Saving lives. When we had a pandemic, we had competent people in place who would deal with it. Announcer this is new day with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day. Its thursday, october 15th. Its 6 00 here in new york. And this morning, doctors tell us they are running out of beds in some hospitals in wisconsin. Running out of beds. That is where we are again. Five states are seeing more hospitalizations than they have at any point in this pandemic. Nearly 60,000 new coronavirus cases reported overnight. Thats the highest daily total since early august. 985 new deaths reported, each one matters. The maps show rising cases across the country. Look at all the states in orange and red there . Dr. Anthony fauci issued a warning to all of us for thanksgiving. He says, bite the bullet. Steer clear of Family Gatherings. On the subject of large gatherings, the president violating the recommendations from the White House Coronavirus task force. The task force calls des moines, iowa, a yellow zone, meaning no gatherings of more than 25 people. The president s rally overnight easily closer to 2,500. Most of the people there, unmasked. This in a state where hospitalizations are accelerating, where one in five people tested are positive for the virus. Its Little Wonder the president hasnt stopped the spread, even into his own house, where we learned his son, barrett, was al also infected. More than 14 million americans have already cast their ballots. Voter enthusiasm is at record highs. Yesterday, we saw another day of very long lines for early voting across the country. And former president barack obama is speaking out in a new interview about President Trump and joe biden. President obama is expected to hit the campaign trail for biden next week. But we begin with the pandemic. Cnns Adrienne Broadus live in wisconsin where theyre seeing a Record Number of hospitalizations. Whats the latest, adrienne . Reporter good morning, wisconsin is in crisis. The states Positivity Rate is 22 . Icus are strained and every region of the state is reporting hospitals with one or more current or imminent staff shortages. This morning, the United States is facing dangerous coronavirus wave. New cases are on the rise in at least 35 states over the past week and the country is averaging more than 50,000 new cases per day for the first time in about two months, recording nearly 60,000 new cases on wednesday, the highest since august. For the shortterm, we have to hunker down. We have to get through this season. Reporter with holidays like thanksgiving just weeks away, dr. Anthony fauci encouraging americans to rethink travel plans. That is a risk. You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering unless youre pretty certain that the people that youre dealing with are not infected. Reporter as iowa reached a Positivity Rate over 18 , President Trump held a rally in des moines, with few masks in the crowd and no social distancing. Trump is also scheduled to hold an event in wisconsin saturday, as the state experiences a coronavirus surge, reporting more than 3,100 new infections wednesday. A circuit judge temporarily blocking Governor Tony Evers efforts to restrict public gatherings to 25 . Just because some folks out there want to see full bars and full hospitals, doesnt mean we have to listen. The longer it takes for folks to take this virus seriously, the longer it will take to get our economy and our communities back. Reporter fauci says holding large gatherings like the president s Campaign Rallies are dangerous. When people are close to each other and you dont have virtually everyone wearing a mask, that is a risky situation that could very well lead to the kind of spreader events that we have seen in similar settings. Reporter meanwhile, the virus sidelining the university of florida Football Program after at least 21 players tested positive. And alabama football Coach Nick Saban is now selfisolating at home after a positive covid test. This was routine every day, we test our players every day, i get tested every day. I feel fine, i felt fine. I was very surprised, you know, by this. Reporter and back here in wisconsin, the Field Hospital is reserved for patients who are nearing the end of their treatment. And heres something to look forward to. As we look ahead, dr. Anthony fauci says a safe and effective covid19 vaccine should be or may be widely available by april 2021, a year after the start of the pandemic. Back to you. That is a high note to end on, adrienne, thank you very much. So President Trump and joe biden were supposed to face off in a debate tonight. But instead, both men will be competing for primetime viewers in dueling town halls. Cnns joe johns is live at the white house for us with more. Hi, joe. Hi, alisyn. Yes, dueling town halls, indeed. So these two candidates are going to be squaring off on competing Television Networks at the same time tonight. This was supposed to be debate night in america, as you said, but the debate got canceled due to the fact, essentially, that the president backed out after the Debate Commission said, look, we need you to do this virtually, because of covid concerns. Now, the president will be in miami. The Vice President , Vice President biden, will be in philadelphia. Both in town halls. Now, these town halls were held on the condition or the town hall for the president , i should say, is held on the condition that he take an independent test for covid to show that hes in the clear. And hes done that. There were two experts who had to review that test. One of them was dr. Anthony fauci. Dr. Fauci had a warning for people who were placing too much stock in the president s recovery. Listen. When people say, the president beat it, im not worried about it, whats your response . Well, thats sort of like saying, somebody was speeding in a car at 95 miles an hour and didnt get in an accident, so i can go ahead and speed and not get in an accident. Were very, very pleased that the president did so well when he was infected with coronavirus, but there are also a lot of people who are his age and his weight which did not do as well as the president did. Reporter now, the president is expected to have a busy day today, besides this town hall in miami. Hes also supposed to have a rally in north carolina. And then hes going to have a fundraiser at his doral property just outside miami. John, back to you. Look, he might need the money. The Biden Campaign announcing recordbreaking fundraiser numbers. Joe johns at the white house, thank you very much. Reporter you bet. So a brandnew interview with former president obama. Hes speaking out about President Trump criticizing him and previewing what he will say when he goes on the campaign trail next week for former Vice President biden. Cnns jessica dean live in washington with the latest on this. Jessica . Reporter well, good morning to you, john. Yeah, we heard from president obama in this new podcast on the popular podcast pod save america. Its hosted by former Obama White House alums. So you can imagine that most of the listeners already listening to this are planning to support the biden harris ticket. But now it is time for the Biden Campaign to convert support into actual votes. And thats where we see them deploying president obama, first on this podcast, then to the campaign trail. I want to talk for a moment about what he said on the podcast. He did, as you mentioned, criticize President Trump on a host of issues, including Foreign Policy. He also made a big pitch for his friend and his former Vice President , joe biden, specifically to young voters and to black and latino men. Take a listen. A lot of times, when youre thinking about the presidency, its great to look at policy and, you know, do they have what were their tenpoint plans on this, that, or the other. But a lot of it is, whats their basic character . Right . Are they people who instinctively care about the underdog . Are they people who are able to see the world through somebody elses eyes . And stand in their shoes . Are they people who are instinctively generous in spirit, right . And that is who joe is. So were expecting president obama to hit the campaign trail next week. Take a look at some of the states under consideration for him to go to. They include florida, north carolina, and wisconsin. Critical swing states and were told hes really being deployed to places where early voting is underway. That is part of the strategy for the Biden Campaign. They want their voters voting early, either by mail or in person. Theyre sending obama into places where early voting is already underway. This also comes as we hear that the Biden Campaign broke another record, bringing in 383 million in the month of september. That leaves him with 432 million cash on hand as we head into this final stretch of the campaign. And those are massive numbers for this stage of the game. It allows the Biden Campaign a lot of leeway in terms of where they want to go up on the air with advertising and how they want to spend that money. We also did reach out to the Trump Campaign to see what their numbers were for september, but we havent heard back. Were going to see joe biden, as joe johns mentioned, at his town hall this evening in philadelphia. 432 million cash on hand is insane. Its insane. With a month left to go. Thats what he was talking about at the beginning of october. Thats so much money, its hard to know how to spend it all. Jessica dean, thanks very much. So more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases reported overnight. Thats the highest number since the beginning of august. Whats the country going to do to stop it . Wheres the plan . Thats next. vo im a verizon engineer and today, were turning on 5g across the country. With the coverage of 5g nationwide. And, in more and more cities, the unprecedented performance of ultra wideband. The fastest 5g in the world. It will change your phone and how businesses do everything. Im proud, because we didnt build it the easy way, we built it right. This is the 5g americas been waiting for. Only from verizon. Monitoring patients in hospitals around the world so that doctors and nurses can make sure you feel safe. As new challenges have arisen, weve grown to bring that same safety and support to the place that you want to be most. Together. Masimo. Together in hospital. Together at home. Omnipod delivers insulin through a discreet waterproof pod. To help simplify life. No more daily injections. Its gamechanging. And the wireless controller helps deliver the right amount of insulin. Plus, take your insulin anywhere with a small tubeless pod. Get started with a free 30day omnipod dash trial today. Go to omnipod. Com for risk information, instructions for use and free trial terms and conditions. Consult your Healthcare Provider before starting on omnipod. Simplify diabetes. Simplify life. Omnipod. Simplify life. Aso the national eye instituteon did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula only found in preservision. If it were my vision, id ask my doctor about preservision. Its the most studied eye vitamin brand. If it were my vision, id look into preservision. Only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the nei to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. I have amd. It is my vision so my plan includes preservision. Stop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. Try clean freak it has three times the cleaning power to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. It works great on bathtubs. And even stainless steel. Try clean freak from mr. Clean. Alarming new numbers again this morning about the pandemic in america. Nearly 60,000 new coronavirus cases were reported overnight. That is the highest daily total since early august. Five states are seeing record hospitalizations this morning. Joining us now, cnn political correspondent, abby phillip. And dr. Ali khan with colleges of Public Health. Dr. Khan, lets start with you, because nebraska is in the red. The states with record hospitalizations yesterday, iowa, kansas, missouri, nebraska, wisconsin. In terms of the Positivity Rate in some of the rural areas in the center of the country, i want to read those also, because theyre just so stallering. Wyoming, 40 Positivity Rate. South dakota, 32 . Wisconsin, 22 . Idaho, 22 . Iowa, 20 . What are we supposed to do, dr. Khan . So thank you, good morning, alisyn. Good morning, john. I have to be honest with you, this is now unconscionable this late into the outbreak. For nine months into the outbreak, we know exactly what we need to do to control this outbreak. And essentially, this is predictable, right . The virus is still a contagious disease and 80 of americans are still susceptible to be snes infected. And we have now explicitly stated that were using a herd immunity strategy thats untested and unethical, which essentially means a noresponse strategy. You couple the inappropriate response with a contagious disease and this is exactly what youre going to see. And its all a misguided political calculus that if you minimize the disease and promote under the guise of personal freedoms, that you can somehow get adults back to doing what they want to do and Public Health officials will tell you, thats a way to maximum the number of people who die and the fed chair will tell you, thats the way you prevent the economic recovery. 985 new deaths reported overnight. Nearly 60,000 new cases. Hospitalizations at a level we have not seen since august. It is just so clearly moving in the wrong direction, dr. Khan. And i keep saying this, i think alisyn gets sick of me saying it, but its only the middle of october. Were not even in the bad part of the fall or winter yet. This will get worse, which is why i think the warning from dr. Fauci, such a simple sentence about thanksgiving, may be what cuts through. Lets listen so what dr. Fauci said. It is unfortunately, because thats such a sacred part of american tradition, the Family Gathering around thanksgiving, but that is a risk. You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless youre pretty certain that the people that youre dealing with are not infected. Hes being somewhat delicate, dr. Khan, probably more delicate than he needs to be at this point, but what do americans need to know about thanksgiving at this point. The idea of getting together in a house around a table with a group of even your family when some of them are almost definitely in that vulnerable age group . Again, this coronavirus is still an infectious disease. It spreads from person to person, and the more people you put together, the more likely you are to have people get infected and the more likely you are to create these super spreader events which is spreading this outbreak across america. Its about 20 of events thats spreading 80 of the disease. And again and again, we come back to these settings where people come together. Not just thanksgiving, but parties, weddings, you know, meat packing facilities, prisons. You put people together and virus loves it. Im just not emotionally ready to give up on thanksgiving. Im just i know im going to have to youve got to face it. I think we have to face it. I think dr. Fauci is helping us get there, but at some point, someone has to say out loud, you cant do it. Im just trying to get through halloween. At some point, somebody needs to say, we could we have the tools to get rid of this disease right . so were making these draconian choices because we refuse to make the appropriate choice, which is contain the virus. Abby, of course there has been this big outbreak at the white house and people connected to the white house and it was alarming and i dont know if it was surprising, but we hadnt known that barron trump got sick until he didnt get sick, he got infected. So we hadnt known that until yesterday, when melania wrote this personal essay and she said that her symptoms had been a roller coaster, which i think is very typical of most peoples symptoms, but that barron hadnt had any symptoms whatsoever. And i think what both she and President Trump have been trying to do over the past couple of days, her in her personal essay is be like, we feel your pain, weve been there, we can now relate. But its hard to see them as everyman, because, you know, President Trump got this treatment that he was one of maybe ten people on earth who have been able to have this combo of drugs and were able to immediately rushed to the hospital, which most people dont check themselves into the hospital at his level of symptoms and most people dont have all the doctors around melania trump. So what do you think . Is that message resonating . First of all, i think this entire situation is a real cautionary tale for the American People about how quickly this virus can spread, as we were just talking about thanksgiving, within family settings. And the one astounding thing to me about it is that, that is not how the president and the white house are kind of using their experience with the coronavirus to sort of give the American Public a sense of, hey, heres the risk to you and your family, and heres what you can do to protect you