This is CNN breaking news.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Will

Flitzer in the situation room. We're following breaking news. President Trump

is scrambling right now to defend himself from growing outrage over his

recorded conversations with the journalist Bob Woodward.

In a news conference that wrapped up just a little while ago, the president claimed he withheld vital

information from the American public about the highly lethal nature of the

coronavirus because he wanted to show and I'm quoting him now strength as a leader

Mr. Trump is even trying to shift the blame to Woodward, claiming the journalists could have

chosen to report on their conversations if he thought the threat was serious.

The coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 191,000 Americans with nearly 6.4 million confirmed

cases and another 1,206 Americans died from the virus just yesterday and this just in the CDC has just published a

sobering update to its death toll forecast between 205 and 217,000 dead Americans by October 3rd in just a few weeks.

Let's begin our coverage this hour with Cian and is Jim Acosta.

Right now he's in Freeland, Michigan where the president is getting ready to

hold a rally Jim the crowds they're starting together and it's looking sadly a lot

like other Trump rallies and no real social distancing and very few masks.

That's right.

Well, President Trump is campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan in just a short while

from now and as we can already see many of

supporters at this rally are not social distancing and as you said many of

them are not wearing their masks but one thing these supporters do finally

...