Trump Expected to Host Event At White House Tomorrow Despite Having COVID; Without Evidence Trump Claims Election Will Be A Scandal; Judge Blocks Ohio Election Officials Who Limit Ballot Drop Boxes; Biden Makes Campaign Push in Key Swing State; Notre Dame President Faces Calls to Resign After Not Wearing A Mask
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Breaking news just in, a White House official tells CNN that President Trump, despite being infected with coronavirus, is expected to host an event at the White House tomorrow. CNN's Kaitlan Collins joins me now. Kaitlan, this doesn't sound safe.</s>KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it depends on who you ask, because the President's doctor issued that letter but didn't take any questions, saying the President was cleared to do public engagements starting on Saturday. Though, of course, that conflicts with a timeline he previously gave to reporters, Jake. But my colleague Jim Acosta says a White House official is telling him there will be an in-person event at the White House tomorrow where the President is going to be speaking. And what that means for viewers at home is that's the first time we'll have independently seen the President since he returned to the White House on Monday. Yes, the White House has published these edited videos of the President, but we haven't laid eyes on him as reporters since then, though he has been in the Oval Office a few times this week, and we believe he's there again now because the marine is standing outside the West Wing. But, of course, Jake, it's going to raise all kinds of questions about whether or not the President has even gotten a negative test result yet. Now White House spoke --</s>TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much. In our 2020 LEAD, 25 days until the presidential election. And already more than 6 million ballots have already been cast. President Trump is continuing however to sow doubt about the integrity of the election, making all sorts of wild claims, including in the last hour false claims about mail-in ballots, and before it's even happened, he's called the election a scandal.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But they're sending out millions and millions of ballots. Are they sending them to all Democrats? Who are they sending them to, where are they going, you know, et cetera, et cetera? This is going to be the second biggest political scandal in history.</s>TAPPER: No, it won't. I want to bring in CNN's Pamela Brown. Pamela, completely untrue. Americans have been voting absentee since the Civil War. Many states have been voting absentee, vote by mail for a decade. The ballots don't just go to Democrats. There's no scandal. Certainly not anything we know of right now.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, there's no scandal, and sources tell me that the President is essentially laying the groundwork to claim that the election is rigged so that if he is ahead on election day, he can try to preserve his victory and claim it was stolen from him if Biden pulls ahead through mail-in ballots. But of course, the polls are showing now that it's not as close of a race as it was before. That is not stopping the President from pushing out this false messaging, even saying that we should know the results on election night. That is something contradicted by officials, and his own administration in a video this week. They said we may not know results on election night, and that's OK.</s>BROWN (voice-over): After stopping a domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan's Democratic governor, renewed worries that armed people at the polls could intimidate voters or worse as tensions are rising.</s>DANA NESSEL (D) MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's not just a Michigan problem, it's an American problem, and I think there's going to be more incidents to come.</s>BROWN: Michigan's Attorney General is working on guidance for law enforcement on how to handle guns at polling places. In 11 states and D.C., there is a ban on firearms at the polls. But many swing states, including Michigan, don't have strict rules against it. Officials are concerned about potential voter suppression.</s>JOCELYN BENSON (D) MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: It is an intimidation tactic to have, you know, people at the polls, you know, with weapons.</s>BROWN: At the same time, there are some new developments for voters mailing in their ballot. Some clarity in Ohio where a federal judge blocked an order limiting ballot drop boxes to only one per county. Writing that it was a, quote, very serious looming problem that could jeopardize the right to vote, especially in cities like Cleveland. And Wisconsin Democrats are wanting to extend the deadline lost in federal appeals court. The judges said all ballots have to reach officials when polls close on election day.</s>CLAIRE WOODALL-VOGG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MILWAUKEE ELECTION COMMISSION: Unfortunately, the constant changing of the election laws is nothing new in Wisconsin. If you know how you plan to vote, there's no time to waste. Go ahead and vote.</s>BROWN: And now both parties are gearing up for the possibility of a contested election, with no clear winner on November 3rd or weeks beyond. The "Washington Post" reports Speaker Nancy Pelosi has discussed the issue in meetings. One scenario involves invoking the Electoral Count Act, an unobscured untested 19th century law which gives Congress the power to settle state level disputes. Last week Nancy Pelosi acknowledged any Congressional involvements would be messy.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: If all that chaos takes us to a time that could be past the date when the electoral colleges must meet, we will be ready.</s>BROWN: But one area, Jake, Democrats are not necessarily ready on is messaging, countering the President's false claims that he's making today that we were just talking about. I just spoke to Congressman Gerry Connelly. He is a Democrat. He said, we need to step up our messaging, there is not an organized effort. We're going to have to really move into hyperdrive. Of course, we're only a few weeks away from the election, Jake, and he said he is setting up a strawman and it has to be knocked down. The President clearly wants to influence public perception even before the election happens -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: And also, I mean simultaneously his campaign is putting out messages encouraging Republicans to vote, vote early, vote by mail if they want to, et cetera. I mean it's completely contrary to what his campaign is saying.</s>BROWN: Absolutely.</s>TAPPER: Pamela Brown, thank you so much. In our 2020 LEAD today, Joe Biden continues to refuse to answer the question if he would add justices to the nine-member Supreme Court if he becomes President. He says, you'll just have to wait until after the election to find out.</s>JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You'll know my opinion of court packing when the election is over. The moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that, other than -- other than focusing on what's happening now.</s>TAPPER: CNN's Arlette Saenz joins me now from Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a critical swing state. What's the pitch that he's making to voters there?</s>ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well Jake, Joe Biden, when he landed here in Nevada, he made his first stop in east Las Vegas trying to court Latino voters. Latinos made up about 18 percent of voters here four years ago and that is a group that he is hoping to drive out to the polls heading into election day. And we're reaching that point in the campaign where Biden is not just making his pitch on why voters should choose him over President Trump, but he is also focusing on turnout. Yesterday he went to Arizona on the second day of early voting there, and here today in Las Vegas, in Nevada, which early voting starts here in eight days. He was already talking about the importance of people heading out to the polls. Take a listen to what he said a short while ago.</s>BIDEN: He's trying to scare us. He's trying to convince everybody there's ways they can play with the vote and undermine the vote. They can't. If we show up, we win. And look what's happening in early voting all across America. Long lines, long lines. We can't just win, we have to win overwhelmingly, so you can't be in a position where you can put the phony challenges that he's talking about.</s>SAENZ: Now Biden is heading here to Las Vegas where in a short while he will hold a drive-in event, as you can see behind me. They've been turning to these drive-in style campaign events due to the coronavirus pandemic, trying to follow all the health and safety regulations in the states that they visit -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: All right. Arlette Saenz in Las Vegas, thank you so much. When you make thousands of students and professors follow strict COVID guidelines, but you don't follow them yourself, there is bound to be a backlash. What could be next for the President of Notre Dame University. Stay with us.