The caribbean. Were tracking its path as extremely critical fire danger heads toward the american west. Breaking overnight. Rapper offset detained by police. You just watched somebody beat my car up with a flg. What are you talking about . Reportedly after a runin with Trump Supporters. Wife cardi b in her own car nearby. Trump supporters are everywhere. The statement from offset this morning. Thrilling victory. The rays taking game four in the world series in the most dramatic way possible. A bungle over a ball, an off target throw and an amazing runners recovery sealing the deal in a walkoff win. Good morning, america. We begin with breaking news, politics and the coronavirus merging yet again on a personal level for the trump campaign. Vice president mike pences chief of staff marc short has tested positive for covid19. That news coming shortly after news of another top aid to pence aide to pence testing positive as well as a staffer in the Vice President s office. Now so far pences office says that he is still continuing with his schedule with the election just nine days away. White house correspondent rachel scott joins us from washington with more. Rachel, good morning. Reporter whit, good morning. This coming during the final stretch of the campaign. Pence making that decision to keep with his schedule. He is the head of the Coronavirus Task force, and marc short is his closest adviser. He was by his side through eight Campaign Stops during this past week, and this morning we are learning he is one of three people in his inner circle to have tested positive for the virus. This morning the Vice President s chief of staff marc short is in selfisolation. After testing positive for covid19. After back to back rallies the president touching down at joint base andrews telling reporters he just learned of the news. I did hear about him. Hes going to be fine, and hes quarantining. Thank you very much. Reporter short is mike pences right hand, a close aide in Constant Contact with the Vice President , Administration Officials and the press. Seen here with the Vice President after a rally in ohio on friday. Overnight in florida pence praising the trump administrations response to the pandemic. But i can tell you as head of the white house Coronavirus Task force for these last eight months, President Trumps action shutting down all travel from china bought us invaluable time. Reporter the white house has failed to keep the virus out of its own ranks. In the last 24 hours we learned at least two others in the Vice President s inner circle have also tested positive for covid19. Pences political aide marty obst and at least one additional staffer in the vps office have the virus too. It comes just three weeks after the president and the first lady tested positive for the virus. At least 34 other cases have been linked to the white house. I had it. Here i am. Here i reporter with just nine days until the election pence is pressing forward with a packed campaign schedule. His office releasing a statement saying the Vice President and the second lady both tested negative for covid19 saturday and will maintain his schedule in accordance with the cdc guidelines for essential personnel. For days the president insisted the u. S. Is rounding the turn with the pandemic after that singling day record in coronavirus cases downplaying the spike and a virus thats killed more than 220,000 americans. Covid. Covid. Covid. Covid. They all talk about cases. You dont see death, death. Cases. You know why we have cases . Because we test so much, and in many ways, its good. In many ways its foolish. Reporter joe biden telling his supporters the president has failed the american people. What i told him in that debate were not learning how to live with it. Youre asking us how to learn how to die with it. And its wrong. Reporter no changes to the Vice President s schedule. He will still head to North Carolina later today for a campaign rally. Dan . No changes to the schedule. Rachel, thank you very much. Lets bring in Abcs Martha Raddatz in philadelphia this morning well shell be hosting a special edition of this week later this morning. Martha, good morning. Let me start with this pence news. Do you think it will have an impact on the race especially with the Vice President continuing to stay on the campaign trail . Well, dan, that is what is extraordinary about this, that the Vice President is going to campaign in North Carolina this evening, even though hes been in close contact with someone who has the coronavirus. Hard to argue hes an essential worker as a Vice President , but as a campaigner continuing to do this, im sure that the Biden Campaign will put a spotlight on this. We certainly hope president s staff is doing well with the virus, but just in rachels piece you hear the president saying, covid, covid, covid, covid. Well, now covid, covid, cohavid covid is in the vice office and of course, the white house had it as well. Dominating the news yet again. Martha, youre in philadelphia. You spent the past few days traveling around pennsylvania speaking with voters. This is one of the most crucial Battle Ground states. What are you seeing and hearing nine days out . I think there are not huge surprises here. What is surprising is the number of people i talked to who were trump voters in 2016 who now switched to biden. People who have never before voted for a president ial candidate who is a democrat. Those people say it has really come down to character. They say they are tired of the chaos. They like some of the president s policies. They do, but in the end they decided to go with joe biden. Dont like his policies as well as the president s, but they said it really did come down to character. On the other hand, you have Trump Supporters who will never leave him, who love the way he talks, who are not worried about covid, and some of those people i talk to wear masks. They take personal safety seriously. They dont really care that President Trump doesnt wear a mask, but they are going to stick with him no matter what, but as you know, dan, this state is so essential. 1. 5 Million People have already voted here. 70 of those are registered democrats, but it will take a little while to count those ballots. They cant start counting here until election day. People are going to be watching that count extremely closely. Martha, thank you very much. Dont forget to check out this week later this morning. Martha will have her full report on her travels through the key battleground state of pennsylvania. Thats right here on abc. Whit, over to you. Another programming note well have live coverage of Election Night all night long with George Stephanopoulos and the entire Powerhouse Political Team at election headquarters in new york, d. C. And delaware. Plus well have correspondents reporting live from battleground states across the country. Thats tuesday, november 3rd, starting at 7 00 p. M. Right here on abc. Now to the pandemic. 38 states plus guam are seeing rises in hospitalizations. Deaths are increasing in 26 states. New jersey seeing its highest daily levels since may. Abcs trevor ault has more now from hackensack, new jersey. Good morning, trevor. Reporter well, eva, good morning. Some concerning numbers here in new jersey. Their new cases nearly doubled from thursday to friday as this virus is really sinking its teeth into major portions of the United States. We have been reporting cases and hospitalizations on the rise, but now nationwide, deaths are rising too. This morning coronavirus gripping much of the United States, pushing doctors and nurses to their limits as many patients cling to life. Whats been the toughest part of all this . Breathing. Reporter over the past week new cases nationwide jumping 14 and deaths jumping 15 . Nationwide, 1 in 4 hospitals have more than 80 of their icus filled, a higher percentage than the summertime peak. Ohio and illinois rocked by the virus, shattering daily records for new cases. 18yearold university of dayton student michael lang, a chicago native, dying this week. Illinois top doctor, ngozi ezike, becoming emotional friday announcing the states growing case total. Excuse me please. I suspect it was the concern for what illinois future looks like if we dont make a change very soon. Reporter the troubles stretch beyond the midwest. New jersey one of the states hit hardest early in the pandemic now seeing its highest daily case increase since may with hospitalizations doubling since the summer. Governor phil murphy now in quarantine after two senior staffers tested positive. New Jersey Health officials urging people to follow the guidelines. Wear masks. Wash your hands. Socially distance. Stay at home if youre feeling sick or not well. Reporter as hospitals fill up in el paso, Texas Governor greg abbott is requesting an Army Hospital be used to treat patients who dont have coronavirus. And in nevada, jimmy flores who was a healthy 30yearold caught the virus in june, later going on oxygen after a weeklong battle in the hospital. Hes now offering a warning. Just take care of your body, you know . And be smarter with your decisions. Reporter and right now in georgia, some patients are receiving the same treatment President Trump received. A new trial is under way for regeneron, which President Trump says was the key to his recovery. The companys ceo said President Trump was just one case and that is the weakest evidence for whether or not a drug works. Whit . People really hoping some of those therapeutics will have positive results. Trevor, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Hospitals meantime looking to deal with the heavy load of covid19 patients. Theyre turning to remote monitoring. Thats treating people while theyre recovering at home, and abc news got an exclusive look at how its working at one of the top hospitals in the country. Reporter the american midwest now among the latest coronavirus hot spots. Averaging nearly 21,000 new cases per day, are hospitals once again bracing for an imminent influx of patients, a possible second option. Abc news getting an exclusive look at how the mayo clicker, one of several hospitals is treating some Covid Patients right from their home to relieve resources. They can be closely monitored by covid19 care team experts, nurses and physicians. But they can recover from the illness at home. Reporter the pierce family in wisconsin truly grateful when the mayo clinic gave them the option to be treated remotely. A family of four all testing positive for covid with mom andrea having a genetic heart condition since birth. I really liked being monitored from home. It was easy. I worried about us spreading it to anybody in the public. Then also knowing that i could contact my care team any time, day or night. Reporter this customized package is sent to patients with a preexisting Health Condition who test positive, but whose symptoms arent yet severe enough for hospitalization. Patient responses are monitored around the clock with automatic alerts sent with any negative trends in a patients health. We had the luxury of having close monitoring without having to travel outside the house. They are just so thankful for what feels like were providing above and beyond care in times of high uncertainty and high anxiety. Satisfied patients like the pierce family there could mean that more hospitals would look to adopt this kind of program in the future. Eva. Joining us to talk about the coronavirus and the headlines today and how to ride out this new wave is dr. Syra madad, an inf Infectious Disease epidemiologi epidemiologist. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Cases are going up across the country. What needs to happen right now to get a handle on this. Do we have a handle on this at this point . We absolutely dont have a handle on the covid19 pandemic in the United States. Youre seeing an Alarming Number of increase patients and hospital indicators are increasing. These are all indicators were going in the wrong direction. We need more individuals wearing a mask, prioritize activities to help curb the spread of covid19. This includes looking where people are congregating. We need to have more individuals wearing a mask. We need to prioritize what we need to do to get a handle on the pandemic. You said this isnt just a pandemic. Its 50 epidemics playing out differently in each of the states. Does this make it harder to get control . It is absolutely making it much, much harder, you know, we have a bottom up approach here in the United States versus a top down approach were seeing in other countries that have been successful in containing covid19. For example, each state is dealing with its own epidemic. If youre looking at vermont, you have 2. 3 cases per 100,000 over a sevenday average versus north dakota which has 105. 5 cases per 100,000 in the past seven days. Each epidemic is very different. Some are trending in the right direction, some are traveling in the wrong direction. We are at very, very high case levels, you know, coming into the fall and winter and this is only going to get worse. We absolutely need to see how we can try and get a handle on covid19 because this is going to be with us for quite some time, and this is going to be the most difficult months for the american people. Weve been fighting this virus for many months. What have we learned that will help us heading into the colder winter months . We have learned a lot. Some of the most basic things youre constantly hearing. We need to limit the number of people that are congregating. We need better ventilation if theyre coming together indoors. Mask use, washing hands, socially distance. These are not magic interventions, but they are interventions that are tried and true, and they work. We need to make sure were continuing these measures and as wa were heading into difficult months, we have to start looking at how they can prepare themselves and an emergency kit. Now what you are going to see is a more hyperlocal response, and you might have to shelter in place in a given location. Really important to start preparing now, looking at who you want in your social bubble, staying informed, staying healthy, and this is what people need to start looking at and doing along with the preventive measures along the fall and winter that were currently in. Good advice for us this morning. We appreciate your time. Dan, over to you. Another urgent story. There is some hope right now for the crews that have been trying to contain those wildfires in colorado. Snow is moving into the region which will hopefully put an end to the weather conditions fueling the fires. The east troublesome fire covers 188 thousandic 188,000 acres. Its still only 4 contained. While the weather will help, our weather team says the state has a long battle ahead due to extreme drought. Speaking of fires, extremely critical fire conditions forecasted today in california. A new Tropical Storm could target the gulf coast again. Rob tracking all that, several serious weather threats for us. He has got more this morning. Rob, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, whit. Colorado and california have been ping ponging on this wildfire season. Some areas that got evacuated in colorado are going to get some snow. Its not going to put an end to all the danger there. Lets talk about california. Whats coming in the next couple days is dangerous stuff. Widespread red flag warnings. Air quality alerts. All that stuff we normally see. Were going to see gusts that could get over Hurricane Force strength. This could rival some of the fire and wind events we saw in Northern California the past three years. Any sort of spark tonight is going to be very, very bad with winds even in the city of San Francisco and sacramento becoming damaging tonight and in through tomorrow and then this all slides down into Southern California tuesdayish. Tropical storm zeta, were not done with this yet. Beginning at the gulf of mexico, it should become a hurricane, and then look at this. Heading towards louisiana, potentially mississippi, alabama. I have some degree of confidence it will stay east of lake charles, but were watching this very carefully. Obviously Hurricane Season doesnt end good sunday morning. Im lisa argen. We have a wind advisory 4 00 this afternoon for the lower elevations. Winds out of the northeast with gusts in excess of 35 miles an hour. Upper elevations the red flag warning 8 00 tonight for the lower elevations, about 11 00 for the upper elevations where winds could gust in excess of 70 miles an hour. So high fire danger, extreme fire danger the next 48 hours, and then cold nights and warm afternoons ahead. Just when i left the Pumpkin Patch yesterday they pull me back in. We had such a great time at the nursery in largemont yesterday. We came to upstate connecticut where theres still plenty of pumpkins here. Well talk more about that in the next half hour. Guys . Thank you, robert. Guys the