Really believe hes up 11 points in florida . Hint, not really. And a stillinfected President Trump makes his way down to the oval office, even as the white house covid outbreak continues to expand. The question is, why wont the white house say when the president last tested negative . Its definitely way too early for this. Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that catches more flies with honey than vinegar. I am kasie hunt on this thursday, october 8th. We will start with the news. The coronavirus pandemic was center stage at last nights Vice President ial debate. Vice president mike pence and senator Kamala Harris, both behind plexiglass and standing 12 feet apart, clashed over the Trump Administrations response to the crisis. Harris called it the greatest failure of any president ial administration in the history of our country, while pence defended both the administrations response and the rose garden event that may have sparked the ongoing outbreak at the white house. If i may say, that rose garden event, theres been a great deal of speculation about it. My wife karen and i were there and honored to be there. Many of the people who were at that event, susan, were actually tested for coronavirus, and it was an outdoor event, which all of our scientists regularly, routinely advise. The difference here is, President Trump and i trust the American People to make choices in the best interests of their health. Joe biden and Kamala Harris consistently talk about mandates, and not just mandates with the coronavirus, but a government takeover of health care thank you, thank you the green new deal, all government control. Were about freedom and respecting the freedom of the American People. Lets talk about respecting the American People. You respect the American People when you tell them the truth. You respect the American People when you have the courage which weve always done. To be a leader, speaking of those things that you may not want people to hear, but they need to hear so they can protect themselves. But this administration stood on information that if you had as a parent, if you had as a worker, knowing you didnt have enough money saved up, and now youre standing in a food line because of the ineptitude of an administration that was unwilling to speak the truth to the American People. If the Trump Administration approves a vaccine before or after the election, should americans take it . And would you take it . If the Public Health professionals, if dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, ill be the first in line to take it, absolutely. But if Donald Trump Tells us i should that we should take it im not taking it. The fact that you continue to undermine Public Confidence in a vaccine if the vaccine emerges during the Trump Administration i think is unconscionable. And senator, i just ask you, stop playing politics with peoples lives. The reality is that we will have a vaccine, we believe, before the end of this year. Joining us now, nbc news and msnbc contributor shawna thomas. Shawna, thanks so much for getting up extra early with us this morning. Its really great to have you to break down this Vice President ial debate. Setting aside the fact that at the end of the day, its possible the fly will become the most memorable piece of what we saw last night, that remark that we just heard there from mike pence raised a lot of eyebrows, where he said, stop playing politics with peoples lives, considering and they talked about this later on in the debate what we learned from bob woodward about the president saying that he always wanted to downplay the virus, and harris talked a little bit about that there. What were your Key Takeaways from last night, especially on the question of the coronavirus . I think on covid19, which we all knew would be the first question out of the gate, is the plexiglass made it a part of the debate stage, basically. I think one of the things that struck me is that senator harris kind of just had to list the facts on this one. Now, later in the debate, theres a lot of going back and forth and a lot of questions that both candidates didnt answer, blah, blah, blah. But on this one, she basically just had to say things like, rose garden and how many people have died in america in comparison to the rest of the country. I think in some ways, susan page had it in her question how many people have died in america in comparison to the rest of the world, and that was already bad for Vice President mike pence. So, it struck me that this isnt sort of a situation, especially because the president has contracted it, especially because there were questions around whether Vice President mike pence, second in line to the presidency, should even be on that debate stage in a room with a bunch of people, it didnt have to be spun in some ways. It just kind of, you lay out the facts and then sort of what senator harris said was, looked at the American People and said, you decide if you think this was a good response or a bad response. And on top of that, Vice President mike pence was the head of the coronavirus or i guess is, sorry the head of the Coronavirus Task force. So, it does command some of the responsibility on him as well. I think with respect to the debate as a whole and im curious about your take on this, kasie im not sure this changed a lot of minds. I do think its worth remembering that there are people out there, people who are going to vote, who are americans, who dont really know who senator Kamala Harris is, who may not have been paying as much attention in the democratic primary the way you and i were paying attention, who dont really know who the senate dworm california is because they dont live in california, and so she had to use it to tell people about herself. She answered a question with her bio. She didnt answer the question that susan page asked, but she did give a lot of information about herself. So, this was an introduction to her. This was something to cleanse the palate, to a certain extent, from the debate last week, but im not sure it pushed anyone towards or away from either candidate, if youve already decided to support President Donald Trump or former Vice President joe biden. It did seem, shawna, to me, as though both candidates went in there and basically did what they needed to do. Senator harris, as you point out and it is easy to forget sometimes that these events are often viewed by a much wider audience than the one, certainly, that may be tuning in to every single backandforth in this president ial campaign. And so, she did have to use the moment to introduce herself, and she did it without making any major mistakes, which is something i think people were watching for a little bit with her. I have to say that the semiyachtics of watching mike pences performance, too, i think underscored the state of the race in a way that i dont know that i should have been surprised by it, but i was a little bit. I mean, he almost when he didnt have his answer right to hand, its almost as though you could see him think about where to go. There was kind of a sense of weariness to him at some points in the course of the debate that seemed to me to reflect the state of a race that they are losing, if that makes sense. What are your thoughts . Yeah, i mean, it did sort of look like he was calculating, what can i say to make sure, one, i dont contradict the president of the United States, and that also sounds good and reassures the people who i was brought into this campaign originally to reassure. I think we should remember in 2016, when he became the Vice President ial nominee for President Donald Trump, it was because they felt he needed to shore up their base when it came to, you know, evangelical issues, christian issues, being prolife, abortion, all of that. So, i think he was like, i need to make sure i reassure the people who like me and who came to President Trump because of me that i still am on their side. I need to look calm in comparison to how the president looked last week, and i have to make sure i do not contradict him. And you could sort of see those wheels turning. I think thats a great point, and thats why you saw references to groups like the knights of columbus. There were definitely signals to that group of people, hey, were still here, stick with us, like you did last time. Shawna thomas, we will see you again on the top of the hour on morning joe. Thank you again for being here way too early. I really appreciate it. And in his first appearance since returning to the white house on monday evening, President Trump tweeted a video yesterday where he called his Coronavirus Diagnosis a, quote, blessing from god, and insisted he was cured, thanks to an experimental antibody cocktail by regeneron. I got back a day ago from walter reed medical center. I spent four days there and didnt have to. I could have stayed at the white house, but the doctors said, because youre president , lets do it. I said, fine. They gave me regeneron. Its called regeneron, and other things, too. But i think this was the key. But they gave me regeneron. And it was like, unbelievable i felt good immediately. I felt as good three days ago as i do now. They call them therapeutic. But to me, it wasnt therapeutic. It just made me better, okay . I call that a cure. I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president , because i feel great. I feel, like, perfect. So, i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. This was a blessing in disguise. I want to get for you what i got, and im going to make it free. Cant help but think of all the families who have lost loved ones when he says catching this disease was a blessing. We know as part of the treatment, the president has also taken remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone, which is typically used to treat severely ill coronavirus patients. In that video, which was tweeted by the president , he says he specifically asked doctors to give him the regeneron treatment. President trump returned to the oval office yesterday, despite his Coronavirus Diagnosis, sparking new concerns over infection risks. The Senior Administration official tells nbc news that trump went to the office for a briefing on hurricane delta and on stimulus talks. What stimulus talks . The official added that white house chief of staff mark meadows and social media director dan skoeveno were the only staffers to join him in the oval. Trumps presence was tipped off by the sight of a marine guard standing outside, who, of course, was not wearing a mask. You can see him there. Thats traditionally how you know that the president is in the oval office. Trumps move is precarious, considering the oval office is opposite the white house residence. That means the contagious president had to walk across the property in order to get there. It wasnt necessary for the president to make the trip, since the east wing where the residence is also has an office. Yesterday, the chief of staff didnt explain any specific precautions being taken to protect staffers as the sick president returns to work. His schedule right now is fluid. Were looking at his prognosis from a health standpoint. He wanted to go to the oval yesterday. If he decides to go to the oval, weve got safety protocols there that are not only from a ppe standpoint but from a ventilation standpoint in the oval where we can actually work to that end as well. All right, still ahead, the president is reportedly ready to get back on the campaign trail. What nbc news is learning about possible events as early as next week. Plus, a look at where Coronavirus Relief negotiations stand this morning after President Trumps flipflop on the talks. Those stories and a check on our weather when we come right back. Tired of clean clothes that just dont smell clean . What if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks . Now they can this towel has already been used and it still smells fresh. Pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry for up to 12weeks. With the ninja foodito intelligesmart xl grill. Ing just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. It also turns into an air fryer. Bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. You may not expect the unexpected, but you can certainly take it all. The lexus es. Wow, this rain is bananas. Now available with awd. Lease the 2021 es 250 awd for 359 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing. At your lexus dealer. brad well, its because were willing to scout them outistings . No matter how far away. Anything to report . kevin nothing. brad exactly like the last nine hundred eightythree days. Apartmentsdotcom. The most popular place to find a place. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. This is long to deep center field, bellinger twisting around, still going, hes at the wall, leaps, and he made the catch amazing time now for sports. That was the dodgers Cody Bellinger out in center field last night, robbing a wouldbe tworun homer from the padres. L. A. Goes on to beat san diego by one run, 65, taking a 20 lead in their bestoffive National League division series. In the other matchup, the Atlanta Braves tossed another postseason shutout, the third in four playoff games, blanking the marlins 20 last night in game two and pushing miami to the brink of elimination. Meanwhile, in the American League i like this story this morning the rays power past the yankees in game three, clubbing three home runs, including a third long ball hit by randy arosarina, putting them one win away from reaching the a. L. Championship series in three years. And the athletics notch a win in their series against the astros. Trailing in the seventh, oaklands chad pinder launches a gametying threerun homer out in right field. The as use a pair of sac flies in the eighth to hang on for a 97 victory. Houston still leads the series, two games to one. Football, the nfl is set to kick off week five tonight with the Chicago Bears hosting the tampa bay buccaneers. As the season continues, so do the leagues coronavirus outbreak troubles, with an additional two players on the Tennessee Titans testing positive yesterday. The sustained infections are raising more questions about the possibility of a pause, an option that the nfls chief medical officer says is still on the table. Asked about a temporary pause to the regularseason schedule yesterday, allen sills told the nfl network, weve never taken any option off the table, which includes some type of pause or reset or any other type of alternative arrangements. Time now for weather. Lets go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the Severe Weather thats moving toward the Southern Coast this morning. Bill . Yeah, good morning, kasie. We just have a new update in from the hurricane center, some good, and of course, some bad on this one. And our thoughts really just have to get out to the people at lake charles. The fact that they dealt with laura, one of the strongest hurricanes theyve ever experienced, and now six weeks later they have another one coming is just unimaginable. So, lets first talk about yesterday with delta. Went into the cancun area, cozumel. It was a category 2 when it made landfall there, so theres a lot of tree damage, there was Power Outages throughout the city. We had some problems with some water and some flooding, some minor structural damage. But this wasnt a devastating blow thats going to, like, you know, make it where, you know, tourists dont return for, like, years. So, were talking a cleanup that will take a couple weeks and months and get power back. But you know, thankfully, it was not as bad as it could have been. Lets get into the forecast now. Lets talk about louisiana. Now, we had hurricane warnings that are in effect for the lake charles area, all the way from Cameron Parish to abbeville to morgan city, backwards lafayette to alexandria. Outside of that, we have Tropical Storm warnings in effect for galveston all the way to new orleans. As this storm has gotten larger, it hasnt really gotten stronger. It is a category 2, 100mileperhour winds. This does not look like its going to become like one of those huge beasts of a storm, where its category 4. It does look like it could maybe take a shot at category 3, but likely, it will be a category 2 or a strong category 1, as it approaches southwest louisiana. And as i had mentioned, this is almost the exact same spot that laura made landfall. So i mean, just unimaginable that two strong hurricanes in one season that close together. You know, it would literally be about five miles away from where laura made landfall. All of our computer models are in excellent agreement with that path going almost towards lake charles, maybe just to the east of lake charles, so some of the highest water levels would be to the east. So, the storm surge is going to be a problem. This storm is growing larger. Its almost going to