Transcripts For MSNBCW Way Too Early With Kasie Hunt 20201016

Who im negotiating against . Nancy pelosi. If you made sure the people making over 400,000 paid what they did in the bush administration, 39. 6 , you would raise another 92 billion. I denounce White Supremacy, okay . You did two days later ive denounced White Supremacy for years, but you always do it. You always start off with the question well. You didnt ask joe biden whether he denounces antifa. As my buddy john lewis said, its a sacred opportunity, the right to vote. It can make a difference, if young black women and men vote, you can determine the outcome of this election. Not a joke. You can do that. President trump in miami. Former Vice President joe biden in philadelphia, as they face off in dueling town halls. The question is, could the contrast be any starker . And covid cases on the rise as several regions try to fight off a third wave. The question is, are states still on their own . And Kamala Harris sidelined after the virus makes its way into the biden campaign. The question is, can they keep it contained . Its way too early for this. Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that needed to run two tvs at the same time last night. I am kasie hunt on this friday, october 16th. We will start with the news. First to the president and his town hall meeting in miami last night. He spent the night on defense, pressed on the pandemic, White Supremacy, conspiracy theories, and his taxes. He revealed last night that he may have had a lung infection when he was sick with covid. He also equivocated on maskwearing and couldnt answer a key question regarding his own testing. Did you test the day of the debate . I dont know. I dont even remember. I test all the time. But i can tell you this, after the debate, like, i guess a day or so, i think it was thursday evening, maybe even late thursday evening, i tested positive. Thats when i first found out about it. Well, back to the debate, because the debate commissions rules it was the honor system yeah. Would be that you would come with a negative test. You say you dont know if you got a test on the day of the debate . I have no problem. Again, the doctors do it. I dont ask them. I test all the time and they did you take a test, though, on the day of the debate . You know, if you ask the doctor, theyll give you a perfect answer, but they test and i leave and go about my business. Did you take a test on the day of the debate i guess is the bottom line . I probably did. And i took a test the day before and the day before and i was always in great shape, and i was in great shape for the debate. And it was only after the debate, like a period of time after the debate that i said, thats interesting, and they took a test and it tested positive. So, just to button it up, do you take a test every single day . No, no, but i take a lot of tests. Okay. And you dont know if you took a test the day of the debate . Possibly i did. Possibly i didnt. As far as the mask is concerned, im good with masks. Im okay with masks. I tell people to wear masks. But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85 of the people who wear masks catch it, so they didnt say that. I know that study. Thats thats what i heard and thats what i saw. So, we have to factcheck this. That is not right. The study did not find that 85 of people who wear masks catch the virus. It found that 85 of Covid Patients surveyed reported they had worn a mask often or always around the time that they became infected. And the cdc says the interpretation that more maskwearers are getting infected compared to nonmaskwearers is absolutely incorrect. The correct interpretation is that people who often wear masks also engage in activities where they remove their masks. The study found the participants who tested positive were twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant where maskwearing is very difficult, for obvious reasons. The bottom line wear a mask. It will help keep you safe. Meanwhile, during an abc news town hall in philadelphia last night, joe biden criticized President Trumps handling of the coronavirus pandemic and had this to say about wearing masks. The words of a president matter. Absolutely. No matter whether theyre good, bad, or indifferent. They matter. And when a president doesnt wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when i was wearing a mask for a long time, then, you know, people say, well, it mustnt be that important. Biden was also asked last night whether hell demand that the president take a covid test before the final president ial debate, which is in six days. Heres what he said. Yeah. By the way, before i came up here, i took another test. Ive been taking them every day, the deep test, you know, the one they go because i wanted to be able to, if i had not passed that test, i didnt want to come here and not, you know, expose anybody. And i just think its its just decency to be able to determine whether or not youre clear. And im less concerned about me, but then the people, the guys at the cameras, the people working in, you know, the secret service guys you drive up with, all those people. And so, yes, i believe he will do that. Decency. Thats a word weve heard a lot from joe biden. Joining us now, senior washington correspondent for politico and coauthor of the politico playbook, anna palmer. Anna, good morning thank you so much for getting up early with us. Lets talk about the contrast between these two town hall events last night and, obviously, this was supposed to be a debate and it was President Trump who backed out of that, being the virtual format. So, what we saw instead were particularly stark displays of a president who was dabbling, it seems, in conspiracy theories, saying what he said about wearing masks, raising questions about it. And joe biden arguing, hey, im here, im going to have a sober conversation about policy and how to fix this and that we should wear a mask. I feel like, if anything, it underscored the choice that voters are facing in this election. Yeah, absolutely. I mean it was a split screen that couldnt be more different, right . You had the president in his typical combative, aggressive manner, going kind of toe to toe with savannah, who is trying to press him, pretty aggressively, on trying to get him to say what he thought about qanon, what he thought about masks, what he thought about when he was tested, all of the questions that the press has been wanting to ask him and they havent been answering. On the flip side, you really had this kind of more of a folksy joe biden who kind of was showing his empathy, his grasp of policy. Clearly, even the clip you showed, just even the tone that he takes is so different. Its so stark. And so, in some ways, it was probably more effective, while fewer people maybe tuned in than in the first debate. But they each got to say their piece without kind of the president interrupting joe biden every, you know, 30 seconds or something. Yeah, with them absolutely talking over each other and getting totally steamrolled. I mean, what was your take on the president . One of the things we learned is that, you know, he talked or was pressed, i should say he didnt voluntarily talk about his tax returns or the money that he owes, but he did seem to acknowledge that he has this 400 million in debt that the New York Times wrote about after they obtained a copy of the tax returns and even seemed to say that, while it wasnt definitive, it was possible he owed some of that money to foreign governments. What does that all what was your takeaway from that . I mean, really more questions than answers there, right . I mean, in the sense of the Trump Campaign and a lot of his allies tried to push back against that the New York Times story, which was very well reported and detailed about kind of the president s finances and the shell game that he has been doing for decades in terms of money and moving it around. But the fact that he copped to it i think is significant in the sense that he has not done that before. And the fact that theres a lot of questions surrounding what are his ties overseas, in terms of banks and in terms of foreign policy, it really opened up, i think, a lot of lines of questioning, in terms of legitimacy towards asking more questions, pressing on that in the, you know, 20 or so days until the election. All right, politicos anna palmer. Thank you so much for getting up, my friend. Its really great to see you. I hope youll come back soon. Still ahead here, the number of new coronavirus cases across the United States is surging once again. Were going to take a look at the new hotspots. Plus, with just 18 days until the election, were breaking down the latest polling that shows the state of the president ial race and a few Key Senate Races as well. 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It is the second positive case this week for the falcons after one for rookie defensive tackle Marlon Davidson was revealed on tuesday. According to the atlanta journalconstitution, the fall cops are expected to reopen their facilities today. The falcons, who was the first team to have a player test positive this year, has placed nine players on the leagues reserve covid19 list so far this season. Turning now to Major League Baseball playoffs and game four of the nlcs between the dodgers and braves. Darlington, texas, where the braves bats get the better of l. A. Ace Clayton Kershaw in a turnaround, following a 153 loss the night before. Atlantas Marcell Ozuna slugged two home runs in last nights contest on the way to a 102 victory that puts the braves one win away from their first world series in two decades. Atlantas going to try to wrap up the series in game five tonight. But over in the alcs, a tight game five between the rays and astros, as both teams relied on home run hitting power at the plate, including a sixth homer this postseason from tampas randy arozarena. This one looked like it was heading to extra innings with the game tied in the bottom of the ninth. One ball, one strike. In the air. Center field correias watching. This is back, and its gone its a walkoff home run Carlos Correa astros win Carlos Correa keeps houston alive with that walkoff solo shot as the astros take game five, 43. The rays are going to have another chance to wrap up the series in game six, coming up tonight. Ah. Time now for the weather. Lets go to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. Bill, good morning happy friday hey, kasie. Did you take advantage of yesterdays beautiful day, i hope . I tried to, but you know, its been a week here in washington, bill. Ill just leave it at that. Yeah. Yeah. More than a week. All right, so, lets get to this forecast. We are watching this rain developing in areas of the midatlantic, sliding up into d. C. Its going to be a wet, kind of gloomy friday, as the temperatures tumble. So, the warmth from yesterdays gone. Grab the jacket and the umbrella. Anywhere from raleigh to richmond, d. C. , philly, new york, all the way up through new england. As this cold fronts going to stall over the region today. The good news is, today is the worst day of the threeday weekend, easily. We will see the rain developing, virginia to maine. It will be slick roads, especially with falling leaves, some areas of new england where we are past our peak now. The peak leaves have made it down to just about the new york city area and heading towards philadelphia. Then well probably see that down towards virginia and washington, d. C. , as we go through next weekend. So, by saturday, 8 00 a. M. , i paused this. Notice the rain is over new york, philadelphia, d. C. It looks like a rainy early start to your saturday from boston to hartford, providence to portland, maine. But by the afternoon, the only area that doesnt really clear out will be in maine, especially areas of eastern maine. But everybody else should see a good saturday and it will be, you know, a little windy, but at least it wont be the soaking rain like youll see today. Rainfall totals should be about 1 to 2 inches in areas of new england, which is good, because weve had the drought conditions. Everybody in the middle of the country, it is jacket weather. It is going to be cold. The end of the growing season for many with the freeze and the frost widespread throughout the middle of the country, all the way through the ohio valley. Finally, for todays forecast, look how hot it remains in the southwest. L. A. , 97 today, phoenix 101. And the heat continues with high fire danger in the southwest right into saturday. And kasie, id like to ignore it, but we cant it is going to snow this weekend, montana and also northern portions of wisconsin, and then more snow in the northern rockies. A winterlike pattern is trying to establish itself in the middle of october. We start to talk about this stuff. Its not even halloween uh im not ready to think about snow. Im still firmly in autumn with the falling leaves. Bill karins, thank you so much, my friend. Have a lovely weekend yourself. Try to enjoy that nice weather on saturday. Still ahead, republican senator ben sasse offers up some blistering words about President Trump. Well show you what he had to say in a phone call with his constituents. Were back in just a moment. Alls constituents were back in just a moment. We are the thrivers. Women with metastatic breast cancer,. Standing in the struggle. Hustling through the hurt. Asking for science, not sorrys. Our time. For more time. Has come. 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Dont take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. Stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Tell your provider about vision problems or changes. Taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. Side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration which may worsen kidney problems. Wake up to whats possible with rybelsus®. Please dont take my sunshine away. You may pay as little as 10 per prescription. Ask your Healthcare Provider about rybelsus® today. Welcome back. A grim, new milestone. As the u. S. Surpasses over 8 million covid19 cases, as infection rates continue to climb across the country, some regions are reporting a third wave of the virus. Meanwhile, for the First Time Since july, the number of newly confirmed infections has topped 64,000 daily in the u. S. This past week alone, at least 20 states set records sevenday averages for infections with the largest spike in outbreaks seen in the midwest. Yesterday, wisconsin reported at least 3,800 new cases. Illinois set a record with more than 4,000 new cases. And ohio set a record high for the second day in a row this week. Be careful out there, everyone. Meanwhile, in a recent phone call with constituents, republican senator ben sasse of nebraska criticized the president , accusing trump of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic, flirting with White Supremacists and cozying up to dictators. His words were not so kind as that. The comments were first disclosed by the washington examiner, which obtained an audio recording of the phone call. The senator was asked specifically about his relationship with the president and why hes been so critical of trump. Lets listen. Im not at all apologetic for having fought for my values against his in places where i think his are deficient, not just for a republican, but for an american. So, the way he kisses dictators butts. The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership. The way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor. He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. Hes flirted with White Supremacists. At the beginning of the covid crisis, he refused to treat it seriously. First he ignored covid, and then he went into full economic shutdown mode. He was the one who said, 10 to 14 days of shutdown would fix this, and that was always wrong. I mean, and so, i dont think the way hes led through covid has been reasonable or responsible. Im worried that if President Trump loses, as looks likely, that hes going to take the senate down with him. Im now looking at the possibility of a republican blood bath in the senate, and thats why ive never been on the trump train. Thats why i didnt agree to serve on his Reelection Committee and its why im not campaigning for him. So, we talk a lot about what republicans say privately, that they wont say publicly because theyre afraid of getting beat up by President Trump. That is the kind of thing that republicans say privately but have been, for the most part, unwilling to say in public. Ben sasse of course, saying that on a call with constituents. Entirely possible he expected it to become public, but those were not, of course, public comments. A spokesperson for the senator confirmed that sasse made those comments during a call earlier this week. He is up for reelection next month in a race that he is expected to win. That was post primary ben sasse also an important piece of this. Meanwhile, senator Kamala Harris canceled travel plans through sunday after two people involved in the campaign tested positive for covid19. A spokesperson said the campaign learned about the positive tests, including for Communications Director liz allen and a nonstaff flight crew member on wednesday. After testing negative herself yesterday, harris is not quarantining because she is said to not have had close contact with either within the last few days. The senator will return to the campaign trail on monday. But Contact Tracing confirmed that an administrative member of the Aviation Company that charters joe bidens planes has also tested positive for the virus, and the Campaign Says that person was sitting far away, over 50 feet, from the former Vice President , when he traveled to ohio and florida this week. Biden took a coronavirus test yesterday, which came back negative. Our thoughts are with liz allen and that other staffer as they grapple with covid19. Still ahead here, were going to go live to North Carolina, where early voting got under way yesterday. Nbcs Leigh Ann Caldwell joins us with a look at the tight senate race there. Plus, former republican congressman Carlos Curbelo of florida will be my guest. But before break, we want to know, why are you awake . Email us your reasons at waytooearly msnbc. Com or send me a tweet kasie. Use waytooearly, and we will, as always, read some of your best answers coming up later in the show. G up later in the show and now your copilot. Still a father. But now a friend. Still an electric car. Just more electrifying. Still a night out. But everything fits in. Still hard work. Just a little easier. Still a legend. Just more legendary. Chevrolet. Making lifes journey, just better. Less oral steroids. Taking my treatment at home. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask your doctor about nucala at home. Find your nunormal with nucala. Ask your doctor about nucala at home. Vicks vapopatch. Easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. Trusted soothing vapors, from vicks hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. Welcome back to way too early. It is 5 30 here on the east coast and 2 30 out west. Im kasie hunt. Were going to start with another part of the president s town hall that is making headlines this morning. This concerns his penchant for spreading and in the case of qanon refusing to condemn conspiracy theories. Watch. Now, can you just once and for all state that that is completely not true and disavow qanon in its entirety . I know nothing about qanon. I just told you. I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me doesnt necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But i know nothing about it. They believe it is a satanic cult run by the deep state. Ill tell you what i do know about. I know about antifa and i know about the radical left. Just this week, you retweeted to your 87 million followers a Conspiracy Theory that joe biden orchestrated to have s. E. A. L. Team 6, the navy s. E. A. L. Team 6, killed to cover up the fake death of bin laden. Now, why would you send a lie like that to your followers . I know nothing about that you retweeted it. That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody and that was a retweet. Ill put it out there. People can decide i dont get that youre the president. Youre not like somebodys crazy uncle that can retweet whatever no, no, that was a retweet and i do a lot of retweets. You are not somebodys crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever, Savannah Guthrie saying what i think a lot of us are thinking when we look at the president s twitter feed. Were going to ask former congressman Carlos Curbelo of florida about this topic. Sir, welcome. Always great to see you. Thank you for getting up early. Let me ask you to respond to that exchange that we just saw, the president essentially saying, its fine if i retweet these conspiracy theories. It doesnt say anything. Retweets are not endorsements. What kind of example does that set for people . Kasie, good morning. Thats just standard donald trump. And kudos for Savannah Guthrie for confronting him, for really holding him accountable and making him explain why he would spread this kind of misinformation. And the bottom line, kasie, is that the president is willing to do whatever it takes to win. So, these people who are propagating this fake theory, this Conspiracy Theory, the president will at least tacitly endorse them because they are supporters of his, and he will not condemn them or disavow them publicly because he doesnt want to do anything that will deflate or diminish their support for him. He needs these people to turn out. So, heres just another example where the president abandons the truth, endorses a lie, uses a tiny little element that he can hold on by saying, well, but they oppose pedophilia, so that means that Everything Else they do is perfectly fine. He holds onto that so that he can be in communion with this group, get their support, and hopefully, remain in power, which is all he clearly cares about. Yeah, and we should just remind everyone what this qanon conspiracy like, just how crazy this qanon conspiracy is. It says that there are democrats who are part of a satanic death cult that kidnapped children and trafficked them and that President Trump is secretly at war against them. None of it at all is true. And congressman, whats your take on it . I mean, you, obviously, lost your seat in the last midterm elections. Republicans are facing a smaller but still potentially significant loss of more seats in the house. The senate also likely to lose republican seats. As you know too well, the upshot of that is that were going to lose some of the more moderate republican voices, more of the moderate republican voices in congress. Does this mean that the Republican Party is going to turn into that, what we just saw, qanon . And we have a couple qanon supporters who are winding their way toward congress. Is that the future for the party, even if its a posttrump world . Well, kasie, this is an important question. And for sure, once donald trump is no longer president , and therefore, no longer head of the Republican Party, there is going to be a massive vacuum of power and leadership in the Republican Party. And who fills that vacuum is going to determine the future of the party. Is it going to be people like ben sasse who is now embracing the truth . And we welcome that. I wish he would have been more consistent about that over the years, but certainly, its never too late to say whats true and to level with the American People or with his constituents. Thats the big question, whos going to fill the vacuum . Or are we going to get trump copycats, which is a possibility . My opinion is that the more responsible voices, the more moderate voices are likely to fill the vacuum because thats where the American People are. Thats where rising generations of americans are. Theres just not a longterm market for Donald Trumps style or his ideas. So, for the good of the country, i really hope that the Republican Party takes a different course beginning on november 4th. Do you think that anyone who would want to come next would have to be that kind of celebrity . I mean, does donald trump basically get special dispensation for that, or is it possible somebody else could pop up and have that kind of celebrity . Kasie, whatever you think about donald trump, hes certainly unique. Hes one of a kind. There arent a bunch of Donald Trumps out there. But the American People conducted this experiment. About 46 of them voted for the president. He won fair and square in 2016. And now, it appears that the American People are choosing the exact opposite. Ive always said that Donald Trumps tried to demonize joe biden. Its been very difficult for him because joe biden is vanilla. Hes a traditional american politician. And it appears that most americans think thats the way the country should go. So, i dont think there will be pressure for another celebrity republican politician to emerge ahead of 2024, lets say. One theme of this election is definitely that people seem to be rather tired of the constant drama. Former congressman Carlos Curbelo, thank you very much, sir, for getting up with us. Thank you. I appreciate it and hope to see you again soon. Still ahead here, with 18 days until the november election, well break down the state of the 2020 race with new polling across the country. Plus, Jimmy Kimmels take on last nights dueling town halls. Way too early back in just a moment. Ay too early back in jua moment [narrator] welcome to intelligent, indoor grilling with the ninja foodi smart xl grill. Eliminate the guesswork with the smart cook system. Just pick your protein, select your doneness and let the grill monitor your food so you dont have to. And because its a ninja foodi, it also turns into an air fryer. 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Fortunately, the local police department, which had requested the publics assistance, tweeted last night, we found maki, the stolen lemur from the San Francisco zoo. Around 5 00 p. M. , we got a report he was in the playground area of the Hope Lutheran church. We contained him until staff from the zoo took him back home. We are grateful maki is home safe. So are we. What an odd story. Glad the lemurs okay. Meanwhile, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that he had appointed a special commission to oversee the creation of a memorial statue honoring the late Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg. The statue is going to be erected in rbgs native brooklyn with a special commission being tasked with finding the location and working on the design. Governor cuomo said wednesday, Ruth Bader Ginsburg embodied a set of ideals often missing in todays civic dialogue. She showed us reason, empathy and hope. Her legacy as a jurist, professor, lawyer and scholar will endure for generations, and we are honored to erect a permanent statue. The special commission is made up of Justice Ginsburgs daughter, jane, her two granddaughters, as well as friends and colleagues of the late justice. I cant wait to see that. Meanwhile, last night, jimmy kimmel weighed in on President Trump and joe bidens dueling town halls. Watch. With trump on nbc tonight and biden on abc, it made me wonder, who was having a town hall on cbs . Could there be a way that we can deliver your message without the controversial rhetoric and efforts to reunite this country during these divisive times . When someone comes up and says Something Like i am a god, everybody says, who does he think he is . I just told you who i thought i was, a god i just told you thats who i think i am. [ applause ] versace, versace, versace, we love versace [ applause ] from all of us here at cbs news, im norah odonnell. Goodnight. Goodnight. Goodnight. They got one, too. Jimmy kimmels take on the third person running for president. Still ahead here, nbcs Leigh Ann Caldwell joins us after the first day of early voting in North Carolina. Well look at a tight senate race in that state and what it means for the president ial election. And as we go to break, a look at this date in history. Back in 2002, president george w. Bush signed a congressional resolution authorizing war against iraq. To shrink from this threat would bring a false sense of temporary peace, leading to a future in which millions live or die at the discretion of a brutal dictator. Discretion of a brutal dictator. Incomparable design makes it beautiful. State of the Art Technology makes it brilliant. The visionary lexus nx. Lease the 2021 nx 300 for 359 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing. At your lexus dealer. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. You ready for this . cause were all set. So lets woah. Ready. Set. Woah. Universal orlando resort. Buy two days and get three days free at the parks. Restrictions apply. Welcome back. New national and Battle Ground state polling shows the race between joe biden and President Trump a little bit all over the map 18 days before the election. In the latest National Poll from npr and Marist College and the pbs news hour, biden holds an 11point lead over President Trump, 54 43 . Lets look at some key battleground states, too. First, michigan. The latest civics polls shows biden ahead by nine, 52 43 . And in wisconsin, the same poll puts biden ahead by eight, 53 45 . In pennsylvania, biden holding a sevenpoint advantage, 52 45 . And in arizona, the latest Monmouth University poll shows biden holding a sevenpoint lead, 51 44 . In North Carolina, the latest Emerson College poll has the two candidates tied at 49 . And in ohio, President Trump and joe biden are statistically tied, 50 for trump, 47 for biden. In south carolina, the latest the New York Times Sienna College poll shows the president ahead by eight, 49 41 . But lets look at the Key Senate Races. Mark kelly holds a lead over martha mcsally. And in North Carolina, Cal Cunningham statistically tied with incumbent thom tillis, 45 44 . In south carolina, republican Lindsey Graham holding a sixpoint lead over democratic challenger jaime harrison, 46 40 . Joining us now from North Carolina, nbc news correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell. Leigh ann, good morning. Its great to see you. Thanks for getting up so early. We saw President Trump rallying in North Carolina last night to coincide with the first day of early voting, which is also why youre there. What have you learned as youve started reporting out the state of play in North Carolina . How is the president ial race affecting the senate race . How are those things playing together . Is trump i mean, all of trumps hopes, really potentially rest on North Carolina. If he doesnt win there, it is incredibly difficult to see how he wins the presidency. Reporter thats right, kasie. Most analysts say that the president cant win the presidency without winning North Carolina. And also, many people say that Senate Republicans cannot maintain control of the Senate Without winning also North Carolina. Lets start real quick with voter enthusiasm, because it seems to be extremely high here, like weve seen in other states long lines at polling places. A whopping 270,000 people voted on the first day of early voting alone. And when you combine that with the number of absentee ballots that have already been turned in, over 500,000, more than 11 of the voting population has already cast ballots here. So you know, we know that this is a really critical state for the presidency and the senate. As you mentioned, the president was here yesterday. Senator harris was supposed to be here yesterday, until people on her campaign contracted covid, so she canceled. And Vice President mike pence is supposed to be here today. So, this is a battleground state, for sure, and it is having dramatic trickledown impacts on the senate race as well, kasie. So, lets talk about the senate race, thom tillis and Cal Cunningham. It seemed as though cunningham was on track to probably pull that out, potentially flip the senate. Then, of course, revelations that he was having a relationship outside of his marriage, which republicans, of course, have seized on. I mean, my question about this has been, you know, after years of getting messages from republican operatives and others that you shouldnt worry about this type of behavior because of what weve seen from President Trump i mean, you ask these elected officials, is President Trump doing the right thing in terms of his personal life . And theyll sort of try not to answer the question. Oechd, well, i dont really like it, but you know, it is what it is. Now theyre trying to say to Cal Cunningham, hey, youre not conducting yourself the way that you should. I just wonder, after so many years of voters hearing that they shouldnt care about this kind of behavior, do they actually care now that republicans are trying to convince them they should think its a problem . Yeah, the president could very well have changed the standard, the bar for what a scandal is, and if voters care about it. You know, tillis was doing extremely poorly in this race until this scandal hit, so this ishit. So this is giving his campaign some hope that perhaps he can pull this out. But the big question is are voters going to care . Senator tillis also has his own miniscandal as well. He contracted covid while appearing maskless at the now infamous Amy Coney Barrett white house party. Theres photos of him inside without a mask on. But, you know, our colleague she was talking to voters outside of a polling booth yesterday and every voter said that think know about the scandal but it didnt change their vote. Yeah, they dont like it, but they dont want to see tillis win. Polls kind of seem to be showing that as well. The race is still tied. Some polls are still showing cunningham in the lead. And where cunningham has lost ground in polling is that people dont trust him as much. But it might not impact their vote because its a choice of course between two people. Between thom tillis who has not been popular in this state for quite some time. Hes running behind the president here. Hes not popular among the Republican Base and hes losing support among moderate suburban women. Its a story we see over and over again, in state after state with some of the senate candidates. So well be at the polls again today talking to folks to see if the cunningham scandal will make an impact in the senate race which is a must win for Senate Republicans. Well, things are looking difficult across the map at this point for republicans, but this race could be the one that swings the senate one way or the other. Leigh ann caldwell, thank you so much for getting up early with us. Im interested to see what you find out this weekend down in North Carolina. Earlier on in the show we asked why are you wake . Im cuddling with my new friend, dante, dante the duck. Thanks for watching. Elizabeth said my husband and i are taking our daughter to vote for the first time. Congratulations. Natasha emailed my daughter is in labor and is texting me with updates. Oh, thats great, congratulations to you both. And from my colleague, Garrett Haake who is flying to michigan with my pal and travel companion elise pg, a white house producer, theyre both on assignment. Hi, thanks for watching. I also got this note from deborah, my granddaughter just gave birth to my fifth grandchild, im watching her other children. One is awake. Coming up, on morning joe a checkin with dr. Scott gottlieb. Plus, the democrat who is closing out strong in a special Senate Election race in georgia. Reverend Raphael Warnock is going to join the conversation. And a behind the scenes look at two of the most iconic president s in history, barack obama and ronald reagan. Seen through the eyes of renowned white house photographer pete souza. Morning joe just moments away. Morning joe just moments away. N that does the same, the rx crafted by lexus. Lease the 2020 rx350 for 409 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. However, there is one thing you can be certain of. The men and woman of the United States postal service. We are here to deliver your cards, packages and prescriptions. And also deliver the peace of mind knowing that whats important to youlike your ballotis on its way. Every day, all across america, we deliver for you. And we always will. Their laundry smells moremily amazing than ever. In flings, uh, honey . Isnt that the dogs towel . Hey, me towel su towel. Theres more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze odor remover in every fling. Gain. Seriously good scent who trust in our performance and comfortable, longlasting protection. Because your strength is supported by ours. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Welcome back. Joining me with a look at axios a. M. , the cofounder, mike allen. Good morning. What is the axios 1 big thing for this morning . Well, happy friday, kasie, and the axios 1 big thing is americas split screen. What we learned from those two dueling town halls we have been watching your coverage of. Our takeaway from there was that watching the two town halls, i kind of flipped back and forth. Some people watched a little bit and then a little bit. I had one friend who watched on two tvs once thats probably kind of sad, but how ever you sampled the two town halls it was like peering into our future. It was a choose your own ending book. We can see the two results of the elections. So Savannah Guthrie on nbc, with such a sharp questioning of President Trump. Really Fact Checking him in real time. Pressing him for answers on questions that had been out there and that we have not gotten answers to again and again. Her keeping after him. The president kind of combative. A little defensive. Then you flip over and Vice President biden, its chattier, its much more substantive. The questions are very polite. Frank luntz did a focus group and his focus group people found joe biden humble. I dont think anyone would have said that about President Trump. Im not sure that yes, im not sure thats an adjective any of us will apply to the trump presidency. I was struck just by i think the way that you guys put it in the newsletter is are you captivated or are you exhausted in terms of watching President Trump. And there does seem to be this level of exhaustion that were picking up from people even from folks who are not usually politically engaged who are watching events on tv like this one and just saying, im so tired of this. That seems to come down in bidens favor. Thats right. The make it stop factor and kasie, i think you experienced this too. My social friends i know who voted for trump, a lot of them are just enough. Make it stop. Now, of course, some people they just want to see the trump show. They love it. They love that it exhausts other people, but kasie, on election nights, on the nights like the dueling town halls, we have a group text thread at axios and Nick Johnston our editor pointed out that you could get up during the biden town hall, you could go to the bathroom, you could cook, get a snack, and miss nothing. With trump, whether you like it, whether it triggers you, whatever you think about it, you know that if you get up and walk away, if you look away, you might miss the big moment and thats this presidency, right . Thats that exact factor youre talking about. Lets talk briefly also about this poll that you have, very quickly. Looking at young people. Yeah. Kasie, this is fascinating. So this shows the intensity, the excitement among young people. Cycle after cycle, we write about how if the youth vote turned out, what would the effect be and then it doesnt happen. Look at this. We see that 60 of young people said theyd shame a friend who didnt vote, express disappointment in the language of the pollsters. They want people to vote and then look at this. 39 of people say that if President Trump were to win, they would demonstrate. Joe biden, 3 . So theres why democrats think that this could be a secret weapon this year. Thank you so much. Ill be reading axios a. M. In a moment. You can sign up at signup. Axios. Com. Thank you so much for watching. That was way too early on this friday morning. Morning joe starts right now. Just this week you retweeted