law enforcement, stood for life and liberty and the constitution of the united states. >> all right. thanks so much, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. our countdown covers right now with ana cabrera. you are live in the cnn newsroom. i'm ana cabrera in new york. thank you for joining us for our special coverage. we're now just three days away from the election of a lifetime. 90 million ballots already cast and today it's all eyes on the coveted rust belt and the states that helped push president trump to victory in 2016. in michigan next hour, we'll see something we have yet to see this campaign season. a joint appearance by joe biden and former president barack obama. they will be in flint first and then they travel to detroit together with an appearance with stevie wonder. for trump it's all about

pennsylvania. he has four stops in a state he's won just this past election cycle. by less than 1%. and top of mind, of course, at all these events today, the pandemic and staggering new headline today. the u.s. has just set an all-time world record for new cases in a single day. nearly 100,000 new infections on friday alone in the united states. we have a huge team of reporters and analysts joining us from all over the country today. let's begin with the biden campaign in michigan today. cnn's jeff zeleny is in flint this afternoon ahead of the biden/obama event set to get under way in the next hour. jeff, what can we expect, and why michigan for this first joint campaign event? >> ana, no question, michigan is at the center of the blue wall both physically and literally. this is something that a state that joe biden knows he needs to win next week. of course, donald trump carried michigan by the slimmest of margins four years ago as well as pennsylvania and wisconsin. so this is where the biden campaign decided to bring the former president barack obama,

really the biggest gun in the democratic party the weekend before for this simple reason. to try and turn out the democratic vote. they know there are enough voters here who supported the former president and former president joe biden, former vice president joe biden but they didn't turn out four years ago. that's what this whole day is about a turnout effort. coming here to flint, michigan, genesee county had 25,000 fewer votes for hillary clinton than barack obama four years prior. going later to detroit. that's wayne county. some 75,000 fewer votes for hillary clinton than barack obama and joe biden. adding those together, that's 100,000 potential votes they believe are still out there. so that's why they are trying to make the pitch here to shake the conscience of some of these democrats and independent voters to come out and vote for joe biden. but it also gives you a sense the biden campaign is not entirely confident about their standing here in michigan. we do not see barack obama out in ohio or iowa trying to win over some of those red state

voters. he is here in deep blue michigan. he's certainly going to make the point that joe biden, he believes, is the best candidate. but we've not seen these two old partners side by side. they'll be starting here in a short time in flint, ana. >> jeff, the biden campaign spent a good part of this past week focusing on states like georgia and florida. states that biden may want to win but doesn't necessarily need to win on a path to 270. but he said it shouldn't be seen that he's overconfident in places like michigan and wisconsin. so what is the thinking there? >> the thinking there is it's an insurance policy if things don't go well elsewhere. that's another reason. we just learned that barack obama, the former president, is going to georgia on monday and going to south florida on monday. at this stage of the campaign, location tells you everything you need to know about a campaign's thinking and strategy. so the biden campaign clearly trying to get out some of those democratic voters. some of those old obama voters. there's a question of enthusiasm and a question of if these

democratic field efforts, they've been campaigning in a pandemic and not doing the traditional door-to-door programs they used to do. they are trying to use barack obama who is really the most popular figure in the democratic party to turn out that vote. yes, this blue wall so important. that's why president trump is in pennsylvania all day long. but the biden campaign also hoping for georgia and florida. that's one of the reasons they're going back there on monday. ana? >> jeff zeleny in flint, thank you. we'll check back. let's turn to the trump campaign. the president is holding four big rallies in pennsylvania today. cnn's joe johns joins us now from bucks county, pennsylvania. joe, take us there. >> well, the president is wheels down, and he is on his way. it won't be very long before he arrives at this event. a very different event from what we've seen around the country at the airports. this is not a rally. the president is giving a speech much smaller crowd. the president left the white house just a little while ago.

he spoke very briefly with reporters. let's listen to some of that. >> spending the day in pennsylvania, and we're going to have a great day. i think we're doing extremely well with the votes. i think it's going to be very interesting three days. it's going to be a very interesting tuesday. you have a big red wave that has formed, as you probably noticed. we're doing very, very well with the african-american vote. we're doing very, very well with the hispanic vote all over. and we're doing very well. it's going to be really something. >> have you thought a little bit about what you're doing on election night, mr. president? >> yeah, i'll be perhaps between the white house and the hotel because, you know, we have a -- i guess they have a limit. they placed limits on the hotel, which is unfortunate. they did that yesterday in minnesota. the governor. and i think he's paying a very big price for it.

we had thousands -- we're going to have over 25,000 people. and you saw what went on there. it was ridiculous. and with all the problems that minnesota has with riots and all the things and i say minneapolis. they should have called me sooner. but we saved -- you wouldn't even have a minneapolis right now. >> so the president is on his way, and this is a very different venue than some of the past for the president out in the country and very important to say the president is really trying to run up the numbers in pennsylvania in rural counties. and he needs to hold down the big joe biden vote in some of the metropolitan areas like pittsburgh and philadelphia. this is all an attempt by the president to really canvass the state of pennsylvania. back to you. >> 14 rallies for the president in the next few days, joe. the first lady is also stepping up the push for her husband to

get a second term. what is she up to today? >> the first lady is coming here to pennsylvania as well. in fact, northeast pennsylvania. but that will be her second stop of the day. her first stop will be in wisconsin outside of milwaukee. the campaign has been trying very hard to get the first lady out on the trail because she's viewed very favorably, and there's a certain mystique about her. but of course, she has been somewhat reluctant to campaign, and there's also that issue of testing positive for covid. she, as well as her son barron. >> joe johns, we'll check back with you. now the president's mission is to retrace his 2016 path to 270. joe biden's is to rebuild the blue wall the president tore down. cnn's phil mattingly is standing by at the magic wall for us. what are you seeing in the states that trump and biden are visiting today? >> the 2016 matters. the biden campaign is trying to

learn the lessons from 2016 when you talk about that blue wall and the trump campaign is trying to replicate what happened in 2016. let's start with this preface. 2020 is not 2016. just take a look right now at where the polling stands in those key states of michigan and pennsylvania where the president and vice president are today. right now in michigan, biden, 51, trump 43. this is a poll of polls that cnn put together. pennsylvania, joe biden with a significant lead. six points there as well. but the trump campaign says, look, we were down in the polls in 2016, and we ended up winning. there are a number of different formulations you can do with this 2016 map to make clear a coup elf things. it's different this time around. a couple of different states that are toss-ups and we don't necessarily know what's going to happen. let me make something similar that underscores why both candidates are in pennsylvania and michigan today. this was the 2016 map. if joe biden flips pennsylvania, if joe biden flips michigan, if joe biden flips wisconsin, ana, joe biden is above 270 electoral

votes. and that's not even taking into account florida is a toss-up, georgia is a toss-up, north carolina. democrats feel good about arizona. if you want to know why donald trump is in pennsylvania and why joe biden is in michigan, that is why. the rust belt of the industrial midwest is the easiest path for democrats to rebuild their blue wall and is the one path the trump campaign knows enabled them to win in 2016. one point to make clear. jeff zeleny was talking about this. you talk about margins in michigan. margins in wisconsin, in pennsylvania, all razor thin. none more so than the state of michigan. president trump won this state by 10,704 votes. if you want to know why president obama and vice president biden are in detroit today, take a look at wayne county. jeff zeleny mentioned this. it's really crucial when you talk about turnout. hillary clinton crushed in wayne county. won by 66%. offer, it's the top line here that's why the biden campaign is where they are. take a look at this. democratic collapse in the

county. obama/biden in 2012, 595,000 votes. nearly 596,000 votes. clinton/. they feel good as you move into the western part of the state. but it's right there. when you lose a state by 10,000 votes and you had a 76,000-vote drop-off in one of your key areas, well, you try and fix that. and that in the state of michigan is what the biden campaign is trying to do today. >> so it's a good reminder for all those viewers. all those people who haven't voted yet. every vote counts. it can make a difference. phil, i also want to hone in on the state of georgia for a moment because it hasn't gone through since 1992. and yet, both president trump and vice presidential candidate kamala harris will be campaigning there tomorrow. so how significant is that? >> look, the significance is there's nothing more valuable at this stage in the campaign than the time of the candidates and their running mates themselves. if you're going to a state in

the last final days, then it underscores you think it's in play. let's look at the polling from georgia. it's remained tight. it's expected to be tight. it's a toss-up race. but in the cnn poll of polls, joe biden is up by three points right now. when you talk to republican and democratic operatives who know about the state, look at the state, they acknowledge it's a margin of error race one way or the other. that's a bigger problem for president trump if it's actually in play. we talk about pathways here. you talk about what the toss-ups are. florida, georgia, north carolina is a toss-up. we'll say arizona is a toss-up. leans dems. iowa toss-up. we talked about the blue wall. say you give president trump florida and you give president trump the state of pennsylvania, joe biden now under 270. if he wins michigan, wisconsin, all of a sudden you toss arizona in there -- or toss georgia in there and he's back up over 270. it's about pathways. there's a clear easiest pathway for democrats where they look at re-establishing that blue wall. they also need insurance

policies. they know things can happen on election night. put some juice into georgia. stay focused on arizona. numbers look good there and kamala harris, dropping by texas. they are looking at the surge in turnout vote and saying, hey, you never know. obviously, the focus is here for both campaigns. if this comes into play for democrats if they can flip arizona like they think they can, they have a lot more pathways to 270 than they had going into the night. that's why you see campaigns focused on places other than the midwest and clearly the midwest is their focal point. >> with all those possibilities, phil, your homework is not easy. especially working that magic wall. thank you for outlining all that for us. we have both vice presidential candidates stumping right now. let's head first to kamala harris speaking in miami. >> mr. president, science does know, and so does the leading science magazine that endorsed joe biden for president of the united states.

so there's a lot going on, and we have three days to get this do done. and so let's talk for a minute about voting. you know, people have been asking me. and i'm sure you, because this is a whole beautiful group of leaders. people have been asking, why should i vote? and i think there are three reasons everyone should vote. one, honor the ancestors. honor the ancestors. honor people like the late, great john lewis who shed his blood on that edmund pettus bridge so we could vote. i know he hears you. i know he hears you. honor the ancestors.

those suffragettes who 100 years ago got us the passage of the 19th amendment. but let's always speak truth. black women couldn't vote until 1965, so there is that. so reason number one. let's honor the ancestors who sacrificed so much for our right to vote. reason number two -- everything is at stake. everything. everything we just discussed, including creating a pathway for citizenship for our undocumented immigrants. renewing our promise to our dreamers with daca, shutting down private detention centers, reuniting 545 children with their parents who the united states government orphaned.

there's every reason to vote in terms of what's at stake. and then here's the last point that i'd make as reason number three. including that america's future is at stake, we are -- i'm traveling all over the country. this is my -- i don't know how many times i've been to florida. and many times before that. thank you, debbie. all over our country, people are putting in place laws and procedures to make it difficult for us to vote. making it confusing to vote. you know, purging voter rolls, passing laws to suppress the vote. picking up drop boxes. i was in houston yesterday. a county of 11 million people with one drop box. trying to make it confusing in

different places in florida, different days. right? different envelopes you've got to fill out and who is going to sign them. the president of the united states who took the stage at the debate and openly attempted to suppress the vote. so here's the thing. when we look at where we are in terms of these powerful people who are trying to -- and we're not going to be distracted by what's at hand. we're not going to be distracted by the stakes. we're not going to be distracted. we know what we have to do. and so here's my point. here's my point. you got to ask, why are these powerful people trying to make

it so difficult for us to vote? and i will tell you, i believe the reason they are trying to make it difficult and confusing for us to vote is because they know our power. >> okay, kamala harris speaking live in miami at this hour. vice president mike pence is on the ground in battleground north carolina. let's listen in there. >> and we always will. you know, when i was growing up in a small town in indiana, we used to drive up to chicago where my parents are from. over the holidays. we'd go to my grandparents' home. me and my three brothers that stand in the living room when my uncle would come out ready for work wearing the blue uniform, the badge, the side arm. me and my three brothers would

just look up in awe. you know, all of my heroes wear uniforms. the men and women who serve in law enforcement are some of the best people in this country, and they deserve the respect of every american, every day. let's hear it for our law enforcement that are with us here today. will you just show them how much we appreciate all they do to protect and serve our families? [ applause ] oh, we're going to back the blue. you know, joe biden -- joe biden and his running mate say often that america is systemically

racist. and they explain it in part by saying that they believe that law enforcement officers of every background have a, quote, implicit bias against minorities. when joe biden was asked if he'd support cutting funding for law enforcement, he said, yes, absolutely. kamala harris recently praised the mayor of los angeles for cutting $150 million out of the lapd's budget. and let me make you a promise. people of north carolina and america, with four more years of president donald trump in the white house, we're not going to defund the police, not now, not ever. we're going to back the blue and we're going to back the blue for four more years. >> okay. you are listening in to vice president mike pence on the campaign trail in north carolina today. just three days from the

election. and quick fact check. joe biden, kamala harris have not been campaigning on defunding the police. just a few days after a race like no other, it all ends here. join us for special coverage the way only cnn can bring it to you from the first points to the critical count. understand what's happening in your state and all across the country. election night in america. our special coverage starts tuesday at 4:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. president trump will momentarily begin the first of four rallies in pennsylvania today. and the coronavirus pandemic is raging. breaking the world record for the number of new cases in one day in the united states. stay with us. this is cnn's countdown to the election. ♪ ♪ ♪

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it's a milestone that just a few months ago was almost unimaginable. the u.s. now holds the world record for the most coronavirus cases reported in a single day with nearly 100,000 new cases

reported friday alone. that surpasses the highest single day record set by india last month. and it's worth noting india has nearly four times the population compared to the u.s. cnn medical analyst and former assistant commissioner of health for new york city, dr. celine gounder is joining us. dr. anthony fauci warned us if people gathered in large crowds and aren't wearing masks he wouldn't be surprised to see 100,000 new cases a day in this country. it appears we're at that point now. did you expect this to happen so soon? we're really just entering the fall. >> it all comes down to did i believe americans would change their behavior or not. in some parts of the country, we did. we did socially distance. we did mask up. we spent more time outdoors. in other parts of the country we haven't done that. in those areas it's really not surprising that we're seeing a big exponential increase in

cases. and i'm very fearful for what the months ahead will bring us. >> first, president trump blamed increased testing for the rise in cases. t the data shows more cases. here's what he's saying about the shocking number of covid deaths in the u.s. listen. >> our doctors get more money if somebody dies from covid. you know that, right? i mean, our doctors are very smart people. so what they do is say, i'm sorry, but everybody dies of covid. but in germany and other places if you have a heart attack or cancer, you're terminally ill, you catch covid, they say you died of cancer, you died of heart attack. with us, when in doubt, choose covid. it's true. no, it's true. >> no, it's not true, but what's your response to that, doctor? >> well, just to be very clear, that is a lie. doctors do not manufacture diagnoses to get paid more. what we do on a death certificate is we list all of the different conditions that

contributed to somebody's death. and it's impossible to list coronavirus if somebody was not tested. so if anything, we are undercounting deaths related to the coronavirus. and this lie is all the more galling because while we are busy doing our jobs, the president has not shown leadership and commanded an effective public health response in the face of this crisis. and so here he is really spreading malicious lies about those of us who are working much harder. i personally have not taken a day off since february, since february. and we are being paid, many of us less, about a quarter of doctors are making 50% less over the course of the pandemic right now because of changes in their work schedules. and so to be spreading these kinds of lies is really demoralizing to those of white house have been working very hard over the last several months. >> and i think i speak for the majority of americans about how grateful we are for all of the hard work you are doing to save

our lives, to help our loved ones and our friends. thank you for all you do. it's not taken for granted by most of us. it is halloween today and so as people continue to make sacrifices and yet it's so challenging to continue in the modes that we are when we're, you know, not going out with people, not socializing as much as we want. is it safe for trick-or-treating? >> you know, halloween is a great holiday actually to be celebrating during the pandemic in that it really lends itself to many of the very measures that will help prevent coronavirus transmission. you can be outdoors. you can wear a mask, a cloth mask that's for coronavirus prevention under your costume. but there are a few other things that you should be keeping in mind. if you're going to be handing out candy, it's much better not to put that in a bowl where people can put their hands in and perhaps contaminate the other candy. set up a grab and go table,

perhaps at the end of the driveway so that you aren't getting into close contact with other people. keep your trick-or-treat group small and to those in your own household. and, you know, be aware. use common sense. if you yourself are sick, if you have somebody in your household who is sick or have been in contact with somebody who has coronavirus, it's probably not the year to participate in trick-or-treating. >> okay. all good advice. dr. celine gounder, thank you for your time and for all you do. up next -- it's not just president and vice president voters are choosing this election. 35 senate seats are also on ballots across the country. we're going to dig into the races that could determine the balance of power in washington, next. this is cnn's countdown to the election. ♪ i see you looking (na, na, na) ♪ ♪ i see you looking (uh) ♪ i see you looking ♪ watch what i do (camera clicks) ♪ watch what i do

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as we count down to the election, former president barack obama will campaign for democrats in georgia on monday. a state where republicans are holding their breath over a pair of competitive senate races. that's what republican senator david purdue is trying to fend off don oshoff. he's accused purdue of ignoring the coronavirus crisis and seeking to profit from it. >> well, perhaps senator purdue would have been able to respond properly to the covid-19 pandemic if you hadn't been fending off multiple federal investigations for insider trading. it's not just that you're a crook, senator. it's that you're attacking the health of the people that you

represent. >> now purdue was supposed to debate osshoff again tomorrow but he pulled out of this event to campaign with president trump in georgia instead. and in these final days, purdue has been avoiding the media. his campaign wouldn't disclose has plans. when cnn learned he was in central georgia, his supporters tried to block our camera or prevent any questions. >> trying to reach out to your campaign, but your campaign wouldn't tell us what you were doing, what you are doing. wondering why that was. >> you asking me a question? >> yeah, your -- >> i just talked to john oshoff. he was very critical about you. he said your comments about kamala harris were racist. >> well, that's about all he can talk about because he sure can't talk about his agenda. >> joining us now, former republican congresswoman from utah, mia love and former bill clinton white house campaign adviser paul begala. so avoiding reporters, skipping the last debate. what do you make of this?

>> well, i think that he was -- well, i think that it was better for him to skip the debate so that he can go out and campaign with president trump. obviously, he thinks that the support of the president is going to carry him, is going to at least help him and that that might be more beneficial than actually doing the debate. so i think that that's the reason he did it. i think he wants to ride the president's coat tails a little bit. >> was that the right call, do you think? >> i don't know. you know, you have to make -- he has to make those decisions. we'll find out, obviously, on election night. but i think whenever you get out and speak to the constituents and let them know where you stand on specific issues and you make sure that you let them know that they are your priority, not the white house, that you're there to support them and not the white house is always the better move. but i hope he knows his campaign better than i would. >> and the other georgia senate race, republican kelly l oweoef, her race has three candidates.

doug collins is also in that race and threatening to split republican support. we've seen loeffler completely embrace the president to the point where she claimed she didn't even know anything about the "access hollywood" tape. watch this. >> you are still not disagreeing with that particular -- with that particular thing that president trump said? you still aren't disagreeing with that. >> what are you referring to? >> you're still not disagreeing with president trump's statements about personally sexually assaulting women. >> i'm not familiar with that. >> the "access hollywood" tape. he's referring to the "access hollywood" tape. >> what do you think of that response. >> well, kelly loeffler didn't get that rich by being that stupid. she knows all about the "access hollywood" tape and it happened four years ago, senator. you have should a response. you should know about it. she does know about it. i don't know that for a fact but obviously we can presume that every being knows about the "access hollywood" tape.

she's trying to hide. she's in a terrible vice. her primary electorate -- she's in a jungle primary where both parties participate. the most avid republicans in her state of georgia love, love, love donald trump. congressman collins, a republican, is running at her, also for that trump vote. and meanwhile, reverend raphael warnock is able to consolidate all the democrats because he's the only democrat -- major democrat in that field. so she's in a terrible vice. i feel sorry for her, but you have to -- she owns a wnba team. she's got to up her team. she just got dunked on that. >> i'm sure you feel sorry for her, paul, as a democrat as well. let's talk about -- >> i'm a person, too. you don't want to see somebody humiliated. >> fair enough. let's talk arizona. republican senator martha mcsally in arizona, she refused to answer a question about whether she was proud of her support for the president. and that brings us to this rather awkward moment at a rally this week.

>> marthsa, come up quick. fast. come on, quick. you got one minute. one minute, martha. they don't want to hear this, martha. let's go. quick, quick, quick. let's go. >> all right. i'm coming. thank you, president trump! >> congresswoman, did that appearance there help her or humiliate her? >> well, i think actually the president is in a really tight race in arizona. i don't know if he pulls arizona off. i got some information that he is actually doing just a little better in arizona than he actually is doing in utah, which is saying something. but martha is doing well. i was out in arizona and saw martha several weeks ago. and she is working the streets. she is going out. she is probably doing the same thing, taking every opportunity to get as many people out to vote as possible. she's also been seen in a rally saying, look, even if you don't

like the president, you still need to vote down ballot because you don't know what's going to happen. we need a stronghold in -- we need a front line, as she puts it, in arizona. she's playing to both trump supporters and also maybe some of those who may not be as supportive of the president by saying, no matter how you feel about the president, we still have, if you are a republican, a front line that we have to hold just in case the president loses or you want to keep a republican senate. >> real quick, paul, before i come to you and this particular race in arizona, did i hear you correctly, mia, say you think donald trump is in a better position in arizona than he is in utah? could he lose utah? >> i don't think he will lose utah. i'm just saying that he's in a particular position in utah where, as republican presidents typically do very well in the state of utah, it's -- there's this sentiment that is not

working as well for him in the state of utah. i still think he wins the state of utah. hands down. but, it's not going to be as large of a margin as other republican presidents have had in the past. >> okay. so back to arizona. how significant would it be if mcsally's democratic challenger, mark kelly, ultimately takes the seat once held by john mccain? he has been ahead in all the latest polls. >> i think he can and i think he will. senator mcsally could have run as a mccain republican. but she didn't. she's running as a trump puppet. abject humiliation at the hands of the president. nobody is going to treat commander kelly that way. he's a navy pilot, hero, astronaut and the husband of another hero, gabby giveo giffoo

survived being shot. mark kelly is the kind of democrat who can win n he's very much in the john mccain mode. >> paul pbegala and mia love, thank you. president trump will be speaking at the first of four pennsylvania rallies he's holding today. and the supreme court recently weighed in on a legal challenge to voting rules there. just one of many. cross-examine with eli honig is next. you're watching cnn's countdown to the election. offers investors a broader view. ♪ we see companies protecting the bottom line by putting people first. we see a bright future, still hungry for the ingenuity of those ready for the next challenge. today, we are translating decades of experience into strategies for the road ahead. we are morgan stanley.

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the election now just days away, three days to be exact, the message to voters in many places is clear. it is too late to mail in your ballot. a court ruling about minnesota this week essentially moved up the deadline for mail-in ballots. now it is 8:00 p.m. election day itself. that's problematic for anyone in minnesota who may have mailed in their ballots in the last couple of days believing they have another week or so to be

delivered. in pennsylvania they upheld a deadline extension there allowing ballots received by november 6th to be count ed for now but the court made clear those ballots that arrive after election day could be disputed later. for now, pennsylvania officials plan to segregate those ballots that arrive after election day setting up a potential legal battle if those late arrival ballots end up being enough to swing the election. so we're watching that. in wisconsin, the trump campaign and republicans successfully fought a democratic attempt to extend the deadline for mail-in ballots to be received so all the ballots in wisconsin must arrive by election day. and that brings us to cross-exam with elie honig. he is here, like he is every weekend, to answer your questions. and we're going to focus this segment just on the legal challenges to voting and counting ballots. elie, let me start with this question from a voter in ohio who knows that president trump

and others have said that votes should not be counted after november 3rd. legally, is there any support for that? >> no, ana, there's no support whatsoever for that. simply put, the president's comments on this issue are both dangerous and wrong. let's start with the u.s. constitution. the constitution, of course, gives us the right to vote. it's one of our most treasured, cherished values. the constitution also specifically gives the states the rights to administer their own elections. in fact, federal law creates something called the safe harbor which is a time period. this year it's about five weeks, 35 days, specifically to allow the states to finish counting their ballots and then to certify their results. now every state has its own rules on how this works. 23 states which together carry a majority of the electoral college votes allow votes that arrive after november 3rd by mail to be counted. and when it comes to certifying, delaware gives itself two days to certify but every other state in the union gives itself at least a week to certify results.

viewers need to know, no state will formally officially certify its results on november 3rd on election day. the bottom line, we have reliable constitutional and legal processes in place, and it is simply false to suggest that any votes counted after november 3rd are somehow fraudulent or illegitimate or illegal. >> yeah, that's just not the case. i'm glad you laid it all out for us. as we went there, the supreme court has already weighed in on legal challenges regarding the deadlines for absentee ballots. but some of these rulings have seemed to contradict other rulings. one viewer wants to know how can the supreme court allow some states to extend their ballot deadlines but prevent other states from doing the same thing? >> this is a great question. when you are in law school they teach you the supreme court's decisions are sort of neat and orderly and principled. but then you get into the real world and see a week like this one where the supreme court returns this sort of confusing mess of decisions. somehow they allow extended

voting deadlines in pennsylvania, north carolina. disallow them in wisconsin. i think the best we can do is to break down the votes here. in all three cases, three justices voted consistently in favor of extended deadlines. breyer, sotomayor and kagan. and three justices voted in all three cases against. thomas, alito and gorsuch. and that leaves us with roberts and kavanaugh. they went different ways on different cases based on arcane procedural considerations. there's very little predictability here. a key point, amy coney barrett did not participate in these rulings. she didn't have enough time to get up to speed. if we see another case reach the court before or after the election, her vote will be influential, could even be decisive. >> and that leads to this next question specific to justice amy coney barrett. one viewer asks, should justice barrett recuse herself from any election related case involving president trump given that trump

himself nominated her? >> she should, but i think it's unlikely she will. here's the reason this is an issue. just days before president trump nominated amy coney barrett, he said publicly, we need nine. we need nine justices because i believe we will end up with an election case in front of the supreme court. that creates a conflict of interest for amy coney barrett because it creates at a minimum, an impression the president wants and expects that in return for the nomination he'll have her vote. she will have to decide for herself. there is a code of conduct that applies to all federal judges, except for some reason, it does not apply to the u.s. supreme court justices. so she will have to decide on her own. there's no way anybody else can force her or compel her to recuse. if she does stay on the court on these cases on election related cases, i believe if she rules on those cases, that will do real damage to public confidence in the legitimacy of the supreme court. >> elie honig, always good to have you here. thank you, sir. let's take you to bucks county, pennsylvania, where president trump has just about -- is just about to take

the stage there. we'll monitor and be right back. ? it's made for him a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids become a member. get an insurance quote today. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids i see you found the snacks. mmm, delicious! i need this recipe. everyone thinks i made them, but it's actually d-con. what was that? judy? d-con. mice love it to death.

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welcome back.

president trump is speaking live in bucks county, pennsylvania in the final push before election day. let's listen in. >> we love trump! we love trump! we love trump! >> but as you know, he just looked at me and shrugged. in fact, the anchor looked up and said y did you do it? she couldn't believe it. she was on his side. she said, why did you do it? why did you do it, and why did you say it? in 2016, pennsylvania voted to fire this failed and corrupt political establishment. and you voted for an outsider as president who is finally putting america first. and if i don't look like a typical politician, that's very

simple. it's because i'm not a politician. if i don't always play by the rules of washington and the washington establishment, it's because i was elected to fight for you, and i fought harder for you than any president in the history of our country. from day one, washington insiders have been trying to stop me because they do not own me and they do not control me. they want control. they don't like what i'm doing. they don't like what i've said to the big pharma, the drug companies, the number one lobbyist in the world. number one lobbyist in our country. they didn't like that i instituted favorite nations so that we now pay the lowest prices in the world for prescription drugs instead of the highest prices in the world.

if these corrupt forces succeed in electing joe biden, washington will see to it that another outsider never becomes president again. it will never happen again. and nobody has done in 3 1/2 years, nobody, no administration, no president, what we've done and what we've accomplished. and it's not even challenged. nobody even challenges that. they'll take back control, and they will never, ever give it up. this once in a lifetime opportunity to beat the corrupt politicians will be lost forever, and they know it. they are fighting so hard. and they hate what they're seeing because they're not looking at fake suppression polls anymore. now they're looking at the numbers that are pouring in. and they don't like the numbers that they're seeing in florida and in ohio and in north

carolina. and we think in pennsylvania, although those number comes in late. welcome to cnn's countdown to the election. i'm ana cabrera. it's a showdown in the coveted rust belt states. both candidates are going all in on these battlegrounds that helped president trump secure a win in 2016. in michigan this hour, joe biden and former president barack obama will hold their first joint event this election season. they are in flint right now. then later they'll travel to detroit together for an appearance with stevie wonder. for president trump, the key focus today is the keystone state which he won last time by less than 1%. and he is criss-crossing pennsylvania today with not one, not two, but four different stops. a stunning number of americans.

more than 90 million have already cast their ballots. but is the growing health crisis and another staggering headline that is top of mind for a lot of americans today. the u.s. has just set an all-time world record for new coronavirus cases in a single day with nearly 100,000 new infections on friday alone in the united states. let's kick things off this hour in flint, michigan, where joe biden and former president obama will take the stage later this hour. jessica dean joins us from %-p the only big name hitting the trail with biden today. >> yeah, that's right. stevie wonder going to join them as well later today. and, listen, we're in the critical battleground state of michigan. president trump in pennsylvania. these are states that, remember, had incredibly small margins back in 2016. so the biden campaign certainly looking to expand upon that. they want a resounding victory here in michigan on tuesday. and they are bringing their highest profile surrogate out

with them to really get the message of early voting out to michiganders and people in flint, michigan. again, expecting to see president obama with former vice president joe biden on this -- at this drive-in rally behind me. the cars all lined up. this is the first time we'll see these two men together on the campaign trail together in this cycle. we have seen president obama out on his own. he's been in florida and other places making the case on behalf of his former vice president. but again, this is going to be the first time we're going to see them together. people here very, very excited to see president obama as well as joe biden. >> michigan is a state that the president won, but it was the slimmest of margin. just 10,700 votes in 2016. so far in 2020, we know 2.6 million-plus michiganders have already voted. how confident is the biden campaign that michigan will go blue on tuesday night? >> here we are, what, two days

before, three days before election day and joe biden has two events in michigan. they are leaving nothing to chance. they are bringing president obama in. they knew this was and is a critical state for them. they are hoping to really build their coalition here that they're trying to build across the country. if you'll remember in the weeks leading up to this, we saw joe biden come to michigan and pitch that scranton versus park avenue message that he is really someone who understands everyday working people. really trying to get a lot of those white working class voters back on the side of democrats going into election day. they're also looking to bring in suburban voters, black voters in michigan, building that coalition that they think can be successful for joe biden. and we expect to hear him talk a lot about that today, ana. he's really, in his closing argument, it's been a lot about coming together. it's been a lot about the coronavirus pandemic and his promise to have a plan of action on day one. and also tying the economy to that. it's also been an indictment on president trump's leadership.

and vice president biden really going after trump and the administration for phony promises. and empty promises. and we expect to hear more of that here in michigan today. >> jessica, stay with me. we're look at live pictures right now of the biden campaign's airplane just touching down there in flint, michigan. we're awaiting former vice president biden to deplane. there he is along with his team there. everybody wearing masks, of course. as he prepares for this upcoming event in just a half hour-plus or so there in flint with former president barack obama. i'm curious what you're hearing on the ground about the anticipation of seeing these two men back together again. >> yeah, and again, it's the first time. so there is that anticipation of this being the first time seeing them together in this cycle. but, ana, the road behind me, all the cars are lined up to my left. they're all getting ready to go in. we're seeing flags, honking, all of that sort of thing. people excited to see these two

together. but i'm also want to draw attention to the fact this is clearly a drive-in rally which, such a contrast to the events we've seen from president trump at his rallies with no social distancing. few masks. people packed in together. the biden campaign, of course, taking a very different approach. the pandemic is a very clear issue where you can take -- you can see these two men have very different views of what they want to do leading forward. very clear choices for americans. and here on the biden side, that is all about following the science, following the doctors, social distancing, masks, and we're seeing that with these drive-in rallies. >> jessica dean, thank you. we'll check back. we'll continue to monitor this event as it gets under way here in 45 minutes. and as she talked about the coronavirus pandemic is impacting every single american. it's getting worse here in the u.s. the u.s. just set a world record for new coronavirus infections in a single day. nearly 100,000 cases recorded

yesterday alone in the united states. that is the highest one-day total of any country since the start of this pandemic. and right now, 41 states are showing an upward trend in new infections. deaths are also on the rise. more than 1,000 americans lost their lives to this virus just yesterday. dr. reiner is joining us. he's a professor of medicine at george washington university. dr. reiner, almost 100,000 new americans, new cases of americans who died in one day -- 100,000 new cases, another 1,000 who died. i am just wondering, are we nearing the next peak here or what are we in for? >> there's no sign that we're nearing the next peak, and we won't peak until we change our behaviors. and our behaviors that principally need to change are our lack of masking all over the country. this is not, as the president

said at a rally this weekend, being politically correct. it's medically correct. it's the way we protect our neighbors and our communities. and we need to avoid crowds. we have to socially distance. you can't go to a mass gathering now. we need to lower our viral footprint. 100,000 cases yesterday, two weeks from now will start to translate into massive numbers of deaths. so we're going to see, not just the cases continue to escalate but we're going to see perhaps 2,000 deaths per day, two or three weeks from now. >> as we look at these live pictures in pennsylvania right now, this big crowd, again, packed in close together listening to president trump in his final days of campaigning. you mentioned how he mocked, again, somebody for wearing a mask. and this time it was fox news host laura ingraham at a rally yesterday. i want to play that moment for

you. >> where is laura? where is she? where is laura? i can't recognize you. is that a mask? no way. are you wearing a mask? i've never seen her in a mask. look at you. she's being very politically correct. >> what's your reaction to the president ridiculing and downplaying the importance of masks? >> it's hard to comprehend so many months down the road now. if you think about how things could have been different should the president had, instead of mocking masks nine months ago, embraced masks, made it our patriotic duty to wear masks, we'd have maybe 150,000 fewer deaths right now. that's my reaction to it. >> when you compare what, you know, has been presented by joe

biden and his plan for the pandemic to what we've been dealing with, with president trump, how do you see the futures for america being different? >> well, i don't think we're going to change our outcomes until we change our behaviors. it's the inescapable conclusion is that we're not going to be able to change our behaviors until we change our leadership. the biggest change that i see with a potential biden presidency is a return to listening to scientists. to manage this pandemic through data and through science rather than political imperatives. we return to listening to true professionals. including people like anthony fauci. >> the top five daily case counts in the u.s. have come this week alone. and, yet, this is what don junior is saying. >> i went through the cdc.

i kept hearing about new infections. why aren't they talking about deaths? oh, because the number is almost nothing. because we've gotten control of this. we understand how it works. they have the therapeutics to be able to deal with this. >> yesterday we saw more than 1,000 u.s. deaths. do you think americans have become numb to this? >> no, americans haven't become numb to this. and americans are going to start to, unfortunately, start to see some of the things that we saw in new york in the darkest days of the pandemic in the spring. including in some states in the midwest perhaps refrigerated freezer trucks. the death count is going to skyrocket. there are a lot of people in this country who know a lot about epidemiology and the pandemic and viral diseases and don junior is not one of them. 230,000 people have died. and this number is escalating at a rapid rate. he knows nothing about this. he needs to keep his mouth shut.

>> made the memories of those nearly 230,000 americans be a blessing. our hearts are with their families today. thank you dr. jonathan reiner. thank you for all that you do. it's a busy day on the campaign trail. president trump is speaking at the first of four rallies in pennsylvania today. former president obama and former vice president joe biden will be speaking together later in flint, michigan. and we are continuing to dip in. we'll continue to cover them for you and bring you live parts of each of those rallies. stay with us. this is cnn's countdown to the elerks. e times. but some things are too serious to be ignored. if you still have symptoms of crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis even after trying other medications, it may be a sign of damaging inflammation, which left untreated, could get much worse. please make an appointment to see your gastroenterologist right away. or connect with them online. once you do, seeing the doctor is one less thing to worry about. need help finding a doctor? head to crohnsandcolitis.com

however, there is one thing you can be certain of. the men and woman of the united states postal service. we are here to deliver your cards, packages and prescriptions.

and also deliver the peace of mind knowing that what's important to you-like your ballot-is on its way. every day, all across america, we deliver for you. and we always will.

welcome back. right now president trump is in bucks county, pennsylvania, holding his first of four rallies in that state today. we will take you there in just a little bit. in the meantime, let's discuss the state of our country today. cnn's senior political analyst and former adviser to four presidents, david gergen is with us, along with political analyst

and legendary watergate journalist carl bernstein. so great to have you both with us. this election and the pandemic go hand in hand. yesterday the u.s. set a world record for most coronavirus cases set in a single day. more than 99,000. and yet, instead of acknowledging that reality, the president is pushing an outrageous claim that doctors are inflating the death count to get more money. here he is. >> our doctors get more money if somebody dies from covid. you know that, right? i mean, our doctors are very smart people. so what they do is they say, i'm sorry, but, you know, everybody dies of covid. >> fact check, that is not true. carl, what did you make of that? >> that it's part of a strategy that is -- that really is about total lying to accomplish his ends to create a lack of reality about what is in front of everybody's face in america.

that we are up to the highest number of cases per day that we have seen in so long. that people are dying by the thousands. that he has put himself in a position that because of his negligent homicide, really, we have hundreds of thousands of people who have died in this country because of his unwillingness to deal as a real leader with the covid epidemic. if you look at bob woodward's book and listen to bob woodward's tapes with him, the president himself indicts himself. by saying, yes, i knew, but i didn't want to panic the american people. and, therefore, for two months, no action was taken to meaningfully deal with this virus which is rampaging through our nation and causing endless deaths. >> gentlemen, please stand by. i hope to come back in a moment. i want to take everyone to kamala harris speaking right now

in florida. >> because, again, when we talk about what's at stake in this campaign and in this election, the well-being and the future of the residents of miami garden is part of what is at stake. so i wanted to come by the congressman's convening -- the congresswoman's convening of these community leaders to listen to them and to speak with them about what joe biden and i intend to do as it relates to many issues that are about empowerment of community, that are about reforming the criminal justice system, that is about what we need to do to create economic opportunity and to also just thank the leaders who are here who really are role models in the nation for what can happen when we do the right thing in terms of investing in the capacity of human beings. and so i want to thank you, congresswoman, for inviting us to join you. and i know that i think this is the first visit to miami gardens

of anybody on the ticket. at least this cycle. but it was very important to me these three days before the election that we not let the election happen without having visited with the leaders here today. so thank you. >> thank you so much for coming. 5,000 role models. it's a mentoring program. we take little boys in elementary school and raise them through middle school and high school and -- >> the vice presidential nominee campaigning right now in florida. i want to come back to david gergen and carl bernstein. when we look at where all the candidates are today. you have kamala harris there in florida. you have joe biden alongside former president barack obama in michigan. here coming up within this hour. and then you have president trump, we played at the top of the hour in pennsylvania. we know the vice president, mike pence, is in north carolina. what do these states tell you about their strategies, what they are thinking in these days

leading into the election? >> well, they tell me that, among other things, i think that donald trump still has a fighting chance to win this. there's no question, though, that joe biden is running ahead by eight or nine points. it's been a steady lead. he's had the lead since this started. donald trump has not been ahead of him in a single poll. the way they're -- there are still these battleground states. joe biden has a clear lead in the upper midwest and in western pennsylvania. if he takes michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania and holds on to the states hillary won, he's ahead everywhere where hillary won. that's it. it's over. if they can get those three key states, it's over. he also wants a backup plan, an insurance policy just in case it doesn't get there. is florida possible? even is texas possible, is georgia possible? that's why they're scattered. >> we've been trying to prepare our viewers.

the president has already gone on twitter to say the election should end on november 3rd, not weeks later. but it's going to take time to count all those mail-in ballots. some counties in pennsylvania, for example, say they won't even start counting mail-in ballots until the morning after the election. so if it does take days or possibly even weeks to know the winner, how perilous could that time be for the country? >> we will have, and we already are in because of the president's pronouncements and rhetoric and what he is doing to suppress voters in this election, that we are in a constitutional crisis already. and that can become very dire in the coming days. let's everybody here take a deep breath and really look at what donald trump's so-called election strategy is. his strategy is a coup. he is attempting a coup by

undermining the very electoral system in our country through voter suppression. through trying to denigrate and demean and intimidate voters. and his strategy which he has announced himself is to not allow an honest count. to say this is a rigged election. to call on all kinds of measures. use the courts. use poll watchers who are videotaping and intimidating voters. to throw everything he can to try and reduce the number of ballots cast by democratic voters and increase the number of republican ballots cast. we've never seen anything like this in our history. we've never had a president of the united states trying to undermine the very casting of votes. and on top of that, you just look at the evidence, for instance, of the postal service.

at his postmaster general's beck and call. he could not even get the ballots to be counted and put on the trucks in such a way that there would be expeditious counting of the ballots because of an undermining attempt. it's like letting air out of the tires of those postal service trucks so people will be disenfranchised. we report is seen anything like this since dixiecrats, democratic southern segregationists tried to keep black people from voting in this country for half a century. this is unprecedented. it's a constitutional crisis. >> we are seeing a response from the american people who are trying to take back their democracy with these record early voting turnout numbers from states like texas to north carolina to pennsylvania and so forth. david, we do know the president's path is narrower than biden's. but there's still a path for him to win. we all know what happened in

2016 when hillary clinton didn't spend the time in the rust belt states and some of the polls ended up being wrong. president trump's campaign is touting a ground game like no other. they believe that could be underestimated this time around. what do you think? >> i think there are hidden trump voters still. just as there were last time. but i think there are a lot fewer than there were before. and i don't think their ground game has been all that effective. i think what's happened is we've had an avalanche of voters who are coming out spontaneously. i think there's something, you know, carl is right. there's a very dark threat to democracy in this election. and we're going to have to fight it every step of the way. but i think on the other side of that is, in fact, that a lot of americans are doing just that. they're fighting back by going out to the polls. and they are doing it in droves. people are getting on airplanes and going home because it's so important to them to get trump out for the most part. there are some trump supporters,

but for the most part, some people we're seeing stand up at the polls, they are in effect anti-trump voters. they're not drawn to biden so much as they are so anti-trump and they want this over. they're exhausted. people are exhausted of all of this emotionally. i do think that it's some good news for democracy. we've got this many people out. 90 million, 100 million before the voting even starts on tuesday. i think that's good news for the country. and i think it's going to be good news for the country that people aren't going to put up with all these shenanigans. carl is right. places like pennsylvania, you can have a lot of shenanigans and tie this up in court and eventually bring it to the electoral college. let's remember the forces of light. i do think most americans are prepared to be patient about counting these votes. we need to count the votes. and then we can figure out, where do we stand? but we shouldn't be taken in by the votes just at when people show up on tuesday. we need to remember these ballots that are coming in from

afar. the absentee and the mail. because you'll find a lot of democratic votes there. >> david gergen, carl bernstein, thank you so much. we'll talk to you again soon. >> thank you. president trump, former vice president biden are stumping across the country pitching their plans to voters. many of whom are voting right now in early voting. we'll take you live to key battleground states, next. this is cnn's countdown to the election. and, in more and more cities, the unprecedented performance of ultra wideband. the fastest 5g in the world. it will change your phone and how businesses do everything. i'm proud, because we didn't build it the easy way, we built it right. this is the 5g america's been waiting for. only from verizon. and i want to tell you about my husband joe. i first met joe two years after a car accident

injured his sons and killed his wife and his baby daughter. his life had been shattered. but as one of joe's favorite quotes reminds us, "faith sees best in the dark." joe's faith helped him channel his grief into purpose. it gave him the strength to fight hard for other people's families in the senate, and then take a two hour train ride home every day to be there for his own. right now a lot of families are hurting, and i know in my heart that if we entrust this nation to joe, he will do for these families what he did for ours. bring us together. help us find light in the darkness. keep hope for the future alive in all of us. i'm joe biden, and i approve this message.

only three days until election day. tens of millions of americans have already cast their ballot. our cnn correspondents are

covering all the action in the key battleground states. let's take you there beginning with cnn's gary tuchman in cleveland, ohio. set the scene for us this final weekend before the election. >> ana, it's loud and festive here on the early voting line. the mission is almost completed for these folks because this is the end of the line or the end of the time in line. it's the beginning of the line to go inside. how long have you been waiting so far? giving us the answer. >> an hour and a half. >> i will tell you, thanks for talking with us. it's warm inside. >> no problem. i'm not cold. >> oh, good. people are dressed very warmly because it is sunny out but very cold in cuyahoga county. there's a parade taking place. this is a biden/harris parade. about 40 cars driving up and down this road honking their horns, imploring people in this line to vote for joe biden. but, of course, his opponent, donald trump, in a race that certainly is getting a lot of attention. the horns that are honking here. i can tell you this line right

now, i just counted. there are 445 people in the line, waiting for early voting. what i can tell you is this. this is the 22nd early day of voting. tomorrow on sunday will be the 23 rd day and even on monday they have early voting. that's 24 days. and there's a lot of hours. but there are not a lot of locations for early voting. under ohio law, you only have one location in each and every county. cuyahoga county which has 1.2 million people only has this location at the elections office. that's one of the reasons the lines have been so long. how are you doing waiting in the line? >> good. >> how long did you come here? >> we only live like 20 minutes. >> for example, at fulton county, go go, where i live, there's 30 places for early voting. here there's one place. was it hard to get here? >> no, no. >> in other places you can go in your neighborhood. >> it's worth it. it's an important election. we need it for america. >> i didn't ask this guy's name but it says right here.

thank you, antonio. >> she flew in from missouri to vote. >> she's in ohio, it's the wrong place to be. >> oh, she's from ohio originally. one other thing i want to tell you is that in addition to early voting here, you cannot early vote, you can have an absentee ballot. if you have your absentee ballot, you are allowed to drive through like the fast food restaurant. you drive up to this guy right here. you don't have to get out of your car and you can hand in your ballot right there. that's a situation right here. ohio is a very close state. too close to call in the polls right now. now we go to my colleague and friend randi kaye who is in the battleground state of florida. >> hey, gary. we're not seeing the lines you're seeing here in lauder hill florida. only a couple of days left for early in-person voting. the reason we're not seeing the lines probably is so many millions of floridians have already voted. 8.3 million floridians have already voted in the early voting here in the state of

florida. registered democrats still leading registered republicans by about 116,000 votes. certainly that is getting a lot tighter. democrats aren't too happy about that. it's one of the reasons why, instead of just on sundays they had today here in this area a souls to the polls event. that's usually the weekend before election day but they had one today. we have video of them. they came here. went to the ballot box. they were dropping off their ballots. one way to get african-americans to get to the polls. try and make sure that their vote counts. and that their voice is heard. part of the reason they want to do that is because we're getting a lot of news about ballot rejection here in the state of florida. a professor with the university of florida telling me that ballots are being rejected at a rate of 2 to 1 for african-americans and latino voters versus white voters. that is a 2 to 1 margin there. and that is a big reason why they are trying to get out the vote here today.

we spoke with desmond mead who was coordinating the souls to the polls. also a big voice in getting these former felons which florida approved under amendment 4 to get them to the polls and that's been a real issue trying to make sure that they can pay off their restitution in order to vote. we spoke with him about all of that. here's what he had to say. >> we're going to make sure that these first time voters, people who have never voted in their lives and voted for the first time at 60, 70, 80 years old, right, that is something to celebrate, right? that is something that we will want to have more of. and that's exactly what we're doing. we're going to protect their right to vote. we're going to make sure they get a chance to experience what i experienced, right, when i voted for the first time in over 30 years in the primary and for my first ever presidential election last week. >> and i mentioned these ballot rejections. that's because of missed signatures or mismatched

signatures. this professor tells me a lot of these are being cured or fixed here in the state of florida. they have the time now. as we get closer to election day, that time will be running out to -- in order to fix those ballots. but they will have until 5:00 p.m. on november 5th, two days after the vote to actually fix those ballots. now let's check in with my colleague, ryan young. he is in milwaukee. ryan? >> randi, a lot of excitement in this state. this is a state a lot of people are paying attention to. a battleground state. you can't turn on the radio or television without getting hit with a commercial for one of the sides involved in this. joe biden knows he needs this. he was in state yesterday. president trump knows he needs this state as well. he was here as well yesterday. we also believe melania trump will be in the state some time today. if you look at the crowds here. it's been swelling and have ebb and flowing throughout the day. before we arrived here there was a line of people who were trying to get into this building to cast their vote. we know more than 1.7 million

people have already cast their vote in the state of wisconsin. and people, of course, are paying attention to it because they know this is a battleground state. this has been one of the hot spots. early voting is still continuing in milwaukee county and milwaukee city. the rest of this state so far has already completed early voting. they know more than 56% of the people who are registered to vote in this county have already done so. they believe they not have long lines throughout the next few days, when election day starts. the other point to stress is let's talk about the coronavirus. when you see people here, you can see them masked up, taking their ppe very seriously. especially with the fact that more than 5,000 people just tested positive yesterday in the state of wisconsin. but the director of elections for this area says things have been moving well. in fact, take a listen. >> 58% of our registered voters have already voted. when you go out on election day, still be patient. if you haven't registered to vote, make sure you bring the proper information.

everyone has to bring an i.d., a picture, a photo i.d. in order to vote. >> ana, quickly, here's the key. people might have their ballot at home and might be waiting to turn it in. they do not want them to put it in the mail. now is the time to bring it in to a polling place. they do not want it put in the mail because it can take seven days before it arrived. they don't want that to become an issue the next few days. ana? >> it's truly inspiring to see americans turn out to vote like they are now. ryan young, gary tuchman, randi ka kaye, appreciate it. tune in this tuesday, election night in america. our special coverage at 4:00 p.m. eastern. we're back after this. if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back,

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issue. in a time when unity and leadership is vital, the democrats want to project feelings of fear and doubt fully for political reasons. shame on anyone who casts doubt on potential effectiveness of a vaccine just because it would come under my husband's leadership. the success of a vaccine will save millions of lives, and we should all work towards that together and as one nation. this administration has worked tirelessly to support families and people struggling financially during this pandemic. while democrats in congress refuse to sign another stimulus

package. such selfish politically corrupt decisions are what separate the swamp politicians from president trump and his administration. we are not politicians who have worked in washington for long time. my husband is here to make a difference for you and your families. he has done so much already. imagine what he will get done in four more years. >> four more years! four more years! four more years! four more years! >> joe biden said he will -- it will be a dark winter. that is not the statement of a

leader. he wants to make us hide in fear in our basements rather than work bravely within our communities to find lasting solutions. his solution is to move backwards and to shut things down. when my husband talks about the future, it is fueled with continuous possibility and forward thinking. this administration chooses to keep moving forward during this pandemic, not backward. but moving forward, we demonstrate a fundamental value of our nation. our ability to rise to any challenge and overcome any hurdle. it's what sets us apart from any other country in the world. we have made great progress in

our fight against covid-19. this virus is one that has impacted every country around the globe. when covid-19 invaded our country, we first had to learn what it was, how it spreads and how to prevent it. instead of unifying our country and coming together in this time of need, the media and the democrats together chose to attack the administration. it was joe biden who accused president trump of xenophobic hysteria for putting the american people first and closing travel from china and parts of europe. now they are saying we didn't do enough. our actions say otherwise.

president trump isn't a career politician like both joe biden and kamala harris. he's a president with proven results, not empty words and broken promises. i watched donald continue to work hard to keep people informed and calm, to protect our economy and make hard and unpopular decisions to do all he could to keep us all safe. look what we have overcome together. look at the progress we have made to ensure our children continue to grow up in the safest and most prosperous nation. we now have careful safety measures in place in every city and state. this safely --

>> you're listening to melania trump stumping in west bend, wisconsin. her husband, president trump, a state where cases are on the rise, where the coronavirus just recording record high hospitalizations there on friday. we'll continue to listen in. we'll bring you additional highlights as we continue here in the newsroom. stay with us. you're watching cnn. serious to . if you still have symptoms of crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis even after trying other medications, it may be a sign of damaging inflammation, which left untreated, could get much worse. please make an appointment to see your gastroenterologist right away. or connect with them online. once you do, seeing the doctor is one less thing to worry about. need help finding a doctor? head to crohnsandcolitis.com need help finding a doctor? some companies still have hr stuck between employeesentering data.a. changing data. more and more sensitive, personal data. and it doesn't just drag hr down.

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any moment now, we expect to see joe biden and former president obama on stage together. they're about to hold the first of two drive-in rallies today in the critical battleground state of michigan. back with us, former clinton white house adviser and republican congresswoman from utah, kind of a lightning round here because we're short on time. let me start with you, paul. in a short time from now, we'll see former president obama with joe biden in michigan. we're told obama's speech today will be shorter, fewer, trump zingers, focus on his personal testimonial for biden. what kind of impact do you think that will have, bringing them together to close out this campaign? specifically in michigan? >> it warms my heart.

i saw barack obama win michigan twice. i was proud to help him in the 2012 election for the superpac that supported him. the outcome with them is genuine and real and i think it's going to help a lot. >> president trump focusing all his energy in pennsylvania. he's holding four events in the commonwealth. what's the the strategy there? >> well, remember that joe biden has president obama there. pennsylvania is absolutely in play. the fact that obama won pennsylvania in 2012, trump won in 2016, they don't want to take pennsylvania for granted. they'll do everything they can and hope that the same people that came up and showed up for president trump in 2016 will do the same thing again. >> paul, in the final days before the election, biden and the dnc are expected to outspend the trump campaign and the rnc by nearly $20 million in ads and in fact, we just learned of one

in florida with the former president obama, targeting spanish speaking voters there. with so many people though having already voted and the vast majority having already decided who they're supporting, do these ads actually work? >> well, they help. they help cover areas where you can't go. it's much more important where you go, and the president is campaigning fespecially in pennsylvania. i'm surprised he squandered his financial lead. never seen a president outspent in the final of his campaign, but i'm sure he'll want to look at when he loses. >> a virtual chat with lebron james, and discuss the importance of voting. listen to lebron talk about his mom's recent experience which was the first time voting. >> i don't know if this was her first time voting but the first time she talked about it. i believe it's her first time voting and so proud of herself and i was proud of her, just. >> you tell her i'm proud of her. >> thank you, i will for sure.

>> you tell her, barack and michelle give her much love and respect. >> absolutely. she sent me a video today, after she voted, she had a sticker on her chest. she was so damn proud of herself and i was proud, it's a beautiful thing. >> touching exchange there. congressman, what's your reaction to hearing this personal voting story? >> it's beautiful. my dad told me he was able to vote when he came from haiti. he took the responsibility incredibly seriously and he said that he was proud. he was able to pledge his allegiance to the american flag and he understood his responsibility was not just to take on the benefits of being an american citizen but also the requirements and the responsibilities and voting was one of them, and he said ronald reagan was his very first vote, so those stories are incredibly touching and i think it's the american story and it's the american dream and i hope everyone realizes how important it is to get out, learn about

positions and votes. >> thank you so much. that does it for me. i'm ana cabrera in new york. any minute now, we'll hear joe biden and barack obama speaking there in flint, michigan. we'll bring that to you live here on cnn, and if you haven't already, make a plan to vote. my colleague, brianna keilar, picks up cnn's coverage after a quick break.

hi there. i'm brianna keilar. immaterial i want welcome our voters here and around the world. three days left until america votes and a flurry of campaign activity today. last hour, barack obama in michigan alongside joe biden. the pair now heading to another campaign stop in detroit. the president ping-ponging

between four separate rallies in pennsylvania. the early vote totals are simply massive at this point. 90 plus million americans have cast ballots. the weekend script for both candidates putting the big focus on the battleground map. cliche is cliche for a reason. turnout matters in the final days. team biden and team trump are looking to drive coalitions that are key to their math. biden is focusing on african-american voters and suburban women voters. trump on white working class and rural voters who propelled his 2016 surprise win. the other impossible to ignore factor this weekend, the coronavirus surge. the president today telling voters that the u.s. is rounding the turn. it is a lie every time he says it. and the nationwide numbers show a picture that is sad and that is storming. 47 states failing to push down their coronavirus curve, only three states are trending in a positive