Before the plague came in, i had it made. We had this thing won. We were so far up. We had the greatest economy ever. The dreaded second wave, now washing over the u. S. Were facing a tough circumstance right now. Well see accelerating cases heading into the next four to six weeks. Youre going to get scared, youre going to get depressed. This is a normal response to a very stressful situation. 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. It is wednesday, october 21st. It is 6 00 here in new york. And this morning, the country needs to brace itself for what is coming. Overnight, more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases were reported. Ten states reported record hospitalizations. The nationwide hospitalization rate is now reaching levels not seen for two months. So on its face, just these figures tell us the situation in the United States is dangerous. The real problem, though, according to the former fda commissioner, is that its about to get decidedly worse. He says we are one week away from a rapid acceleration of coronavirus cases. Even above the 60,000 we see today. Not one state is trending in the right direction. 26 states are seeing an increase in cases. The first lady had to cancel a Campaign Appearance because of ongoing symptoms from her battle with coronavirus. Yet despite all of that, the evidence in his own house and in the nation, the president continues to spread the demonstrably false claim that the u. S. Has turned the corner in the pandemic. President trumps strategy in the final days of the 2020 campaign appears to be to attack his perceived enemies from leslie staal and Hillary Clinton. Joe biden, meanwhile, has been off the campaign trail this week, preparing for tomorrows debate. And attempting to portray a positive path forward for the country. Overnight, new Financial Filings show joe bidens campaign with a substantial cash advantage, with nearly triple the amount of cash on hand than the Trump Campaign has. President obama delivering a video message to young voters as he gets ready to hit the campaign trail today for joe biden. Were less than two weeks from election day and more than 33 million votes have already been cast. That, john, is 72 of all of the early votes cast in 2016. Its 25 of the total vote from 2016 and we still have 13 days left to go. Weve been counting them by hand. Lets begin our coverage with cnns jessica dean live in nashville, the site of tomorrows final president ial debate. Jessica . Reporter good morning to you, john and alisyn. Well, President Trump is hopping from mustwin state to mustwin state. In the lead up to this final president ial debate here in nashville, which will likely be his last chance to really change the trajectory of this 2020 campaign and try as he might, he simply cannot escape his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. A President Trumps Campaign Rally in pennsylvania, no signs of the coronavirus pandemic thats impacting much of the country, as supporters stood without practicing social distancing and very few wearing masks. Trump telling the crowd in erie, he was not expecting to make a stop there at all this year. Before the plague came in, i had it made. I wasnt coming to erie. I mean, i have to be honest. Theres no way i was coming. I didnt have to. I would have called you and said, hey, erie, if you have a chance, get out and vote. We had this thing won. Reporter while the president continued to make false claims about status of the Coronavirus Crisis in the United States were rounding the turn on the pandemic. Normal life will finally resume. Reporter the truth is, cases are on the rise in at least 26 states this morning. And pennsylvania has seen spikes in new cases in recent days. Pennsylvanias been shut down long enough. Get your governor to open up pennsylvania. Reporter the president s complaints come just nine days after the White House Coronavirus task force urged the keystone state to maintain aggressive Community Mitigation efforts. Former Vice President joe biden is off the campaign trail to prepare for tomorrows final president ial debate, but his biggest surrogate is making his first appearance in philadelphia later today. President barack obama is looking to give the Biden Campaign a massive boost, with election day now less than two weeks away. This as trump uses the final days leading up to the election to distract from the massive crisis at hand, attacking everyone from dr. Anthony fauci to biden to journalists. Sources telling cnn the president abruptly walked out of an interview with 60 minutes at the white house wednesday. You have to watch what we do to 60 minutes. Youll get such a kick out of it. Youre going to get a kick out of it. Leslie staal is not going to be happy. Reporter meantime, senator Kamala Harris telling voters, now is the time for the country to work together. It is about Building Back up better. It is about unifying our country. We are all in this together. And were going to get through this together. For their part, the Biden Campaign aide is telling cnn that they are preparing for President Trump the to, in their words, bully and deflect on that debate stage. Theyre also preparing for personal attacks against both joe biden and his family, as well. But alisyn, they come back to what they wanted to do in the last debate, and that is speak directly to the american people. You can expect joe biden to look right into that camera again and talk about how he would handle the coronavirus pandemic and build back the economy. Okay, jessica, thank you very much for the preview and all of the reporting. So as jessica said this morning, coronavirus cases rising in 26 states, including illinois where new restrictions on Indoor Dining and bars go into effect this week. As you can see, this is the second time that we have noticed no green at all on this map on your screen. Cnns Adrian Broaddus is live in chicago with the latest on the pandemic. Adrienne . Reporter good morning, alisyn. Illinoiss governor is determined to stop the spread of the coronavirus. And that means part of the state are going to look a lot different starting friday. Indoor dining and bar service will once again be banned. That mandate takes effect in the southern part of the region on friday. And thats not all. Gatherings will be limited once again. 25 people or less. Chicagos west and south suburbs could see similar restrictions. This after an explosion of new cases. The midwest, as you all know, is struggling to get a grip on this virus. But the midwest isnt alone. Take a look at your screen. I want to show you some of the other states experiencing record high numbers. For example, across the country, iowa, montana, nebraska, south dakota, and wisconsin saw record hospitalizations on tuesday. This as new protocols take effect in california. Theme parks, their leaders are upset about the new guidelines. For example, places like disneyland and six flags are saying these new guidelines affect peoples jobs. The leaders of the theme parks saying they can open safely and the new guidelines really hurts people. Bottom line, lawmakers know, doing whats right to keep the public safe is not going to make everyone happy. Alisyn . Adrienne, thank you very much for all of that reporting. 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Forty years ago, when our own scientists at big oil predicted that burning fossil fuels could lead to catastrophic effects, we spent billions to sweep it under the rug. So were going to be fine. But you might want to start a compost pile and turn down the ac, you got a lot of work to do. Because your kids are going to need it. Lcv victory fund is responsible for the content of this advertising. Lcv victory fund is responsible for the content of this robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. So this morning, the president is attacking leslie staal, anthony fauci, kristen welker, the debate commission, science, hunter biden, Hillary Clinton, am i leaving anyone out . Ponies . I think you got it. Thats a pretty conclusive list. And hes also telling erie, pennsylvania, that he wouldnt be there if the election werent close. This is a roving nationwide mayhem tour presenting this kaleidoscope of chaos. So what is joe biden doing . Hes been off the trail in debate prep. Its a heck of a contrast. And most probably a deliberate one from the Biden Campaign, which last night spent a heap of money to run this ad during the world series. Joe biden doesnt need everyone in this country to always agree. Just to agree we all love this country and go from there. Im joe biden and i approve this message. Thats the voice of sam eliot, or as i like to call him, the guy from roadhouse. Joining us now, alex wagner, executive producer of the showtime series the circus. Also with us, lauren lopez. I had this epiphany as i was watching the world series last night as i saw that ad. First it, shows the cash advantage that biden has right now, but also answers the question of whats joe biden doing . Hes taking these days off the campaign trail to prepare for the debate. Well, hes presenting this stark contrast with the president , who is out there, your show is called the circus. Joe biden is running against the circus right now. And i think trying to provide that chaos. And if the president wants to be out there with this mayhem tour, so be it. Yeah, i mean, it is a study in contrast, also known as a view into the parallel universe where reason, logic, and science prevail, john. But the reality is, you know, the president , we look at these closing days and say, oh, each campaign has a strategy. Joe biden most certainly has a strategy and is executing on that strategy. The idea that President Trump has somehow hatched a multipronged plan to make a Closing Argument in the last remaining days of the election is a fallacy. He is hemorrhaging support among suburban women and seniors and what is he doing, taking on a fight with the elder statesmen of the most venerable news brand in america. She is an older woman at precisely the time he needs to be getting women and seniors. Hes also giving 60 minutes the best onair promotion theyve ever, virtually guaranteeing that anyone is going to tune into what can only be imagined is an acrimonious interview. Hes throwing so much spaghetti at the wall in these closing hours, theres going to be no left pasta left in the pot. Im just not sure vilifying leslie staal is what voters put at the top of the list of their concerns for 2020. But i think we should also just talk about, joe biden is also employing an unorthodox Campaign Strategy, which is within these final two weeks, just lay low and stay inside. Thats right. A big part of why biden decides to call as early as 9 00 a. M. Is the fact that, yeah, hes following this Campaign Strategy if your opponent is imploding or doing the work for you, you let them do that. But its also because, we are still in the middle of a pandemic. And thats why his campaign decided to be on the road less. And right now, we are starting to see increases in states across the board, in covid cases. So, thats the main reason why his campaign has decided to hold smaller events, socially distanced events. But again, hes also allowing trump to dominate the campaign coverage, which doesnt appear to be helping trump, as alex was talking about. Which is that trump is attacking the most prominent Infectious Disease expert, dr. Fauci, at a time when cases are rising. And also, fauci is considered to be one of the most trusted people in government when it comes to the coronavirus. And coronavirus is the main issue for a lot of voters right now. So that doesnt make sense in the Closing Arguments of this campaign. I guess the point im making, i actually do now think this is a concerted strategy from the biden team. I mean, the president was out yesterday in erie, pennsylvania, literally saying, joe biden will be so boring. And i image the entire Biden Campaign erupting in cheers saying, yes, yes, joe biden will be boring. Thats what we are now running on. Its this closing message of normalcy, as highlighted by, you know, the sonorous tones of sam eliot. Its not just boring, its responsible. Its what you do when theres a surge in a deadly virus across the country. And theres Something Else that i think is increasingly obvious, which is where the biden team is focused. So former president obama is making his first appearance on the trail for joe biden tonight in philadelphia. He has a new Campaign Video out to accompany that. Lets just take a quick look at that video. Your generation can be the one that creates a new normal in america. One thats fairer, where the system treats everybody equally. And gives everybody opportunity. I know joe better than almost anybody. I trust him to be a great president. Hes different. Hes on the right side of the issues. Hell get the job done. So, as much as what hes saying, its where hes saying that interests me. Hes going to pennsylvania, alex. And if you look at the map, all you need to know is what joe biden needs to do to win is flip pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin. If he wins all Hillary Clinton states and just flips those three back to the democrats, he gets 278 electoral votes. Thats the simplest, clearest path for the democrats to retake the white house, and it seems that the Biden Campaign is saying, you know what, thats where were going to put president obama. Everything we do is going to try to get the clean, sure hit. Thats the brass ring. They realize that they need to make an uplifting, optimistic, forceful argument in the closing days of the race. If biden is not going to make it, you bring in the best closer there is, and thats barack obama. That message you played, john, hes talking a lot to young voters. And the Biden Campaign knows, look, the an mitigate factor in this race, the reason we have seen early voting numbers where they are is because donald trump is a huge motivator. But you also need to have a message beyond just, it wont be donald trump in office for four more years. And they clearly think that the most effective messenger to articulate that is barack obama. He has a long history of getting young people excited about voting. And it is not a surprise all right. We lost alex for a second. Laura, lets talk about for a second the cash on hand and the story that that tells. And so at the end of october, joe biden had basically three times as much cash in his coffers as trump did. So trump was 63 million. Biden, 177 million. What does that tell us and can the rnc supplement that for donald trump and pick up the slack . So a lot of the grassroots money thats going to joe biden, you can see it potentially as a sign of enthusiasm among democrats in this campaign, despite the fact that up until this point, you know, polling has shown thatbiden appears to have a bit of an enthusiasm gap. But its just an obscene amount of money, alisyn. And so biden is spending it in places like phoenix, arizona, which for about four weeks running, was the top media market for the Biden Campaign. So even though he has focused on the blue wall states rebuilding pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin, he is keeping an eye on those expansion states like arizona, which a democrat hasnt won since 1996. And youre seeing that Trumps Campaign is struggling to keep up. Theyre having to spend in states that they never expected to have to spend that much money before. Florida being one example, where theyre dropping far more money there in the final stretch than they thought they were going to have to at this point in the race. Laura barronlopez, alex wagner, we deployed new debate rules to you and cut off your mic. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. So joe biden and donald trump face off tomorrow night in the final president ial debate. This is so important. Cnns special live coverage begins at 7 00 p. M. Eastern time. So several states now putting back new restrictions as the nationwide coronavirus hospitalization trends hit levels we havent seen for months. And were getting these stark up in warnings from experts. Well tell you what they are, next. Your journey requires liberty mutual. They customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Wow. That will save me lots of money. This games boring. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. At visionworks, and we want you to see yourself in your new glasses and think, ooh but if you get home and your ooh