An alarming rate once again, as the president goes after his own Health Experts people are tired of hearing fauci and all these idiots, these people, these people that have gotten it wrong. Dr. Fauci brushing it off. Its like in the godfather, nothing personal, strictly business just ahead, the new clash over the Covid Response and an inside look at a controversial trial infecting Healthy People with the virus in order to fight it spy games . The u. S. Brings charges against Russian Military officers tied to some of the worlds biggest cyberattacks no country has weaponized its Cyber Capabilities as maliciously and irresponsibly as russia the hackers accused of targeting power grids, u. S. Hospitals, even the olympics, and leading to 1 billion in financial losses were live with new developments overnight. Show of support. Well wishes pouring in for jeff bridges, the beloved star revealing he has been diagnosed with cancer and has started treatment. His Emotional Message to fans about his fight and his future those stories, plus monday night delight. End zone, kelce. Football fans treated with two games with big wins for the chiefs cardinals Christian Kirk, about 80 yards to the house while baseball fans get ready for the longawaited start of the world series today, tuesday, october 20th, 2020 announcer from nbc news, this is today, with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb. From studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hey, everybody. Good morning welcome to today. It is a Tuesday Morning. Were so happy that youre joining us nice to see you, savannah. Its a busy morning were so glad youre with us at the top, were sending out love to jeff bridges he was just on our show last week and we adore him. Hes announced that hes been diagnosed with cancer. Hes starting treatment and well get the latest in just a few. A surprising announcement and he did it lets start with the race for the white house. The election exactly two weeks from today, but more than 26 million votes have already been cast, with early voting expanded to 39 states. The candidates themselves, President Trump is holding a rally in pennsylvania today, joe biden is off the trail preparing for thursday nights debate. And we can also tell you this morning theres news that there will be more enforcement of the rules against interruptions, including muting the microphones at certain points. Thats the new rule announced by the debate commission. Nbcs White House CorrespondentPeter Alexander on duty for us. Hi, good morning. Reporter good morning to you. Two weeks to go until election day, just two days until the final debate, the last best chance for both of these candidates to try to make their case to tens of millions of voters. And the commission on president ial debates now says that it will mute one microphone or the other during parts of the debate to try to make sure both President Trump and joe biden stick to agreedupon rules, an effort the Commission Says to advance civil discourse. Number two you just lost the left. Number two reporter after the first president ial debate debacle the question is Supreme Court justice, radical left will you shut up . Reporter announcing a new plan this weeks final matchup, to enforce the rule that both candidates get two minutes of unsbupted time, they plan to mute the other cants microphone. Then for the balance of each segment is intended to be dedicated to open discussion, the Commission Says, both candidates microphones will be open. The Trump Campaign releasing a statement overnight saying, in part, President Trump is committed to debating joe biden, regardless of lastminute rule changing. Well, i think the whole thing is crazy. This commission, i had problems with them four years ago. Reporter also this morning with coronavirus cases surging again, President Trumps unloading on the nations top Infectious Disease expert, trashing dr. Anthony fauci in a conference call. People are tired of hearing fauci and all these idiots, these people, these people that have gotten it wrong. Every time he goes on television theres always a bomb, but theres a bigger bomb if you fire him. But fauci is a disaster. Reporter fauci weighing in on monday. Its like in the godfather, nothing personal, strictly business as far as im concerned. Reporter it comes after he opened up against threats against him and his family on 60 minutes. The Public Health message to save lives triggers such venom and animosity to me that it results in real and Credible Threats to my life and my safety. Have there been Death Threats against you and your family . Yes. Reporter the president later on the trail in arizona. I love prescott. Reporter tying fauci to biden. He wants to listen to dr. Fauci. Reporter biden firing back in a statement saying, thats not an attack, thats a badge of honor, adding, mr. President , youre right about one thing, the American People are tired. Theyre tired of your lies about this virus. Biden is off the trail most of this week preparing for thursdays debate. His running mate, kamala harris, in florida, looking to help flip the state for democrats. You guys are going to determine the outcome of this election, im sure of it. Reporter and bashing President Trumps handling of the pandemic. This man had an opportunity to deal with, but denied fact, denied science, and lied to the American People. Reporter the virus that keeps surging, the president says americans are tired of it and that they want to be left alone. But even within his own party, the president is now facing crr his statements about dr. Fauci, the retiring republican senator Lamar Alexander in a new statement praising fauci and saying if more americans paid attention to his advice, we would have fewer cases of covid and it would be safer to go back to school, to work and out to eat. Still on the subject, peter, theres a new poll having to do with the president s health and how hes been communicating about it . The majority of americans, 52 , say they do not trust what President Trump has said about his own health since testing positive for covid earlier this month. Thats according to the latest nbc news survey online poll. Even yesterday the president would not say whether he was tested before the last debate, the first one, or when he last tested negative, leaving a lot of questions when he may have first been infectious. Peter, thank you. And we should mention you can watch the final president ial debate thursday night here on nbc. Our coverage begins at 8 00 eastern, 5 00 pacific time. Of course, with two weeks to go, tens of millions of voters have already cast their ballots. Most states have expanded early voting by mail and in person for this election. Wisconsin joins the list today and florida did the same yesterday. Nbcs Kerry Sanders joins us from miami, where long lines were out there on opening day. Kerry, good morning. Reporter good morning. Another record broken in florida. Politico reports 350,000 inperson voting took place on monday, and again today we have people lined up to vote early. Election day is now two weeks away, but in more than half of the country the election is already in full swing. More than 26 Million People have already voted either in person or by mail, an increase of more than 300 compared to this time four years ago. Early voting is popular here in florida. In some cases the wait to cast a ballot has been more than three hours. I just thought let me go and be one of the first people to vote and be able to celebrate that. If the line is this long now, i can only imagine what its going to get to as the election gets closer. Reporter with an almost even split in florida between registered republicans and democrats, its 29 electoral votes are still very much in play. Both the trump and biden campaigns expect a close race in florida, even with democrats outpacing plans when it comes to mailin ballots so far. Its a reason to be excited but not overconfident. Remember, democrats saw this reality four years ago, we didnt like the ending. Reporter in georgia theyre trying to avoid the voting line disasters that happened during the june primary. More than 1. 5 Million People have already voted there. You, the voter, are turning out in record numbers. Reporter while joe biden leads President Trump in most national polls, republicans are touting registration gains in key battle grounds like North Carolina and pennsylvania. Nationwide, one in ten eligible voters is between 18 and 23 years old, but typically the most reliable voters are over the age of 65, or in this case, 106 years old, voting monday in person in ft. Lauderdale. How do you feel today doing this . Very happy. Very happy, she feels. Wow, 106 years old. Thats something. You were speaking about pennsylvania earlier. The Supreme Court just issued a key ruling on mailin ballots there. What do you know about that . Reporter thats right, hoda. Pennsylvania is a key state with 20 electoral votes. The u. S. Supreme court ruling that in that state mailin ballots that arrive up to three days after election day will still be counted. Democrats believe that could be a key to victory. Hoda . All right, kerry in miami for us, thank you. Ten minutes after the hour. Lets get to craig who joins us with the latest on the spike in coronavirus cases weve been seeing. Good morning to you as well. Many states have already weathered two surges and now, now theres growing concern that some are currently heading into a third. New numbers this morning prompting stern warnings from experts and startling predictions about where we could be heading. Nbcs tom costello has the story for us. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Absolutely, were seven to eight months into this pandemic and a lot of people have pandemic fatigue and frustration, but experts are warning this is not the time to let our guard down. The situation is growing quite dire. Some states are now putting out an all call for other states to respond with icu doctors and nurses. The number of new infections has risen to nearly 70,000 per day, the highest rate since late july. Were in a really dangerous point, and unfortunately were here partly because of our own making. Reporter nationwide, millions of americans are suffering from pandemic fatigue, tired of masks, social distancing, homeschooling and working from home. Still, with colder months and flu season fast approaching, top doctors predict the worst could be yet to come. The stats are alarming. In 38 states and washington, d. C. , cases are climbing, with nearly half seeing infections increase by at least 50 . Fargo, north dakota, implementing the states first mask mandate. In the last month our active cases have more than doubled, our hospitalizations are higher now for half the month of october than the entire month of september. Reporter also concerning, covid hospitalizations are at their peak in at least 14 states. California, texas and florida all inching closer to 1 million cases, while cases are spiking in vermont and new mexico. New front line er and icus are once again understaffed. Doctors, nurses and paramedics exhausted. From michigan they are significantly more sick than the ones we saw in the beginning of the pandemic. Reporter to utah the hours are long and the work is not easy, and so to do that for a sustained period of time is really a challenge. Reporter in wisconsin, hospitals are near the brink. Without enough icu beds and staff, south dakota hospitals are pleading for help from other states. University of washington icu doctor vin gupta fears what could come, a u. S. Death toll hitting 500,000 by february 1st. That would be more than the number of americans killed in world war ii. If were seeing more of a relaxation towards normalization of life prematurely, more people will die. Reporter so, tom, these dire warnings, these startling predictions, more officials across the country are now considering implementing some new restrictions, i understand. What are they considering . Reporter right now, there really is not a National Call for a national lockdown, even dr. Fauci says he would not advocate for that right now. Wisconsin is limiting the number of people who can be inside together, chicago may take action as well. But the bottom line, the cdc says wear a mask, especially in public areas. Public transportation areas especially, that can really protect you and others. But this number that we cited, the potential for half a million dead by february 1st, just a Staggering Number and it really underscores that this is very much a National Emergency that were in the middle of. Guys, back to you. Yeah, it is. Tom costello, thank you, thanks for that. Hoda, over to you guys. It is now 7 14. What do you say we check out the weather with mr. Roker . Who is ready for a little winter . Winter . Yes. No weve got 7 Million People under Winter Weather advisories, watches and warnings from great falls all the way to Iron Mountain and we are looking at snow, a mix of rain, snow and ice pushing from great falls all the way into parts of northern iowa. This cold front will enter the upper midwest today, rain and snow stretching from the dakotas all the way to wisconsin. As we move into tomorrow, the storm will move into the northeast and bring chilly rain from new york into maine as that pushes through. Snowfall amounts, were talking this is through friday morning, anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow. In fact, minneapolis may see 3 to 5 inches, fargo up to 12. Billings looking at 12 to 18 inches of snow. Theyre on track for their snowiest october ever. Bismarck on track for the third snowiest. Fargo more snow in this october than they have in the last nine. And minneapolis is well ahead of their average 1 inch of snow. The first time they get that is normally november 19th. The rest of the country, plenty of sunshine. Through the southeast a dreary day because of the frontal system. And fire danger continues out west. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. 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. Its not just a work environment. Everyone here is family. If you are ready to open your heart and your home, check us out. We thought for sure that we were done. And this town said not today. And thats your latest weather. Hoda. Al, thank you coming up, an inside look at what the Justice Department calls some of the most destructive cyberattacks ever. Russian military officers now charged in an operation that created blackouts and a billion dollars in losses and even targeted the olympics. Were going to have the very latest in a live report. Also ahead, the well wishes that are pouring in for beloved actor jeff bridges after the oscar winner went public with his cancer diagnosis garage door opening it is my fathers love. It is his passion it is his fault he didnt lock the garage. Dont even think about it been there, done that. 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