26-year-old father of two, joey cassner, the division chief of white animal control. his obituary reads in part to know joey is to love joey. he was a deacon at his church. he loved hunting, fishing, playing softball and coaching his kids in sports. the family of a teacher in bay port, wisconsin now believes she got coronavirus after attending the funeral of a close relative. 47-year-old heidi hussley was the mom to one son and taught german. her former students remember her in interviews. one of them said this. i always described her as the kindest heart that i ever knew. she definitely touched every soul she met in a positive way. another said this. she really did believe in their students, no matter their background or intellect. they were truly her students and she wanted all of us to success. in texas, a sheriff's deputy passed away after learning he had been exposed to covid-19 at work. the 59-year-old had served in law enforcement for more than 27 years. another front line worker, dr. rebecca shadowan was a specialist in infectious diseases. she was diagnosed in may and helped her community develop its response to the coronavirus pandemic. her husband, daughter and 90-year-old mother-in-law all managed to recover from coronavirus but she passed away september 11th. her family spoke last night to anderson cooper. >> she was easily one of the smartest, most driven people i knew. she kind of taught me partially who i wanted to be as a person. she always said to let people be who they are, and kind of really believed and lived out the idea of chatreating everyone the wayu wanted to be treated. >> she knew there were risks of covid out there, but she still wanted to be a part of medicine and helping people. she would very much encourage people to wear masks in public, social distance always, avoid large crowds. this fall when the flu vaccine comes out, please take it because you wouldn't want to get those two diseases at the same time. and if a covid-19 vaccine comes out, my son will be first in line to get it. i hope that makes a difference in how we deal with covid in the future. >> dr. and think fauci reflecting on the unprecedented loss of life from the coronavirus during an interview with sanjay gupta today. >> the idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering and in some respects stunning. we have the capability of doing things that could prevent the transiti transition, the universal wearing of masks, the attention to keeping distance, the avoiding of crowds, the trying to do things outdoors more than indoors, frequent washing of hands, they sound so simple. we said them so many times. they're not universally implemented and employed. >> the united states is approaching 7 million infections and a new study released moments ago shows who is more likely to test positive for the virus. we have cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen here to talk about the details. so, elizabeth, this team was looking at the health records of more than 5 million patients in the v.a. system. what did they see there? >> what they saw is reflective of what's seen in the entire u.s. population, but they added an interesting new piece of information. what they found was that black and latino veterans were more than twice as likely to get coronavirus than white veterans. that has been known. those numbers have been seen, pretty much the same numbers have been seen in the entire u.s. population when you look at cdc data. what this study adds is that many people have said maybe it's because black and latino people have more underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to getting infected. they found that was not the case. underlying conditions did not answer the question nor did it answer the question on where they got their care. so we need to find out why there is a racial discrepancy. a couple thoughts put out there is it has to do with the jobs that minority people do compared to white people. people in black and what toon no xh latino communities do more essential front line jobs that put people at risk for getting covid-19. >> there's a new study that looks at people who tested positive for coronavirus in south korea and specifically it's looking at the viral load of people who are asymptomatic, people who don't have symptoms. what does it show us? >> right. there's been some thought that, well maybe if people don't have symptoms, maybe they can't spread it as much. they don't have as much virus in their nose and throat so they won't spread it as much. this study found that's not the case. that these sort of silent coronavirus cases that there are also potentially silent spreaders because they did have as much virus in their nose and. that's why mask wearing is to important. i talked to so many people who felt completely fine and then got tested and they were shocked that they were positive. you could have coronavirus and not know it, that's why you need to keep a safe distance and wear a mask. >> you have to act like you have it even if you feel like you don't to protect other people. >> exactly. >> elizabeth, thank you very much. elizabeth cohen. despite the staggering loss of life, president trump is giving himself an a plus for his response to the pandemic. he said this at his rally in ohio last night. >> now we know it, it affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems, other problems. if they have other problems, that's what it affects. in some states thousands of peop people, nobody is affected. it affects virtually nobody. >> that's a lie. our chief white house correspondent jim acosta asked about this moments ago at the white house press briefing. let's listen. >> last night the president said at one of his rallies about the virus. i think he was talking about younger americans. he said it affects virtually nobody. by the way, open your schools, everybody open your schools. but he said to bob woodward, it's not just older people, it's young people, too. at 200,000 deaths, shouldn't the president be telling people the truth about this virus at his rallies? >> the president is telling people the truth. you're right -- >> he's not. he's saying it affects virtually nobody and that it doesn't affect young people. he's not telling the truth. >> you're taking the president out of context. you're right he has referring to young people. he said this -- >> i said he was talking about younger people i'm not taking it out of context. >> you're making an assertion that he's not giving critical information when he is. i will underscore exactly what he said. you know in some states thousands of people, they've had nobody young, below the age of 18, like nobody. they have a strong immune system. that's factually true. you can go to the american academy of pediatrics website, the children's hospital association, they list out a number of states that have had zero pediatric deaths. >> they can get the coronavirus and spread it to older people. they've known this since the beginning. for the president of the united states at 200,000 deaths to go out to rallies and say something like it virtually affects nobody, and that in some states it's not affecting young people, that is glossing over the fact and really diminishing the fact that young people can catch this vishs and spre virus and spread it to older people and younger people can be sickened by the virus. >> do you have the quote there? >> yes. >> it's exactly as i read it to you. in several states they have had zero pediatric deaths. hawaii, idaho, kansas, the list goes on. as you may not know, jim, this covid has a 0.01% mortality rate for people under the age of 18. so, it is not a disease that affects young people in the same way as older people, which is the exact point that the president was making last night. >> jim acosta, that was not the exact point the president was making last night as you know. she couldn't point to every state not having pediatric deaths because that is very inaccurate. what did you think of this exchange? >> we've seen this almost since the very beginning of this pandemic, that is that the president of the united states and the white house press secretary like previous white house press secretaries will flat outlay to the american people and the president did that last night at that rally in ohio when he was saying that it virtually affects nobody. he seemed to be saying that about younger americans, but as we know that is just missing a giant point. that is that younger americans, while they may not get sick and die from the coronavirus at the same rate that older americans do, they can catch the virus and spread it to other people. so, you know, one of the things we've been dealing with throughout all of this, you laid this out so well on your program, the president down plays this virus. he diminishes the threat posed by the virus. he holds rallies where people don't wear masks and participate in social distancing because of what he says to his own supporters. you know, at the very beginning of my exchange i asked her whether or not the administration accepts some responsibility for the 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus in this country and what do they say to americans who are outraged over this and blame this administration for these deaths? she was saying that, well because there were some projections that it could kill 2 million people, they feel like they've done a fine job. as you know, that 2 million projection was only if we did nothing. if we didn't practice social distancing, if we just lived our lives as we did before the coronavirus pandemic. so they're inventing this false standard to compare the 200,000 threshold against. it just falls flat when you hold it up to the light of day. i think this was another example of that. >> it doesn't pay respect to the cost, jim. i think especially having hit this threshold of 200,000 lives gone, lives that wouldn't be gone without covid-19 affecting these people. it's so disrespectful. i appreciated your question. thank you very much. jim acosta. >> thank you. election interference in 2016 may have been child's play compared to 2020 according to the "washington post." a top secret assessment from the cia says we assess that president vladimir putin and the senior most russian officials are aware of and probably directing russia's influence operations aimed at denigrating the former u.s. vice president that would be joe biden, supporting the u.s. president, that would be donald trump, and fueling public discord ahead of the u.s. election in november. so this is from the very first line of the assessment that is contained in this internal highly classified report. the cia worldwide intelligence review which was written not long ago, a few weeks ago on august 31st. josh rogin, the "washington post" columnist who broke this story is joining us now. josh, thanks for coming on. tell us what you know about putin's alleged role in this, the assessment saying that he probably is directing these influence operations. >> that's right. over the last two months we've seen different parts of the u.s. government openly talk about this foreign influence operation perpetrated by andre dirkosh, a pro russian ukrainian lawmaker who happens to be good friends with rudy giuliani, and has been named by the office of the director of national intelligence and the treasury department as an active russian agent and sanctioned by the treasury department and what this cia assessment concluded and that i've now revealed is that that whole scheme, part of which is played out in public and part of which played out in private, the cia, fbi and nsa believe that putin and his senior most staff are definitely aware of it on probably directing it. meaning that though these are ukrainians working with americans, it's all run out of the highest level of the kremlin. that's new. it also shows that the intelligence community has been tracking this and investigating this for a long time and has come up with dozens of pieces of intelligence. some classified, some unclassified, that patients a scheme that involves u.s. lawmakers, u.s. media organizations, washington lobbyists all being used as part of this influence operation, again to hurt biden, help trump and sow discord in our november 2020 election. >> you write about this ukrainian lawmaker with ties to giuliani who has been working through lobbyists, members of congress and the u.s. media to spread this anti-biden information. are these american players, these lobbyists, congressmen, these members of the media, are they aware they're part of a russian disinformation campaign? >> yeah. the assessment itself doesn't speak to that. it just says that they could be targets of it. in other words, being influenced or they could be in on it and it doesn't name giuliani or the lawmakers, though it's clear where the information has done. giuliani and dirkosh appeared together on the internet, on facebook. giuliani has said that he doesn't know if dirkosh was a russian agent, he didn't think he was a russian agent. at this point with the release offal this information based on dozens of pieces of intelligence, it's -- it's no longer plausible for these people to deny that dirkosh is working with the russian government, that this is directed by putin, and if they're using this information and are influenced by him, they're doing putin's bidding plain and simple. >> josh rogin, thank you very much. senator mitt romney falling in line with fellow republicans making a clear path to confirm a supreme court justice before the election. one of justice ginsburg's former clerks will be joining me next. and the louisville police department says six of its officers are now under internal investigation after the shooting death of breonna taylor. we'll take you there live. and countries across europe seeing a spike in covid infections. what they're doing to crack down. who is usaa made for? it's made for this guy a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we made it for all branches and all ranks whether they served one tour or made a career of it. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids usaa is easy to work with and can save you money on auto, home and renters insurance. become a member today. get an insurance quote at usaa.com/quote usaa. what you're made of we're made for senate republicans have just finished a behind closed door meeting to discuss the timing of a confirmation vote for a supreme court nominee. mitch mcconnell has the support to push this process forward quickly but there's one minor detail, that is they don't have a nominee yet. president trump announcing on twitter today he will reveal his pick to fill the seat of the late justice ruth bader ginsburg on saturday. i want to bring in the president of the national bar association, ck hoffler and law professor kne neil siegel who clerked for justice ginsburg in 2003. ck, if the president gets to place at judge on the bench it will change the dynamic of the court with a conservative majority. how is that going to raise the stakes for issues including obamacare but not limited to obamacare? >> absolutely. thank you all for your sort of progressive view on some of these issues. it's absolutely going to change the fabric of this country. to fill the shoes of this magnificent jurist, this justice who gave so much to equality, to women's rights, to civil rights, to voting rights, to human rights in this country, it's going to be difficult to fill the shoes. if we fill the shoes with someone who is not properly vetted and we're rushing into the process it will set us behind in this country. this is such an important decision. such an important decision. again, if we look at just voting rights, just take justice ginsburg's record on voting rights and her crushing, crushing dissent in the shelby versus holden case, where that basically -- that case gutted the civil rights -- the voting rights act of 1965. that set behind voting rights in this country. as we're facing right here and now a pandemic, election suppression, not just covid-19, not just police brutality but election suppression, we can tie back the supreme court decision where she wrote that crushing opinion to what's happening today because basically the barriers were taken away to states being able to do whatever they want to do with election suppression that was really designed to impact black and brown minority communities voting. that's the key. election suppression is designed to impact minority communities. that's why at the national bar association we are pushing over 6,000, 7,000 lawyers out there to protect the right to vote. this decision right now to put someone quickly in place will completely change the fabric potentially of this country to the detriment of many communities. >> neil, what issues are you tracking? what issues do you think could very much be changed? >> well, there's a good number of them. for starters, we should understand that the supreme court is already one of the most conservative supreme courts in american history. we have not had one this conservative since the 1930s. their conservatism caused a constitutional crisis. so we're not talking about a court that's moderate let alone leaning left. chief justice roberts is a conservative justice. he does, however, have a sense of the court as an institution that's greater than his own ideology and his own meth methodogical commitments, so he has been willing to put on the brakes, for example when the trump administration made certain pretextural claims to justify governmental action like, for example, with adding a citizenship question to the census. he has been willing to push back at times. he will invoke the court's previous decisions precedent called st cato put on the brakes. if you move the court away from the chief justice and towards someone more conservative, what you're talking about is even more hostility to affirmative action and hostility to the voting rights act. a court that will not impose significant limits on the death penalty. a court that will not be sympathetic to claims brought by sexual orientation minorities and transgender individuals. there are many more issues at stake, that just gives you and your listeners some sense of how much each individual seat on the supreme court can matter. >> i wonder, ck, do you have concerns about the speed of this confirmation? >> i do have tremendous concerns. many bar associations such as the national bar association take seriously the appointment, the nomination and appointment of a supreme court justice especially one filling the shoes of justice ginsburg. and there is a process. we need to vet and be able to submit our own recommendations, our own views on each of the candidates. that is part of the american way. that's part of the process. with them rushing like this, what it does, even though we have our teams of scholars, our teams that are vetting and are looking at potential -- right now they're potential nominees, it really in compressing that process and rushing to get someone appointed and confirmed before the election, in less than 45 days t takes away the democracy and it takes away the ability of organizations who are doing proper vetting with their ability to vet the process. we want to know what this person's opinions are on various issues, voting rights, human rights, health care, immigration, all of the things that are important to the american people. no matter what partisan politics play out. with it going through this process, rushing the process, with the centers lining up against the decision, it's our understanding that the president will announce his nominee on d saturday or the weekend, they say we'll get someone confirmed right away, that's un-american, undemocratic, and basically makes it so that the american people will not have the ability to even see and vet these candidates that will be ruling on such important issues. this justice is critical to the american constitution. >> neil, you have been a part of this process. you were special council to senator chris coombs, a demagogue throudemocra democra democrat, what challenges will this speed create? >> it creates challenges to the senate's ability to execute a profound constitutional role of advise and consent. it also is going to impede the ability of the american people, the public to learn about the nominee and evaluate the nominee and render their own judgment about whether the nominee should be confirmed. we're talking about a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court, the most powerful court in the land. advise and consent, public evaluation, it requires a lot more time than speed dating. yet has seems to be the process that the president and republican senators are insisting on. >> speed dating. good analogy. thank you very much. appreciate you being with us. and we did just hear from senate majority leader mitch mcconnell about the ginsburg seat vacancy. let's listen. >> as we all know, the president is going to be sending up a nominee for the supreme court vacancy later this week. i anticipate it will be an extremely well qualified woman. and with regard to the schedule after that announcement, chairman lindsey graham will lay out the plan for handling the nomination before the judiciary committee. number two, a word about the negotiation on the cr. next, six louisville police officers are investigating an internal investigation in the wake of breonna taylor's death. we're awaiting an announcement on if any of the officers will face charges. we'll take you there live. okay, give it a try. between wisdom and curiosity, there's a bridge. between ideas and inspiration, trauma and treatment. gained a couple of more pounds. that's good for the babies. between the moments that make us who we are, and keeping them safe, private and secure, there's webex. ♪ ♪ beautiful. i'm a delivery operations manager in san diego, california. we were one of the first stations to pilot a fleet of electric vehicles. we're striving to deliver a package with zero emissions into the air. i feel really proud of the impact that has on the environment. we have two daughters and i want to do everything i can to protect the environment so hopefully they can have a great future. it's totally not the same without you. we miss your "let's do this" look, the sound of your laugh cry screams, and how you make every day here the best day ever. we can't wait to get you back so we've added temp checks, face coverings, social distancing and extra sanitizing to get the good times going again. we're finally back... and can't wait until you are too. buy now and get two days free at the parks. restrictions apply. there are new developments in the fatal police shooting of breonna taylor. six louisville police officers are facing an internal investigation after taylor, a 26-year-old emt, was shot by officers who broke down the door to her apartment while executing a late night no-knock warrant back in march. right now we're awaiting a decision by the grand jury on whether any of the officers will be charged. authorities are closing off access to the city's downtown area ahead of this decision and cnn is in louisville. tell us more about the internal investigation into those six police officers. what do we know? >> yeah. so that investigation is being done by the professional standards unit at the louisville police department. it's six officers including two officers who fired into the home of breonna taylor. and then a detective who secured that no-knock warrant, the search warrant that gave police permission to go into her home. so those detectives as well as other people who were part of that investigation are all now under internal investigation. they'll be looking at to see if any of the internal protocols were not followed and a broader view of exactly perhaps what went wrong in this case in that let up to the shooting of breonna taylor. one of the detectives who fired into the home, he was already fired. he's trying to get his job back. this, as you said, as we await word from the grand jury on whether or not any of these officers will face charges. >> that's right. one of those -- that member of this unit that was at her apartment, as you mentioned, he, as we understand it, was firing blindly multiple shots blindly through drapes or window coverings into the house, which was seen as highly unregular and unsafe behavior. there's an expectation for many people that this was not handled correctly obviously. to that end you have security heightened in louisville ahead of this grand jury decision. the city is under a state of emergency. tell us about this. >> your point, you make is absolutely right. that is why in some ways why investigators and the police department moved to fire that officer. i have to say things here are tense across the downtown area. security has been stepped up. the police have closed off streets. a lot of the stores have been boarded up and restaurants. as you said, the mayor here has declared a state of emergency which would allow him to put in place a scurfew if needed but w await the decision from the grand jury. >> we are waiting with you. thank you so much for that report. there is good news today about the two l.a. county sheriffs deputies shot during an ambush attack in compton, california. the sheriff's department announcing they have both been released from the hospital. this is the photo of the 31-year-old female deputy, and it was taken over the weekend as she spoke with president trump by phone. she is being hailed as a hero for applies a tourniquet to her partner's arm as she herself was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the face. the department says that both of these deputies have a long road to recovery. still ahead, a couple who survived coronavirus is now warning their friends take it seriously. the cdc releasing its guidelines for what you should and should not be doing this halloween. you can take a personal assessment and get matched with a customized plan. the assessment takes things into account that matter to you the most. on my plan, whole wheat pasta and potatoes are zero points. on the app, we love the personalized recipes. we found so many new favorites! with 24/7 live coaching, you get connected to an amazing coach, who can answer any question you might have. i lost 91 pounds. it's the best thing i could've ever done! join for free and get three months free! plus you could be one of thousands to win an all-new amazon halo band! with priceline, you can get up to 60% off amazing hotels. and when you get a big deal... ...you feel like a big deal. ♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal. the freestyle libre 14 managday system...etes can be hard. - a continuous glucose monitor - ...makes it easy. easy to check your glucose without fingersticks, and easy to share your data with your doctor. and for those who qualify, the freestyle libre 14 day system, is also covered by medicare. ask your doctor for a prescription. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us the u.s. has now surpassed 200,000 coronavirus deaths, a number that dr. anthony fauci calls sobering and stunning. but of the 7 million who have survived, some are still feeling symptoms. my next guests are a couple from wyoming who contracted the virus nearly three months ago and they're still battling the after effects. as they're fighting for their health, they're battling another fight online. anne and marvin robinson are with us from casper, wyoming. i want to thank you both for coming on to tell us your story that is so important that people across the country hear. i know you're both experiencing some symptoms still. can you talk about what your challenges and your recovery has been like? >> well, it's been a long road. we were sick for three weeks, we still have fatigue, marvin still has shortness of breath. i still grasp to find some words at times. there's a lot of unknown. we don't know what's coming next for us either. and then trying to convince people it's real. >> tell us about that, marvin and anne, if you would. trying to convince people that this is real. what have you encountered? >> well, we have friends who still believe it's a hoax. they think it will go away on election day. and they kind of discount the fact that older people get it that have underlying conditions. that they were going to die any way. i'm an older person, i have underlying conditions, i intend to live for a lot more years. i don't think i need covid to help it along. a lot of people in my situation, my age have conditions that lead a full life. they have a lot of life to live, it's trying to convince the people that the 200,000 people who died were important. >> marvin, i wonder if you could tell us about sort of your lifestyle. i know that you guys lead active lifestyles. and i wonder how covid has impacted that. >> impacted the fact that i got to stay home a lot more than i used to because we quit bingo, bowling, fiddle jams, i got to stay home more and work in my yard. >> yeah. >> and that was the big impact. and i have a very hard time. i get short of breath, doing better now, feeling pretty good. >> and so what is -- what will you be doing where you have shortness of breath and you have to maybe pause? >> well, for about 2 1/2 of the five days i was sick i sat in my recliner gasping for air. if i go outside to move, i would walk three, four steps carrying a sprinkler and i would have to hold on to the fence for a while to get my air. and it was just a real short of breath. >> that sounds very scary. ann, sorry, go on. >> yeah. i think -- >> yeah, it was scary. we were fortunate because we had friends and family who checked in on us, who brought us food, they would hang it on the doorknob or set it in the porch or set it on the driveway. but we were able to get help in that way. we have talked to some other people locally who didn't have anybody to help them. i can't imagine what they were going through. it was a whole family that had covid, and they didn't have anyone else to help them out. in that way we were fortunate. we had a lot of symptoms. our symptoms seemed to follow each other. we had days when we were sit and stare at each other and wonder if and when it was going to get ove over. >> i'm so glad to be talking to you. i know that you are still facing a lot of health challenges, but it's wonderful that you have pulled through to this recovery period, and that you're also trying to tell people to take this seriously. we appreciate it. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> thanks for calling. still ahead, is trick or treating canceled this halloween? the cdc just weighed in. on this national voter registration day we'll look at what's stopping so many americans from going to the polls. tonight, i'll be eating a veggie cheeseburger on ciabatta, no tomatoes.. [hard a] tonight... i'll be eating four cheese tortellini with extra tomatoes. [full emphasis on the soft a] so its come to this? [doorbell chimes] thank you. [doorbell chimes] bravo. careful, hamill. daddy's not here to save you. oh i am my daddy. wait, what? what are you talking about? the logistics of voting are making many americans anxious and there are growing calls to make it a national holiday. today is national voter registration day and cnn is focusing on the fee issues that matter to voters as part of the citizen by cnn project. tom foreman is joining us now. the u.s. doesn't have a national day off to vote but other countries do. why is that? >> both voters would like to see this moved away from a week day to make it easier to get a holiday involved. in 2016, back then 61% of the people who were voting age actually voted. which means somewhere north of 100 million people who could have voted, did not. now some just don't believe in the process but others, if you look at the study by the knight foundation, there is about 14% of the people said one of the problems is that it is a little bit too difficult or somewhat difficult, you could see it there on the left, to get to the polling places. why? because it is in the middle of the workweek. many people can't get time off or go before or after the lines are way too long. because our voting rules come from the 1800s when we were farmers and farmers. so voting was put where it wouldn't interfere with sundays or farm work. and people had to travel to polling places, we ended up with tuesdays. but many other nations face similar problems and look at where we are today. there is a big trade organization, about 36 nations involved and there on the left, weekend voting for all of the countries, only nine of them have week day voting. we're among those. and two of them have a national holiday so people could get out there and vote. the simple truth is, brianna, both parties are calculating where is the political advantage here. democrats by enlarge want more voting from everybody out there. particularly the people who can't get off to vote right now, republicans have been weary of it. but the truth is if we want a government of the people, by the people, for the people, arguably it would make more sense to get those people involved. >> tom, thank you so much for that. and check out our website cnn.com/voter where you will find a complete voter guide. cnn speaks to the sister of a young doctor who died from covid after treating patients in the e.r. the grim milestone now of 200,000 deaths. a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids become a member. get an insurance quote today. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids apps except work.rywhere... why is that? is it because people love filling out forms? maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much vacation time they have. or sending corporate their expense reports. i'll let you in on a little secret. they don't. by empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. to learn more, visit paycom.com ♪ if i could, baby i'd ♪ how can i, when you won't take it from me ♪ ♪ you can go your own way ♪ ♪ go your own way your wireless. your rules. only with xfinity mobile. as with almost everything in 2020, halloween is going to look a little different this year. cnn's brin ging grass has the latest guidance. >> trick-or-treaters should not go door-to-door, instead people could leave treats outside of the home. and also the masks not a good idea as it is not a good replacement for the cloth masks and families should reconsider any large indoor gatherings like going to a haunted house or a party. and also maybe give a second thought to outdoor things like hay rides with strangers. brianna. >> thank you. and our special coverage continues now with kate bolduan. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello, i'm kate bolduan. thank you for joining us this hour. sobering and stunning. this is how the nation's top infectious disease expert dr. fauci is describing today and appropriately so the day the country hit and passed 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. the united states surpassing this marker, one thought unfathomable this morning. approximately seven months after the first covid death was reported and now as we enter fall today, the nation sits in another