Pandemic is sadly surging once again. The u. S. Death toll now topping 222,000 americans with 8. 3 million cases. More than 1,100 americans died of covid19 just yesterday. We just learned that the fda has approved the drug remdesivir to treat hospitalized covid19 patients, making it the first approved Covid Treatment in the u. S. Lots going on. Lets start our kovenlg with the scene of tonights debate. Chief White House Correspondent jim acosta is in nashville for us. Were learning that the president was actually tested for the coronavirus on his way there. Reporter thats right, wolf. President trump was tested on Board Air Force one as he was en route to the white house. Official nashville. The president in the meantime appears to be doing more complaining about the debate than he is preparing for one. The president is also claiming he created the greatest economy in u. S. History, but thats not true, as the u. S. Is in the grips of the worst recession in decades. Mr. Trump is blaming it all on the virus, complaining the media only wants to talk about covid19 as the death toll from the pandemic keeps climbing. Joined by the first lady, President Trump left for his final debate with democrat joe biden, sounding combative as ever, arguing in an interview with 60 minutes that he has created the best economy in u. S. History, even as the nation is still reeling from the pandemic. We created the greatest economy in the history our country. The other side is coming in you know thats not true. It is totally true. No. Reporter aides say the president hasnt done much for the faceoff against Vice President bide zblen will you shut up . To avoid a repeat of the constant interruptions during their last encounter. Thats not fair. Plus they changed the topics, which isnt fair. Just happened. Reporter white houses say the president may disregard questions at the debate and attack bidens record on china, even though it may reiterate that he has had a secret chinese bank account. He will answer the questions he wants to. If we dont get to china, he is prepared to bring up china and joe bidens disastrous record on it. Reporter also ranting about Media Coverage of the coronavirus, claiming its yet another conspiracy against him. All you hear is covid, covid, covid, covid, covid, covid. Covid, covid, covid, covid. Thats all they put on, because they want to scare the hell out of everyone. Reporter former president barack obama, campaigning for biden, as he has been doing debate prep this week, says mr. Trump is incapable of. He cant even take the basic steps to protect himself. Reporter answering a nagging question about whether he would seek to expand the Supreme Court, promising to create a commission to study the issue. Scholars, constitutional scholars, democrats, republicans, liberal, conservative, and i will ask them to, over 180 days, come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system, because its getting out of whack, the way its being handled. Its not about court packing. Foreign interference in our elections. Reporter also raising questions about a warning from the director of National Intelligence, who said iran is trying to interfere in the election to damage the president s chances. I would be very careful about any statements coming out about the election from the Intelligence Community at this time. Reporter the top two lawmakers on the Intelligence Community he shalled a statement cautioning to the American People and media, weity rate the need to be skeptical about lastminute claims about election infrastructure. The foreign interference efforts detected so far appear limbed in scope. A very small number, two or three, in different parts of the united states. Reporter the president is signaling he will be leveling more personal attacks at joe biden and his family, something the Biden Campaign says it is ready for and aides to the president are hoping he will interrupt biden less during tonights debate, not only because that turned off voters who thought biden won the debate last time around but also because trump advisers are desperate for the former Vice President to have some sort of gaf that will shake up this race. Jim acosta, National Correspondent. Well get back to you. Lets get more on all thats going on. Former president ial adviser and senior political analyst, david gergen is with us, Political Correspondent dana bash is with us and jamie gangel is with us as well. Dana, this is the final debate. Whats at stake from your perspective, for the candidates tonight . A lot. A lot, because, look, we are in the final stretch. And, yes, we have seen, you know, tens of millions of people already voting. So, for them, this debate wont matter. But there are still tens of millions, if not more people, probably just tens of millions who have yet to vote. And this could matter to a very, very slim sector of the electorate that has not decided. Now, we dont know if those people have not decided who theyre going to vote for or, at this point, whether theyre going to vote at all. But regardless, a debate like this matters. All we need to do is look at the negative effect that the first debate had in not just public polls, internal polls from the president and also down ballot republicans. A very negative effect. And so that is why the stakes are so high for both the president and the former Vice President tonight. Will it dramatically change the shape of the race . Maybe not. But thats not where we are right now. We are at a place where the margins matter. Thats why tonight will be so critical. Tens of millions, many tens of millions of americans will be watching. David, the white house is hinting regardless of what questions are actually asked by the moderator, the president may simply pivot to the attacks he wants to make, not necessarily even answering the questions, but make points he wants to make, attacking joe biden. Are you expecting any real change in strategy as far as the president is concerned about the previous debate . So far i havent been able to figure out what their strategy has been. Its hard to know what theyre going to change from it. I think that dana is absolutely right. This is a critical moment. They are coming down the homestretch. And biden is about two lengths ahead. And unless donald trump can find some way to turn this around, i think hes going to stay pretty close to that. And one of the things thats striking to me, wolf, i think its best i think its fair to say that President Trump has had more air time than any other candidate in the history coming out of the white house. Just all the times he has been at the rallies and all the crises he has faced. He has had a huge amount of air time. Over 14 rallies, he still has not gotten the message across to the American People about what his next term will be like. Theyre not rallying to him in the way they did when he first was elected. Yeah. So much at stake tonight. Jamie, the president s reaction to leslie stahl of 60 minutes, i suspect it provides some clues about how he will handle questions from another woman tonight, another moderate or, kristen welker. They are both excellent, solid, respected journalists. Absolutely. As we like to say, wolf, there is a tweet for everything with donald trump. And sure enough this morning, he tweeted, look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 minutes and cbs. Tonights anchor, Kristin Welker, is far worse. So, know, donald trump is sometimes very transparent. I think that sets the stage. I think also, wolf, when you see a tweet like that, you have to remember thats what sends those downballot republicans that dana was talking about, it sends them running for cover. Senior republican said to me that between remarks like that, attacking women and his attacks on dr. Fauci, the strategy that david was looking for is just politically insane. It makes no sense at all, wolf. Youre absolutely right. Dana, you want to make a point . Yeah. The point is that this is not only is it completely inappropriate, its false. Kristen welker i dont know leslie stahl but ive respected her for years i do know Kristin Welker. Shes a class a journalist straight down the middle, conscientious human being. The fact that the president is trying to work the ref and rattle her, bully her, frankly, is ridiculous on her face but as jamie was saying, really bad politics. Ive not talked to any of the president advisers who say this is a great idea. Go after a woman of color who will be sitting in a very prominent role tonight while you have a huge gender gap right now. It makes absolutely no sense. Its exhibit a of his lack of impulse control. Its really, really sad to hear that. Dav david, you want to make a point . Yeah, i do. We talk about how much it means to trump. It also means a great deal to joe biden tonight. You know, he has the lead, but he needs to hold on to it. He needs to solidify it. If anything, wolf, if he can extend his lead a little bit, he will be so much better off. He will have so much authority to get things done. He has a lot at stake in this, too. They both have a lot at stake. Jamie, we got some details from the president ial debate condition. The candidates will be exactly 12 feet, 8 inches apart on the stage. The president will be getting the first question. How do you think that potentially could shape the debate . So one of the things weve heard about is the mute button. And i think the thing that is important to remember is the audience at home may not hear if donald trump interrupts or tries to speak while joe biden is speaking, but former Vice President biden will be able, likely, to hear that on the stage. And our understanding is that in preparing for tonight, one of the big things that they worked on is dont get distracted by that man who is 12 feet and 8 inches away from him. The other thing, i think, thats worth mentioning is, you know, theres been weve heard a lot about the advice that aides have been giving donald trump. At the end of the day, theres one thing that weve seen in the last four years. Donald trump trusts his own instincts, for better or for worse. And he didnt think he was going to win in 2016, one of his aides said to me. And he cant quite believe hes not going to win in 2020, despite the polls. So i think tonight maybe well see a little self depricating humor. Maybe a moment of discipline, but i think its a real question how long that lasts, wolf. Thats an important point as well. Dana, joe biden has actually been off the campaign trail for, what, the last three, four, five days, basically preparing for the debate tonight. What does that say about how he views the stakes in this final debate . Hes largely been yesterday we saw the former president out there on the campaign trail, delivering a very powerful 35minute speech in his favor. He sort of has been invisible these last several days. Thats right. He has been hunkered down. He has been doing a lot of debate prep. Some interviews but mostly debate prep. The republicans, particularly people who are close to trump, are throwing him some shade saying whats he doing . Hes making the same mistake that Hillary Clinton may have made in going off the trail instead of going to some of those key battleground states that she ended up losing by just, you know, a handful of votes, metropolitaphorically sp. He is taking it seriously. He understands the stakes. Jamie mentioned part of this. Ive been told what he has been doing, he has been in his house in wilmington, doing prep with his advisers, but there have been times where the veteran democratic lawyer, bob bauer, who plays donald trump in his debate prep, just goes after the former Vice President , interrupts him constantly, incessantly, in order to get him prepared for what jamie just described which is you might not be able to hear Donald Trumps meek row phone if youre in the audience, but if youre joe biden standing 12 feet away, you certainly can. So hes trying to practice not getting rattled if donald trump, even a little bit, acts like he did in the first debate. Everybody stand by. Theres a lot more were following. Well take a quick break. Up next, well go back to nashville and talk about tonights high stakes contest with the mayor of atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Shes there. Ill go one on one with the white house chief of staff mark meadows. Hes standing by live as well. Lots going on. Well be right back. To stir that fire, university of phoenix is awarding up to one Million Dollars in scholarships through this month. See what scholarship you qualify for at phoenix. Edu. [narrator] this is steve. See what scholarship you qualify for he used to have gum problems. Now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinicallyproven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. crowd applauding therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. Such as high blood pressure,ve pdiabetes, and asthma. S its a better mouthwash. This administration and Senate Republicans want to overturn laws requiring Insurance Companies to cover people with preexisting conditions. Theyre rushing a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court to change the law through the courts. 70 of americans want to keep protections for preexisting conditions in place. Tell our leaders in washingtn to stop playing games with our healthcare. Art class. Its abstract expressionism. When you start with a better hot dog from oscar mayer, you can do no wrong. Its all for the love of hot dogs. Were counting down to the final debate between President Trump and Vice President joe biden. Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Obviously you support joe biden, i assume thats why youre there in nashville, one of his invited guests. Whats at stake for the former Vice President tonight and for that matter for the president as they face off one last time . Wolf, this is an opportunity for voters to see who their choices are. Its very simple. Do you want the adult in the room, or do you want someone who refuses to even acknowledge that we still need Affordable Care in this country in the midst of a pandemic . There are still untwieded voter s out there. I know that joe biden will do what joe biden always does. He will remind us of his experience. He will remind us of his vision for the future. He will also show empathy, and he will also show that he is an adult in the room. We need an adult as president. That sounds very simple, but when it comes to donald trump, you cant take anything for granted. Do you believe, mayor, in georgia, your home state, there are still many undecided voters, people whose minds potentially could be changed tonight, or should the Vice President , for example, simply focus on motivating democrats to turn out to support him, to actually vote . Because we know a lot of those hard core democrats did not bother to vote four years ago, and its one of the reasons that donald trump was elected president. I think it has to be a bit of both. Weve seen a record turnout in georgia, but theres still so many people who have not turned out to vote. What concerned me, wolf, when i went to vote a couple of days ago for early voting, there was no line. I was the only person in line. My concern is that democrats are going to take this for granted in the same way that we did in 2016. So, theres still an opportunity in our state to cast an early vote and certainly show up on election day. But joe biden will speak to those voters who havent cast their vote yet, as well as those undecided voters and those important swing voters. Vice president biden, as you know, stepped off the campaign trail over these past several days to prepare for tonights debate. Do you believe it was a mistake for him not to be out there in key battleground states like florida or pennsylvania, or michigan, for example, battleground states where donald trump, he does two or three of these events normally during the course of a day. I absolutely dont think it was a mistake. I think its important for joe biden to be prepared for this evening. We know joe. So, a couple of days of joe biden not being out on the campaign trail really is not going to make a difference, but what will be important is for him to speak directly to the American People. I was in miami, as his guest, the first debate over a year ago. So the American People had ample opportunity to see and hear from joe biden. I dont think that a couple of days will make a difference in this race. Stakes are enormous tonight. There could be 70 or 80 or 90 million americans watching tonights debate. Its really, really significant. The president , as you know, mayor, has already criticized tonights debate moderator, Kristin Welker of nbc news. How do you think the president will respond to tough questions from her, a woman of color . Well, we know that the president has a problem with women. He especially has a problem with women of color. Weve seen him attack this moderator. Weve seen him attack leslie stahl. Weve seen him attack kamala harris, and the list goes on and on and on. This is a fundamental issue with this man. When he cant get his way, he throws a tantrum, like a child, and begins to call names. I think its an affront to children all across america to say they would behave this way. In an effort to limit interruptions, as you know, the candidates microphones will be muted at times during tonights debate. Are you hopeful this will lead to a more substantive debate and less arguing back and forth during that first debate, donald trump interrupting the former Vice President almost with every answer . I am hopeful. But, again, i want to remind the American People, were having to change the rules for this man, because he cant abide by decency and common courtesy, even in the midst of a debate. This is really what his presidency has been all about. This man rewrites the rules to his benefit. He shows no empathy, and he cant even behave himself for a couple of hours to Exchange Ideas and to convey to the American People what he will do for this country. Which he has not done much at all. He certainly has not shown the American People he will do any more than he has done, other than to divide us. As you know the Biden Campaign is suggesting that the president will probably personally attack joe biden and his son, hunter biden, the family, tonight. How do you think the Vice President should spopd respond those attacks . Thats tough, wolf. Im a parent. Youre a parent. Its tough. Its especially tough to have someone attack your surviving son. This man, again, lacks empathy. There is nothing that too low for him. So its my hope that joe biden can, as best as any parent can, ignore him. But it really speaks to the failure of donald trump. He is not a decent human being. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of atlanta, thank you very much for joining us. Youre a huge biden supporter and down there for this debate tonight. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Coming up on my interview with the white house chief of staff, mark meadows, were about to get a very different perspective. He is also down there in nashville, the scene of the final president ial debate. Well be right back. Whoa i feel good i knew that i would, now i feel good get a dozen double crunch shrimp for one dollar with any steak entree. Only at applebees. You have cancer. How their world stopped and when they found a way to face it. For some, this is where their keytruda story begins. Keytruda a breakthrough immunotherapy that may treat certain cancers. 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All eyes are on tonights final president ial debate. Our special coverage continues here in the situation room. First theres breaking pandemic news were also following. The fda has just approved the drug remdesivir to treat hospitalized coronavirus patients making it the first approved treatment in the united states. The death toll tops 222,000 people with 8. 3 million confirmed coronavirus cases. More than 1,100 americans died of covid19 just yesterday. Our National Correspondent erica hill, has more. It seems like every day, the numbers keep increasing. Reporter its not just an increase at this el paso funeral home. Average daily number of covidrelated deaths is rising in half the states across the country. 1,124 reported nationwide thursday. First time deaths have topped 1,000 in more than a month. Theres a whole lot of people who are dead in america that completely preventable, would not have been dead if we had used science and Good Public Health tools. That from a new Columbia University study, which faults the administrations anemic response for more than 210,000 covid deaths and experts warn there is more pain ahead. We dont just have one or two hot spots. We actually have virus hot spots surging all across the country. Reporter new cases rising in 31 states. Only hawaii showing a meaningful decline. North dakota, which continues to have more cases per capita than any other state just suspended Contact Tracing because it cant keep up. This overflow hospital in wisconsin now treating its first covid patient. Make no mistake about this. This is an urgent crisis. Reporter florida just reported its highest daily case count since mid august. Ohio repeatedly shattering its own records. It does not seem like were even starting to get to a plateau. Reporter several states reporting record numbers of covidrelated hospitalizations, including new jersey. The former governor, chris christie, is now urging americans to mask up in a new oped,mying he was wrong not to wear one when prepping President Trump for the first debate. Polarizing masks, writing its not a political or cultural symbol, not a sign of weakness or virtue. We have a president who made fun of wearing masks, who didnt let the scientists run this process and the task force, and that has been the problem. Reporter and just one more note on el paso. For the second time in days, Texas Governor greg abbott has said he is sending additional personnel and equipment to help deal with the surge in cases there. El paso recording a record high for cases. Just 18 icu beds in the area, wolf. Thats heartbreaking, indeed. Erica hill, thank you so much. Joining us to talk about this and a whole lot more, including the next debate, is chief of staff mark meadows. Thank you for joining us. I know youre there at the debate hall in nashville. Well get to that in a few minutes. Sure. Lets talk about this pandemic first. The president keeps saying were rounding the corner. You heard the numbers yesterday, 60,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections, and more than 1,000, 1,100 deaths in one day, just yesterday. Only one states case numbers right now are heading in the right direction. As you can also see, well show our viewers hospitalizations are also on the rise as well. So how can the president say were rounding the corner when all of these indicators are showing were potentially, and i hope its not going to happen, entering a very dangerous new surge . Hopefully were not entering a dangerous new surge i think its three different things. You led out the segment, wolf, with a great announcement from the fda, approving remdesivir for those who are hospitalized. Hopefully, well have some of the therapeutics that the president was able to actually use and have available to him at walter reed under emergency use authorization for those that are not hospitalized as a therapeutic going in. And then as we look to the Vaccine Development that hopefully is more like weeks away than months away, those are all good news. I think when we look at this, where we know that were entering into the fall. We have additional cases rising. Part of that is due to a very robust testing regimen that we have. I know weve provided over 150 million tests, trying to make sure that tests are available to everybody. And when you test more, youre going to get more cases. The hospitalization, you hit a key point. What we want to make sure of is that hospital facilities are not overrun. And if theyre going into an additional area, the president stands ready along with fema to make sure that we can provide emergency provisions there. But when we look at it, were seeing and comparing us to europe and to a number of other nations right now. The picture there is more bleak than it is here in the united states. As we start to look at i do believe were rounding the corner, mainly because we know how to deal with this virus. We know also, hopefully, how to keep the contagion down and were going to be all hands on deck until we get that done. We certainly hope the therapi therapeutics are going to slow the deaths, certainly, down. We certainly hope were rounding the corner. Right. But its so depressing when we see these numbers. These are real people, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Its so sad to see whats going on. I dont know if you saw this study, mark. No, i didnt see the study. Theres a study from Columbia University. I saw you reference it. It found that anywhere from 130,000 to 210,000 lives potentially could have been saved over these past eight, nine, ten months with a more robust federal response. Why did the president say just this week when he was asked what he would have done differently, he said not much. Well, i can tell you that if your study says that they can save 210,000 lives, i havent read it, but it would be very difficult to imagine that scenario. Theyre saying that 98 of the deaths that occurred to date could have been saved by taking different action . I dont know that any scientist or any doctor would agree with that particular analysis. Again, i havent read the study. Ill be glad to do that tonight, as youre breaking that news here. I think probably the bigger thing that we look at, wolf, is that we have got to figure a way that not only can we keep our government, our households, our schools open, but we can do it in a safe way. And thats what the president has not only encouraged us to do, but demanded us to do. And yet sometimes we see what we have here is a clock that keeps talking about the number of cases that we have. It really doesnt talk about the advances that we need to make on the therapeutics, vaccines and treatment side of things. We only hope those will work. I do, yeah. Tell the president we would also appreciate if he would say what the former new jersey governor, chris christie, said today. He had covid, too, as you know. Wear a mask. Dont think this is a political statement or anything. Just go ahead and do it. And dont have these rallies where people are just so close together and not wearing masks. Its potentially a superspreader. Its so dangerous. You know that, mark. Well, well, with all due respect, the president has talked about wearing masks. They do pass out the masks. Here is another thing, wolf. He should be an example. Hold on. Let me wolf, let me finish my statement, then you can well go back and forth. Here is the other thing we need to make sure of. Weve got cnn reporters, other reporters that wear masks religiously, and yet theyre coming down with this. Theyre actually so the mask is not the panacea to make sure this doesnt spread. Will it help in confined spaces . Certainly it helps. Ive got my mask. Ive had it on. It will go back on here in just a second. Good. The minute that i finish speaking to you. At the same time, we need to make sure we do follow the science. The president is encouraging us to do that. I encourage all americans to do that. But we also need to understand that wearing a mask if we could say we mandate masks and everybody can go back to work, then that would be something to consider. But even the doctors, even the most even dr. Fauci would say that that is not something that would protect all americans. No, but he does say wear a mask. And engage in social distancing. That is so, so critical. Lets talk about the debate. Youre in nashville right now. Sure. The president has said he may change his strategy tonight and interrupt joe biden less. Will we actually see a shift from him on the stage tonight during those 90 minutes . Yeah, i dont know that the president has said exactly what you said. I think those are other people talking about what the president has said. But certainly as he has prepped and gotten ready for this debate, looking at the way that he interacts with joe biden, hopefully joe biden wont interrupt him. I can also say that he wants to take the case to the American People. He has got accomplishments to do that. The contrast tonight will be the accomplishments of president donald j. Trump versus the rhetoric of Vice President biden. And so if were going to compare record to record, we welcome that challenge. Earlier today, your white house director of Strategic Communications said that the president will, quote, answer the questions he wants to answer. So what does that mean, mark . Will he answer the moderators questions or does he plan to bring up the issues he wants to discuss . Well, i think he plans to in fact, i know he plans to answer the moderators question and continue to answer those questions. Hopefully, the moderator will bring up questions that a lot of people want to know about, want to hear about. For example, some of the late, breaking news that has come up with regards to potential corruption with joe biden. I think thats a valid question that the american voting populous will want to know about. Im not sure that the question will get asked. Hopefully, if not, the president will give joe a chance to answer that. Im sure the former Vice President will have some questions he wants to ask of the president as well. Some members of the trump and pence families, as you know, did not follow the debate commissions rules wearing masks. Can you assure us that you and others will certainly wear masks this time . Because as we all know, its so important. Yeah. We have all been tested. I actually have been over at the debate hall behind us to look at the venue. Wearing a mask there, wearing it inside, its mandatory. Thats part of the rules this time. It was not mandatory last time. I want to stress that, wolf. As we look at that, its mandatory for anyone in the audience to wear a mask. So, well comply with that. And ive already been over there, full mask in tow. Well have those discussions. This is not about masks. Its not about really even a debate. Its really about a vision for america and who is willing to lead us for the next four years. And most americans blev that theyre better off today in spite of the pandemic, knowing that this pandemic was not the fault of president donald j. Trump, theyre still better off than they were four or eight years ago under a biden obama administration. I will point out nearly 800,000 americans, just last week, according to the department of labor, had to file initial, firsttime unemployment benefits. Those 800,000 now unemployed americans, joining the millions of others who are unemployed, they are certainly not better off than they were four years ago when they had jobs. I agree. So here is something that you and i can agree on, wolf. Were going to call, you and i together are going to call on Speaker Pelosi right now to get real about negotiations. Weve come up four different times in terms of stimulus, wolf. And nancy pelosi continues to say no to a yes answer. Where does it stand . I agree with you. I know you do. Millions of americans are suffering right now. They need help. I agree. Small Business Owners in north carolina, your home state, all over the country. Where does it stand . I know you and the treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, have been involved very closely in this. Is there going to be a deal in the next day or so that the house of representatives can pass and then send it to the senate and lets see what the Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell does. Whats your assessment . Well, i certainly hope so. I can tell you, it has entered a new phase, wolf, where were having chairman and chair woman of each individual committee on the democrat and republican side talking to one another, looking at technical language. Ive actually exchanged some technical language back and forth with some of Speaker Pelosis staff to actually try to look at the texof what were talking about. But i must say that ive been here before, and when we agree to something, it seems like the goal post gets moved back. It gets moved back again. It changes each and every time. And so its incumbent upon your viewers to call their members in congress and say enough is enough. Put politics aside. Lets agree on something and lets get it done. I mean, we saw the democrats in the senate vote down at least 500 billion worth of stimulus in support for Small Businesses just this week. And so its time to do that. But im hopeful that we can do it. Were going to stay engaged until nancy pelosi says no or walks away. Is the president willing to accept a 2 trillion deal . I think the president has been very clear, he is willing to go bigger. It depends on what that is. If we want to increase the amount of money in direct payments to those hurting families, hes all in. Well increase it. If they want to increase the amount of money to Small Businesses, hotels, airlines, people in the restaurant and lodging business, were willing to increase it. What happens is, some of the demands that the speaker has made actually are not based on real facts or real losses. Shes looking at this particular traversety as an opportunity to get a liberal wish list passed through congress and thats not acceptable. It looks like theres not going to be a deal, i think, because as you and i know i wouldnt go there. Americans are struggling right now, unable to pay their rent, waiting in food lines. Its so heartbreaking. I see them waiting in food lines. It is. And as i said to the speaker the other day, nancy pelosi, in washington, youve got to compromise. You cant let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Wolf, you and i agree. Weve gone exactly here on this particular issue, and we see the hurting people. I see it back home in north carolina. You see it all over the country. And what we have to do is say now is the time. You know, right now were at 1. 9 trillion. To give you a perspective, when we had the financial meltdown, the housing meltdown, we are more than two times the amount of money that were willing to pass right now to help the American People and shes saying no to it. It defies logic. Even her rank and file democrats, whether theyre moderates or more on the progressive side, understand how unreasonable shes being. So its time that we get a bipartisan deal. The president stands ready. I stand ready. Im encouraging us to go ahead and get this done. If theres a 1. 9 trillion deal you work out with nancy pelosi, and we all hope you can, does the president have the leverage to get Mitch Mcconnell and the Senate Republicans to approve it . Yeah, i think at this particular point, the leverage that the president has, as a sitting president and the ability to make phone calls and get enough votes to get it across the fen line is undeniable. Leader mcconnell has been willing to say that weve got a bipartisan agreement where we have some of his republican senators and some Republican House members, along with the vast majority of democrat house members and senators that hes willing to allow to come to the floor for a vote. I dont know how we can set the table better for Speaker Pelosi than what we have. Now its time for her to say, okay, take yes for an answer. Lets get help on the way. Listen, she didnt want checks going to americans. W Donald Trumps name on it or a letter that was going out prior to the election. We couldnt even do that if we passed it today to do that. Its not going to affect the election. Lets get a deal, announce it and make sure help is on the way to the vast majority of American People. Good because they need help. They need help desperately. I agree. Lets get to a quick subject. We received official warnings from the fbi, u. S. Intelligence community that Russian Hackers have targeted state and local governments in at least two instances. They successfully, actually, stole election data. This comes after the director of National Intelligence last night issued a very stark warning, focus in on irans election interference here in the united states. At this point, which country poses a greater threat as far as election ballots are concerned . Are we talking about russia or iran . Yeah. So let me make sure that i clear up two things right now in term s of ballots. Theres a difference between really changing ballots, which neither the russians, iranians or chinese have done. I want the American People to know that. When they came out yesterday, and i want to emphasize, within 27 hours actually, it was less than that. Within the last 24 hours, as you know, weve actually had someone actually come up, tell the American People, inform the gang of eight last nights threat honestly was more from the iranians trying to target president donald j. Trump. There was some russian involvement in a minimal way that we identified yesterday as well. But the real alarm bells went off with the iranians. Thats not to diminish whether its the iranians ability, the russians or chineses ability to interfere. I left the briefing early this morning. The department of homeland security, the president and all of his team are on 24 7 alert to make sure that we stop it, as we did here. If we find anything else, we will be coming to the American People and make sure theyre fully informed as quickly as possible. I will say this. Ive spoken to a senior u. S. Theyve got a lot of experience. They want to foment as much political dissent here in the united states. Create political chaos to weaken the u. S. , around the world. Thats their goal. Thats what they are trying to do. The iranians, theyre newcomers, theyre minor league. They dont have the capability the russians clearly have. The russians represent a much bigger threat to the u. S. Than the iranians do. Well, but both of those pale in comparison to what chinas trying to do. You go back to your intelligence official that you talk to and if he doesnt or she doesnt give you the same answer. Well, i noticed christopher wray, head of the fbi, john ratcliffe, they spoke about russia and iran. They never mentioned china. Well, that was because this specific address, this and threat, last night, was predominantly iran. And, to a very small degree, russia. So, china was not involved in it. So we were talking, last night, about a specific threat. And to to really less than 10,000 people. You know, and when we look at it, every person and every vote counts. But theres no ballots that are being manipulated. No no tallies that are being manipulated. This was all about trying to sow discord, as you were talking about, and pretend like its an outl out of the president to try to infer that he was doing something improperly. And by the way. By the way, one other thing is, is because of that particular issue, secretary mnuchin has has is about to or has already issued additional sanctions that are going towards iran, for taking very Decisive Action, immediately. And were not going to tolerate people, of any country, interfering in our election. And theres Decisive Action thats taking place, today. Thats really important. We dont want, whether its russia, china, iran, or any other country, interfering in the u. S. Democracy. Trying to weaken the united states, around the world. Youre very generous with your time. Mark meadows, white house chief of staff. Thanks very much. Were all looking forward to the debate tonight. Thanks, wolf. Good to be with you. We want to take a closer look, right now, at the path to the 270 electoralcollege votes. Each candidate needs to claim victory. David chalian is joining us now. David, the path to 270 will almost certainly involve the key battleground state of florida. Take us inside this very close contest. You saw that brandnew florida poll we have out. It shows a marginoferror race between biden and trump. Lets dig inside those numbers. Whats making it so close . Well, look here. Among independent voters in our poll, joe bidens winning them 51 to 41 . This is a group that donald trump won in florida, in 2016, by four points. He is down ten. Okay . Take a look at seniors. Also, part of his 2016 coalition. Joe biden is winning them by eight points here, 52 to 44 . In 2016, donald trump won this group by 17 points. Hes now down eight. So that is a key difference, and why this race continues to be so close. One warning sign, of course, for joe biden is among hispanic voters, latino voters, in florida. 52 to 45 , joe biden is ahead, you see here. But look at this. Donald trump is ten points higher here than he was in 2016. Joe biden is ten points below what Hillary Clinton did in florida among latinos in 2016. So, thats one bit of work he has to do. And it will not surprise you that florida has seen the most advertising on television of any state this entire cycle. Take a look at the numbers, and you see the huge democratic advantage. The Biden Campaign versus the trump campaign. Add in the democratic, outside groups. Democrats, clearly, outspending republicans in the critical, battleground state of florida, wolf. Florida, florida, florida, as they say. Thank you very much. David chalian, well get back to you. Coming up, we are getting some new details of tonights debate, including coronavirus precautions. Well be right back. Plus verizon 5g. 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Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. We are closing in on a crucial moment in the race for the white house. Live coverage of the final debate between President Trump and joe biden. Just our coverage will begin, one hour from now. Also, tonight, we have new details about what to expect on the debate stage, including who gets the first question, as well as coronavirus safety protocols that are now being enforced by the commission. Both candidates are, certainly, trying to chart a path