So let me be clear. I trust vaccines, i trust i scientist, but i dont trust donald trump. At this moment the American People cant either. Last week, senator harris and i laid out three questions this administrations going to have to answer to assure the American People that politics will not play a role whatsoever in the vaccine process. If donald trump cant give answers and his administration cant give answers to these three questions, the American People should not have confidence. But if they can, they should have confidence in the transparency they need to trust a vaccine and adopt it in numbers that will make a difference. First question, what criteria will be used to ensure that a vaccine meets the scientific standard of safety and effectiveness . Whats the criteria . Second, if the administration greenlights a vaccine, who will validate that the decision was driven by science rather than politics . What group of scientists will that be . And thirdly, how can we be sure that the distribution of the vaccine will take place safely, costfree, and without a hint of favoritism . The fact of the matter is development of a vaccine is only part of the battle. Distributing a vaccine to the entire population is as complex and challenging as one of the most sensitive military operations. Ive been calling for an effective Distribution Plan to be laid out for months. If im elected president , ill begin by implementing an effective Distribution Plan from the minute i take office. Thats what i discussed with the experts in a briefing today. They laid out a clear plan. They include a detailed timetable for when people will get the vaccine, clear delineation of priority of population. A specific means and mechanism for shipping and storing vaccine and appropriate temperatures. Two of those vaccines, if they come forward, theyd have to be stored and shipped at 70 degrees below zero. The division of responsibility at every level of government has to be clear. And i will provide the leadership necessary to carry out that plan. Ill level with the American People. Ill take responsibility, and ill support rather than tear down the experts responsible for the daytoday execution of the plan. Ill simply follow the science. The satisfactory answer to these three questions that senator harris and i have laid out, every american including me and my family can have confidence in a safe and effective covid19 vaccine. This isnt about politics. Its about saving lives. Its about getting back to our loved ones and our friends, making sure theyre safe. Its about getting our economy back on its feet, getting back to movie theaters and restaurants and ballparks. Its about getting back to our lives and getting america up off the mat. Im confident we can and will be united in that pursuit no matter when that breakthrough emerges with a vaccine, no matter when that hope bears fruit, thats what america does at its best. We unite. We do it together. And im confident well be able to. So thank you, god bless our scientists and researchers and our front line workers. And may god protect our troops. Ill be happy to take some questions now if thats okay. Let me get my list here. Okay. Abc, mary. Thank you, mr. Vice president. You just said that when it comes to a vaccine, you dont trust donald trump. Is there a risk that that message that questioning the president on a vaccine could prevent people from trusting the science, from trusting a vaccine when there finally is one . No. Because they know he doesnt have any respect for scientists. He basically said it. You saw what he said when he was out in california about wildfires and scientists dont know and its going to go away like a miracle. Its necessary so people can trust the vaccine. And thats why i said that you have to have this scientist thats going to say this is why we think this is a good vaccine, why its approved, and there has to be total transparency. So scientists out the government know exactly what is being approved. The context in which its being approved and why its being approved. I think its the only thing that takes care of that. For a vaccine to work, though, to be effective, you do need a certain amount of the population to be willing to take it. Youre saying dont trust the president , trust me if im elected. No, im not. Do you think enough americans will buy in . Im saying trust the scientist. Its one thing for donald trump to say the vaccine is safe. Okay. Then give it to the board of scientists. Have total transparency so independent operators and scientists and companies can go out and take a look at it. What did you base that decision on . What did you do . Did you pressure the head of the fda . Did you pressure whomever . Im not saying he would or will. But thats what has to happen. Because you know yourself you all know the polls better than i do. The American People right now dont trust what the president says about things relating to science. And if the Scientists Say a vaccine under the president s watch is safe and effective absolutely. Theyll take it . Yes. If those three questions i laid out can be answered, yes, absolutely. Thank you. Caitlin of cbs. Thank you, mr. Vice president. Just a quick followup on that. You say that you dont trust the president. Does that mean you also dont trust the cdc and the fda currently . No. I dont trust some of the people like the fella who just took a leave of absence from the cdc, he didnt run it but he was a spokesperson for it. But when i met with the seven scientists today on the screen here in this room, they told me the people that they had worked with in the cdc and the fda and all of the various agencies, there are some very, very good people there in the ranks, the everyday folks not everyday, theyre scientists, but the people who do the daily work. There are some very, very good people. But you know from other items that theyve been quashed in things theyve said and theyve been pressured the heads of those agencies politically appointed some of them have been in fact moved, moved to say yes we can do this or that or this will work or that will work. Its a simple proposition. If a vaccine is ready to go, it should be totally transparent the basis upon which that decision was made, what scientists have looked at it within the government and outside the government and said this is a useful, safe vaccine to take. And so thats all im saying. And thats going to be necessary i respectfully suggest no matter what i said in this process. Because all the polling data shows now is something only like 30 of the American People says if trump says its okay, this is the same guy who said inject bleach. This is the same guy who said you want to keep hurricanes from getting to the United States, why dont we drop a Nuclear Weapon on them . Theres a reason why theyre not so certain. A quick question on the economy. The fed today announced that their projections for unemployment are actually going to be lower than expected. In polling, we see time and again that President Trump has an edge over you on the economy. Why do you think that is . Well, because i dont think ive been out of office for four years and its a long time four years ago. We actually created more jobs in the last three years of our administration than he created in the first four years of his administration. We actually had more equitable distribution among middleclass folks and the like. There were fewer people at risk. But i think its a matter of my being able to communicate my position on jobs and trade and what i would do. For example, the World Trade Organization just ruled that his trade policies were illegal. Well, guess what, we went in 14, 15, 16 times at the wto. We won every single time. Now why should any american remember that . That was five, six, seven, eight years ago. So part of it is reminding people and laying out for them what my plan for economic recovery is. But if people have questions about the economic fallout from the pandemic now, you have said that you would have acted earlier. What do you say to people who might question how the Economic Impact could have been different even if you acted earlier, the social distancings and the closings would still be in place . Not necessarily because you wouldnt be having the high rates of reinfection that we have now. You wouldnt be having a thousand people a day tie. We need National Guidance as the basis upon which you can open up. And it varies within state to state. So you may very well be able to open up in a rural area and not in an area that is a metropolitan area or vice versa to the degree to which the virus is rampant in that area. We have not set anything out, this administrations not laid out the criteria. Theres no National Criteria. Whats the National Criteria for opening schools . They still dont have one. You need a National Criteria. And you need it to be able to be sure that you can open safely and securely. You can have social distancing. You can have the wearing of masks. You can have smaller classes. You need more teachers. A whole range of things. But why wont he lay out the guidelines . And even when the cdc initially had stronger guidance, what happened . Talk about political manipulation. No, dont put those out. Because the president was then saying, by the way, testing just causes more cases to show. Its about being honest. He loves to quote churchill and he loves to quote roosevelt. Well, you know, roosevelt said in a crisis in world war ii, he says its going to get worse and worse and worse till it gets better and better and better. And the one thing you have to tell the American People, theyre strong, give it to them straight, straight from the shoulder, they can handle anything. Thats what ill do. Um, cnn, jessica. Thanks, mr. Vice president. You mentioned the cdc directors comments this morning about the masks and how critical they are. You previously called for a mask mandate, a National Mask mandate. If you were elected, what steps would you take to put that in place, and how would that work . Well, first of all, i found it fascinating the president said and biden didnt put in a mask mandate. I dont know, but im not the president. Hes the president. Its like bidens problems in these cities are in flames. Im not the president. Hes the president. I would call all the governors to the white house and say and because theres a question, i think it can be answered in the positive, a question whether i can mandate over state lines that every single state has to comply. Our legal team thinks i can do that based upon the degree to which theres a crisis in those states and how bad things are for the country. And if we dont do it what happens. But i would make the case, id make the case why its necessary. Id have the scientists lay out and detail why. And i would go to every governor and id go to governors republican and democratic governors and id say we have to have this national mandate. We must do it. And at a minimum what i would do, i wouldnt walk around saying masks dont matter like he said at the town hall. I think it was last night. I saw the tail end of it. That, well, you know, people dont like masks. As a matter of fact, they could be worse. And i think, dont hold me to this because i didnt see it, it just got reported, and steph laos asked why. And he said because waiters dont like them. But what would happen if, say, a republican governor pushed back on you on this. How do you get buyin when its become so politicized . Would you sign an executive order . The question is whether i have the Legal Authority as president to sign an executive order. We think we, do but i cant guarantee you that yet. But if you did you would . If i did, i would. Number five, i have to call on my hometown paper the news journal. Meredith . Sir, in terms of the distribution of the virus, communities of color have been greatly affected. Would they get access to the virus first . How would that work in terms of the distribution of americans being able to get the virus . Based on the proposal laid out by the experts i spoke with today and the National Science foundation is coordinating with the cdc and other agencies. They indicate that the first group of people that should get the vaccine if and when it is available are people at the greatest risk. And that includes everything from Nursing Homes to people with serious preexisting conditions that would cause people to be in real trouble. A lot of those people happen to be black and brown, happen to be black and brown. And so it would be based upon the degree of exposure would go first though, i would argue, but i have a Scientific Board lay it out for me. It would go first as laid out for me today to first responders, doctors, and nurses. The people who are most needed to have available to deal with our crises, health as well as physical crises in our community. That would be a first. And it would move to the least now one thing that hasnt happened yet, and i dont want to and i am not a scientist, although i hope im well informed on this issue. There have been no tests yet on children. So children ironically may be the last people to get the vaccine because its going to take time and they indicated to me in 2021 to be able to do the kind of testing on children. Children are less likely to die, although they can. And its more likely that their teachers and the elderly grandparents, et cetera, would be exposed. So, the first would go to the people most susceptible. But children are going to have to be part of this. But theres a lot more work that has to be done. There have been no trials done yet on children. The government released a loose plan on how they would distribute the vaccine. If youre elected, would you reverse course on the plan that the federal government has already put in place . No. They havent put one in place for real yet. Number two, i havent detail of it. And it may be a very good plan as is. But what i would do is make sure that i brought in all of the experts to make sure what is the best and most rational means of distribution. Now, look, there are two types of vaccines being worked on now. One is an rna model that are done by two of the operations. I think moderna and who has the other one . And the other is an adenovirus which is a way to generate the immune system to respond. One changes its cell structure. The one that deals with the mrna, that requires two injections, and it requires to be stored at 70 degrees below zero. So, in addition to all this, there are mechanical issues as to how and where the vaccine, assuming lets say the moderna one is picked, assuming that the vaccine is approved. Its a very, very significant, difficult scenario with how you distribute it. You have to ship it in bulk if its the mrna version. And that means thousands kind of thing. That means its going to go to hospital and Major Medical distribution centers. Its not going to go to your doctor. And you cant show up at walgreens. My doc gave it to me, when i used to get my flu shot at walgreens. You cant do it because you cant do it in small lots. You have to have two shots. And so my generic point is there are a lot of not only what is safe to do but distribution issues that are consequential and matter a lot. And so its not like, by the way, if i told you tomorrow, if i were president and said we have approved the following two vaccines or one vaccine. Well, the vaccines that are likely to be approved so far start off with a group of 10,000 doses all the way to 60,000 doses. Well, there are millions of people. Its going to take and then you get up to several million. But it takes time is what im saying. And it has to be done fairly and well. It cant be based on your tax returns, figuratively speaking. Its got to be based on who is most vulnerable, who is most vulnerable. Thank you all so very, very much. Thank you. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Youve been listening to the democratic president ial nominee joe biden speaking in wilmington, delaware, talking about the coronavirus pandemic saying that we cannot let politics interfere with the development and distribution of a vaccine, saying that while he trusts the scientists, he does not trust President Trump. Biden there calling the president s handling of the pandemic utterly disqualifying. Lets bring in cnns dana bash and dr. Sanjay gupta to talk about this. Lets start with the politics for a second. We just heard biden slam what he calls trumps dishonesty and incompetency. He did, however, try to project confidence in the scientists. What did you make of it . Exactly that, that he was very clearly trying to say that hes not against a vaccine, hes just against rushing the vaccine and that he doesnt trust the president. And i thought when mary from abc asked that question, he tried extremely hard to clarify to make clear that if all of the criteria he laid out today having to do with the science are met, even if it is the Trump Administration, he would be all for a vaccine. But he wants it to be based on the science. It is tricky given the fact that what the Trump Administration and the Trump Campaign even more specifically has done is taken that comment, a comment that senator harris gave to us a couple of weeks ago and tried to make it out to be that theyre antivaxxers, which of course theyre not. They just want to make sure that it is safe, and hes trying to get at the heart of a big problem for the president politically, which is his leadership and confidence in that. It was a good question, mary bruce my former producer who was talking there. She got sanjay at the point, which is that democrats are trying to walk this line of criticizing President Trump for politicizing the fda and the cdc. And i think there really isnt much question without question has publicized some of the process there, pushing dr. Hahn at the fda to approve hydroxychloroquine, and there was that other thing with plasma. But also democrats are challenged to not undermine confidence that the public will have when and if there is a vaccine. Yep. It is a fine rope to sort of walk here. Its interesting because he asked these sort of three questions, Vice President biden said, look, i want to know what the criteria are going to be to say that this is safe and effective if this does get greenlit, talking about vaccine. I want to see how is that validated, and i want to understand the Distribution Plan. All fair questions. And i can tell you as you well know, these are the questions that have been asked of the fda as well, the data monitoring safety board, this independent body. I talked to dr. Fauci about these questions today. And theyre all very fair questions. I think that they are being addressed. These are the questions that it happens in the backdrop of the fact, as you point out, jake, that the fda has had some trust erosion issues with hydroxychloroquine, with convalescent plasma, the cdc has had erosion issues with were not going to recommend testing asymptomatic people, bad recommendation. Theyre now walking that back. But i think with the vaccine, to be fair, a lot of the questions that Vice President biden raised have been raised already. And they are being addressed. And so everybody wants to make sure this is a safe process but moves as quickly as possible. And, dana, a lot of the remarks from the former Vice President today focused on how President Trump cannot be trusted on things that President Trump said last night at that town hall at abc news with George Stephanopoulos where he said a number of things were just completely inaccurate. Of course the question is, again, theres a line for the Vice President to walk here because the president is the one supposedly whos supposed to be leading us out of this pandemic. Thats right. And that i think is really the key that we saw from the former Vice President today. And it is something that he and his campaign did consistently last week. And that is when the president puts himself on defense as he did again last night with so many of the things that he said that were just false on coronavirus, joe biden and his campaign jump up and make sure that they take advantage and go on offense, that they dont leave it just out there. The fact is that every single day that the narrative and the discussion is about coronavirus, politically speaking, is a bad day are for the president because it is a reminder that this is a referendum on the president s leadership, and one of the most trying times in this country. Thats not where the president wants to be discussing anything at this point. But thats the world in which were living. And, sanjay, before you go, the president at the town hall yesterday talked about herd mentality as a way out of this crisis. I think he meant herd immunity which beyond the gaffe, beyond the fact that he used the wrong term, tell us about herd immunity and what that would mean if that actually were the strategy of the United States, how many people would die . The headline is its a bad idea. You dont want to achieve herd immunity through letting the infection run wild in the country. Youre talking about somewhere maybe close to 2 Million People would die. It would probably take four years to achieve it even if you had a Million People becoming infected every week. Were not even sure how long that immunity would last. As you know, theres been some reports that maybe immunity lasts four or five months. So people wouldnt want to get infected again, obviously. Its just not an effective strategy. A lot of people would get sick, hospitals would be overrun and its not even clear that it would work and it would take a long time. Its basically giving up is what it sounds like to me. Thank you both so much. I want to bring in cnns jessica dean from wilmington. She just attended the biden speech just now. You asked biden to clarify how he would enact a National Mask mandate, whether or not he has the power. Weve been getting mixed signals from biden and Kamala Harris about whether or not they think they have the power. What did he say . Reporter well, jake, he said that his legal team has looked into it and that they believe as president he would have the authority to do that when compared to what could happen if there was not a National Mask mandate put in place. With that being said, he also told me that he would call all of the governors to the white house and talk with all of them, democrats and republicans and try to get buyin from them first in order to enact this mask mandate across the country. Because, remember, you would need the states to really put this into place as well. So, he hopes for buyin. But when i asked him what happens if somebody pushes back, if a republican governor or someone else pushes back, doesnt want to take part, would he sign an executive order . And he said if he has the Legal Authority to do so, which his legal team he says believes that he does, that he would sign that executive order mandating masks across the country and just a reminder for everyone, jake, he and Kamala Harris called for that mask mandate back in august. They said they wanted a threemonth mask mandate that they believed many lives could be saved. Yeah. And then they backed off it, said it was a mask guideline or Something Like that. Now i guess theyre back to a mask mandate. Reporter right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. The United States just recorded the deadliest single day in a month. 1,293 deaths from coronavirus just yesterday. Yet, on that very same day, President Trump, once again, downplayed the pandemic. He put on full display his lack of understanding of this virus that has killed more than 1,996,000 americans so far. Once again he is saying just false, this dream like notion that the virus will just go away and even going so far as to embrace this herd mentality. It was a gaffe. It would lead to a catastrophic loss of life in this nation. Its probably going to go away now a lot faster. It would go away without the vaccine. But its going to go away a lot faster. Its going to go away without the vaccine . Sure. And youll develop like a herd mentality. Its going to be herd developed and thats going to happen. That will all happen. Herd immunity, not mentality, herd immunity is allowing the virus to largely run rampant, infecting the majority of the population of this country. Most americans developing antibodies because they would have been exposed. But experts predict that such a plan, or lack of plan, could lead to the deaths of literally millions of americans. But dont take my word for it. Heres President Trump in april back when he was listening to Health Experts explaining why herd immunity is no solution. And if we did follow that approach, i think we might have 2 Million People dead. If we did the herd, if we went with the herd, as they say, we would have had potentially i mean, you see the charts. Nobody knows, nobody will ever know. This as the president once again claims he has a new Health Care Plan ready to go, a claim that frankly weve been hearing for years. And for more than one year hes been pledging to release his plan imminently. Were going to produce phenomenal health care. And we already have the concept of the plan. Itll be much better. Well be announcing that in about two months. Were signing a Health Care Plan within two weeks, a full and complete Health Care Plan. I have it already and its a much better plan for you and its a much better plan. Yet as President Trump promises the supposed new plan to protect those with preexisting conditions, his administration is actively asking the Supreme Court right now to dismantle obamacare, which ensures that those with preexisting conditions can get Insurance Coverage without having to pay a steeper premium. As Cnns Kaitlan Collins reports, its not the only dubious claim the president is making. Reporter after President Trump questioned the value of wearing a mask and minimized medical experts who said its critical, the white house struggled to defend his comments today. Have any medical experts told the president that masks arent good . Or is he only citing nonmedical experts . Hes referring to the fact that when used appropriately, they can have unintended consequences much like what dr. Fauci said. Reporter trump was not only referencing Wearing Masks improperly, but cast doubt on how effective they are overall without citing any Health Experts. A lot of people dont want to wear masks. A lot of people think that masks are not good. Ill tell you who those people are. Waiters, they come over and they serve you and they have a mask. And i saw the other day when they were serving me and theyre playing with the mask. Im not blaming them. Im just saying what happens. Theyre playing with a mask. So the mask is over and theyre touching it. And then theyre touching the plate that. Cant be good. Reporter the cdc director praised the value of wearing a mask while testifying today. I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against covid than when i take a covid vaccine. Reporter trump also attempted to blame joe biden who is running for president but currently holds no elected office for not instituting a mask mandate. He didnt do it. He never did it. Reporter for months the president has promised a Health Care Plan that has never materialized and did so again last night. We are going to be doing a Health Care Plan very strongly. Reporter the administration is currently in court fighting to invalidate obamacare even though they have no replacement. Now as chief of staff says it will be introduced by election day, but the white house wouldnt say who is working on it. Im not going to give you a readout of what our Health Care Plan looks like and whos working on it. If you want to know, come work here at the white house. I just wanted to know whos working on it. Reporter the top spokesperson overseeing the response will take a leave of absence after he was accused of watering down coronavirus reports. The deep state. Reporter and ranted in a facebook video that government scientists had formed a, quote, Resistance Unit to undermine trump. Michael caputo wont return until after the election is over after the cdc director said he was disappointed by his remarks. And it deeply saddened me that those false accusations were made by a group of really unbelievably professional people that served this nation. Reporter now, jake, a top aid to Michael Caputo is leaving the department entirely. Thats dr. Paul alexander who was accused of also playing a role in trying to take control over some of those cdc reports to change the content of them to be more in line with how the president has framed the pandemic so far. We havent heard from the president on caputos departure yet. Though we could hear from him when he holds a briefing here at about 5 00. Kaitlan collins, thank you so much. Joining us now to discuss, democratic congressman max rose of new york. I want to ask you about negotiations for a new Coronavirus Relief bill to help the people and the public who are still suffering a great deal. You were part of a Bipartisan Group of house members who proposed a compromise, a 2 trillion plan. You introduced it yesterday, that would include help for Small Businesses and schools, another round of checks for americans who need it, more jobless benefits. But your leaders, Democratic Leaders rejected the proposal right away. You called that, quote, a charade stupid, said it made you disappointed to be a democrat. Im dumb founded that they said what they said yesterday. Thankfully today they start to open up the door again. Politics as usual in this crazy town. But here is what i do know. The American People want democrats and republicans to come together and get something done. They dont want a skinny bill like the joke that Mitch Mcconnell passed that did not include state and local aid. They certainly dont want a large messaging bill that has no chance of getting over the finish line. Certainly what was announced yesterday by the Problem Solvers Caucus stands as a framework for a bold and nonetheless bipartisan compromise that can help this country get out of and confront what is an unprecedented economic and Public Health crisis. So to our Party Leaders on both sides of the aisle, the message is simple. Stop the games, stop the charade, and get the job done. Because the American People deserve nothing less. Speaker pelosi was asked today about the divisions in the Democratic Caucus over this bill, divisions reflected by you right now. And weve heard some from other House Democrats as well. Shes also asked about the complaints from American People who dont care about the politics. They need help now. Theyd rather have 300 in their pocket than nothing. The House Speaker suggested that its all the fault of the republicans. Take a listen. Some people said, well, well do this bill and then well do another bill. You think the administration is going to do another bill . All they want is to have the president s name on a check going out 300, and thats all he really cares about. Right now were not just going to we think they should come to the table. Whats your response . I think we need to stop with the political ping pong here. Ive said it to you. Ill say it again. The bill that came out of the senate was dead on arrival. We need state and local aid. Otherwise were townfolks in ohio, florida, new york, california to drop dead. On the same hand though what was presented yesterday is a framework for a bold and bipartisan compromise. And it is that framework which should be put on the house floor. Subsequently, certainly the president of the United States, Mitch Mcconnell, need to take the baton and get the job done for the American People. This can not be a democrat versus republican issue. You have covered war before. During a moment of war. And that is what we are at right now. We cannot point fingers. We have to shut the door and get the job done. And what we saw yesterday is that there is every reason to believe that that is possible. Its everybodys fault. Lets just make something happen. Are there any Senate Republicans . Because obviously democrats control the house, Senate Republicans control the senate. Are there any Senate Republicans that are interested in your bill at all . Some of them are up for reelection. Maybe some of them would be inclined to support it either way. First of all, this was announced yesterday by a coalition of 50 members. 25 democrats, 25 republicans. In the house. Representing in the house representing over 40 million americans. So certainly i have no doubt if you go to someone like cory gardner or thom tillis or anyone else in a cuff election right now, what are they going to do, tell their constituents that they dont want to get something done . This is an opportunity for us to show the American People that g government can work. Lets seize that moment. Because our essential workers out there, our cops, our firemen, our teachers and soldiers, they dont have the opportunity for just going back and forth with this stupid rhetoric. They have to get the job done and we should too. Before you go, congressman, there is a little viral video that you or your campaign posted. I want to run that and ask you about it on the back end. Lets run it. Bill de blasio is the worst mayor in the history of new york city. Thats it, guys. Seriously, thats the whole ad. So, i know you represent a swing district, Staten Island primarily with parts of what the bronx, i think . South brooklyn. Come on, jake. [ laughter ] sorry, sorry. South brooklyn. Bronx is on the complete other side. Youre a democratic congressman attacking a democratic mayor in an ad. Sure. When. . As ive demonstrated throughout this interview, i dont care about party. All i care about is putting the country first. Its clear that mayor de blasio is almost single handedly driving the city into the gutter. But we cannot forget about the fact that new york city also needs state and local aid. New york city needs for the senate and the house and the white house to step up and push billions upon billions of dollars into the city and the state to rescue us from an unprecedented economic crisis. But i have no problem standing up to bill de blasio and saying do your damn job because youre not right now. Just yesterday did you vote for de blasio last time he was up for reelection . No, absolutely not. I voted for sal albines. And in 2013 when he first ran i was a little too busy in afghanistan to vote. Congressman, thank you so much. Coming up next a cnn exclusive breaking here on the lead. The mystery illness that shut down a major vaccine trial. Plus, more breaking news, this time along the gulf coast. 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Yesterday more than 1,200 deaths were recorded due to covid19. Thats the highest oneday total since august 19th. And as cnns erica hill reports, now the cdc director says it could take at least nine months to get the American Public vaccinated. Reporter a vaccine is in the works. But when is it going to be generally available to the American Public so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life . I think were probably looking at late Second Quarter, Third Quarter 2021. Reporter the back half of next year. While we wait, the president still insisting the virus will soon go away. It is going to disappear. Its going to disappear. Reporter its not disappearing. On the same day mr. Trump made that claim, the u. S. Recorded more than 39,000 new cases, and almost 1,300 deaths. The most in nearly a month. We are on the verge of exceeding 200,000 deaths. Im very concerned that the next few months may be amongst the worst months that we have experienced. Reporter our daily trends map shifting in the wrong direction. 23 states now red, posting a rise in new cases over the past week. 34 reporting an increase in deaths during that same period. And at what point do the American People say enough . Reporter new Analysis Shows racism and discrimination have contributed to higher hospitalization and death rates for people of color. Separately, the cdc noting children and teens from minority groups are also disproportionately impacted by the virus, though, overall, less than onetenth of 1 of the nations coronavirus deaths have been in those under 21. Testing also moving in the wrong direction. Down despite continued promises from the task force. I said we will have the availability of 90 million tests in september. I never stated that we would do 90 million tests in september. Were certainly hoping that the testing goes up. Wisconsin testing wastewater around the state to find the virus before it hits. An early august wedding at this site in maine is now linked to 176 cases and seven deaths. When they came together, it was sort of like a powder keg that was giving off sparks. Reporter announcing its football season will now kick off next month with daily antigen testing. No fans though. The president praising the move and taking credit in a tweet. The White House Press secretary emphasizing the states with those big ten teams. Now you will have players in maryland, new jersey, pennsylvania, wisconsin, ohio, iowa, indiana, illinois, minnesota, mississippi, and nebraska who will now have access to football. Reporter they will now have access to football. We are learning that miamidade, the mayor of miamidade announcing that on friday he is going to allow certain indoor spaces to open at 50 capacity. Among them, jake, movie theaters, bowling alleys, concert halls, convention spaces, banquet halls and certain indoor amusement venues. But he says beverages wont be allowed during watching a movie or bowling so that you can keep your mask on. Some breaking news now. Cnn has learned alarming details about what caused drug giant astrazeneca to halt its vaccine trial. A previously Healthy Woman in her 30s suddenly had trouble walking and she had pain in her limbs after receiving her second dose of the vaccine according to an internal document obtained by cnn. Cnns Elizabeth Cohen has the frightening details on what this means for the race to find a Coronavirus Vaccine. Reporter cnn has obtained an internal document from vaccinemaker astrazeneca detailing why the pharmaceutical giant paused its Worldwide Clinical Trials for their covid19 vaccine last week. At first all we knew was a study participant had a spinal cord problem. With an abundance of caution at a time like this, you put a clinical hold, you investigate carefully to see if anybody else who received that vaccine or any of the other vaccines mightve had a similar finding of a spinal cord problem. Reporter but now this internal astrazeneca document shows more was known about the illness than was said at the time. After the pause was announced, the New York Times reported that a trial participant had been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare neurological disorder which can cause paralysis. The participant had symptoms consistent with transverse myelitis. Astrazeneca then called this incorrect and said there was no final diagnosis. But astrazenecas own internal initial Safety Report obtained by cnn says the participant had, quote, experienced confirmed transverse myelitis and, quote, symptoms consistent with transverse milits. The report describes how the participant, a 37yearold woman in the uk, was previously healthy. She had two doses of the Coronavirus Vaccine about two and a half months apart. Then on september 2nd, 13 days after that second dose, while running, she had a trip, not a fall, with a jolt according to the report. The next day, she experienced symptoms including difficulty walking, pain and weakness in her arms. On september 5th, she was hospitalized and a neurologist noted that her symptoms were improving. Citing patient confidentiality, astrazeneca declined to provide more details about the womans case. So did the university of oxford which is running the trials in the uk. On september 11th, astrazeneca distributed its report to doctors involved with its study. That same day the university of oxford updated this Online Patient information sheet. The sheet says volunteers in the trial, quote, developed unexplained neurological symptoms including changed sensation or limb weakness. It does not mention milits or if that participants diagnosis changed. But were not being provided any details so this is creating a lot of confusion. Reporter on saturday astrazeneca announced that Clinical Trials had resumed in the uk. Regulators telling cnn we have now reviewed the data provided by the researchers. And after seeking independent expert advice from the commission from human medicines, we agreed with the recommendation of data and safety monitoring board that vaccination can restart. But in the United States the Clinical Trial remains on hold and under review. Dr. Anthony fauci tells cnn its just a matter of time before trials restart in the u. S. And when they do, investigators will need to be careful and watch out for similar symptoms. Astrazeneca says its committed to the safety of trial participants and to the highest standards of conduct in their studies. Telling cnn, the company will continue to work with Health Authorities across the world including the fda in the u. S. And be guided as to when other Clinical Trials can resume. Its absolutely critical that the American Public have complete transparencies about these Clinical Trials because theres a lot of concern that the trials are being rushed or were not adequately testing these vaccines for safety and whether they actually work. So communication is absolutely essential. Reporter now we just heard dr. Hotez talking about the importance of transparency. Jake, already we know from a cnn poll last month that 40 of americans dont want to get a Coronavirus Vaccine when it comes out. The concern is that if there is a perception among the u. S. Public that there are transparency issues, that number could get even higher. Jake . Great reporting. Thank you so much. Joining us now to discuss is dr. Ashish jha from harvard. How serious is the condition this woman got and how concerned does this make you for the progress of this vaccine . Yeah, jake, thanks for having me on. This is a pretty serious condition if thats what she had. Obviously if it was from the vaccine, wed all be very concerned. But we dont know. And dr. Hotez in that last piece is completely right. The bigger issue here is the lack of transparency that the company disclose this at an investor conference. We havent been given the details of exactly what happened. You can protect patient confidentiality and still share information. Its really important the company do so. Is it inevitable that this will hurt the level of trust in the astrazeneca vaccine . Or does the company, the Pharmaceutical Company still have time to be transparent and help this issue . So i think they have plenty of time to help this issue. They could really turn around now and be much more transparent and open, which will help build confidence in the vaccine. Its certainly not too late, but we got to get going on this. Dr. Fauci told cnn yesterday its just a matter of time before astrazeneca resumes its vaccine trial given what we know now, do you agree . I do. Again, part of it is im sure the regulators are looking very carefully at all the data. And i expect that they are going to do what dr. Fauci has suggested, which is to resume. But im hoping that theyve done it with careful review of all the other participants. And, again, itd be helpful for all of us to see and know that so we can feel more confident. How often does it happen that a company developing a vaccine has to halt its trial . Is it common, is it rare . You know, jake, its pretty common. And they may push back but we dont usually tell people about all the details. And my argument would be these are extraordinary times. It requires extraordinary transparency. Cdc director redfield sod said that vaccines for the general public will likely not be available until the second or Third Quarter of next year, 2021. That is a long time from now. Weve also heard dr. Fauci say that he has more confidence it will be sooner. When do you assess that the public will be able to get access to a workable safe vaccine . Im hoping by the end of this year well have a vaccine thats identified to be safe and effective and itll start getting rolled out. And i think Second Quarter of 2021 sounds about right for a large chunk of the American People. For some people itll be a little later, for some people a little earlier, but the majority in that time period. Health and Human ServicesDepartment SpokesmanMichael Caputo pushed a false Conspiracy Theory about cdc scientists as some sort of resistance pocket working to resist trump. He was doing this. He did this on a Facebook Live that was obtained and edited for length by yahoo news. Heres a quick clip of that. The partisan democrats, the conjugal media, and the scientists, the deep state scientists want america sick through november. They cannot afford for us to have any good news before november because theyre already losing. Donald trump right now if the election were held today, would win. Caputo has since apologized. Hes tried to explain it saying hes under a lot of stress, his family has gotten death threats, and hes also taking a health leave. But beyond caputo, be whats your take on hhs officials attacking the cdc as some sort of den of, you know, treason . Two things, first of all, its absurd. Its absurd these kinds of kind of scare mongering theories. But, second, is if you knew the scientists at the cdc, as i do, theyre extraordinary people, theyre patriots. Yes, theyve been undermined pretty consistently in the last six months. But there is no sedition or efforts to overthrow the government. Again, these are really amazing people that i respect and admire. And i suspect most americans would. You say they have been undermined. You mean by the Trump Administration . I think by their leadership. Dr. Redfield hasnt stood for them. And weve seen the white house consistently undermine the scientists at the cdc who have not been able to speak up and not been able to share their guidance. Thank you so much for your time today. In our national lead, it is Hurricane Sally making lal. Look what sally did ripping the walls right off this hotel. Sally is now a Tropical Storm that is still pummelling the gulf coast with intense wind and rain. It also pushed a barge with a crane onto a newly constructed bridge on floridas panhandle, leaving a chunk of the bridge just gone. Ed lavandera has been traveling along the panhandle. How widespread is the damage, how are the people there . Reporter the aftermath of this storm is quite something. Everywhere weve been here in southeast alabama, downed trees, powerlines, tens of thousands of people without power as well. And there is this story of this sailboat which started off. We are in a little town called lillian, alabama, which is right on the western edge of perdido bay all the way about four or five miles in that direction is the state of florida. The owners rode out the storm in there. It became unanchored and floated across all the way to this side. This is not this waters not supposed to be here. This boat was launched up here on land. Theyre in the process of trying to figure out how to get it here. But it really gives you a sense of the power and the fury that this storm unleashed on this corner of the gulf coast here in florida and alabama, treacherous hours here for tens of thousands of people as they rode out the worst of this storm here. And as if dealing with the aftermath in the storm, the winds, the heavy rain that has fallen throughout much of the day, remember here this woman Tina Lambert Bennett who lives on gulf shores where the eye of Hurricane Sally came ashore early this morning, she posted this video on her Facebook Page showing and talking about how her house was surrounded by water and poisonous snakes. And a giant alligator sitting in her front yard. So, all of this on top of what so many people are already dealing with here, jake. The aftermath is really quite something. And many people in this particular area of the gulf coast remember hurricane ivan back in 2004. They say this is just as strong as that storm. Jake . Being threatened by alligators is usually a metaphor for people. Its literal in that case. Ed lavandera, thank you so much. You dont want to miss a special cnn town hall with president ial nominee joe biden tomorrow night 8 00 p. M. Only on cnn. You can follow me on facebook, instagram, twitter jaketapper. Our coverage on cnn continues right now. Thanks for watching. I will see you tomorrow. This is cnn breaking news. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Were following breaking news. An emergency unfolding in parts of alabama and florida where relentless rain from Tropical Storm sally is triggering historic flooding with rescues underway right now and half a Million People without power. Also breaking this hour, the u. S. Coronavirus death toll now topping 196,000 people after the country saw the highest oneday death rate here in the United States in a month yesterday