson is safe. Because we dont want to do anything that jeopardizes the health of any person in this great state. As you travel the state, what do you believe the most important issue is in this election . Its health care, john. It was health care before covid hit us, but Health Care Still today. Covid has only exacerbated the problems that we have here. Prior to covid, South Carolina was one of 12 states, still is, that has not expanded medicaid. So we have over 250,000 people in the state who dont have health care. And because of covid 400,000 people have lost their health care, because they were laid off from their jobs. So we have a senator who supports a Supreme Court case right now that would rip away health care from 28 Million People. We need someone whos going to fight for health care in this country and in this state. And people are suffering right now. I mean, we have 14 of our 46 county, john, who dont have ob gyns in the entire county. Four of our rural hospitals have clo closed. So we need to get serious about fighting for affordable and Accessible Health care for all of our people. You broupght up the Supreme Court. Lindsey graham has shepherded through the confirmation process of judge Amy Coney Barrett, who by tonight will be Justice Amy Coney barrett. Youve been very critical of Lindsey Graham for reversing his position on confirming a justice this close to an election. Be that as it may, some 52 of south carolinians support her confirmation. Just 30 oppose it. So how is this not Lindsey Graham just doing the will of the people of South Carolina . You know, what the folks in South Carolina want is for their representatives to tell the truth. I mean, Lindsey Graham didnt just reverse his opinion, Lindsey Graham lied. He said, hold the tape. You know, use my word against me. We should not take up a nomination of a judicial appointment during an election year. Not only is it during an election year, people have already started voting. Weve almost had a Million People to vote here in South Carolina. True, but the people of South Carolina but the people of South Carolina do say they want it to be justice barrett. Well, john, thats one poll. Ive got another poll that shows you that many folks wanted Lindsey Graham to stick by his word. And so in the in the e at the the day, i think the greatest travesty of a Public Servant is to lie to the people that you serve. And thats what Lindsey Graham has done. If hes done it this time, hell do it again. We cant have that. We have to be able to understand that theres a reason why we have precedent, theres a reason why we have rules and laws. And politicians like Lindsey Graham dont get a free pass in order to do whatever they want wherever they want. We have to hold them accountable. I want to ask you two sides of the same question here. The success of your candidacy to date, the fact that your race is close, the fact that youve brought in all of this money, the fact that you have a fighting chance to win in South Carolina right now, what does that tell you . It tells me that people are anxious for hope. You know, when you think about the last few years, john, its been hard for so many americans. Weve had such divisive politics in washington, d. C. And when you add the coronavirus on top of it, the anxiety in homes across South Carolina is at an alltime high. They want a candidate, they want a leader whos going to bring our communities together and not tear us apart. If you listen to the rhetoric of Lindsey Graham right now, Lindsey Graham is trying to scare people to support him. Im trying to inspire people to support me. Thats a very different contrast. And in the end, i think hope is going to beat fear. If, though, and the flip side of the question i just asked you, if in the end, and its been a long time since South Carolina has elected a democrat, earnest holmes. If in the end you spend all this time raising all of this money, spending all this money, getting as close as you are right now, South Carolina reelects Lindsey Graham, what will that tell you . Listen, its going to be close, regardless of whether i win or whether i lose, its going to be really close. And i think, i hope if i come up a little short, there are two things that i hope. One, i hope that Lindsey Graham will stop taking for granted the people here in the state. He represents South Carolina, not washington, d. C. And that means he need to focus on the issues that are important to the people in the state. And i hope ive pushed him to start doing just that. But second of all, john, i was just in florence, South Carolina, for a rally. There were a number of small kids there. And one of the small kids smiled at me and held a Jamie Harrison sign and he said, i see you on tv, im going to vote for you. John, what i hope we have done is inspired a whole new generation of young folks who never imaginedd themselves running for office or that someone who looked like them could represent them. Im emboldened by that and that gives me so much energy and joy. And i hope weve sparked a whole new generation of leaders in this state. Jamie harrison, we appreciate you being with us. The next eight days will be some of the busiest of your life. We did invite senator Lindsey Graham to some on new day. He declined. Obviously, a big vote in the senate today to confirm judge Amy Coney Barrett to be justice barrett. Well talk about that with one of the senator who s who will c vote, next. Among my patients, i often see them have teeth sensitivity as well as gum issues. Does it worry me . Absolutely. Sensodyne sensitivity gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. Theres no question its something that i would recommend. Theres no question its something and sweetie can coloryou just be. Gentle with the pens. Okey. Okey. I know. Gentle. Gentle new projects means new project managers. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database so you can start hiring right away. Claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. That selling carsarvana, 100 online wouldnt work. But we went to work. Building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. Creating a coast to Coast Network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. I feel like were forglet me check. Ing. Xfinity home gives you peace of mind from anywhere with professionally monitored Home Security built around you. No, i think were good. Good. So when youre away, you dont have to worry. The tent. We forgot. The tent. Except about that. Xfinity home. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Hey look, i found the tent get xfinity home with no Term Contract required. Click or call today. Were not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation why arent we going to get control of the pandemic . Because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu. Yeah, but why not make efforts to contain it . Well, we are making efforts to contain it by running all over the country, not wearing a mask . That was chief of staff mark meadows seeming to confirm that the Trump White House wont do anything, take any steps to contain the virus beyond waiting for therapeutics and a vaccine. We are joined now by independent senator from maine, angus king. Senator, thanks for being here. Great to see you. What did you make of chief of staff mark meadows words there . Well, my first thought, alisyn was, remember, i dont know, five or six months ago, the president said, this is war. Im a wartime president. Yesterday was unconditional surrender. It was basically waving the white flag, saying, we cant control it, theres nothing you can do. And thats nonsense. Of course, they can control it. The cdc and doctors and everybody else have been telling us for months what we have to do. Its an airborne disease, therefore, masks, wash your hands, keep separate from one another. If that had been the consistent message from the white house from the beginning, when we news those were what we had to do, and in the meantime, had they developed a really strong testing program, there would probably be 50 to 100,000 fewer deaths and we would be looking like other countries that are having surges, but nothing like what were having. And thats, like i say, yesterday was the moment that the white house surrendered to the virus. Its not like we dont see the model of other countries that have done it right, that have had a fraction of our deaths. And now, five people in the close circle of Vice President pence have tested positive. But Vice President pence, the head of the krifrs task force, is not staying home, as the cdc guidelines say you should for 14 days. Hes going to go out on the campaign trail and interact with voters. And i understand hes also today going to come preside over the senate vote for judge Amy Coney Barrett. Do you know why hes coming are you comfortable with him coming to the senate and why is he doing that . No, he shouldnt be coming, particularly when his chief of staff has tested positive. Its a show. His vote isnt needed. Theres no reason for him to come. Let me go back to your other question. The president was in maine yesterday. And maine is a good example of how it can work. Our governor, janet mills, was very tough, took a huge amount o of flack in terms of how we dealt with the pandemic. We had a very aggressive cdc commissioner. And heres the bottom line. And if the trump folks had figured this out, they would be in a lot better shape right now. Were the highest state in the country, according to moodys analytics, of getting back to normal, because we took it seriously from the beginning last march. We have one of the lowest infection rates in the country. I think it is the lowest. And also, were closer being back, our economy, to normal, because we did these simple things and our governor, as i say, took a lot of heat, but stood up and did it right. I want to move on to Amy Coney Barretts confirmation today. Youve written a piece for the atlantic, that is called Amy Coney Barretts judicial philosophy doesnt hold up to scrutiny. Why not . Well, number one, one of the problems with these nominations in recent years is the hearings are really kabuki dances. Theres no real content. The candidates wont answer questions about what kind of judge theyll be, which of course is the real relevant question. But she has characterized herself as something called an originist. And this is justice scalia, for whom she clerked or mentored, and this was a big deal for him. Originialism says this, alisyn f you have a question about what the constitution means, there are only two places you can look to determine the answer to that question. The one is the text itself, the words themselves, and secondly, what was in the minds of the people that wrote the constitution, those 55 men in philadelphia in 1787 . Thats it. Anything else is judicial law making. The problem with that theory is, youve got terms in the constitution like due process, equal protection of the laws, privilege and immunities, which arent clearly defined. And if were frozen at what they said and thought in 1787, that doesnt allow us any room for ethical and moral and political growth. And thats really the problem with her philosophy. Its a narrow, crabbed view of what the federal government can do. And its going to lead in some very dangerous directions in my view when you get to things like the Affordable Care act. But lets talk about the epa or doing something about climate change. These folks want to strangle the federal government through the courts and shes going to be one of the foot soldiers in that battle. So as a result of that, you and now Vice President biden, have both, i think, said virtually the same thing about adding seats to the court. Heres what you said. I dont want to pack the court, i dont want to change the number, i dont want to have to do that. But if all of this rule breaking is taking place, what do the majority expect . What do they expect . It sounds like youre saying, their bad behavior is going to make us do this. Do two wrongs make a right . No, i dont think so, but lets put it in a little historical context. The size of the Supreme Court is not fixed in the constitution. Its up to the congress. Its changed seven times over our history. And by the way, the republicans who are clutching their pearls now who are talking about, oh, no, dont talk about packing the court, in three states, arizona, iowa, and one others, over the last three years, the republicans have packed their courts. So you know, come on. The point i was making last night was that the republicans have broken the rules of the judiciary committee. Theyve broken historic precedent by doing this nomination. It will be done eight days before an election, when they wouldnt do Merrick Garland eight months before the election . And so when i said, theres this cycle, and i dont think two wrongs make a right, but i dont understand how they can be so wrought up about this if theyre willing to break all the rules and then they act surprised that the folks on the other side and by the way, to change the size of the court is not breaking a rule, as i mentioned, its happened seven times in our history. Senator angus king, we appreciate you being on with us this morning. We will see you very soon. Indeed, thanks, alisyn. John . We want to remember some of the more than 225,000 americans lost to coronavirus. Everett boone pike was a 90yearold retired Police Officer and father. His daughter says he attended church four times a week, had plenty of friends, raised beagles and tended to his livestock on the familys 80acre farm. His daughter wants people to know that her father was not just a number. Peter seccy was 83 years old, a top Michigan StateUniversity Donor and a leader in republican politics. He served as ambassador to italy during the george h. W. Bush administration. His wife remembers him as a husband committed to his family, business, community, and rora esparza died a month after having giving birth. She got coronavirus in june, she would have been 36 in august. Be right back. Try optum perks. Its a new way to save up to 80 . And everyone can do it. Its from optum, a Health Care Company thats trusted by millions of people. You dont have to sign up for anything. Just go to optumperks. Com. And get a coupon to use at your pharmacy. Thats it. I opted in. I opted in. You can, too. Opt in and save big today. By the end of today, we will very likely have a new Supreme Court justice, a justice who was rushed through the confirmation process in just 30 days, and one week before election day, but as john avlon reports, this is not the end of the hypocrisy, not even in the beginning. John, tell us more. Later today the senates narrow republican majority is expected to put judge Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court for life. This will give the court a 63 conservative majority with three justices nominated by President Trump but two of these seats, democrat decry have stolen because republicans refused to give merritt garland a hearing but when Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg died last month the same senators abandoned any pretense of principle to push through this nominee with record speed. Nothing was going to stop them even when judge barrett refused to answer basic questions like whether a president could unilaterally delay an election. He cant. Whether voter intimidation is illegal, it is, or whether a president should commit to a peaceful transfer of power, nobrainer. Not even the fact that judge barrett sat on board of the school that bars admission to the children of gay parents. Lets be clear, we are witnessing a partisan power grab on the Supreme Court, one that follows Senate Republicans blocking an unprecedented number of obama nominees and ramming through their own, who by the way, have been 85 white and 76 men, with ten trump nominees rated not qualified by the american bar association. All of which raises the question of retaliation by democrats. Some have suggested that congress should expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court, which was changed six times before it was settle od o the current nine. When fdr tried this, he got smacked down by a democratic congress. Vice President Biden proposes a Bipartisan Commission but republicans seized on packing the court as a campaign issue, with trump mentioning it almost 60 times in the last month alone, according to fact base. Here is the thing. Republicans have been trying to pack courts for years. Take arizona where republican governor doug ducey expanded the Supreme Court from five seats to seven, when it comes to the u. S. Supreme court he says we shouldnt be chanlgi ingchangin institutions. In georgia, nathan diehl expanded the Supreme Court from seven to nine in and iowa expanding the Supreme Court in 2009 after gay marriage was declared legal in the state. There have been 11 mostly gopled attempts to pack state courts in recent years. Get this, when president obama fresh off his reelection had three vacancies open up on the d. C. Kiir scircuit court in 201 republicans called the bill the Court Efficiency act, to remove the seats and senator mike lee hoped democrats would not seek to pack the d. C. Circuit with unneeded judges simply in order to advance a partisan agenda. There is no record whether he was able to say this with a straight face. Because as one brookings scholar pointed out, appointing judges to existing vacancies is not court packing. Its the way the system works, our judicial system is supposed to be independent and above partisan politics but its been degraded about power grabs to pretend to be about principle. It takes serious reforms to rebuild a broken trust and thats your reality check. John, thank you very much for that History Lesson and reality check. New day continues right now. Several top aides have recently tested positive. Were not going to control the pandemic. Its a contagious virus like the flu. Why not make efforts to contain it. We are making efforts to contain it. We ease little hit sixfigure numbers in terms of the number of cases and the deaths are going to go up precipitously. Were at a dangerous tipping point. People are not Wearing Masks, then maybe we should be mandating it. Announcer this is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day, and a grim milestone in this pandemic, the worst sevenday period in terms of new cases we have ever seen. Thats right, the average daily case rate in the United States is higher than it has ever been. Well thats happening, at least five members of Vice President pences inner circle tested positive including his chief of staff and body man but the Vice President , who is the leader of the Coronavirus Task force, the leader is ignoring cdc guidelines to quarantine. Hes supposed to quarantine for 14 days. Hes not going to bother. Hes out on the campaign trail, sending the signal that winning votes more important than protecting lives. Not only will he be face to face with voters all around the country but hes expected in the Senate Chamber today to preside over the Supreme Court confirmation vote for judge Amy Coney Barrett. So overnight, there were more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the u. S. , but that follows backtoback days of more than 83,000 cases. Friday and saturday set a record for the entire pandemic. Cases are increasing in 37 states. No states on this map that you see on your screen are in green, none are trending in the right direction today. Eight states are seeing record hospitalizations and the death toll in the u. S. Is now more than 225,000 people and the white house sounds like they are admitting they have given up on trying to stop the spread of coronavirus. Chief of staff mark meadows telling cnn we are not going to control the pandemic. Joining us now is the dean of Brown Universitys school of Public Health, dr. Ashish jha, thank you for being with us. Let me set the stage by playing the sound once again from the white house chief of staff, mark meado meadows, in his conversation with jake tapper where the chief of staff said were not going to stop the pandemic at this point. He declared with nine days to go left for americans to vote, were not going to stop the spread. So listen. Were not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation. Why arent we going to get control of the pan demme ick . Because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu. Why not make efforts to contain it. We are making efforts to contain it. Running all over the country, not wearing a mask . Were not going