and his love was endless. may they rest in peace. and they mare memories be a blessing. thanks for watching. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, trump and biden's duelling realities of the pandemic playing out in florida. as cnn learns the leader of president trump's task force, dr. deborah birx, has all but abandoned the white house. and new polls from several key battleground states, what do they tell us about where the race is to 270 tonight? john king with us at the magic wall. and melania trump on the campaign trail tonight, blaming everyone except for her husband, for messages of hate and fear. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, joe biden about to speak live in the crucial state of florida. it is his second rally there of the day, with just five days until election day. both candidates are in florida

tonight. the state where coronavirus cases are surging, hospitalizations are on the rise. and not a single voter in florida or anywhere can be confused as to the two world views they are choosing between. trump's massive rally on the left, very few masks, no social distancing. even those behind him who at some rallies are told by the campaign to wear masks for the kamras, mostly shunning them. and then on the other side, biden's gathering, let's call it that, socially distanced, drive-in rally on the right. trump and biden, only 250 miles apart and the two images you see on your screen in florida. but when it comes to their messages, they are a universe apart. >> we locked down, we understood the disease and now we're open for business. >> we're expected to lose another 200,000 people between now and the end of this year if we do nothing. this is not a political statement, it's a patriotic s iy

for god's sake. but president trump refuses to listen to the science. >> here are the facts tonight. one american died every 90 seconds yesterday, just yesterday, from coronavirus. and this is happening every single day. and the cdc says the death rate is going up. more people are dying every single day, z the cases surge and hospitalizations surge. and where is the president's coronavirus task force? you may ask the woman who is a fixture on our tv screens, you remember her, the leading medical voice on the task force, dr. deborah birx, all but abandoning the white house. dr. birx now traveling the country alone, pounding the pavement, going all in on her own to take her message directly to the american people, because she believes lives are at stake. and what may have been the final straw for her is dr. scott atlas, the task force member who has questioned masks and pushed

the concept of herd immunity. she vowed never to sit in a meeting with atlas again, after listening to the radiologist who does not have an expertise in epidemiology, push misleading claims about the pandemic. like when he told me on this show, that he supported wearing masks when you can't socially distanced. he said that is consistent with trump's non-masked rallies and said it again and again and again with a straight face. birx is not alone. she and her colleagues pushing back against the president when it comes to masks, social distancing, testing and claims that the united states is rounding the coronavirus corner. >> i am always for masks. you know i have talked about maskinglunrelentingly. >> i feel confident if we had done the things i was talking about just a moment ago, that a considerable number of lives could have been saved. >> we do believe that the cases

are going up. it's not just a function of testing. >> this week we will have our highest number of cases that we've ever had on a daily basis in the united states. >> just to state the obvious, each of those people who have dedicated their lives over the past month to this pandemic, saying the opposite of what the president of the united states continues to tell all of us. kaitlan collins is at ft. bragg in north carolina. jessica dean is in north carolina. kaitlan, trump mocking biden today for following, well, trump's own cdc guidelines. >> reporter: that's right. and erin, we've known these two candidates had very different messages on the coronavirus, but nowhere was it more obvious than at these events in florida today. seeing the president mock joe biden saying that it's not that he's holding small events because of the pandemic, but that people don't want to come to his events according to the president. of course, he's got thousands of

people in front of him in florida, a lot of them not wearing a mask. today, before they left to go to that rally, the president's chief of staff was asked, when you go to these events, when the vice president goes to these events after coming into someone later that tests positive, you're not following your own administration's guidelines. here is how he answered that question, erin? >> i can tell you that i'm following the guidelines and a number of us are following the guidelines. for all of you watching this morning, if you can carry a little container of purell, i've probably used more purell than any american in the united states over the last seven or eight months. >> reporter: so you see he talked about purell more than he did wearing a mask or social distancing. the thing that even trump's advisers can't answer is whether or not these rallies, these large events, are going to turn off the voters he needs to win on election day, those voters two aren't showing up to the

rallies, who respect concerned about the pandemic. and they're not sure, it's a bet they're taking. what is clear is that the pandemic is defining the last days of this race. that is not something that the president wanted to see. >> kaitlan, thank you very much. and i want to go to jessica dean, who is covering joe biden for us tonight. president trump was mocking biden today on the virus, but biden not shy about handing it back to him. >> reporter: absolutely not, erin. he criticized president trump for holding what he called super spreader events, these rallies here in the state of florida, as kaitlan mentioned, just a few miles away. as much as president trump did not want these final days to be about the coronavirus pandemic, joe biden and his campaign do. they believe they have the winning message on this. listen to the scientists. let doctors and experts lead the way. that is what he talked about in his closing argument to floridians today, talking about what he would do if elected, saying he has a plan and if elected, they are going to follow this plan. he acknowledged yesterday during

his briefing that it's not going to be as easy as flipping a switch and promises to do everything in his power to shut this virus down. he said, i'm not going to shut down the country, that's an attack he heard from president trump, but i am going to shut down the virus. we did hear him talking about that today. he also talked about how health care is on the ballot, tying it back to the affordable care act, back to the supreme court, warning people that the coverage for preexisting conditions could go away. so kind of tying this all together in his closing arguments. also leaving in an economic ms.age tied to the coronavirus pandemic, erin. but, again, this is what they're going to keep driving home. we are in a case seeing rising cases. you laid out the numbers nationally. this is what joe biden is going to be pounding and talking about every day, until we get to election day. >> jessica dean, thank you. i want to go to olivia troye, who served as vice president

pence, who has since endorsed joe biden . so john, let's start with florida, key state, very different message. it could not be more stark and they both know it and own it when you see those images on the screen. yet millions have voted already in florida. millions. more than 4 million people have already voted in florida. and is the die cast? >> the die is not cast, because we don't know how it's going to end up, and florida is always tight. but the contrast couldn't be clearer, and all the major themes of this election, the pandemic, the hyper partisan politics, the contrast in styles, division versus yunity, are coming together in florida today. it is a stunning moment when you reflect at these intersections, and in a state whose governor embraced the kind of herd immunity being pushed by many,

especially scott atlas, in the white house. and you are starting to see the toll of that strategy take place in very real ways, especially with so many senior citizens there. >> dr. reiner, biden slamming trump today for holding super spreader events. but there was a change, a small change, but something different the president said at one of his rallies today. and here it is. >> if you get close, wear a mask. always controversial. it's not controversial to me. you get close, you wear a mask. social distance. >> okay, so in case as you watched that, you're watching the president as we all often do when you hear someone speaking on screen, i want to play it again. you can see the crowd behind him. sometimes they hand masks out, i see one mask. i see two. so he's saying this, and behind him, they're not socially distanced and not wearing masks. obviously, he doesn't ever practice that, if that is what he is going to preach. he has not preached that until

today, doctor. >> it's too little too late. and he's really giving lip service. but what's becoming -- he simply can't ignore that the virus is out of control. we had record numbers today. 88,500 more cases today. we've never seen more cases than we did today. 46,000 people in the hospital. all the places he's been to in the last week have skyrocketing positivity rates. you know, pennsylvania is over 12%. wisconsin is 27%. iowa is 28%. so it's becoming impossible for him to just get the country to believe that we're turning the corner, because every day is record cases. 88,000 cases per day, we'll tick off another million cases of coronavirus in 11 days. it took 3 1/2 months to get to our first million cases, we'll do it now in 11 days. the virus is out of control.

so when you hear the president giving lip service to mask, somebody must be saying mr. president, you need to say more. >> so the coronavirus task force is at the center of it. olivia, i know you worked with dr. birx on the task force. i want to bring in kate bennetts now. so kate, you broke this story about dr. birx, her decision to abandon the white house and the relationship with scott atlas. tell us more of your reporting. >> reporter: well, erin, essentially dr. birx, who was this forward facing, you know, person right next to the president as the country started to go down this road of the pandemic, was ostensibly replaced because the president decided to doctor shop, for lack of a better word, until he found someone in scott atlas, who believed what he wanted to believe, which was questioning the efficacy of masks, not necessarily believing that children were carriers, really only old people got this disease. what happened with dr. birx, she felt she was no longer really wanted to listen to someone who

was not a career immunologist, as she is, and a global health government employee. she basically packed up and go out into the country and spread the word about coronavirus. she's now gone to 40 states, 20,000 miles she's done. scott atlas is in the oval office and she's in bismarck. this is how she's choosing to fight the virus. so it's a battle to stop the virus and a battle forrer to, you know, stop what's going on in the white house, which has been a medical expert who isn't involved in what birx and dr. fauci are saying and advising. >> all right. kate, thank you so much. let me give olivia a chance to react. kate's reporting, 40 states, bismarck, going to -- i hope everyone reads her full story,

carr carry-on bags, going into grocery stores to see who's wearing masks. you worked with her every day. you shared an office with her, and you were there when dr. atlas showed up on the scene. tell us about this, tell us about their relationship. >> it was tense. it was very tense. you have dr. birx, who has been every day working tirelessly for countless hours with dr. fauci and other people on the task force. she has been -- i saw her wake up at 4:00 in the morning to prepare the slides for the day. those were informing fema and others on where ppe was really needed and what the hot spots were going to be. this is how you make policy. you get the experts at the table and you hash it out. so when dr. atlas walked in, i call him scott atlas because i

don't think he deserves the title doctor. he just perpetuates dangerous lies. i don't blame her for getting fed up. she's had to deal with horrible dynamics within the white house. i've seen it firsthand. i've seen the vice president's team completely disparage her at times. they rolled their eyes at her, as well. that is how she's been treated for months. this is someone who i have seen take up fights when it mattered. >> john, you've been doing a lot of reporting on atlas, and the fact that birx is, you know, look, she's out fighting because she thinks this is the way to be most effective. she thinks that is more effectiv effective than talking with the president of the united states. she's made this choice because he's not listening to her anymore. and now, atlas really has, it seems, control of the president's ear. >> yeah, and that's been true since he joined in early august,

which is when birx and dr. fauci were effecttively sidelined. she was brought in as the expert to help give balance to mike pence's attempts when he was put in control of this disease. she put her credibility on the line, not criticizing president trump when he said things. it's always this line people walk in the white house. you hear it said all the time. if i wasn't hear it would be so much worse, so they put up with a little bit. in some cases their credibility is compromised. but once you have an idealogue, then you go to the ground and say you know what? i have a moral obligation to do what i can, but the president is not listening anymore, and i'm going to try to reseem somethdeg as best i can for the country. >> dr. ripeeiner, you take what.

birx and others are saying, which is the opposite of what this president is saying, saying yeah, there's more cases, and it's not because of more testing. the opposite of the president. they are all now starting to take him on. >> well, they have to take him on because they see that the virus is getting out of control, and that things can get much, much worse. and i think we'll see this more going forward. and it will be interesting to see in the aftermath of the election next week, what the task force does and whether they go rogue and start speaking out and disregarding the process in the white house. because they have nothing to lose, but the american people have a lot to lose. >> so let me ask you one more question, the moment a lot of people remember from dr. birx, the president talked about injecting himself with a bleach and she said there and blanched, but she didn't seem to -- she certainly didn't publicly contradict him.

let me just play that moment again. >> and then i see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, and is there a way we can do something like that? by injection inside or -- almost a cleaning. >> you can see the distress on her face, i think that's the fair word. but did she stand up to the president more than we know? >> yes. i was there for that. i was standing behind the press briefing room, and we walked out of there and she was incredibly upset, as well as others. she had some pretty strong words for those who were the vice president's and president's advisers on what had just been said, and she knew how dangerous it was. she was embarrassed at what had just happened. it was completely ridiculous. but when dr. birx, she's a

fighter. i will give her this. she is a strong woman, and she has been known for shutting the door and having those conversations. she just does it very privately. she will not do it publicly. >> we know so much more of this story. thank you all very much. next, new polls from the crucial battleground states and what it means for the race to 270. john king at the magic wall. plus, first lady melania trump on the trail, appearing with her husband for the first time during the campaign. is her message rooted in reality? >> under donald's leadership, we have blocked out the noise and focused on you. >> and breaking news, a major victory for republicans. a court ruling just moments ago, that mail-in ballots must be received by election day in minnesota. the state's dwogovernor is my guest.

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up to you. you hold the key. if florida goes blue, it's over. it's over. >> john king, "outfront" at the magic wall. okay, john, so what are you seeing in florida right now? >> erin, what a day, right? so much in our life is new normal or not normal. this is normal. both candidates in florida, final days of the campaign, and guess what? a poll showing it is close. let's pop this out. monmouth university poll out today, joe biden 50, donald trump 45. a five-point lead for joe biden in this poll. joe biden 49, donald trump 46. so a close race in florida. what else is knew, right? in 2016, joe biden is in tampa right now, donald trump was there earlier. that's the i-4 corridor. that's tampa, st. pete, oerlrla. this in a close race decides it.

joe biden started down here in the southeast part of the state, retires, people from the northeast, latinos, democrats. they turn out in huge numbers. for the president, the key is across here, the northern part of florida, votes like the south, georgia, alabama, the trump army came out here four years ago, one of the big tests this time, do they turn out again? democrats think they're a little ahead in early voting. the president is there for that rally to drive out late vote on election day. >> it is incredible. you think more than 4 million people have voted. as you say, it's normal for florida to matter, but gosh, it is abnormal. so there are new polls, i know, from a lot of the key battleground states out tonight. what do they show to you? >> let's pop this back. today is a great test, especially if you're a democrat, when you look at this race right now. do you see the glass as half empty or half full? let me move this over so you can see it. i mentioned the florida poll, joe biden on top.

a north carolina poll, it's close, joe biden on top, 48-45. a pennsylvania poll, this one stays comfortable. seven points for joe biden in pennsylvania. that's been stable throughout. republicans say it's not true. look at ohio. joe biden in this quinnipiac poll up five points. if that's true, if pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, ohio gave joe biden the presidency after handing it to president trump four years ago. that iowa poll showing it very close out in iowa, as well. what does that tell you? if you're a democrat, you could say bide on is on top. if you are a republican, you say we remember four years ago. >> of course, now this whole thing who is voting early, you know, so many unknowns. we are, of course, seeing a lot of money getting involved here. mike bloomberg, another $12 million in some of the key swing states just today. $5 million in texas, $4 million

in ohio, almost $3 million in florida. and if there is anybody more data driven than mike bloomberg's team, they're not in politics. >> you make a great point. number one, it's always great in politics if you have friends. joe biden already has a fund-raising advantage. now he has bloomberg throwing in money, as well. you mentioned texas, right? we already have joe biden across the 270 there shareshold. but texas leans red. is it possible you could flip texas? it helps if bloomberg is pumping money in there. if texas flipped blue, forget about it. ohio, it's very competitive. if joe biden -- this is our map right now. just imagine if this were blue on election day. it's game over. no republican in modern times has won the white house without

ohio. so if bloomberg can get joe biden a point, point and a half, game over. joe biden already has a huge advantage and it helps him more. >> thank you very much, john king. next, new details tonight into whose message is resonating with voters in these final days. >> we are going to defeat the marxists and the socialists bur. >> we need a president who will bring us together. >> can texas turn blue? senator kamala harris is headed there tomorrow, putting a real bet on it. we're on the ground with a closer look at the lonestar state.

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new tonight, president trump and melania trump holding their first joint campaign rally for 2020. the first lady with this message. >> in a time when hate, negativity and fear are the messages the media streams into

our homes and the large tech companies are protecting political senscensorship, we neo remember what is really important -- my husband's administration is focused on the future. under donald's leadership, we have blocked out the noise and focused on you, the american people. >> well, she talks about hate, negativity and fear, then when her husband stepped up to the podium, here is what he said. >> i'm running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics. we believe in law and order, not like in philadelphia. and they can't let that happen. they can't let the looters run wild. we are going to defeat the,

marxistst and the socialists, and the anarchists. >> "outfront" now, the host of championship"smerconish," micha smerconish. she says the president is focused on the future, and then the president gets up, you know, is quite negative and having -- talking about fear and hateful. >> he never seems to have adhered to her be best campaign. i guess if the question is whether she's laying out a standard that he then can't meet, i think the evidence is clear that is the case. whether that's a dichotomy that offends that audience, i doubt. i think they were probably enthused to see the first lady back out on the campaign trail for what i think was the first time in a long time. but your point is unmistakable.

>> so laura, she was there. this joint rally together in florida, five days before as i point out, it is their first rally together. she's trying to reach out to women voters. must-win women voters. we've been talking to many of them, what are they saying to you? >> yeah, i've sat in on a number of focus groups in the last month with undecided female voters, particularly white women and we know based on the polling that the president is not doing well with white women in a number of key states, including in pennsylvania and in arizona. and they're saying one of the biggest things across those groups that i'm hearing is about wanting to see more unity, wanting to see the negativity toned down, and wanting to hear more from the candidates about what they would do to bring in the opposing party if it's trump, if he continues in power,

or if it's biden. one of the women in the focus group i watched this week, she was from pennsylvania and she decided, after voting for trump in 2016, she was going to vote for biden this time around. and her reasoning came down to biden's answer in the last debate when he was asked what he would say to voters who didn't vote for him. and she really liked his answer, saying that he wouldn't be a president for red or blue america, but that he would be a president that speaks to all of americans. >> a very different message than we get from the president. larry, i know you have florida as a toss-up. the first lady and the president were campaign thing today. biden and president trump in florida today, tried to appeal to a voting group that could decide which way florida goes, and that is the hispanic vote. here they are. >> biden's agenda will devastate the hispanic-american community. he betrayed hispanic-americans for 47 years.

he's been very had for the hispanic-americans. >> it's unconscionable that they are deporting hundreds of cubans and venezuelans back to their dictatorships. president trump loves to talk, but he doesn't care about skew ban and venezuelan people. >> so the latest poll from quinnipiac shows biden winning hispanics 50-34. that seems large, but clinton won that group 62-35, so she did better with hispanics. is that a bad sign? what do you read into it? >> that's a bad sign for biden, and the fact that biden is doing consider wably better with seni citizens is a bad sign for trump. we can play these games a lot and we'll continue to play them all the way until we get the results tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, when they come in. but look, the hispanic vote is fractured in florida.

it's the most complicated hispanic vote in america. it is true that president trump is doing relatively well with cuban-americans, with colombian-americans, with venezuelan-americans. but mexican-americans, especially puerto ricans, are biden's strength in florida. but you have to broaden it out again, and look at the bigger picture in florida. there's probably no more important group than senior citizens. that's where biden has made progress compared to hillary clinton. >> of course, some of that, no doubt because of the coronavirus. michael, i want to ask you about these crucial senate races. the control of the senate is going to matter a whole lot here, especially if biden does win, right? a democratic senate can pass a lot of legislation. so sitting republican senator kelly laufler, had an exchange today with reporters, including manu raju. i want to play it for you.

>> you were out theasked if pre trump had said or done anything you disagreed with. you know that president trump was caught on tape talking about sexually assaulting women. you didn't disagree with that? what does that say? >> look, what i agree with is the approach president trump has taken since day one to put america first. >> and you're still not disagreeing with that particular -- with that particular thing that president trump said? you're still not -- >> what are you referring to? >> you're still not disagreeing with president trump's statements about sexually assaulting women. >> i'm not familiar with that. >> he's referring to the access hollywood tape. >> look, this president is fighting for america. that's what i'm fighting for. >> michael, how much does that topic at this point does her answer to it matter in this

race? >> if she's saying that she's up aware of the access hollywood tape, he's simply an incredible statement, in my view. what i see taking place in a number of these senate races is a very careful dance. i'm thinking not only of her, but also of senator mcsally where they want to be close to the president in some circumstances, but careful, very careful to maintain their distance in other circumstances. it was almost comical to see the situation where mcsally and president trump on the same stage, albeit for the allotted 60 seconds that he gave her within the last 48 hours. i think that's emblematic of what i'm talking about. they recognize he can be helpful with parts of the base, but problematic with other voters. >> so let me play that moment. you spent a lot of time in arizona, so martha mcsally fighting to hold on to her seat. she appears with trump yesterday at a rally. let me play that moment of how it went down. >> martha, come up just fast, quick.

fast! fast, come on, quick. you've got one minute, martha. come on, let's go, quick, quick, quick. come on, let's go. >> all right, i'm coming. thank you, president trump. >> she's done everything possible to align herself with him. so how is it going to play, laura? >> well, right now, mcsally's chances aren't looking good based on the polling. she's trailing trump in a number of polls. she's had a lot of trouble trying to win over the voting bloc that is trump's base in arizona. it's why she lost in 2018 to now senator kirsten cinema, the democrat, because she wasn't able to win over voters. arizona is nope fknown for tick splitting. a lot of voters may vote republican in the presidential and democratic in the senate and

vice versa. i heard some say they'll vote for mark kelly but not sure who they will vote for, for president yet. so mcsally, she has embraced president trump on one end, but also when she was asked in one of the last debates if she was proud of him, she wouldn't answer the question. that's where she's been struggling to win republicans. >> to walk that line. larry, i know you have switched, i believe, your georgia races, kelly laughler to tossups. what do you see happening there? >> this is really fascinating to me, erin. usually voters forget the last election, they move on to other things. in georgia, though, something else is going on, and basically, it's what happened to democratic candidate stacey abrams, an african-american legislative leader who ran for governor and nearly won. and many even nonpartisan

observers believe she lost to the republican because of voter suppression, some of it coming out of secretary of state brian kevin's office. there's real anger, and the african-american vote seems especially energized in georgia. that's one of the explanations for the fact that both senate seats are essential i tied, and the presidential race is tied. you don't expect that from georgia. >> it is incredible when you look at where it is right now. thank you all three very much next, breaking news, a federal appeals court ruled minnesota's ballots must be received by election day. so what if a voter just today mailed their ballot? the state's governor is next. biden making a major play for texas just days before the election. does he seriously have a shot? >> it's gone from being a no shot to a long shot to now a medium shot. woman: after covid, my hours got cut.

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tonight. a court ruling minnesota's ballots must be received by election day. this cuts off a grace period that allowed ballots to be postmarked by election day. the court saying there is no pandemic exception to the constitution. governor tim walz joins us now. what impact does this ruling have on voters in your state? >> first of all, erin, we vote in the highest numbers. i just released a video to assure people the system is safe. what i would tell people is, what this ruling says is they will segregate those ballots. but well over 1.2 million ballots have been received. i would tell voters, if you have an absentee ballot in your hand right now, drop it off in person. go to the website and it speaks volumes when your goal is to make it more difficult for people to vote. it probably speaks that they're

not happy with your policies. so here in minnesota, we will still count all the votes. the system is still secure. those ballots will be segregated. i think this will obviously go further up the -- up through the judiciary to get a decision. at this point in time, people can avoid all this by going and dropping their ballots off in person. in minnesota, we have same-day registration so they can vote on tuesday. >> so all of that is good because you want every vote to be counted. but what happen it is the margin of victory is such that people who mailed their votes today or who don't get the message you're saying now, that the number of those ballots that are received after election day actually matters, what happens then, that just goes to the court is what you're saying? >> the court also decide. they're segregated, not thrown out. i think that's what this court seems to think that it should. be the predominance leading towards the voter. but those ballots will still be

there. we will do everything in our power to ensure they're counted as they should be, regardless of who they voted for. and we'll pick a winner that way. our system has lasted this long based on civility, decency, respect for the process, and so i'm still confident that the choice of the voters, and the voters need to decide who the next president will be and who these other elected offices will be, not a decision by a three-pam courthree three-panel court. but we're confident that the winner will be found on election night or shortly thereafter. that's part of the system. and we'll move forward. >> okay. so you mentioned the video, and i saw this video on twitter. it's getting a lot of discussion. is the video you made with the three prior governors of the state of minnesota, and i want to play a clip of it, governor, here it is. >> with so many of us voting by mail, it may take a little

longer to verify a winner. >> a delay just means our system is working. and that we're counting every single ballot. >> there may not be a clear winner on election night, but no matter who wins let's demonstrate the decency and civility that minnesotans are known for. >> democrats and republicans, the kind of message we need. >> and independents. >> and independents, that's right. you got it all there. and yet the context here is, i don't know if you saw the headline, walmart. they're pulling firearms and ammunition in some stores because they have unrest in philadelphia and they want them off the shelves now ahead of election day. tension is high. and people are anxious and afraid. of what's going to happen on that night and after. how concerning is all of this to you? >> well, i believe -- i believe in our system. i think here in minnesota -- and i can speak to that. and i think that's true in other states.

there's resiliency in the system. i think it's clear to everyone that there are those that want to sow doubt. there are those that want to pretend like mail-in voting isn't valid. i've used it as a soldier. and some of these rules, just to be very clear, minnesota warriors in war zones right now could be denied their vote if we don't get a good decision on these segregated ballots. so i think people of good will understand this. i think the majority of minnesotans clearly understand while tensions are high, we have passions around voting, we need to follow the system. it's in place. it has served us well all these years. and we're taking all the necessary steps to make sure that their votes are counted and people can feel sure that they're safe in those -- in voting if they go to vote in in person. >> and the outcome. of course, going to vote in person, having more people to do so is going to come in the midst of the surge of coronavirus cases in the state.

your health commissioner said hospitalizations have hit a high watermark. deaths today tragically near record levels. so -- so what are you going to do about that, especially if you're going to have more people voting in person than otherwise would? are you considering new restrictions right now in terms of people's activity or not? >> well, we have opportunities to vote curbside. we've trained our folks who will be working at the polls. we have the personal protective equipment. we have a mask mandate in minnesota and we will do those things. but you're absolutely right, all those things are true. we are in a dangerous position. we rank 20th now in infection rates, but the states to the west of us are one, two and four. so it -- we have protections in place. it is safe for folks to go. it's more challenging this year, but it's important. people need to vote. we know how important this election is. people need to vote. >> all right. governor walz, thank you very much. i appreciate your time, sir. >> you're welcome, erin. and next, democrats cautiously optimistic that they can turn texas blue.

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tonight, senator kamala harris going to texas. three stops there tomorrow on her schedule. as cnn's poll of polls showing a tight race. the state moving from, well, as red as it gets, right, to competitive. let's just take a step back here. that state, texas, has not voted for a democrat since 1976. it would make history if it happened now. could it really happen?

jason carroll is "outfront." >> reporter: they've been lining up in the lone star state for days as early voting ends tomorrow. more than 8.4 million people have already cast ballots in the state. that's 94% of the overall vote from 2016. both sides clearly energizeed, but democrats in this reliably red state are feeling more encouraged than they have in decades, thanks to changing demographics, the party's improved standing in f.a.s. fast-growing suburbs and with young voters like angelica who voted for joe biden. >> i come from a very conservative background. i'm the only one voting blue this year. >> do you think biden has a fighting chance in the state of texas? >> do i. >> reporter: the 24-year-old says she lost her job as a sever due to the coronavirus. she lives here in tarrant county home to fort worth. donald trump won tarrant county by more than eight points.

two years later, democrat beto o'rourke nearly carried it while coming up short in his attempt to defeat senator ted cruz. she's never voted until now. >> i listened to some of the things that trump said and ied kated myself a lot more, and i think that this year just in general with everything that's going on has really been the turning point for me. >> reporter: make no mistake, a biden win in texas is still a tall order. the last democratic presidential nominee to win here was jimmy carter back in 1976, but given the early turnout, democrats aren't seeing red, they're seeing purple. one sign of that shift, people like former dallas mayor steve bartlett, a republican, who says the former vice president has a shot. >> well, it's gone from being a no shot to a longshot to now a medium shot. >> reporter: bartlett is backing biden, saying that trump has not shown the character needed to be an effective president. >> i'm a lifetime republican, but the country is suffering and we will suffer a lot more if we re-elect donald trump.

>> reporter: democrats are making a late investment in the race with time and money. on thursday a super pac funded by michael bloomberg added another $5.6 million in ads in the state. that's on top of nearly $9 million already spent. and vice presidential nominee kamala harris is making three stops here friday to mobilize new voters in their rapidly diversifying state. >> they're much less culturally conservative. they're very, very diverse. they're generally better educated. and those are the kinds of voters that are much more amenable to voting for a moderate democrat like joe biden. >> reporter: and back here in tarrant county, many voters from both parties saying a biden win in texas could just be wishful thinking. >> he has a chance in maine, but for texans, no. unlikely. >> it's hard to say because texas has always been a red state, so i'm not really sure. >> well, erin, a poll out just this week shows that trump is up

in the state by three points, but, again, this is texas, and democrats are saying that a republican candidate by this point should be way ahead. again, they say this is another sign that things are changing in the state. erin? >> all right. thank you very much, jason. and thanks to all of you for joining us. anderson starts now. good evening. the country has just crossed yet another terrible threshold. according to the data team at john hopkins university, today is now the worst single day for covid cases in the country. the worst single day of the entire pandemic. 83,757 new cases so far, and that number will not be final for hours yet. 940 lives lost so far. and it's just 8:00. with that, as the horrible scene setter, we begin tonight with one state, two candidates and two very different ways of campaigning in a pandemic. one about as safe as you can make it, given the circumstances. the other about as reckless as you can