to our viewers in the united states and around the world, john king in washington. thank you for sharing a consequential news day with us. the final day the president and joe biden will share a stage. here's a live look at the debate hall in nashville, tennessee. what happens could well determine the election outcome. the president is losing as he was when he walked on stage for his final debate four years ago. his last big stage to change the 2020 campaign dynamic. 45 must million americans already voted. today, there are new concerns about election integrity. the fbi director, director of national intelligence last night

warning iran is mimicking russia, trying to meddle in the 2020 election. national security is a debate topic tonight, so, too, is the coronavirus. the country is facing growing trouble again. safe to say the president is on defense when it comes to the virus. you see the map, the numbers. cases, positivity, all signal a third crippling covid peak is here. 31 states, red and orange, recording more covid-19 cases now than a week ago. wednesday, nearly 64,000 new cases, the positivity rate now above 10% in 14 states. most troubling, the death toll wednesday climbing above 1,000, above 1,000 the first time since last month. yesterday, the president said not much asked what he could change if he could redo the pandemic response. that attitude is the biggest of several big reasons the president is losing. advisers hope he is more humble tonight. one of the advisers saying the

president will answer the questions he wants to answer. that adviser promising joe biden's son hunter will be a big topic. the final debate ten days to election day. joe biden has an advantage, his job tonight is to protect his lead. we have him at 290 electoral votes, 163 for the president. dark blue, safe for biden, dark blue, leans biden. the dynamic trending biden's direction. one thing the president wants, he wants a strong debate. you see yellow states. these are all toss up states plus maine, second congressional district. they award votes by congressional district. the president is hoping for a strong debate to get back in the game. if he puts those states in his column, he would look to arizona which he won four years ago, then come to the three most spoken words in presidential politics, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. that's the president's hope. if you are joe biden, you go into the debate not only looking

strong now but look at the toss up states. look at the state of the race. bring up the state of the race now, if you're joe biden, if you come out of the debate looking anything like this, you're in great shape. not only is he leading nationally, leading in michigan and pennsylvania, leading in wisconsin by healthy margins, leading in florida. that's competitive. you're in play in a state the president won four years ago. in play, a little behind, but in play in texas, a state republicans have won forever. leading a little in north carolina, same as ohio, georgia, arizona. the map gives joe biden many options. he looks at a long menu how do i get to 270. if you're the president, options are smaller. you need a big debate tonight. the president's job, try to trip up joe biden. one issue likely to come up, the president's supreme court pick is about to be confirmed. joe biden is mad about that. democrats are mad about that. many progressives want joe biden to commit. if we take the senate back,

we'll add new justices to the supreme court. the president says biden should give a crystal clear answer. biden says i'll name a commission, we'll study it awhile. >> i'll put together a national commission of, bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars. i will ask them to in 180 days come back with recommendations how to reform the court system because it is getting out of whack. there's a number of alternatives that are well beyond. >> this is a live ball. >> it is a live ball. we have to do that. >> joining the conversation, national co-chair of the biden campaign, democratic congressman from louisiana. great to see you. very important day for your candidate and the country. lot of pressure on joe biden going into the debate. he is in the driver's seat now. this is a campaign many democrats think has the opportunity to be a wave election. what is worry number one for you

as joe biden goes to nashville? >> well, i'm not worried about nashville tonight. joe biden will articulate his vision for the american people, he will let them know the race is not about joe biden, it's about them, it's about their families, about their communities, and that he will do what a president should do which is unite the country, listen to science, make sure that we put everybody's economic recovery and physical recovery at the top of the to do list. and we will not rob the american people of the power to make their own decisions like donald trump did when he did not be forthright with the american people how dangerous covid was. he compared it to the flu. we're going to make sure we empower people to make good decisions. >> as you know, democrats have every reason to be optimistic now, double digit national lead for joe biden as i went through in battleground states, fairly healthy leads in pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, big

headaches four years ago. in play in states that democrats can only dream really most years of competing in. one question is will democrats have a unified approach. will centrists, progressives, independents, republicans vote for biden. you heard his answer to norah o'donnell of "60 minutes" on the supreme court issue. many progressives want joe biden to say i will add two or three justices to the supreme court because we are mad amy coney barrett is going to get that seat. will his answer take three months, we'll have a study commission. might that take the air out of progressive turnout? >> no, i don't think it will. look, that's who joe biden is. he is thoughtful and thorough. yes, i'm mad about amy barrett being confirmed, but i think what you see is someone being not emotional about it but very thoughtful because as he says, presidents come and go. supreme court justices last a lifetime and the supreme court shouldn't be at the whim of a

president. what the republicans have done in stealing two supreme court seats tipped the balance of power. and that balance of power can be tipped for a lifetime. i think that he wants to take a real thoughtful look at it and then make a decision based on what's best for the country and that's having a balanced supreme court. i think people that hear that answer understand it and realize that they're getting a thoughtful president. >> you never know which president trump will show up. we saw in the first debate, constant interruptions and bullying behavior that led the debate commission to decide to use a mute button so that each candidate gets the two minutes they're allotted. one thing we're told from trump advisers, he wants a full tlohrt attack on hunter biden, that joe biden is unethical because of his son. how will the former vice president answer that, and one of the tricks is president is up to is he knows that joe biden

sometimes i call it getting his irish up, he gets mad when they come after his family and the president tries to trigger him. what should the answer be? >> i think the vice president will look straight past donald trump and his theatrics. donald trump is a known con man in many new york circles. but we know he is very dramatic and every credible news station debunked the story about vice president biden doing anything wrong. i sit on judiciary, i watched impeachment hearings. it was crystal clear, even the president's administration said joe biden is an honorable man, acted consistent with u.s. policy and did nothing wrong. we believe in joe biden. that's from his administration. so i think joe biden is going to look completely beyond that. what he won't do is get in the mud and talk about the president's kids, which by the way, if i had a big bully like

donald trump wants to play to dozens and talk about family, i would have a field day on eric trump, don jr. and the rest of his family. it is nepotism at its highest. i don't think you'll see that from joe biden. that's not who he is. he is so much better than getting in the mud. i think he's going to keep it focused on the american people. >> help me to understand, congressman, the mind set among democrats like yourself who hold senior positions in the biden campaign. if you look at the numbers, go through battleground polls, look at the trend lines, even go away from polling, look at americans that think the country is off on the wrong track, there are all the seeds of a wave election. yet there's 2016 déjà vu. when he walked on stage four years ago, he was trailing hillary clinton. still lost popular vote, but three words, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin allowed him to be president of the united states. what is your sense, is it nervous, anxious? what's the right word for

democrats at this moment? >> i think the word is focused. you saw former president obama in pennsylvania yesterday. you see a concerted effort by the campaign to make sure we have principals in wisconsin, michigan, in north carolina, in arizona, in iowa, making sure we go to all those places. more important, we're making trump defend places he didn't have to defend four years ago. >> forgive me for interrupting. you mention other states. do you want the vice president to be bold and go to texas, to go to iowa or do you think let's just win and spend time in wisconsin, pennsylvania, and michigan? >> look, i will tell you i am focused on winning this election, whatever it takes to win. we'll see robust focus on the trifecta states, but you'll see focus on iowa, arizona, north carolina because you have to have a backup plan. we're not going to throw florida

away which we are winning. the strategy is we don't want to concede anywhere. we don't want to concede texas. it is an expensive place to compete. we feel good where we are. i think people in texas will look at things like the debate tonight and get a feel for who they want to trust with their future. i still feel good about texas also. >> grateful for your time on this important day. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me, john. >> for more insights on tonight, lisa layer from "new york times." i was trying to get the congressman, i get it completely, but democrats see the opportunity, a map that looks like 2008 where barack obama flipped so many states that george w. bush carried, flipped indiana and north carolina, flipped colorado, nevada which since have become more democratic leaning states. so the opportunity is there, but so is the recent history, meaning 2016 when trump was losing, headed into the last debate. again, he lost popular vote, won the election.

what is the democratic mood in terms of joe biden must do what tonight? >> well, i think a lot of democrats see joe biden's debate to lose in a way, he is in a commanding position in the race as he has been for several weeks if not months and if he can just stay the course, democrats believe if he can deliver the message he has been delivering, that he is the best position to pull the country out of the pandemic, out of the economic downturn and impose civility, bring the country back together in some way. they believe he will have a very good night. the question will be how he deals with attacks on his family which many democrats and republicans expect to come from the president. >> and one thing we won't have to deal with is what we saw in the first debate, a president who wanted the floor. listen. >> you don't -- you don't have an idea.

will you shut up, man. that was really a productive segment. keep yaping. he needs to shush a minute, hard to get a word in with this clown, excuse me, this person. >> we'll have the mute button, we'll have two minute answers. is this it when you look at the polls, we're all skeptical, we lived through 2016. but deep into the bones of the polls is different than 2016, plus biden has a cash advantage headed into the final weeks. he is not hillary clinton, i don't mean that to be critical, just if you look at the polls, his gender gap is bigger than hillary clinton, support among trump base, white blue collar workers is bigger than hillary clinton's. for the president, is this it? does he change the tide or is there some other trump magic we're not thinking about? >> you make a good point. president trump is losing the race and all leads are not the same. sure, hillary clinton was leading when we went into the third debate in 2016.

biden's lead is different, he is cutting into key portions of the coalition that elected president trump four years ago. i think the stakes for the president are extraordinarily high. he needs to find a way to change dynamics of the race. there's a real question about whether it is too late given outpouring of democratic mail ballots that are locked into the system. he needs to prompt this red wave that he loves to talk about in rallies, get enough republicans out to the polls, largely on election day, to overcome the democratic advantage. that will require extraordinary discipline from the president. his aides urged hicm to take a restrained approach. that's not something we have seen from him. not something you see at his rallies or on his twitter account. i am hard pressed to imagine that we see it tonight, but who knows. we live in extraordinary times, john, right? >> we certainly do. we have an extraordinary election behind us, in the

middle of one now, final days. grateful for the reporting. it is a big night, spend it with us. special coverage of the presidential debate starts 7:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. come join us. up next, cdc changes its definition of what it calls close contact with someone infected by coronavirus.

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more than 60,000 new infections reported nationally yesterday. you see 31 states going the wrong direction. so, too, the death trend. 25 states, half the united states reporting more deaths this week than last week. it is a little bit of everywhere. a lot of it is in the northern part of the country. that was the warning for months. as it gets cooler, colder, cases will rise, death will follow. you see in the midwest, deep red is 50% more deaths than a week ago, deep red. you see that cluster here and in the plains as well. the cdc forecast now because of rising cases is that 247,000 americans will die of coronavirus by november 14th. you see the numbers on the screen. 222,000 now. 25,000 more americans projected to die in just the next few weeks because of coronavirus. if you look at the positivity map, this helps you understand. more cases today, more infections in these places, more likely spread because rates are so high. double digits here, florida,

alabama, mississippi. 12, 14, 18 respectively. then look here. nevada, 21. idaho, 32. montana, 13. south dakota 35%. iowa 51. kansas, 21. imagine that. 51% positivity. a third of the people getting a test are coming back positive. more likely to spread when it is that high. south dakota, 30% positivity, what happens with such high positivity. your case count goes up. that's simple math. more people positive, more spread, case count goes up. you might think with a case trend line that way, 35% positivity rate that the governor of that state might feel pressure now. no. republican governor says she believes people in her state feel good with the direction. >> my people are happy. they appreciated the fact we didn't shut down their businesses, allowed them to be flexible, take care of health, protect the public while still

taking care of customers and employees as well. we're doing really good in south dakota. we're managing covid-19 but also our economy is thriving. people are recognizing that leadership has consequences and what we're doing in south dakota is republican leadership. >> joining me to discuss, former cdc official. good to see you again. reminder listening to the governor, whether you agree or disagree, people around the country watching in the country and around the world agree or disagree, it is reminder one of the complexities of the challenge is this is a republic. you have 50 states and governors that make decisions in their own states. she decided we're not having a mask mandate, we're leaving businesses open, yes, we'll take body blows every now and then but thinks her approach is the right approach. >> i heard the same thing from texas, florida, arizona early on, and when hospitalizations and deaths rose, they had to react. i think it is a bit of a

recurring nightmare that we're seeing in her state. >> you say a bit of a recurring nightmare, you see the trend lines, 60,000 new infections yesterday. started from 40,000. the question is how high do we go. as we climb again, cdc is updating guidance what it considers close contact. this is what the cdc says now. someone within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more, over 24 hour period, starting two days before illness onset at the time the patient is isolated. it is the word cumulative that's new. the idea being if we go back a couple weeks, people thought you had to be around that person for the entire 15 minutes. they saw vermont prison study, guards were going back and back, only for short doses. they think the repetitive, cumulative caused it. how significant is that? >> it is a reminder risk is continuing. there's nothing magic or special about 15 minutes and 14 minutes is not safe just because it is

less than 15 minutes. i think it is important to stress that we need to wear masks and socially distance at all times, even if it is less than 15 minutes. >> we are learning all the time. we have people familiar with terms like quarantine, like isolation, like positivity rate. dr. redfield, head of the cdc says they're trying to reassess whether it should be 14 days, 10 days, 7 days. listen to him about if you think you have been exposed, how long should you quarantine. >> there's a series of studies gathering data trying to determine can you use testing during the quarantine to determine if you could shorten the quarantine from 14 days to 10 days or 7 days. >> so the idea i assume, help me if i'm wrong, do you have testing that you trust enough to after two or three days test a person and think what, they must be okay, on a better track, test again at 7, still negative, you

can clear them? is that the idea? >> the idea is to look at minimizing burden of quarantine while getting public health impact of quarantine. is there a sweet spot, maybe shorter than 14 days, maybe it is 10 days or 7 days where we can test at the end of quarantine so that we reduce the overall time, have more people quarantined. we have seen difficulty adhering to quarantine of 14 days. this has been done in europe. >> grateful for your expertise and insights where the case count is getting troubling. we'll continue the conversation. up next, turning back to the campaign and this remarkable news conference last night. director of national intelligence, fbi director saying not just russia is interfering, iran is also meddling. keeping your oysters business growing has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed

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the latest on an obvious wrinkle. the fbi director and director of national intelligence having a rare evening news conference to say they have evidence that iran is mimicking russia, sending emails to american voters, trying to interfere in the 2020 election. these efforts include collecting voter registration information and other attempted voter intimidation. let's get the latest from lauren fox and tony o'sullivan is in new york. lauren, congress promised they would do a better job watching this. big development from the fbi

director and director of national intelligence, what's happening on capitol hill? >> reporter: we just got a statement moments ago, john, from the chairman of the intelligence committee and top democrat on the committee, marco rubio and mark warner saying in a statement, quote, it is clear that iran is now actively seeking to sew dissent and divide us like russia did in 2016 and continues to do today. republicans and democrats are united when we say that continued attempts to sep dissent, cast doubt on election results or disrupt our election systems and infrastructure will necessitate a severe response. on capitol hill, there are concerns how the press conference came about. there are concerns he is trying to equate iran and what russia has been doing over the last four years, john. you can hear from democrats that they're a little frustrated that ratcliffe got into the fact he

believes this was intended to hurt president trump. they argue this is bigger than hurting one candidate. this is about the integrity of our elections. house speaker nancy pelosi spoke to that point just a few minutes agate her press conference saying essentially this is about protecting the sacred election in the united states. this is far bigger than any one candidate, john. >> appreciate that. to go back to what the fbi director said last night at this time of confusion, trust your local election officials, don't trust things in your inbox and twitter. let's bring you in, tony o'sullivan reports on this. how many americans received these emails allegedly from iran? >> reporter: thousands of americans. this is by no means a small effort that might have only hit a few dozens of people. this is thousands of people. google came out last night, they run g mail, one of the most

popular clients, and they said through their system, 25,000 messages have been sent. there's spam filters that caught 90% of the messages. that means potentially 2,500 american voters received threatening messages on g mail. remember, there are many email providers, including microsoft and yahoo as well. we reached out to try to get numbers. these are scary emails, john. imagine opening one of the emails and in black and white it says we know where you live and in some cases included home addresses, names, and falsely claim, they said we will know if you don't vote for trump and if you don't vote for trump, we're coming for you. of course, that's absolutely inaccurate because the ballots here in the united states are secret. nonetheless, a chilling email for a lot of americans to get.

one important point as well is that we don't know precisely where iran might have got this information. they might not necessarily have had to hack anything to get this. a lot of voting records and information, including home addresses, are available through open voter databases that are open to the public. all of that being said for the voter that gets messages to see that in black and white on the screen is a disturbing thing, john. >> sure is. it is a direct threat, intimidation. we'll stay on top of this. grateful to have your help on this important story. thank you very much. coming up, barack obama back on the campaign trail. the former president delivering a scathing indictment of his successor. how common is that? we take a historical look in a moment. expecto patronum!

and action. 16 people died! did he catch our bad guy? we're know as the charmed ones. you got one day to show me what you got. i want to fight. you need us harry. what a goal! bockey ball, hockey ball, you name it ball. i'm gonna be ready. just say show me peacock into your xfinity voice remote or download the app today. democrats hope barack obama's return to the campaign will rally turnout in the final days. miami on the schedule for saturday. that following a campaign roll out in philadelphia where the former president offered a scathing indictment of his successor, president trump, and kind words for his former number

two. >> for eight years joe was the last one in the room when i faced a big decision. he made me a better president and he's got the character and experience to make us a better country. and he and kamala are going to be in the fight not for themselves but for every single one of us. >> as excited as democrats are to see president obama back in the fight, we should remember this approach doesn't always work. >> i can tell you this, hillary clinton has been tested. there has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office than hillary clinton. >> he is the right person to be the first president of the 21st century. >> cnn's presidential historian

douglas brinkley joins me from austin, texas. interesting to watch the clips. obama endorses hillary clinton, clinton endorses al gore, two democrats that win popular vote and lose the presidency there. let's focus on the here and now, if we can get back there, we will. how important do you see a former president like barack obama at this moment, it is different from 2016. donald trump has been president four years. joe biden has a lopsided advantage now with the one remaining question, do all those people that say in polls they will support him turn out to vote? what's the big question for obama? >> i think obama helps tremendously. he eviscerated donald trump. he basically owned the news cycle yesterday at a time wherefore days, joe biden has not been in public, he has been in delaware preparing for the debate. in that way obama ate up the news cycle for him in a very positive way and joe biden has had to rely on barack obama, that i was his loyal vice

president. remember, biden came to win the democratic nomination because of south carolina african-american vote and having barack obama, the super surrogate, loved in the african-american community, 90, 95% approval rating anywhere he goes has to help in cities like cleveland, detroit, milwaukee. however, is it a huge factor going on now? no. it is just simply helping joe biden. >> let's look at history from another perspective, a president's approval rating as you get into the final month of a campaign. if you look at history, we can show you a graphic. bill clinton is 57, ronald reagan, 54. george w. bush at 50, barack obama at 49 headed into re-election. trump, carter, george h.w. bush on the bottom. the three on the bottom, two to the right, carter and bush, lost. they're one term presidents. the gentlemen on top had two

terms. does that 40% number tell you anything or does history no longer apply because we live in the age of trump? >> history still applies. for example, ronald reagan was able to really seal the deal in beating jimmy carter in 1980 over the third debate. that's when he said there you go again. these debates can matter tonight in the sense of we're dealing with 5 or 6% undecided voters. donald trump by anybody's estimation got killed by hillary clinton in las vegas. she so dominated him in 2016, yet trump was able to survive because people liked his rogue and unorthodox fashion and we weren't doing polls correctly. i think there's still a harry truman hope. anybody way behind in the polls remembers that harry truman was written off in 1948, the democratic party had come unglued. you had strom thurmond, dixie

craft forming a different party, henry wallace, people assumed dewey had it in the bag and harry truman won. he is the patron saint of presidents when you're behind. i wouldn't worry about polling now. it is a lot about momentum and whether donald trump is building any on the rallies this past week, whether the debate can give him another bit of bounce he desperately needs. >> so you say don't focus too much on polling. we know state of the race now, former vice president seems to be in the driver's seat. we can have suspicion about state polls if we wish. when you think about the historical moment, you have an incumbent, three successive two term presidents, and then a former vice president, also rare that vice presidents get to become president. you have to go back to george h.w. bush. we have a headline, i want to

talk about the here and now, i love this. this is my first campaign, reagan endorses bush tepidly. that became a controversy. it is special because john margolis was a great mentor to me on the first campaign. the idea that what is the historical force tonight, that america likes to keep presidents and do divided government through congress or joe biden gets to be one of the few vice presidents that moves up in modern times? >> looks like joe biden is sitting perfectly set now, maybe not for a blue wave, but boy, he has a real mathematical formula for victory. i mean, donald trump as wooe ha all been saying has to do everything right. but trump is an unusual figure. he creates mayhem. his attacks tonight on hunter biden, will it matter. so far it has been ridiculous. maybe he will be able to sway people if there's some basement biden corruption going on with china. i doubt it.

there's a trump fatigue going on across the land, part of the fatigue with covid-19. that's the danger trump has of trying to dominate news cycles every day. he has been exhausting to cover. feels like donald trump's been in office two terms. it has been so like a cyclone, the last four years. trump doesn't seem fresh, he seems tired. and all of his stunts, he will pull a lot of stunts tonight, a lot of interruptions and weird moments. they're no longer novel like back in 2016. they're becoming tedious. he is becoming the whiner in chief, complaining about everything. never seen a president get reelected by just complaining all the time. >> the old saying in politics, if you're whining, you're not winning. unpredictable is a trademark of trump. grateful for your insights.

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uber and lyft are like every big guy i've ever brought down. prop 22 doesn't "help" their drivers-- it denies them benefits. 22 doesn't help women. it actually weakens sexual harassment laws, which are meant to protect them. uber and lyft aren't even required to investigate sexual harassment claims. i agree with the la times: no on 22. uber and lyft want all the power. so, show them the real power is you. vote no on prop 22. but that's tough to do on a fixed income. i'd be hit with a tax penalty for moving to another county, so i'm voting 'yes' on prop 19. it limits property taxes and lets seniors transfer their home's current tax base

to another home that's closer to family or medical care. being closer to family is important to me. how about you? voting 'yes' on prop 19. important news this morning in the quest for a covid-19 vaccine. pharmaceutical company moderna finishing all phase three trial participants. elizabeth cohen joins us with

more. how significant? >> it is significant. before moderna said they would be ready for authorization to put this on the market in december. i spoke with the president of the company, dr. steven hogue. he said they're more optimistic than before. let's talk about what happened. 30,000 enrolled in the trial, got the first shots and the booster shot a month later. remember, half of them got the vaccine, half got the placebo. no one knows who got what. when 53 participants get sick with covid-19, an analysis will be done. the people that got sick, did they get the vaccine or placebo. if 40 received the placebo. in other words, 75%, that means moderna will apply to the fda for authorization. let's look at where all trials stand. moderna says they can apply to the fda in early december.

pfizer says they can apply for emergency use authorization in late november. astrazeneca, johnson & johnson, those trials are both on hold. participants, one in each trial got sick so they paused to see if they're going to go back or not. those are both on pause now. john? >> elizabeth cohen, grateful for the important update. coming up for us next. the race for the presidency. one state to watch? how about north carolina.

couple of headlines remind us how important north carolina is in campaign 2020. this is the charlotte observer. you see president trump, the vice presidential nominee kamala harris, the race for the presidency could come down to north carolina, certainly if joe biden wins, he would block any trump path. this is "the washington post." there's also a huge senate race in north carolina, could decide control of the senate. the democratic challenger in the end has a bit of a scandal. you see the headline. voters say infidelity is reckless, shocking. still vote for the democrat. it is a remarkable state and that senate race, a giant controversy in addition to the presidential stakes. >> reporter: yeah, drama keeps

coming. i spent the we can talking to voters and strategists in north carolina, trying to find out if the sex scandal was going to doom cunningham's effort to take the senate and clearly this is not. we are hearing from voters saying what he did was sort of repulsive, but planning to vote for him anyway. we had a "the washington post," abc poll that came out this week that sort of solidified the anecdotal evidence. we found one in four voters said the sex scandal had anything to do with their vote. more voters are more interested in knowing who will control the senate. this is one of the races where if cunningham wins, the democrat wins, likelihood the democrats take the senate is great. if a republican wins, thom tillis, mitch mcconnell will probably hold the gavel. that seems to be what people care about most. >> how does tillis deal with this. you would think here's a gift, the other guy is in trouble. if it is not working, what do you do about it? >> reporter: they're talking about it louder. you're seeing outside republican

groups pouring in money, putting ads on tv that tout the scandal, say it is not just about sex, it is about the fact that cunningham who was in the military was having a relationship with a fellow veteran's wife and it triggered an investigation. they're trying to talk about it louder. they think his unfavorability ratings have gone up, and there's hope of getting people to change their vote. one voter said this could potentially change support for cunningham, but the problem was, it was too late. he already sent in the ballot for cunningham so couldn't do anything about it. >> i saw tillis saying i trust dr. fauci. so clearly the president, a bit of a dragon the incumbent. >> reporter: that's right. tillis will try to talk about the relief package passed in the senate, but mostly now, the infidelity scandal. i am not sure it resonates. >> we'll see. ten days to election day. grateful for the reporting straight from a battleground

race. thanks for joining us. see you back here tomorrow. post debate analysis. stay with cnn for that. brianna keilar picks up coverage right now. have a good afternoon. hi there. brianna keilar. i want to welcome viewers in the united states and around the world. the final debate is just hours away. president trump and former vice president joe biden will square off and make closing argument to america. and the matchup comes amid a national health crisis that killed more than 220,000 americans and put millions out of work. in an effort to bring coherance and substance to the debate stage, the commission put new rules in place, including a mute button for opening remarks to crackdown on interruptions. tonight's topics include the pandemic, american families, race in america, climate c