Election day. Youre looking at long lines in philadelphia this morning, on the last day of early inperson voting there. Right now the campaigns are storming those key battleground states. Today President Trump will hold rallies in michigan, wisconsin and nebraska. His bread ses sore, former president obama will be campaigning for joe biden in orlando, florida, and biden himself is going to zero in on georgia. Coming up in a few minutes, ill talk to one of the Democratic Senate candidates who could flip a seat there. But hanging over all of it, this pandemic. This morning President Trump says all Everyone Wants to talk about is, quote, covid, covid, covid. Hard not to. Here is why. Hospitalizations in the United States are up 40 in the last month alone. Lets start on the ground with our reporters covering the candidates. Nbcs monica alba at the white house, mike memoli is following the Biden Campaign in warm springs, georgia, and nbcs Garrett Haake is in orlando, florida, ahead of president obamas rally there. Monica, lets start with you. President trump hitting three different states today. One of those states, michigan, where Governor Whitmer is calling his rally a, quote, recipe for disaster. What do we know about what President Trump is walking into today . Reporter michigan, of course, craig, is one of the critical states that led to then candidate trumps success in 2016. Hes facing an uphill battle if he wants a repeat performance this time around since hes trailing in the state. But he has engaged in a bitter back and forth with the democratic governor there, gretchen whitmer. As you mentioned, the last time the president was rallying in the state in muskegon, he criticized her covid lockdown measures prompting a chant of lock her up from the crowd. He let that go on for about 18 full seconds before responding lock them all up. Thats a preview of what we might expect. He has ratcheted up that rhetoric even after the plot to kidnap and kill the governor was foiled a couple weeks ago. From michigan hell head to wisconsin, another major critical battleground state if he has hopes for a second term. Then he ends the night in omaha, nebraska. Thats not a place where republicans are worried about losing the state. But they do want to win a Congressional District that equals an Electoral College vote. If this comes down to the wire as it could, those singular points will be very important. Thats also why you saw him make that surprise visit to maine over the weekend. Monica alba at the white house. Mike memoli, warm springs, georgia has historical ties to one of our nations most former prominent president s, fdr. This is not the first time the Biden Campaign has invoked our past. That backdrop there in warm springs, mike, what do they hope it will provide for biden in these critical final days . Reporter craig, as the president is on the campaign trail, often his rallies, it sounds like hes focused on rallying his base. Biden over the 2020 campaign reaching for history. A few weeks ago he went to gettysburg, gave his own president ial style address there as he reflected in a somber address about the divisions in the country, the need to unite the country in a time of unrest and with the president in his view largely sowing the needs. Warm springs with great historical significance. Fdr came here as he was trying to recover from polio. Biden will use his advice to speak to what fdr did as president. He spoke directly and honestly, as widen has often said, about the real crises they were facing during his presidency, a Great Depression and world war ii, of course. He was able to unite the country in order to meet those challenges. Thats very much the message that biden is hoping to kick off his Closing Argument to voters here. Of course, political significance. Georgia a state that no democratic has carried in a president ial race since 1992. Hillary clinton only lost it by five points. The Biden Campaign investing much more in terms of resources. Dr. Jill biden was here yesterday as well. They think they can pick it off as theyve been sticking to their large battleground map, both states we always knew were competitive like the wisconsins, the michigans, but also the socalled expansion states, states that democrats havent necessarily contested but they believe can also provide a pathway to 270 electoral votes. The Biden Campaign sending the message they are very much on offense. The demographics have changed over the last five to ten years. Mike memoli, we know you have to get situated. Mr. Haake, we turn to you, in the sunshine state. Former president obama will be rallying voters there where you are in orlando. Next hour this is his second rally in florida in the past few days. He was in Miamidade County a few days ago. We know that florida is an allimportant battleground every president ial election. What can we expect to hear from president obama in a few minutes . Reporter allimportant and almost always close. Youll hear the honking horns behind me at this drivein rally. I think we can expect to hear a few things. First, he can endorse joe biden, speak to his credentials for the jobs like no one else, having worked side by side when he was president for eight years. Second, i think well hear a lacerating speech from the former president here. Thats what hes done at his previous two campaign stops. Hes gone after donald trump in a way that few other Campaign Surrogates really do. We know from past history that the obamas remarks about the president can get under his sin. Thats not something barack obama minds. Thats something theyre pretty cognizant of here. I do think well hear him go directly after donald trump in the this speech today, in a place thats critical for the joe biden coalition, one of the diverse cities in florida, a lot of africanamerican voters in the orlando area, also a lot of puerto rican voters in the orlando area. Those are the folks barack obama will target today as the campaign tries to close what was a 1. 2 or so victory for donald trump last time around. Most of these florida races are battle points. Every voter, every person in these cars makes a difference here, craig. Garrett haake, clearly the crowd loves your reporting in florida, honking for the last few minutes just for you. Theyre getting the stage set for president obama. Monica alba, thanks to you as well. This final week on the campaign trail coincides with what is the highest rate of Coronavirus Infections since this pandemic started. Here are the latest facts at this hour. Another 72,000 cases were added monday alone. Factor that in with what theyve seen over the last week and the sevenday average is now 75,000, the highest it has ever been. Texas has now tied california for the most cases in the country at more than 900,000. Cases are increasing at a faster rate in the lone star state. Nearly 20 over the past two weeks. This morning, a new cdc study is shedding light on the toll for health care workers. Of the 190,000 who have contracted the virus, 67 had close contact with covid patients, and more than onethird of those workers were nurses. Joining me now, dr. Shoshana ungerleider from california Pacific Medical center. Dr. Ungerleider, i mentioned the sevenday average of cases now at an alltime high. Hospitals in every region of the country reporting a flood of patients. Hospital stays went up 40 in the last month. Have we reached that point where this is now worse than what we saw in the spring . Well, craig, were just in a very concerning place as we head into flu season and the colder months. The situation were in right now is weve been trying to avoid. Were very far from rounding the corner as the white house puts it. As you said, we officially surpassed the previous high for total number of daily new covid19 infections. Were eight months into this. While were testing more, that does not account for the rise in cases because the percent of tests coming back positive has increased as well. A major contributor is informal gatherings with family and friends. I think its critical that, as we head into the holidays, that were talking about this, that we use as many precautions with loved ones who arent in our household as we would with strangers. Again, were talking about cases being up. Im glad you made the distinction. Its not because of an increase in testing its not just cases that are up. Hospitalizations up 40 in the last month. Now were voting. In the middle of this, americans are casting their ballots. The state of maryland assigning Health Ambassadors to polling places. These folks are going to be there to reenforce social distancing and mask wearing guidelines among other things. Is this something that more states should be doing, these Health Ambassadors at polling sites . Craig, this is a good strategy to keep voters safe. If we see the turnout thats expected next week, it will be really important for people gathering to cast their ballots, to maintain distance, wear masks, sanitize their hands frequently. Of course, if people can vote early, thats also a great idea here. This morning pfizer announcing it has enrolled more than 42,000 volunteers for its late stage vaccine trial. Nearly 36,000 volunteers have already gotten the second of two doses. Pfizer is not releasing the data yet about the results. But how encouraged should we be that, if pfizer keeps it up, we could get a vac seen before the end of this calendar year . Its possible. There are several Companies Working on this. Theres Great Strides being made, so many resources being put into finding a safe and effective vaccine, but its very important that we take this slowly, uphold the highest levels of scientific rigor and standards here so that hopefully very soon we will have a vaccine that emerges. Meanwhile from pfizer to eli lily, announcing its ending its antibody treatment because it was ineffective on patients hospitalized with advanced covid19. How significant of a setback is that . Well, again, were getting closer in terms of other therapeutics, other treatments, but that is a setback. Its important, though, that we continue to follow the data and the evidence and these trials continue such that we can understand which are the treatments that work and which dont, and then we can treat patients accordingly and hopefully save lives. Okay. Dr. Shoshana ungerleider, thank you as always. Weve got breaking news here on a tuesday morning. Amy Coney Barrett is officially this countrys Newest Supreme Court justice. We just got this new photo in. You see chief Justice John Roberts administering the judicial oath just a few moments ago. This solidifies her role on the Supreme Court. The senate approving her monday night in a 5248 vote. Republican senator Susan Collins of maine the loan dissenter voting no. No Senate Democrats voted to confirm her. This was the first time in 151 years that there was not a single vote for the minority party. Were also keeping a very close eye on the tensions in philadelphia this morning after another policeinvolved shooting. Police say 27yearold Walter Wallace jr. Was shot by officers monday evening. The officers were responding to a call of a man armed with a knife. Officers say they ordered wallace several times to drop that knife. They say they opened fire when he moved toward them. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital hours later. That shooting triggering this scene. Violent protests overnight that left at least 30 officers hurt. Cell phone video of the shooting quickly spread online. The Police Commissioner in philadelphia says it is under investigation. The officers involved were wearing body cameras. A big new ruling from the Supreme Court could affect hundreds of thousands of ballots in wisconsin. What it means for voters in a state that President Trump won by more than 22,000 votes just 22,000 votes. Also, virus rates, as we just reported going up, the markets going down. Is the president s closing message helping or hurting him . Im going to talk to former White House Communications director Anthony Scaramucci in just a few minutes. Whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. We started by making the cloud easier to manage. But we didnt stop there. We made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. No matter what it does, or how it changes. And we kept going. So you only pay for what you use. Because at dell technologies, we stop. At nothing. [sfx typing sound] [sfx typing sound] [sfx typing sound] scott wiener immediately went to work, making sure families could put food on their tables, defending renters facing eviction, securing unemployment benefits, helping neighborhood businesses survive. Scott wiener will never stop working until california emerges from this crisis. The bay area needs scotts continued leadership in sacramento. Because we know scott is fighting for all of us. Reelect scott wiener for state senate. I got this Mountain Bike for only 11. Dealdash. Com, the fair and honest bidding site. An ipad worth 505, was sold for less than 24; a playstation 4 for less than 16; and a schultz 4k television for less than 2. I won these bluetooth headphones for 20. I got these three suitcases for less than 40. And shipping is always free. Go to dealdash. Com right now and see how much you can save. A new ruling from the u. S. Supreme court means ballots in wisconsin that arrive after election day will not be counted. It could be critical in a state that President Trump won by 22,748 votes four years ago. Nbcs Shaquille Brewster is camped out in milwaukee, part of our county to county series. Shaq, what does this mean for voters in wisconsin . Reporter craig, this means if you have a mailin ballot in your possession, today is the last day you should use to rely on the Postal Service to make sure that ballot gets in. Look at these numbers, about 1. 7 Million People have already requested a ballot actually thats 1. 4 when you look at the vote by mail. But only 1. 1 or so have returned that ballot. If youre one of those 300,000 people, based on the Supreme Court ruling, you need to put that in the mail or use a drop box or return it in person. That Supreme Court ruling, what it said was back in april, there was relief that a District Court gave. It said, if you have your ballot postmarked by election day, clerks can count it up to six days after election. The Supreme Court said things are different now. You need to follow the state law in existence meaning clerks need to have that ballot by 8 00 p. M. Election night. I spoke to the person who runs the Milwaukee Elections Commission or did for about eight years. He retired back in may. Listen to what he said about what this could mean for folks here in the city. What it means for a large urban municipality like milwaukee is that a lot of people will lose their right to zbloet that same . That simple. That lawsuit was very much about recognizing delays with postal delivery and affording municipalities the opportunity to count late arriving absentee ballots. Reporter when that relief was granted back in the april primary, there were 79,000 ballots legalized because of that extension that the court gave. What youre seeing now are democrats in the state pouring money into digital ads on facebook, twitter, other social platforms, adds like youre seeing on tv, encouraging people to make a plan and return that ballot early. Again, state officials are saying today is the practical deadline. If you have that ballot and you want to mail it in, today is the day to drop it in a mailbox. Otherwise, use a drop box. Use a drop box. Drop it off in person. Make sure your vote gets counted. Shaq brewster with a report and a warning as well. We have a big new warning for Voting Rights advocates along the lines of what we heard from shaq. If you have not returned your ballots by mail yet, plan to drop them off in person, thats because of new numbers were getting about how well the u. S. Postal service is delivering merrill on time. Nbcs Josh Lederman is on vote watch this morning. What can you tell us about this new information that we have on the Postal Service performance times, josh . Were getting new internal data by the usps turned over to congress. It shows for the second week of october, ontime delivery rates for first class mail for the post Office Dropped to 85. 58 which is in the neighborhood of the delays we were seeing over the summer when postmaster dejoy put in policies that were causing delays to the mail. For those of us, including myself, who are not math majors, if 100 people were to wait until the very last minute and mail in a mailin ballot, somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 or 15 of those ballots might not make it on time and could potentially be delayed and be at risk for being rejected. In some parts of the country, in metro areas, even battleground states like pennsylvania and michigan, some of sthoesz rates are even lower. What does this mean for those of you who still have a mailin ballot. The post office recommends mailing your ballot no longer than one week out from the deadline in your state. In more than half of states, that deadline is election day. Other states give you a little more leeway time after the election. As we just heard from Shaquille Brewster in wisconsin, even that is a moving target in some states based on some of the Court Challenges were seeing. If you still have a mailin ballot, you havent sent it in, at this point you can look up what your state laws are at wre. You might want to bring it to a lock box, an early polling location or go on election day in person if you want to make sure your ballot doesnt get caught up in the mail delays. Josh, really quickly here. Postal officials a few weeks ago all but guaranteed us this was not going to be an issue. They pointed to the holiday crush. They said they were more than sufficiently capable of handling the influx. Do we know whats happened . . Reporter to be honest with you, we dont have full visibility into everything the post office is doing. These numbers were citing, these relate to first class mail. When you put a forever stamp on your envelope and put it in the mail. Post office says election mail is treated with an additional level of priority and within the last several weeks theyre adding additional pickups, extra deliveries to make sure all this goes through the mail as quickly as possible. We dont know exactly how thats going to work. If you want to be safe and make sure your vote gets counted, you probably dont want to wait much longer before putting it in the mail. Josh lederman in washington, thank you. Today is the last day for people in pennsylvania to vote early in person. After today in pennsylvania, people will still be able to drop off those ballots at election offices or drop boxes. Roughly 3 million voters there have requested mailin ballots. About 1. 5 Million People have turned them back in. From pennsylvania to georgia, a dead heat. Polls show races neck and neck, up and down the ballot. Is it possible we could see two Senate Runoff races in georgia . Ill talk to Georgia Senate candidate jon ossoff right after this. Check this out, this artist using his canvas to document this years voting scenes like this one in north carolina. He moved to the United States in 1956 and says hes never seen an election like this one. I think this is one of the most important elections in the country. I dont think well see one like this for many, many years. When i was in high school, this was the theater i came to quite often. The support weve had over the last few months has been amazing. I have a soft spot for local places. Its not just a work environment. Everyone here is family. Gonna go ahead and support him, get my hair cut, leave a big tip. If we focus on our local communities, we can find a way to get through this together. Thank you. If you are ready to open your heart and your home, check us out. Get out and about and support our local community. We thought for sure that we were done. And this town said not today. Hello is friendly. 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Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa black voters will be critical in ohio, a state thats a statistical dead heat between President Trump and Vice President biden both campaigns watching record turnout in key areas. Trump sees new hope in polls showing him performing slightly better than last time with younger black voters. Msnbcs National Correspondent Chris Jansing is in her neck of the woods, columbus, ohio chris is from closer to cleveland, as i understand it. What are those voters telling you, chris . Reporter they know this vote is too close to call, and thats why a lot of the analysts im talking about say the black vote, 12 of the electorate in ohio could be decisive and exactly why Community Centers uhoh. Is the first time a republican candidate has ever had an office in a black neighborhood. This is being paid for by the rnc. Having said that, the question about those polls, young black men trending even more in ohio according to a Baldwin Wallace poll that were seeing in the rest of the country. I talked to a local evangelical black minister, a big trump supporter, about why he thinks young black men are trending toward trump. Here is what they told me. They like the president s decisiveness and decision making, his strength. Theres a relationship ive heard the word usefulness. Ive heard the news boss. Hes a boss from a rappers standpoint. Thats why donald trump was his name used in various rap lyrics over the last 20 years. Reporter more recent polls, craig, have shown a lot of those black voters seem to be returning to the traditional
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