Making it harder to rush out a vaccine. All of this as the coronavirus cluster at the white house grows with another member of the president s inner circle testing positive. The question is how might the president s medical treatment impact his decisions as commander in chief . Its definitely way too early for this. Good morning, and welcome to way too early, the show that might sneak in a nap before tonights Vice President ial debate in salt lake tecity. Im kasie hunt. Well start there with the news as the coronavirus continues to permeate the white house tonight the two Vice President ial candidates are going to face off in a debate for the very first time, as more precautionary measures are put into place. Two plexiglass barriers have been installed on the deet bracelet stage in salt lake city. One next to the desk where Vice President mike pence will sit and one next to senator Kamala Harris. The two will be separated by about two feet of space. Vice president pence spent date today questioning the barrier after it was initially reported that the Vice President didnt want a barrier. Ultimately, pence agreed to the changes last night after viewing a setup during a walkthrough of the debate hall. According to cdc guidelines, pence is considered safe to debate after several coronavirus tests and Contact Tracing that puts him in a lowrisk category from his recent exposure to the infected president. Debate is going to be moderated by usa todays susan page. And it picks off at 9 00 p. M. Eastern tonight. Joining us now, live from salt lake city, nbc news correspondent mike memoli. Mike, a very good morning to you. Thank you for getting up early for us on Mountain Time to preview what weve got going on tonight. What do you expect from Kamala Harris . What is the Biden Campaign looking for from her . And walk us through how the pence camp is getting ready for it. Reporter well, kasie, its great to be with you, im a latecomer to the way too early party here. Im glad to be with you at this hour. And its appropriate that were here talking about the Vice President ial debate given how ive covered a certain Vice President over the years. The tenor has changed over the last week. The word secession is front of mind for the public as they watch this tonight. There are questions coming into this campaign about joe biden and his age, that is what made the selection of Kamala Harris, hi search process, such a higher priority focus for the public because there are questions about his age. Once had you the president diagnosed last week about the coronavirus himself, were all of a sudden talking about the continuity of government issues. The question of whether or not mike pence should even be here in salt lake tonight is very real. As i think about the stakes tonight, lets talk about Kamala Harris, she, of course, the prosecutor, that was one of the arguments that the backers in the search process were making for her to join the ticket. They wanted somebody who could prosecute the case against President Trump and certainly now, prosecute the case against mike pence leading the covid task force. I think theres a lot of expectation on her performance, will she be able to deliver on that expectation. As related to mike pence, i think back to the debates i covered with joe biden. One, he was debating sarah palin, a phenomenon at the time. And a woman that he had to tight walk in 2008. And there was a need for joe biden to really bring the heat, the energy and put up a win for the ticket in his debate with paul ryan in that cycle. For mike pence, he has to do both now at the same time, and im not sure thats an easy act to pull off. He has to very carefully debate the first person of color on a president ial ticket and only the third woman to ever be a Vice President ial nominee. And that brings a certain amount of difficulty. But also he has to defend the record and really help the ticket if they do hope to make up some ground that theyve lost in the recent vehicweeks in a v real way. Its not an easy thing to pull, kasie. Yeah, mike, what are the lines that Kamala Harris has to walk, what its like to be a woman on stage but how to handle the president s health in danger, how to handle those questions about coronavirus . Reporter yeah, theres going to be a lot of focus on sort of the gender attack eggs as and h handles herself for sure. They understand coming into this and theyve been preparing for that certainly. I think joe biden has set the tone for the ticket in terms of the way the president s health shapes the way of the campaign. They need to show that they could walk and chew gum at the same time. There was something of a political ceasefire when they took down the negative ads but once the president came out and was acting in a political way in view of the Biden Campaign, tweeting, i think that opened did the door to make the case about prosecuting and handling the disease. Nbcs mike memoli kicking off an early day. Thank you so much. White house Senior AdviserStephen Miller is now the latest official to test positive for covid19. He released a statement saying he tested negative on monday afternoon, and that he tested positive yesterday. Miller said he was working remotely and selfisolating in the five days before yesterdays diagnosis. And that hes now in quarantine. His wife, katie miller, Communications Director for Vice President mike pence had tested positive for the virus back in may. Shes the one who mocked senator Kamala Harris for wanting to use a plexiglass barrier at tonights debate. Saying, quote, if senator harris wants to hold a fortress around herself, have at it. Were told katie miller tested positive but she wont attend the debate out of abundance of caution. Stephen miller is now the 13th person to test positive from the white house. Ten of them attended the september 26th rose garden event for the president S Supreme Court nominee. The white house has yet to affirm that the president was tested for covid19 before the president ial debate. And two officials familiar with the frequency of the president s testing say he wasnt tested daily, as the public had been led to believe. According to a report from the New York Times, on the growing number of covid cases at the white house, Administration Officials admitted to giving the impression that the president was tested daily with comments like this one. As ive made clear from this podium, the president is the most tested man in america. Hes tested more than anyone, multiple times a day. And we believe that hes acting appropriately. Multiple times a day. And now, theres speculation that the president s doctors wont reveal the last time he tested negative. A crucial piece of information for determining the stage of his imness, because he may not have been regularly tested at all. The president himself contradicted mcenany on the frequency of his testing. Your press secretary said today that you sometimes take more than one test a day. Why is that . Well, i didnt know about more than one. I do take probably on average a test every two days, three days. And i dont know anytime ive taken two tests in one day, but i could see that happening. Thats really hard to know whats actually going on. Meanwhile, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mark milley, and most of the pentagons most Senior Officers are under selfimposed quarantine after being exposed to the coronavirus. The New York Times reports that milley and all but one member of the joint chiefs of staffs after realizing admiral charles ray tested positive for covid19. Vice commandant ray was at the meeting last week. And the pentagon spokesman said in a statement that read in part, no pentagon contacts have exhibited symptoms, and we have no additional positive tests to report at this time. According to the times, a military official noted that general milley and the other Senior Officers have full Operational Capability from where they are working, most at home. And said that theres no degradation to the countrys national defense. Were all praying that is the case. Still ahead here, wall street takes a hit after President Trump puts a stop to Coronavirus Relief talks, only to seemingly reverse course just hours later. Plus, the president and joe biden are scheduled to hit the debate stage next week, but is it actually going to happen . 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In business you have to be then do it all over again. Comcast business gives you fast, reliable internet on the nations largest gigspeed network. And now for a limited time, you can also get fast shipping with amazon business prime essentials. So no matter what comes next, youll always be ready to bounce forward. Get started with powerful internet and voice for 64. 90 a month, and ask how you can get one free year of amazon busines prime essentials on us. Call or go online today. Comcast business. Welcome back. Talk about whiplash. President trump is flipflopping on relief measures for the millions of americans who have been hit so hard by the coronavirus pandemic. In a series of tweets yesterday afternoon, the president first said that he had instructed treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin to stop negotiations with House Speaker nancy pelosi on this until after the election. Then late last night, after the stock market understandably tanked, the president reversed course and urged congress to approve a series of new relief measures, including another round of stimulus checks. He tweeted if im sent a standalone bill for stimulus checks, 1200, theyll go out to our great people immediately. Im ready to sign right now. Are you listening, nancy . According to the New York Times, some white house staff members, get this, wondered whether the president s behavior was spurred by a cocktail of drugs he has been taking to crete coronavir treat coronavirus including dexamethasone, a steroid that can cause mood swings and give a false level of energy. Joining us, managing editor for bloomberg peggy collins. Peggy, good morning to you. It seems pretty clear that the president has engaged in this aboutface because weve watched the lines just absolutely drop on all. Charts regarding the state of the home. Have we learned anything overnight about what this aboutface means for ho s for markets are going to react . So, were seeing that the stock market, in terms of the futures market, is coming back a bit from the wild ride that we saw over the last 24 hours. As you were seeing, kasie, yesterdays stocks dropped dramatically on it looked like President Trump was halting stimulus negotiations until after the election. And then overnight, it looks like hes floating, as he said, another round of stimulus checks, possibly help for the airlines and possibly small businesses. That is bringing futures back somewhat. But investors dont like uncertainty. And certainly, theres a lot of that right now. Yeah. I mean, i would just say from the congressional side of things, the damage was done. With that first set of tweets. And its not as easily undone as another tweet attempting to reverse course and place blame. Peggy, lets talk about the Economic Impacts of not adding stimulus. I mean, we heard from the fed chairman jay powell that there could be tragic consequences to this. Were seeing something of a slowmotion train wreck in the fundamentals for the economy. Millions of people remain on unemployment. The markets obviously tanked for a reason. If there is no more stimulus either at all or not until january, what are the implications for the economy at large . So, what we are seeing, as you said, is the economy move into this phase of a slow grind. And that is what chairman powell was talking about yesterday which made it even more stunning that the president came out only a few hours later, after the fed chair had said, we really do need more stimulus in the economy, especially for people out of work, to see the president come out and reverse course. And i think one of the things that people are most concerned about, economists and policymakers alike is the fact that we still have 11 Million People out of work, largely because of the pandemic. What economists are saying is that if we dont provide support for them in some way, along with small businesses, you could start to see the economy really erode more than it is. Weve seen bouncesback in april and may. But we are seeing states struggle to control the virus. That would mean it could be a while before Companies Feel uncomfortable rehiring or creating new jobs. I think its true, we anecdotally know people in our lives of people who have lost their lives or businesses closing for good. Bloombergs peggy collins. We appreciate your insights. Still ahead, were breaking down battleground polling as joe biden picks up some new endorsements. Were coming back in just a moment. Were coming back in just a moment for 36 months. Experience amazing. At your lexus dealer. Whatever road you take, make sure your tires are ready to get you there safely. Right now at midas, buy three cooper tires, and get one free. Find your tires at midas. Com and get one free. 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Bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. 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 welcome back. With 27 days until the election, 27 days, two new polls in key battleground states that helped give President Trump a win in 2016 show a strong advantage for joe biden in one, and a tight race between the two in the other. In the latest Monmouth University poll out of pennsylvania, biden holds an 11point lead over President Trump, 43 to 45 while a suffolk polls shows the two candidates tied at 45 . And across the midwest and pennsylvania and tightens in the sun belt. Meanwhile the New York Times and the boston Globe Editorial boards have endorsed joe biden for president. No real surprise there. The New York Times writes, mr. Biden knows that there are no easy answers. He has the experience, temperament and character to guide the nation through the valley into a brighter more hopeful future. And the boston globe wrote, the globe is proud to endorse biden a candidate who has the decency and civility to the oval office. And general Michael Hayden has supported biden for president , watch. Im mike hayden. I was the former director of the cia and nsa. If there is another term for President Trump, i dont know what happens to america. I absolutely disagree with some of bidens policies, but thats not important. Whats important is the United States. And im supporting joe biden. All right. Time now, though, for the weather. Lets go to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. Bill, you have been tracking a pretty serious system. I know we talked about this yesterday. But it seems like its gotten more intense south of the gulf coast. What are you expecting. Good morning, kasie. A lot of c