Share only vague written updates that dont tell us much about the president s condition and his covid treatment. If he is feeling well enough to work today, one thing not in his todo box is broad stimulus negotiations. A surprise tweet from the president yesterday ended his talks and rattled Financial Markets counting on washington to do more to help ease the pandemics economic pain. Chief of staff meadows, you saw him there, said the white house would aim for splaulmaller deal helping airlines is one example. They blame nancy pelosi but she was making progress until the tweet bomb yesterday. And you see the site tonight salt lake city, no doubt the coronavirus and its Economic Impact will be flashpoints. Vp debates do not usually alter the course of an election but as we look inside the debate hall here, we should be reminded this campaign is anything but normal. And a 74yearold president confined to the white house with coronavirus 27 days to election day only adds to a long list of 2020 things we simply have not experienced before. Vice president s mission tonight is project the president and recovery is on the road to recovery. Senator Kamala Harris tasked with the democratic response and pences role as White House Task force leader, will also come under fire. This debate coming at a time of grave republican worry. The president s numbers are miserable and getting worse. If things dont change soon, republicans see the senate slipping away along with the white house. And within this pandemic election, the coronavirus numbers are troublesome and getting worse. Look right there. 25 states, half of the United States now heading in the wrong direction. More cases now than a week ago. 43,000 new infections reported tuesday. Colder weather and coronavirus fatigue has dr. Anthony fauci very worried. The models tell us that if we do not do the kinds of things that were talking about in the cold and in the fall and the winter, we could have from 300,000 to 400,000 deaths. That would be just so tragic if that happens. Stunning number there. Stunning number there. Joining me now the washington chief of the daily beast, Jacqueline Ka Sid itch, and at the site of the debate and cnns John Horowitz in washington. John, were told the president said hes itching to get back into the oval office. Were told theyre setting up an isolation cart so any aides called to work with him can get the protective equipment they need. I want to you listen to a little more of chief of staff mark meadows this morning talking about a situation in the white house that frankly is, overused term used all of a sudden, a ghost town. We do mandate social distancing as much as practical and even with some of your colleagues. A number of your colleagues who may wear masks religiously, theyve come down with it. So it makes us pivot back to one critical thing. We need to make sure therapeutics and vaccines are what we focus on. The last part is a bit of a copout. Responsible buy haever also helps. The president and many around him have not practiced responsibility behavior. But what is the status there what do we kno when will we next hear and when will the president s doctor actually next actually take questions . Is we dont know very much a all, john, about the state of the president s state. We got a vague statement yesterday from the white house physician saying the president reported no symptoms but did not say the president had been examined, did not provide any specifics about his vital signs, whether he was getting oxygen, whether hes still taking the steroid dexamethasone. So theres a lot of blank sheets of paper that were looking at in terms of trying to figure out where the president is. We have not heard from the president s doctor in a couple of days, as you noted. We have not heard the president speak live in a number of days. He put out taped statements. Apparently, he taped something last night. We have not seen him. So we dont know the state of his health. If in fact he had symptom onset late last week that hes still in a danger zone in which this very unpredictable virus can take a turn. He wants to go back to the oval office. Aides are i have apprehensive. There are departmenty desks all over the place. That will make it extremely difficult for the Vice President to make the argument the road is on the road to recovery if the white house itself is a hot spot. You mentioned tonights debate. Jackie, here we are 27 days from election. The president ask confined to the white house with the infection, with the disease that he said would disappear six months ago. I want you to listen here because republicans are very careful here but privately theyre very worried. Listen to Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell. He will try to come back in a couple of weeks and push the Supreme Courts confirmation battle through. But listen to his own frustration here with the fact coronavirus is so front and center. I do think there have been risky behaviors in other areas but not in the senate. So youre saying you think the white house has taken too many risks . Well, theres no question some of the infections occurred elsewhere, and not here. I mean, you understand sometimes we have to translate the majority leader there. But clearly frustration. The infections occurred elsewhere and not here. Three of his senators, republicans, have been infected right now and two were at that Supreme Court rollout event. Right. And also on the judiciary committee, which is going to be charged with reporting out amy coney barrett, which if this ends up happening, which it seems like now it is. But, sure, this is slowing down what Mitch Mcconnells main be objective is, get the Supreme Court justice through before election day. And the fact the white house has been so belligerent about not mask wearing, mark meadows hasnt worn a mask. Hes used every reason to be nervous, saying it sneaks up on you. You can hide a little bit if you and every around you is wearing a mask. Sort of use what he said. But it is frustrating everyone on every level. Now mike pence has to stand next to a plexiglas because of all of these infections in the white house, which is a visual reminder during this debate of the failures of this administration to handle the coronavirus crisis. And, ryan, that is the point senator harris hopes to prosecute tonight. She hopes to make the case because of this administrations mishandling of the pandemic e. Thats why were in october and we have 25 states heading in the wrong direction. We have more than 210,000 americans dead. Senator harris also understands Mission Number one for her is do no harm. The democrats have a big and growing lead at the moment. Joe biden is in the drivers seat in this race and he essentially helped try to right the script yesterday when it comes to prosecuting the pandemic. Lets listen. This pandemic is not a red state or blue state issue. This virus doesnt care whether you live, where you live, what Political Party you belong to. It infects us all. It will take anyones life. Its a virus. Its not a political weapon. Set the scene for us there, ryan. As i said, normally americans dont vote based on the Vice President ial candidates. I dont remember campaign where the Vice President ial debate altered the course of the election, however, we are in a campaign unlike any other so i say watch everything closely. I think youre right, john. The other point that should be made is that the final two president ial debates are in dallas. So this may be the last opportunity that we may have to see both of these campaigns face to face answering tough questions. But getting back to your point about how the Biden Campaign through Kamala Harris tonight will attempt to prosecute the Trump Administrations response to the coronavirus, it is a dicey proposition because mike pence is a much different person on debate stage than President Trump is. His nickname within the Trump Campaign is on message mike. Theyve found a way to hone in their message even in the wake of the president s coronavirus diagnosis. And you can expect mike pence to try to turn this back on Kamala Harris, accuse her of being a sponsor of medicare for all and going down the road of socialized medicine and tying her to the radical left. Its pretty cler from the polling theres a lot more for democrats to lose than there is republicans to gain. So its going to be very difficult for the Harris Campaign and in this setting to try to make that case without doing more harm. However, they do feel more confident somebody like Kamala Harris, who is a skilled prosecutor, who has shown the ability in settings like this and her role on various senate committees, particularly Senate Judiciary committee, where she grilled members of the Trump Administration to have come before, she has a unique ability to do it in a setting like this. It creates a very interesting dynamic, john. And its important to point out, again, this may be the last debate we see so as a result it takes on a special level of importance. Jackie, to that point, frank fa fahrenkopf, chairman of the Debate Commission, made that point. The president wants to debate. Joe biden said he will show up only if the doctors say President Trump is covid free. Frank fahrenkopf says stay tuned. Lets listen. Now he said yesterday i understand from the newspapers hes ready, raring to go and will be in miami and run the debate. But it depends what the doctors say about his health, whether or not not only will he be safe but the people around him safe. Were concerned about our staff, our workers who are here. We have a crew of about 65 people who work on these things so its going to depend upon what the medical evidence is. It is a fascinating moment there. The coronavirus concerns. If you look at this from the Trump Campaign and Republican Party perspective, it is hard to come back from a deficit as big as the president faces now and its a lot harder when the other guys have more money and the other guy is on the campaign trail and youre confined to the white house with the coronavirus. And it is and the president will try to push forward with the debate no matter what. But there are things we dont know. We dont know when President Trumps last negative test is. Somebody there knows, san djay gupta said that, but we dont know. The American People dont know. So we dont know if he will not be able to infect anyone else. And the Biden Campaign, their biggest concern is keeping joe biden healthy. How is the president ial Debate Commission handles this, its a staytuned situation. But its not just the president being dragged down by this, john. Its other candidates, Senate Candidates around the country people are looking at whats happening in the white house and look at whats happening around the country with these infections and are, perhaps, casting their vote elsewhere. It is a remarkable moment unchartered, we use all of those words, but thats a fact. Jackie kucinich, john hargrove, thank you very much. Up next coronavirus infections, our sad october reality, rising in half the country. Dr. Fauci said its not Rocket Science how to get this number down but too Many Americans simply not listening. Why . ahhhh incoming ahhhahh im saved water tastes like, water. So we fixed it. Mio well look back and remember the moment that things, for one strange time in our lives, got very quiet. Some lost work and invented new ways to get by. Others were busier than ever, and found strength they never knew they had. We sheltered with the people who matter most, sometimes finding how far apart wed drifted. We worried over loved ones, over money, over our planet. And over takeout. And we found a voice one the noise out there had kept quiet. When the world starts spinning again, lets remember this time where none of us felt secure, and fight for a future where everyone can. Because when the world seems like its standing still. Thats the perfect time for us to change it. Tonight, ill be eating a veggie cheeseburger on ciabatta, no tomatoes. [hard a] tonight. Ill be eating four cheese tortellini with extra tomatoes. [full emphasis on the soft a] so its come to this . [doorbell chimes] thank you. [doorbell chimes] bravo. Careful, hamill. Daddys not here to save you. Oh i am my daddy. Wait, what . What are you talking about . When you have nausea, upset stomach, diarrheaon, pepto bismol coats and soothes your stomach for fast relief and now, get the same fast relief in a delightful chew with new pepto bismol chews. The Vice President ial candidates debate tonight and Vice President pence, of course, the head of the White House Coronavirus task force. The current numbers are going to be hard to explain away. Lets take a look at the current numbers. You look at the 50state trend map right now and this is just a very sober first week of october. 25 states, as it gets colder, 25 states heading in the wrong direction. That means reporting more new infections now compared to a week ago. You see orange and red on the map. Those are the states heading in the wrong direction. Now now include texas and arizona. They were part of the summer surge. Lets hope those are just temporary there. 25 states heading up, and only 3 of the 50 states reporting fewer infections now than a week ago. That is very troubling as you head into the Colder Weather. Five states reported over 2,000 new cases yesterday, 5 states. Maybe youre not surprised when you see big states like florida, texas and california, with more than 2,000 new infections. But look kansas, kansas more than 2,000 new infections reported yesterday. Wisconsin as well. Wisconsin is a hot spot. And this is the saddest map of all. Again, when you have more cases, which we have at the moment, you get more deaths, 22 states red and orange. Across the northern half of the country where temperatures are colder right now. 22 states reporting more deaths, more coronavirus deaths now compared to a week ago. 11 holding steady. 17 states trending down in their weektoweek death count. If you look at the case timeline now, again, trendline heading in the wrong direction. This is where we are. Call it a plateau or stislight , but were above. The average new daily infections about 40,000 now. Remember, it was below 20,000 when we started the big summer surge up to here. This line not moving up, you see the trajectory, its not moving up straight like that but this is a stubborn, stubborn plateau right now at about 43,000. The fear is as it gets colder, it will go higher. Nationally the Positivity Rate in pretty good shape. You want to be 5 or lower. Its at 4. 7 . But thats a national look. Going state by state, especially in the northern half of the country, 23 positivity in ohio, 15 wyoming, kansas double digits, missouri double digits, iowa, wisconsin, indiana and so on. Dr. Fauci looks at these numbers, and he says i know a lot of you simply dont want to listen to me. Hes begging as we head into the Colder Weather to give him a chance. It occurs because of the lack of implementation of simple Public Health measures. Its so frustrating because it is not Rocket Science. You dont need to lockdown. You almost want to say, okay, country maybe 50 of you hate me because you think im trying to destroy the country, but do me a favor, listen to me for like maeve six weeks or so and do these things, you would see the level of infection go down, absolutely. Joining us now is dr. Thom engles, director of the Johns Hopkins center for security p doctor, its good to see you again. You can hear the exasperation in dr. Fauci, basically begging people, give it a chance, wear a mask, watch the numbers. But you just saw me go through the numbers. 43,000 new infections on average. Positivity rate in double digits in most of the states, many of the states, where its now getting colder. Where are we going . Yeah, unfortunately i think as a country were moving in the wrong direction again. If you look at where we were three weeks ago, were 20 higher in terms of National Numbers of cases, numbers of hospitalizations are going up for the first time in a while. The number of icu beds occupied by Covid Patients are picking up again and we are seeing some states in the worse condition since the start of the pandemic, in the midwest, dakotas, wisconsin, mountain west. Theyre really high numbers. We have to work to turn those around or were going to have Health Care Crisis like were beginning to see in wisconsin. The numbers going up at a time when we now know anyones hopes for getting a vaccine will be delayed at least some. The fda finally put out new guidelines. The white house resisted them allowed them to go forward. The president for weeks said well have a vaccine soon. We keeps saying soon and then he keeps saying possibly before the election. I think thats off the table now if you look at the new guide aechbs. Data from phase three study should include median followup of at least two months after completion of the full adequate regimen to help assess the vaccines benefit risk pr