this is the cbs weekend news. >> >> garrett: good evening, everyone, i'm major garrett in washington. president trump has returned to the campaign trail with apparent gusto, pressing against re- election head winds. most polls show the president trailing former vice president joe biden in key battleground states. the trump campaign however continues to bet on undetected pockets of support in rural areas and among african-american and hispanic voters. a new cbs news battleground tracker poll shows mr. trump trailing the former vice president in wisconsin, a state mr. trump narrowly won in 2016. the president also trails biden in arizona, the last democrat by the way to win there was bill clinton in 1996. this weekend the president made stops in michigan, wisconsin, nevada and california. at airport rallies he was greeted by big crowds, many not wearing masks. as the nation watches it is also voting in astonishing numbers. s.re than 27 million ballots more than 27 million ballots cast by mail or in cast by mail or in person. a reflection of pandemic fears and political energy. with 16 d

>> garrett: chip reid, thank you. we have been told the next several hours could be critical for the president, joining me cbs news chief medical correspondent dr. jon lapook. doctor, three interventions with medicine and two efforts to stabilize the president's breathing. what does that tell us? >> well, you know major, we need some more information. for example we need to know what is the chest ct show, does he have knew fonia and what do the blood tests show, is there an increase in inflammatory markers that he is perhaps later in the disease, that he is in the inflammatory stage. the reason why that is important is that the first two medicine he was given the remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies, it makes sense, the idea of them is to de crease the viral load. and in that first part of the disease, that makes a lot of sense even though these medicine are experimental, they haven't been proven to be safe and effective, still that kind of makes sense and that was the decision his team made. the dexamethasone say lit

i'm major garrett in washington, good morning. we are awaiting the suggested briefing on president trump's help. last night the president released a video seeking t >> since we spoke last, the president has continued to improve. as with any illness, there are frequent ups and downs over the course, particularly when a patient is being so closely watched 24 hours a day. we review and debate every finding, weighing the risks and benefites of any intervention. it's timing, as well as any potential impactaise delay may have. over the course of his illness, the president has experienced two episodes of transient drops in its oxygen saturation. timeli of the initials for this. diagnosis, that we initiate dexamethasone. i'd like to take this opportunity now, given some speculation over the course of the illness the last couple of days, to update you on the course of his own illness. thursday night into friday morning, when i left the bedside, the president was doing well with only mild symptoms, and his oxygen was in the high 90s. late f

garrett, thanks for being with us this morning. let's start by -- from a broad per spebive iiv ivive -- persps has been a major shock. president trump is not the first world leader to be diagnosed with covid-19, but certainly it suggests a level of vulnerability inside the oval office that most americans think of as a bastian of security and safety. what has been the reaction of members of congress so far that you've seen, and what are the questions you think we're going to need to be answering here in the coming hours. >> let's start there, kasie. the idea that this can infect the most powerful person in the world with the most access to testing and the most access to health care of any human being on the planet, i think, should be a wakeup call to everyone about how seriously we have to continue to take this virus. this didn't go away. this didn't stop becoming a threat because people stopped paying attention to it. if it can get behind the resolute desk, it can get absolutely anywhere. that takeaway is going to extend through co

garrett, i'll start with you. we saw democrats get in line behind telling the stories of individuals who say that their lives were saved or financial lives at the very least were saved by being able to afford healthcare through the aca. is this acknowledgement by democrats that they don't have the ability to stop this nomination, but they can make it politically painful at the polls for republicans and that's what they're trying to do, drive home the point that this election will also be about healthcare and the aca? >> reporter: yeah, katie, i think that's right. we know that because democrats have said as much. amy klobuchar said during her statement today and again at a press conference just following the conclusion of the hearing that the democrats don't have the votes to stop this nomination. but what they can do is make it as politically painful as possible for republicans running for senate, and for the white house. you saw them hammer again and again and again on the issue of healthcare today, and on the i

jose >> garrett haake in janesville, wisconsin. thank you. >>> and it's not just the midwest. across the country tonight a growing number of hospitals are being overwhelmed with coronavirus patients in utah, where cases are rising fast, the situation is especially dire. erin mclaughlin has more from salt lake city >> reporter: tonight in utah, a health care system on the brink. >> that's where we are right now, in a boat taking on water. and what's ahead of us not sunshine it's a potential storm and a flood. >> reporter: with coronavirus hospitalizations at a record high late friday one of the largest hospitals in the state ran out of icu beds the crisis impacting patients who don't have covid-19. >> this is hard. >> reporter: stephanie deere's 47-year-old sister laurie's heart suddenly stopped last tuesday. she was rushed to a nearby hospital but they didn't have the equipment to save her. it took 2 1/2 hours to find her a specialized bed. >> i don't know who was more scared, the doctor or me he looked desperate. >> reporter: so even though your sister has taken every precaut

nbc's garrett haake is in florida. political reporter robert costa, and "the washington post's" phil rucker with us as well. the biden campaign thinks there's a chance georgia will go blue for the first time since 1992, kristen. >> it would be remarkable, andrea, you're absolutely right. the biden campaign showing confidence heading into this final week and really going on offense. the fact that they are campaigning here in georgia which as you point out is a reliably red state. in terms of what we expect to hear from former vice president joe biden, he will be laying out his closing argument today, andrea. he's going to do it in warm spri springs, a place where former president roosevelt, fdr, went to heal from polio. i'm told biden will use that as a backdrop to the argument that he will help the economy heal from the pandemic, from the economic crisis, and will also cast himself as a unifying candidate. he'll use that to contrast himself against president trump. and then his second stop is going to be here in atlant

please join me in welcoming tim and garrett. >> thank you, everybody. the history of the last 75 years of warfare between america and russia, its political warfare. and political warfare is -- [inaudible] it's the full spectrum from diplomacy to covert operations. from friend lu persuasion -- friendly persuasion to sabotage and subversion are. and the story of the book is that we won the 20th century, and they're winning the 21st. that's it in a nutshell. you can see political warfare against the american political system, against american democracy, against the american body politic every day. we're going to see whether they win the next battle on election day. garrett, over to you. >> well, tim, it's great to have a chance to talk with you about this, and thank you, northshire and yado for hosting us tonight. i know that i speak for tim when i say we're sorry that we can't be there in person at the manchester store or even the share toe georgia store. -- saratoga store. it would be a lot more fun to be there in person, but i'm excited to have a chance

garrett haake, garrett, thank you so much for sticking around for us today. we appreciate it. and that's going to do it for me today. if you're going outside, wear a mask. it's my birthday. do it for me. wear a mask if you're in public. if you're staying inside, ayman mohyeldin picks up our coverage next. when the pandemic shook our city, scott wiener immediately went to work, making sure families could put food on their tables, defending renters facing eviction, securing unemployment benefits, helping neighborhood businesses survive. scott wiener will never stop working until california emerges from this crisis. the bay area needs scott's continued leadership in sacramento. because we know scott is fighting for all of us. re-elect scott wiener for state senate. >>> good afternoon, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin in new york. a live look at the numbers on wall street this hour. the dow jones plummeting more than 800 points at various times throughout the day over coronavirus fears, with three record days of new infections. white house chief of staff mark meadows and president tr

garrett haake is on the hill with more. garrett, what's going on? >> stephanie, what you're seeing now is what a lot of activists in the democratic party want you to see from the begin chicaning. they do not have the votes but they can try to exact a maximum political cost. if you see a wide shot of the room you may be able to see the democratic senators are replaced by pictures. big, blown up poster-size photos of the same people they talked about during the hearings who they say would be hurt by the repeal of the aca. so democrats are not there. this is a committee vote that will pass, 12-0, with every republican senator present. but the goal for democrats is to highlight the political cost of this decision moving forward. all of this allows senate republicans to continue this fast track operation. they plan to start the voting process on the floor tomorrow moving through sunday with the idea being to get judge barrett confirmed to the bench by monday. it is extraordinarily fast. again, democrats cannot stop it but by boycotting, holding a press c

our garrett haake is in tucson at that second event garrett, he's hittin the trail awfully hard this week. >> reporter: hey, lester donald trump's campaign manager told reporters today he agrees with the biden campaign that this race is much closer than the polling shows, saying that his candidate will outwork biden in the last two weeks as he is outspending him in the air waves and that means in the weeks leading up to the election eight total rallies for president trump and in seven different states and in the same time period, biden held three similar events public health officials worry about events like this, that they could be superspreaders the trump campaign said they require temperature checks at the doors, they make people wear masks when they come inside. but as you can see, there's no socia distancing and most folks simply take their masks off once they're in the event lester >> all right garrett haake, thank you. >>> as the u.s. races towards election day, the coronavirus is surging to levels we haven't seen since july with many hospitals under siege now. gabe gutierrez

>>> good evening i'm major garrett in washington. president trump has returned to the campaign trail with apparent gusto, pressing against re-election head winds, the president is trailing biden in key battleground states in most polls. the president is continuing to bet on unexpected pockets of support. a new cbs news battleground tracker poll showing mr. trump trailing the former vice president in wisconsin. a state mr. trump narrowly fwhon 2016 and the president trail s biden in arizona. the last democrat to win there was bill clinton in 1996. the president made stops and at airport rallies he was greeted by big crowds often not wearing masks. the voting has been in astonishing numbers, more than 27 million ballots cast by mail or in person. a reflection of pandemic fears and political energy. with 16 days to go, election history is being made every day. one of the next chapters a final presidential debate this week. we are started off with the president in las vegas. >> reporter: president trump started his day at a church servic

laurie garrett is the exact opposite of that. she's the prize-winning journalist who has taught me and i think many of you more about the coronavirus than any other journalist. she will join us at the end of the hour tonight to consider how the president being infected with the coronavirus fits in the story that she has been telling us from the beginning about this pandemic. tonight, donald trump is making history as the first president to spend a night in is hospital in a life-threatening situation since ronald reagan. so most americans have never seen this before. if you're younger than about 50, you have no real memory of a president being in a hospital in a life-threatening situation. the good news for the president is that he walked out of the white house on his way to the hospital today on his own two feet. the only thing that was jarring about his appearance as he left the white house is that he was wearing that mask. finally. before leaving the white house today, the president recorded this video which was released when h

garrett. >> yeah. jon president trump is running about an hour or so behind schedule and should be arriving here in next hour or so. for his rally in wausau this will be his fifth campaign visit to the state this year already and he'll be back again in the state on tuesday for another rally. joe biden meanwhile has only visited the state twice in the past two years. both of those visits coming last month despite that in the latest fox news poll, biden is leading in wisconsin. 49-44. , though, it is worth noting that puts president trump just within the polls margin of error and in a similar position to where he was in polls in 2016 before he ultimately won the state by less than a single point. like a lot of midwest, though, wisconsin is currently seeing a disturbing wave of the coronavirus. this week the state set records for the highest number of cases in the 7-day period highest average cases per day and the highest average virus related deaths per day. those trends are concerning because hospitals

garrett haake with more. >> reporter: with nine days to go, president trump on offense in maine and new hampshire, states he narrowly lost in 2016. >> thank you. nine days from now we're going to win this thing. can you believe nine days? >> reporter: joe biden attending church this morning and holding a virtual event tonight. >> good to be almost home. >> reporter: with a visit to georgia on tuesday, a state no democrat has won since 1992. and dispatching his most high-powered supporter, former president obama for a second full day of campaigning in florida, where a biden win could make trump's path to 270 electoral votes much more difficult. >> it is born out of love of country that we march, that we fight, that we vote. >> reporter: the vice presidential candidates each in battlegrounds, urging supporters to vote early, as did obama in this biden campaign video. >> this call begins in 25 minutes. >> reporter: voters may not need much of a push. more than 58 million americans have already cast their ballots, far exceeding all votes in 2016, with nine days still to go. in texas, 7.1 mi

>> that's fishing weather, garrett. i've got three sports legends in the test tonight. phil mickelson is one. he made history and these guys are the others. who wins out? up next. i didn't choose this job because it was easy. but i can't say i expected this. to fight these fires, we need funding - plain and simple. for this crisis, and for the next one. prop 15 closes tax loopholes so rich corporations pay their fair share of taxes. so firefighters like me, have what we need to do the job, and to do it right. the big corporations want to keep their tax loopholes. it's what they do. well, i do what i do. if you'ld like to help, join me and vote yes on prop 15. >>> a dennis is here with sports, two bay area greats. >> exactly. two legends, juliette, going head-to-head today. rodgers and the packers versus brady and the buccaneers. facing the former cal baer, rogers. green bay out to an early 10-0 lead but then rodgers throws his first interception of the season, 32 yards, come back, jamal dean cut tampa's deficit to 10-7. final minute of the half, 20-1 to 10 box, rob gron

garrett rushed to the camera just for us. he's not winded, which is a testament to how fit he is, despite the pandemic. but i understand you've got some news to share with us that you call potentially market-moving. what is that? >> reporter: craig, the news out of this is that despite conversations to the contrary over the last couple of days, today speaker pelosi shut down the idea that with the president walking away from the table on a larger coronavirus relief bill, that there would be any standalone aid that could pass for the airline industry. that had had been the conversation over the last 24 hours or so. the speaker put the kibosh on it pretty forcefully in this press conference just a minute ago. here is part of her answer to my question on this topic. >> there is no standalone bill without a bigger bill. there is no bill. because you asked the second question, why should we do one and not the other. and so the comment that i made to the administration last night was, we're happy to review what that standalone bill

joining us now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent garrett haake along with yamiche alcindor with pbs news hour. i mentioned at the top we have not seen the president for days. what are white house advisers saying about the current state of things inside the oval office in the west wing? >> well, white house officials on the surface and on the record are saying that the president is feeling fine, that he's hard at work, that he really is getting ready to be able to go back on the campaign trail. we heard from the president's doctor saying that he could be cleared as early as saturday to be back on the road. there's some talk now of having some sort of rally this weekend, possibly in florida. that's what's being said on the surface. also the president held this two-hour plus call with rush limbaugh, the conservative radio host, where he made the point over and over again that he felt fine, that he felt perfect. he claimed that he had been cured. he claimed that he didn't have any issues with the virus. but here's the key thing. when you talk to people off the record or on background at

garrett haake i appreciate your reporting this morning as well. we'll be watching and monitoring this confirmation hearing that is continuing today on capitol hill and bring you any news as we get it. thanks to the both of you. >>> we have a lot coming up on the show, new exclusive reporting you'll see here just out this morning how president trump and his updated timetable for american troops in afghanistan could play into the election. >>> up next, wisconsin is one of the many states the 37 states where the number of coronavirus cases is spiking right now. we are live on the ground with the health official battling to keep people safe as front line workers struggle to treat this onslaught of patients. >> people are dying every night, there's nothing we can do about it. this week on "the upper hands"... special guest flo challenges the hand models to show off the ease of comparing rates with progressive's home quote explorer. international hand model jon-jon gets personal. your wayward pinky is grotesque. then a high stakes patty-cake battle roya

jose >> garrett haake in washington, d.c., thank you. >>> when we come back the experimental treatment the president received what is it and how does it work >>> and the outbreak in the nfl the most prominent player yet reportedly testing positive er yet reportedly testing positive. all otc pain relievers including voltaren have one thing in common none are proven stronger or more effective against pain than salonpas patch large there's surprising power in this patch salonpas dependable, powerful relief. hisamitsu. for our families and for our communities. when we spend taxpayers' money, we should use it to buy american products and support american jobs. it's time to help small businesses who will purchase clean energy technologies to fight climate change and enhance national security. we have to invest in what the jobs and industries of tomorrow are going to be. we have a great opportunity, build back and build back better. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. you can take advantage of $0 preventive dental care. ♪ wow ♪ uh-huh $0 copays on preventive dental care and the nati

i just asked garrett camp you will hear the full on the sports life tonight if he was concerned about the potential a six—month restrictions due to covid—i9 in this country and whether that could impact the euros next summer. he basically said that you have got to be realistic, he admits that it have got to be realistic, he admits thatitis have got to be realistic, he admits that it is a high chance that could be the case. although he did say it is difficult to predict and on the back of that, incidentally, this evening you have announced that they are allowing the returning of supporters come up to 30% of capacity, bearing in mind where local laws permit to allow supporters back into the stadium. after having that conversation with gareth southgate, i guess that is encouraging step this evening. gareth southgate, i guess that is encouraging step this eveningm could either way. onto a more low— key could either way. onto a more low—key champions league draw and switzerland, for obvious reasons, for english teams involved in is pretty fair to say man you not to face the toughes

. >> senator garrett peters of michigan. thank you very much for joining us tonight on this very difficult day for your state. we really appreciate it. >>> we turn now to olivia troy. olivia, you are a counterterrorism expert. you were working on that in homeland security before you went to work on mike pence's

back on the hill is garrett haake. garrett, good to see you on this sunday afternoon. i was on the air yesterday and we got news that senator lisa murkowski was going to vote yes in a confirmation vote for judge barrett, and it was interesting to me, because back on september 20, murkowski said she wanted to wait for a vote until after the election, so certainly an about-face there. what happens next, because they have the votes they need. >> reporter: you're right, murkowski's position was, i don't want to have this vote, but since we're going to have it, anyway, i'm not going to vote against judge barrett. they are thrilled to get the opportunity to confirm her on monday, and get this, they will confirm her, and this will be the most partisan confirmation vote in the moderate history of the supreme court. even joe mansion crossed over, but this is the first time in decades to have no opposing votes from the republican party at all. you can now do this with 50 votes, and by god, republicans are going to do it with 50 votes. now, the x factor in this, to the degree the

hake at president trump's event in rochester, minnesota garrett? >> reporter: shep, everything about this last event of the day today is unusual the fact that we're even campaigning in minnesota, a state that hasn't gone for republicans since 1972, is unusual. the president's been fuming all day about this event, in particular because of covid restrictions that capped what was supposed to be a rally of many thousands of supporters, at an event with just 250 socially distant following covid rules that his campaign usually ignores. he landed a short time ago, hopped right into his limousine and drove around and outside this rally, so that he could go greet thousands of supporters who had gathered outside he's been complaining at his other stops today, including in green bay, about the covid restrictions here, but the reality on the ground is, minnesota is having a terrible week of the pandemic its worst so far they set their record for hospitalizations on wednesday. they set their record for new cases on thursday. and the governor and the attorney ge

garrett haake is on capitol hill. garrett, not much room for error for republicans at this point if there's any other positive tests in the coming days. talk about what that means for the schedule. >> that's right. republicans have essentially used up the slack they had here. all the room for error is gone. they're missing two members of the judiciary committee. both of them are expected to be back by the time the hearings start october 12th. if members miss the hearings, if they miss the vote, it complicates the process of moving judge barrett to the floor. the real big question, the floor vote, there are a lot of work arounds in committee hearings. you can remote in. people can vote by proxy. on the floor, you've got to show up for your vote to count. and how many historical moments have we had on the senate floor of senators missing three votes or showing up like mccain battling brain cancer to cast a vote. for right now republicans have the votes they need. they have the timing they need. but they're walking on a

>> all right, garrett. thank you. please be sure to join us as tom pence and kamela harris face off tonight. >>> a 102-year-old voter didn't let the coronavirus stop her from casting her ballot this year this photo wient viral. lum kin who has never missed voting in a presidential election said this is by far the mostmpta int of my lifetime. >> so smart with the >>> we're joined now by meteorologist janessa webb who's tracking hurricane delta that's grown the last stage, janessa. >> yes it's gained force and unfortunately the bull's-eye zone is for cancun and as it heads out to sea, it will make its way once again into the gulf the national weather service is calling fo 4 it will go all ther latest modeg for laura, lake charles, the cameron, louisiana, area we're going to be watching it for the next 24 hours. it will be a major hurricas, 90n florida with a few storms. 60s northeast all the way way to maine all the way this afternoon. we'll break down the timing, guys. >> it's brn betty nguyen a brutal storm season. >>

pallone is proposing and if not i will answer garrett's question. garrett let me be really clear. i have been very open to having a stand-alone bill for the airlines for part of a bigger bill but there is no stand-alone bill without a bigger bill. there is no bill because you asked the second question why should we do one and not the other and so the comment that i made to the administration last night was we are happy to review what that stand-alone bill would look like as part of the bigger bill if there is a bigger bill but there is no stand-alone bill. if we don't have a guarantee that we are going to be helping our state and local employees and we aren't going to be able to crush the virus and we are going to be able to have our children go to school safely and we aren't going to have safety in the workplace and address unemployment and we are not going to -- and some of these issues we have come to some agreement. some of them we have not but they have walked away from the whole package and that includes 17 million children in the country, food insecure and millions of their

garrett haake is with us now, also live on the hill. garrett, walk us through the events of the last 60 minutes or so, what we're going to hear from democrats over the next couple of minutes as well. >> reporter: after a very traditional set of confirmation hearings in which democrats registered their disapproval of amy coney barrett and tried to highlight the risks her confirmation would project. what you saw today was an untraditional potentially asymmetric warfare kind of way of democrats responding to a nomination process that many of them believe has never been fair, has never been on the up and up and couldn't be fought with traditional means, the walkout, the boycott held instead of democrats taking part in a committee vote. they knew they were sure to lose. you are seeing more of this now as democrats are speaking on the steps outside, there are a number of protesters, there's been some arrests here today. this is the kind of perhaps more like an all-out fight that democratic activists and base democratic voters wanted to see th

from florida, nbc news correspondent garrett haake. with me, "new york times" chief white house correspondent and nbc political analyst, peter baker. shannon, you're where the president is going next. it is a strange case to make that the virus is no big deal when the majority of americans say, yes, it is a big deal when hospitalizations are on the rise, cases are on the rise. when there are sincere worries about a very dark winter. and the president is still holding all of these rallies. is that what you're hearing as well, is that anybody who takes the threat of this virus seriously is a lost cause for this campaign? >> reporter: well, holding these rallies in states that are seeing a surge in infection, with wisconsin setting up field hospitals. he was there this weekend talking about how the death numbers might not actually be what they are. in michigan, there are hospitals around here nearing capacity. the state is seeing hospitalizations almost double over the past month or so. so, these big rallies, places seeing hot spots. i th

nbc's garrett haake is in rochester for the president, not the kind of rally he envisioned. >> reporter: lester, tonight the candidates are skirmishing in a state no republican has won since 1972 donald trump came within 44,000 votes of flipping minnesota 4 years ago. he's had his eye on the state ever since joe biden is also here tonight playing a little bit of defense. he leads by an average of about 4 1/2 points in the polls here. as in many other places, covi hangs over everything here the state broke its record for new cases yesterday. it's also forced the president to abandon his typical large scale rallies in favor of the smaller event tapped at 250 people to comply with local regulations. lester >> all right garrett, thank you >>> despite the president's almost constant claim that we're rounding the turn in this pandemic, the numbers speak for themselves wit another 90,456 cases reported just yesterday. miguel almaguer today on the deepening crisis. >> reporter: tonight as coronavirus cases surge across the country, hospitals are on the brink filled with patients like carmen lur

garrett haake, thank you. i don't think anybody is voting on the deficit this year. >>> with me is olivia troye, the former top aide to mike pence, former member of the white house coronavirus task force. you may know her since she left the administration. she -- it was kind of a big deal to a lot of people in the administration, and she has since endorsed joe biden. olivia troye, thank you for coming on. i want to ask you about what we learned today from this cornell university study. this idea that it is the president himself that is essentially responsible for 38% of the overall misinformation conversation. first, does that surprise you? >> it doesn't at all. it's what i have been saying from day one when i decided to speak out so bluntly. it's exactly what i saw every single day. we would meet as a task force, and the president would go out and say something very contradictory to what the experts and the doctors were telling him. and quite frankly, it was dangerous. and it was complete misinformation from

our garrett haake is at tucson at that second event garrett, he's hittin the trail awfully hard this week. >> reporter: hey, lester donald trump's campaign manager told reporters today he agrees with the biden campaign that this race is closer than the polling shows and the candidate will outwork biden in the last two weeks as he is outspending him in the air waves and that means in the weeks leading up to the election eight total rallies for president trump and biden held three similar events public health officials worry about events like this, that they could be superspreaders the trump campaign said they require temperature checks at the doors, they make people wear masks when they come inside. but as you can see, there's no socia distancing and most folks simply take their masks off once they're in the event lester >> thank you. >>> the coronavirus is surging to levels we haven't seen since july with many hospitals under siege now. gabe gutierrez is in a growing hotspot. >> reporter: today the parking lot of a major league ballpark transformed into wisconsin's newest drive-throu

trying to build key support while the only vice presidential debate takes on new importance here's garrett headache. >> reporter: tonight joe biden pressing the advantage while the president is off the campaign trail. >> thank you all so very much. >> reporter: making two stops in miami ahead of tonight's town hall. >> now that he's busy tweeting campaign messages, i would ask him to do this listen to the scientists support masks. >> reporter: a new nbc news/"the wall street journal" poll shows biden opening a election day and more than 3.8 million votes already cast long lines grooeting voters on the fist day of early voting in south carolina today, now one of 31 states where some form of early voting is under way. the battle shifting to chl set to debate mike pence wednesday in utah a standoff with cable space 12 feet apart. harris prepping in salt lake city with the help of pete buttigieg. >> i look forward to the opportunity. to take our case to the american people for four more years of president trump in the white house. >> reporter: here's biden today with a safety assist from dr. j

of their negative ads off the air, in person and online campaign events continuing as scheduled. >> garrett, thanks very much. >>> let's bring in our political director, chuck todd, the election, 32 days away, what could this mean >> well, look, short term it is an operational blow to the trump campaign why do i say that? president trump is the get out the vote machine for the trump campaign those rallies are important organizational tools for the campaign that's how they recruit volunteers, get their get out the vote drives that way look, it's a huge part of their -- of their logistics in their field program. not having that, even for a minimum of seven to ten days, look, we can all do the math, 32 days away, suddenly they only have 22 days from that so that's the biggest short-term impact if you will. but, look, the longer term is this this is now, you know, the president has tried to make the reality of the virus put in the rearview mirror make it on a side story. we're turning the corner and what we have seen here is the reality of this virus has smashed head on with the reality that th

michigan today, calling the president's illness a bracing reminder of the seriousness of the pandemic garrett haake tonight on a presidential contest reshaped once again. >> reporter: tonight joe biden back on the campaign trail in battleground michigan, after a negative covid test this morning. >> we need to take the science of fighting this disease seriously. if we're going to save lives. >> reporter: meanwhile president trump's campaign announcing today that all previously scheduled campaign events would be moved to virtual events or are being the president's diagnosis may increase the spotlight on vice president mike pence, next week. she's on the trail in las vegas today. there have been stark differences in the campaign styles of president trump and biden, while trump has held large rallies with thousands of mostly maskless supporters, biden has kept his campaign stops small and largely online the biden campaign announced thursday it would expand its get out the vote effort. jenna perry says it will continue to prioritize safety. >> are you confident that have been job can win the white

so we want to bring in chief washington correspondent major garrett. all right, major, we saw the president tweet out that video tonight from walter reed. what's he trying to convey? >> reporter: norah, to describe president trump as the executive producer of his presidency is neither a compliment or a criticism. it is simply a fact, one readiry acknowledged by those closest to the president in the white house. this is a classic example. the president, through this videoings, is trying to convey he's at work. four minutes long. it gives the american public time to look at him, listen to the timber of his voice, describe his orientation to this particular challenge. the look of it suggests he's at work, will continue to be working. and all of that is consistent with something the president, i'm told, in private conversations today said he needed to do. why? because his own white house staff was not getting a message like this out there on his behalf. he was also deeply concerned, norah, about the confusion created by his doctors and the subsequent senti

lester >> all right garrett haake, thank you. >>> in the caribbean hurricane delta strengthened into an extremely dangerous category 4 storm today with the u.s. gulf coast in its sights. let's bring in al roker with the latest. al >> lester, it is now a strong category 4, taking aim right now on mexico. 145-mile-per-hour winds moving west-northwest at 17 makes landfall sometime tomorrow as a devastating category 4. out into the gulf, reintensifies as a category 4 storm making landfall along the louisiana coast sometime late friday night, early saturday. the european model a little to the west but as you can see, lester, from galveston to new orleans we have the risk of this storm making landfall. we do know anywhere from five to ten inches of rain and that may increase as time moves on. an update coming up tomorrow morning on the "today" show lester >> yeah, what a storm season this has been, al, thank you. >>> in the small texas town of wolfe city northeast of dallas calls for justice heard as a white police officer is charged with murder after shooting a black man during an inciden

. >>> i'm garrett haake. tonight with just 18 days to go president trump on a battleground blitz rallying thousands of supporters in florida. >> this election is a choice between a trump recovery and a biden depression biden's plan will crush america. my plan will crush the virus and america will be in a position very soon like it was never in before. >> reporter: earlier at a senior focused event announcing a partnership with cvs and walgreens to distribute an eventual coronavirus vaccine to nursing homes at no cost >> once you have that vaccine, these are very effective once you have that vaccine you can open those doors and say here i am. >> reporter: meanwhile here in michigan joe biden also focusing on health care. >> when i'm president i'll take care of the health coverage the same way i would my own family. >> reporter: and taking aim at the president for his handling of the pandemic. >> how many times on television have you seen him making fu of biden wearing a mask because he refuses to practice soci

crest. >>> i'm major garrett in washington, thank you for staying with us. the white house is facing a credibility problem involving the president's battle on the coronavirus, the medical team has said that the president has continued to improve, unquote and return to the whise as soon as today. but the white house doctor admitted to providing a overly rosie descriptions of the president's condition 24 hours earlier. he took questions from the reporters. >> you said that there were two instances where he drops in oxygen. can you walk us through the second one? >> yeah, yesterday, there was a another episode where it dropped down to 93%, watched it, and it returned back up. as i said, we evaluate all of these and given the timeline where he is in the course of illness, you know, we were trying to maximize everything that we could do for him and we debated whether we would even start the dexamethasone and we decided that in this case, the potential benefits early on in the course probably out weighed any risks at this time. >> reporter: did you give him a seco

major garrett has been looking into the voting pandemic. good morning. >> good morning to you, gayle. there's an energy effort, you might call it frantic in some jurisdiction, to recruit a younger generation of poll workers as older for covid reasons are stepping back. >> reporter: poll worker has been home for decades. she will not be doing that this year. >> no, i will not, to my sorrow. >> reporter: her age and underlying health conditions make her vulnerable to coronavirus. >> i decided that my doctor would have a voice in it. when i raised the question with him, his face immediately said no. >> reporter: how sad does this make you? >> i shed a tear. i miss the people. >> reporter: across the country, election administrators are racing to recruit enough staffers amid a pandemic. more than half of poll workers are 61 or older, putting many in an age group success spentible to the virus. >> the bare minimum we need is 30,000 just to op the polls on election day. >> reporter: election competition. >> we wanted that extra in case there's a

thank you both for joining me. >>> joining me now is garrett hague. garrett, good to have you with us. we saw the democratic senators delivering a consistent message. they were on brand, if you will, with the message being about affordable healthcare act. let me play that for you. >> the bottom line is this there have been 70 attempts to repeal the aca, but clearly the effort to dismantle the law continues. >> they get that with one stroke of a pen, one judge can decide if millions of americans, including their family would lose their insurance. >> it's ironic which this administration which has failed to respond to this pandemic is rushing through a judge they believe will vote to strip away health care protections. >> explain that for our viewers. every democrat showed pictures of people helped by the aca. should we see the same thing from democrats over the next few days? connect the dots for us. >> we should absolutely expect to see more of this. democrats retook the house in 2018 running on a health care message, specifically on defending and sho

nbc's garrett haake has more on the battleground blitz. >> reporter: tonight, with just 18 days to go, president trump on a battleground blitz, rallying thousands of supporters in florida. >> this election is a choice between a trump recovery and a biden depression. biden's plan will crush america. my plan will crush the virus, and america will be in a position very soon, like it was never in before. >> reporter: earlier at a senior focused event, announcing a partnership with cvs and walgreen's to distribute a vaccine to nursing homes at no cost. >> once you have that vaccine, you can open those doors and say here i am. >> reporter: here in michigan, joe biden also focusing on health care. >> when i'm president, i'll take care of your health coverage the same way i would my family. how many times has he made fun of biden wearing a mask? he refuses to practice social distancing and puts his porters in such jeopardy. >> reporter: biden has a nine-point national lead, but for supporters in michigan, which president trump narrowly won in 2016, those memories are still fresh. >> everybody

here's cbs' major garrett. >> reporter: inside the guilford county elections building in greensboro, north carolina, early ballots are processed, sorted, and in some cases, rejected, if voters fail to fill them out properly. while the overall rejection total is relatively small, absentee ballots submitted by latinos and african americans in ned away thae three times more likely to be turned away than those from white voters. near the top of that list is guilford county, where dr. t. anthony spearman sits on the board of elections and serves as president of the north carolina n.a.a.c.p. >> african americans have not been cultivated to use the absentee ballot, and as such, it's their first time doing it. with that naivetÉ comes along some opportunity for them to not get right what needs to be right. >> reporter: in georgia, voting 0 hours andstretched as long as 10 hours and delays appear concentrated in the racially diverse atlanta area. nearly half of georgia's active voters live there, but according to one analysis, they are served b only 38% of the state's polling places. >> voter

here's cbs' major garrett. >> reporter: inside the guilford county elections building in greensboro, north carolina, early ballots are processed, sorted, and in some cases, rejected, if voters fail to fill them out properly. while the overall rejection total is relatively small, absentee ballots submitted by latinos and african americans in the state are three times more likely to be turned away than those from white voters. near the top of that list is guilford county, where dr. t. anthony spearman sits on the board of elections and serves as president of the north carolina n.a.a.c.p. >> african americans have not been cultivated to use the absentee ballot, and as such, it's their first time doing it. with that naivetÉ comes along some opportunity for them to not get right what needs to be right. >> reporter: in georgia, voting lines have stretched as long as 10 hours and delays appear concentrated in the racially diverse atlanta area. nearly half of georgia's active voters live there, but according to one analysis, they are served by only 38% of the state's polling places. >> vote

every voter, every person in these cars makes a difference here, craig. >> garrett haake, clearly the crowd loves your reporting in florida, honking for the last few minutes just for you. they're getting the stage set for president obama. monica alba, thanks to you as well. >>> this final week on the campaign trail coincides with what is the highest rate of coronavirus infections since this pandemic started. here are the latest facts at this hour. another 72,000 cases were added monday alone. factor that in with what they've seen over the last week and the seven-day average is now 75,000, the highest it has ever been. texas has now tied california for the most cases in the country at more than 900,000. cases are increasing at a faster rate in the lone star state. nearly 20% over the past two weeks. this morning, a new cdc study is shedding light on the toll for health care workers. of the 190,000 who have contracted the virus, 67% had close contact with covid patients, and more than one-third of those workers were nurses. joining me now, dr. shoshana ungerleider from california pacifi

cbs' chief washington correspondent major garrett joins us now. and major, many are demanding this dramatic rule change. can they do it? >> reporter: the commission can do it, norah. it is empowered to set the rules for the debate, and they do that in collaboration with the campaigns. and they did that for the first debate, but those rules were quite obviously flouted. that gives the commission more campaigns. here's another technical point of lemple. the leverage. here's another technical point: the commission controls the audio feed. the networks handle the tv parts. in these negotiations with the campaign, they can say if you don't do what we want, we can count your sound off. that is on the table. whatever the commission decides, norah, it hopes to inform the country in the coming days. >> o'donnell: and the next presidential debate will be a town hall on october 15 in florida. so how is that going to affect the whole dynamic? >> reporter: so it's in the miami area. the gallup organization is gathering the undecided voters right now, about 25