Milestone, 200,000 deaths. The white house projected we would see 200,000 deaths by october 1st. That came true nine days automobile. And they are now predicting 380,000 will have died by january 1st. These were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, the 200,000 weve lost. And still despite the fact that the u. S. Empirically has the worst numbers of any western wealthy country and the highest death count of any nation in the world according to official numbers, there is no new strategy from the Trump Administration to control the spread. There is no Cohesive Strategy for testing and identifying and isolating to the degree that Health Experts have been calling for since march. And nearly half the states in the United States are now seeing a rise in new cases. Despite all of this death, President Trump bizarrely gave himself an aplus on his handling of the virus. And the white house tried to defend his actions again today. The president never downplayed Critical Health information. The president never downplayed our covid response. And you can just see that by the historic effort that weve put forward. Those of course from the White House Press secretary, baldfaced lies. The president continues to downplay the threat, and he is literally on tape with bob woodward saying that he downplayed the risks. These lies that youre paying for are being used now to cover up government failures that have cost thousands of american lives. Cnns erica hill takes a look at the troubling new hot spots. Reporter 20,000 small flags dotting the National Mall to memorialize 200,000 lives lost. The idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering and in some respects stunning. Reporter stunning, because it didnt have to happen. It feels like a date for some humility. Reporter 200,000 lives. Thats more than the entire population of little rock, arkansas, gone. Families forever changed. Its beyond hurt. Its beyond pain. Reporter and yet 24 states now reporting an increase in new cases over the past seven days. But look at the same map this time last week. Just nine states on the rise then. If we dont get that base line down sharply to a very low level. When you have a lot of cases floating around, its much more difficult to contain that than if you have a relatively low number. Reporter troubling trends in wisconsin, which has seen a steady, sharp rise in new cases over the past month. Steep climbs in north dakota too. The president sticking to his narrative. Were rounding the turn. And its happening. [ applause ] in some states, thousands of people, nobody young, below the age of 18, like nobody. Unfortunately when the president makes comments like that and minimizes the virus and tells people that unless youre old youre not going to get it, that encourages more spread, it encourages more reckless behavior. Reporter the university of colorado at boulder moving Classes Online for at least two weeks in an effort to slow the spread. Texas announcing more than 4,500 positive cases at its Public Schools just over half of those in students. There are encouraging signs. California which struggled over the summer now has a Positivity Rate just under 3 . But cold weather and flu season loom. Weve got to be in this together. Reporter the Washington Post reporting n95 masks critical for Health Care Workers are still in short supply. Meantime, three nfl coaches fined 100,000 each for not Wearing Masks on sunday. Their takens also hit with an additional quarter Million Dollars fine apiece. And another sign of the economic toll. Sizzl sizzler filing for bankruptcy. Something millions of americans can relate to. We know that having a vaccine and getting a vaccine to people are two very different things. Telling cnn that realistically, he doesnt see the world being really vaccinated or 90 of the world being vaccinated until 2024. Wow. All right, erica hill, thank you so much. Joining us now to discuss, cnn chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. Sanjay, the first known death from coronavirus in the u. S. Was in february, seven months later, 200,000 americans dead from the coronavirus. You and i have been talking about this now basically since february. What are your thoughts as we reach this awful milestone . Um, you know, this was not inevitable. Its interesting i think a lot of people sort of have resigned themselves to this thinking this is just the way that it was going to be. When this country went into the sort of pause mode middle of march there were fewer than a hundred people had died. And there was a sense that maybe we can really contain this, not just try and play catchup but try and contain it. We just never did, jake. We started opening things up almost as quickly as things were sort of paused for a bit. Jake, on a more personal note, i talked to so many families of people who have lost loved ones. Its, as you might imagine, a challenging conversation. But the idea of telling families that their loved one died a preventible death, people just what do you do with that, right . It has no context, its just awful for them to think about. They really want to keep the conversation on what can still be done. As you and erica were just discussing, there are still hundreds of thousands of lives that can be saved through basic Public Health measures. Will we learn those lessons . Im not sure. But today is a tough milestone to swallow. Its awful. Right now the u. S. Is still averaging more than 40,000 cases and 800 deaths every single day. You spoke with dr. Fauci today. He said that base line is way too high, lowering it is, quote, not rocket science. So why havent we been able to lower it . I think that theres been this defiance of basic Public Health measures. I mean, it will bogle my mind probably till my dying day given that people are told you can be part of these movements that could save tens of thousands of lives by being good stewards to your community. People are like id rather not, booing at rallies when they are told to do simple things like that. I do want to show you because 1918, the closest model we have to whats happening now is 1918. That was another major pandemic. I think one of the things that people are particularly worried about is this second spike. We see the first spike. We went back and looked at the data. In the First Six Months of the year 1918, First Six Months of the pandemic, 75,000 people had died. For us its about 200,000 people over seven months. But it was that second spike that was so devastating. 195,000 people died in one month. That month was october. And it was because people started clustering indoors again with a very contagious virus. And that is a cautionary tale. Its exactly what were trying to avoid. There are Good Strategies so that that doesnt happen. Aside from a vaccine, aside from a therapeutic, there are Good Strategies. Weve got to do it. I know weve said this for months but weve got to do it because the graph sort of speaks for itself. The politics of this are just ugly. President trump obviously should be praised for the operation warp speed for the efforts for therapeutics. But when it comes to his downplaying of the virus back in february and march and then continuing to today when it comes to his refusal to get the whole country behind wearing a mask when it comes to the sporadic leadership when it came to whether or not states should reopen when it came to the fact that there is no cohesive, you know, onestop place where americans can go to get advice. And now also the politicization of these agencies, despite changing guidance from the cdc, dr. Fauci said that there is evidence coronavirus can be spread through the air even though the guidance changed on the cdc. Explain this for us. Yeah. So, the basic gist of it is this. For some time now, and i say several months, theres been this belief among many scientists and many people in the Public HealthCommunity Based on data and based on modeling that this virus spreads really in three ways. One is through respiratory droplets, people putting out respiratory droplets into the air. But those droplets fall quickly. They dont really move further than six feet. They dont linger in the air. Another way is touch your face. But this third idea, the viral particles are so small that they become suspended in the air. Think of it more like smoke rather than a respiratory droplet. And the smoke lingers in the air and it can move further than six feet and it can last longer than a few hours. Thats how they explain that choir where you have somebody singing up on stage and several people within the audience become infected or in a crowded indoor setting. I was nowhere close to the person who was infected and yet i got infected all the way on the other side of the restaurant or the bar. How would that happen unless these viral particles become aerosolized . The cdc put it on their website. On sunday i believe or monday it was taken back down. Teams to be a genuine error. I only say that because i talk to sources at the cdc all the time and they alert me when they think there has been more foul play. Here they say it is a genuine error. But it did reflect prevailing science. You can make a reasonable assumption, sanjay, that some aspect of transmission can be and is by aerosol. The interesting thing about that, it doesnt change anything that weve been saying. It means wear your mask. It means avoid close contact. I mean, jake, the only thing that i think is different at all is that we should be Wearing Masks. But if youre inside a building, you should be wearing a mask even if youre not within six feet of people. If you think about this conceptually different that you could have viral clouds because of this aerosolization, you should wear your mask indoors even if youre not within 6 feet of somebody. Dr. Sanjay gupta, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Its all but a done deal after senator mitt romney announced today seemingly gave republicans enough votes to confirm a new Supreme Court justice before the election. Is there anything democrats can do to stop it . A democratic member of the Senate Judiciary committee will join me next. They say politics can make strange bed fellows. Someone who is making millions off the political run, kanye west. Stay with us. Big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. We have different needs. Y. But one thing we share is wanting to make our lives the best they can be. If you have medicare and medicaid, a dual complete plan from unitedhealthcare can help. Giving you more benefits. At no extra cost. And a promise to be there for you. Whatever your story may be. To learn more, call or go online. Dual complete from unitedhealthcare. When covid hit, i happened futo be the main bread winner. Sixty percent of my nannies got laid off. I had to furlough my office team. Dave is my Financial Advisor at northwestern mutual. Hes like a father to me. He reached out to me. And then reminded me that years of planning with him set me up for success. I was able to rehire my staff. And now i can prepare more for the future. Were back with a politics lead in what is likely to be a shift on the Supreme Court for decades to come. President trump says hes very close to making an official decision and will announce his pick for the Supreme Court vacancy this saturday. And barring any issues with the nominee who has yet to be named, it now appears the president has the support of enough republican senators to push his nomination through before the election in just 42 days. A source telling cnn that this decision is so critical to President Trumps legacy and his reelection, thats the view from inside the white house, that a confidant has told the president that this is akin to choosing his runningmate. A trump favorite is emerging. Reporter President Trump says hell announce his pick to replace Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg in four days. I would say that im very close to making a decision, in my own mind, im going to reveal it on saturday. Reporter as Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell is locking down support on capitol hill, President Trump is narrowing down his list and met with top candidate Amy Coney Barrett for several hours monday. Barrett is a favorite of religious conservatives, who has already faced contentious exchanges with democrats in the past. The dogma lives loudly within you. Reporter the white house is also in the process of scheduling a meeting with Barbara Lagoa in her hometown of miami. Once seen as a possible frontrunner, she appears to have faded from trumps favor. Though sources cautioned that could change. Shes terrific and you have judge larson. You know judge larson whos very talented also. Reporter trump is narrowing down his list as republicans are falling in line. Utah senator mitt romney now says he supports moving forward on a Supreme Court pick, all but assuring trump will have the votes. I think at this stage its appropriate to look at the constitution and to look at the precedent, which has existed over, well, since the beginning of our countrys history. Reporter there were questions about whether romney would break with his party, given he voted to remove trump from office during impeachment. But today, he sided with republican leaders. My liberal friends have, over many decades, gotten used to the idea of having a liberal court and thats not written in the stars. Reporter romney dashing the hopes of liberal lawmakers who were anticipating he could stand in the way of a vote by election day. Lindsey graham says his committee will hold three days of hearings which could come as many lawmakers including graham are campaigning. If the president s nominee does get confirmed, one of the first cases to come before the court in november is the fate of the Affordable Care act, which impacts at least 20 million americans. The Trump Administration still hasnt unveiled a replacement plan despite trump promising one for years. It certainly does exist. The president in the next week or so will be laying out his vision for health care. Reporter now, jake, youll remember back in early august, the president said he was going to sign an executive order on preexisting conditions. He never did, it never materialized. But now the Vice President mike pence is telling cbs news the president is going to take some kind of executive action on preexisting conditions in the coming days as we are still waiting to see what this Health Care Plan out of the white house is going to be. Preexisting conditions are already covered under the law by the Affordable Care act, which the Trump Administration is trying to disable, to dismantle through the Supreme Court. So of course the question is going to be whether or not the level of protection offered through the president s executive order that hes going to sign on preexisting conditions is as strong as the law. Many people are doubtful of that, saying if that was the case, jake, that barack obama or bill clinton wouldve done so. Yeah. The question is not only is it going to require Insurance Companies to cover people regardless of preexisting conditions, but is it going to make sure that they cant charge them more in premiums . Thats the real protection. And well see what the president offers, if anything, of course. Kaitlan collins in pittsburg where the president is holding a rally later this evening. Thank you so much. Joining us now, democratic senator chris coons of delaware. He is on the Senate Judiciary committee which will question President Trumps Supreme Court nominee. He is also a surrogate for the biden campaign. As of today it appears republicans do have enough republican votes to pursue this nomination even before a nominee is named, even before the election. Do democrats have any options that you are considering to stop this . Well, jake, this really is on republicans. They are reversing themselves just four years after they set the precedent in 2016 of refusing to take up a hearing, to give a vote to president obamas nominee Merrick Garland because he was nominated ten months before an election. We are now just 42 days before an election, in which ill remind you, half of the states are already voting. In 25 states there is early voting happening. So this really is on the Majority Party on the republicans. They are the ones who are going to jam this through the judiciary committee. Ill remind you, Justice Ginsburg passed on rosh hashanah. 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