real pleasure. >> sure thing great to be with you. steve: there you go. well that's going to wrap up this very busy addition of fox & friends thank you very much for joining us, we're going to hand it over to america's news room, we'll see you back here tomorrow. >> sandra: sandra smith. >> trace: good morning, everyone. i'm trace gallagher. vice president mike pence and senator kamala harris going back and forth on the white

house response to the pandemic. the vice president insisting the administration has done everything in its power to keep americans safe. senator harris arguing the without was asleep at the switch. >> the american people have witnessed the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country, 210,000 dead people in our country in the last several months. over 7 million people who have contracted this disease. 1 in 5 businesses closed. >> from the very first day president donald trump has put the health of america first. we were able to see to the delivery of billions of supplies so our doctors and nurses had the resources for what they needed. >> sandra: fox team coverage for you, dan henninger with debate reaction, we begin with chief white house correspondent john roberts reporting live from the north lawn this morning. so john, where do things go

from here? >> anybody's guess. good morning sandra and trace. one more thing to the pile of twists and turns of this 2020 election. it is unclear at this hour what the status of the second debate is going to be next thursday in miami. president trump was pushing hard to get better, get out of the white house and be there. now he is saying he is not going to take part in a virtual debate. what he told maria bartiromo of fox business a short time ago. >> president trump: i'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. they called up two minutes ago and it was announced and they're trying to protect biden. >> the trump campaign slamming the commission on presidential debates for making a unilateral decision to make next thursday's debate virtual. the campaign manager in a lengthy statement saying for the swamp creatures of the presidential debate commission to rush to joe biden's defense

by cancelling an in-person debate is pathetic. president trump will have posted negative tests before the debate. the safety of all involved can be easily achieved without canceling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head-to-head. we'll pass on this sad excuse to bail out joe biden and do a rally instead. the biden campaign apparently fine with the commission on presidential debates decision. the deputy campaign manager in a statement a short time ago saying vice president biden looks forward to speaking directly to the american people and comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with donald trump's failed leadership on coronavirus that has thrown the strong economy into the worst downturn since the great depression. the commission on presidential debates is clearly worried about the fact that the president and many people here at the white house have come down with coronavirus. at least tested positive.

not coming down with the disease in the last couple of weeks. wants to take this step for the protection of all. in order to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate, it will take the form of a town meeting in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations. we do not know at this hour what the president's coronavirus status is. the white house has not told us if he continues to test positive or if he has had any negative tests. again, in that interview this morning with maria bartiromo the president saying he is ready to get out there and that he is feeling great. listen here. >> president trump: first of all, i think i'm better. to a point where i would love to do a rally tonight. i wanted to do one last night. but i think i'm better to a point that i feel better than i did, you know, i jokingly said 20 years ago. i feel perfect. there is nothing wrong. i had a case, i got it knocked

out. i think it was regeneron that was responsible for it. because of that, it was sort of like almost a gift from heaven. >> the president talking about the regeneron, a drug cocktail on friday that he says was like a gift from heaven that he started feeling better almost immediately after taking that. the bottom line here, sandra, we don't know if this is just a negotiating tactic on the part of the trump campaign or if they have made a firm decision that they are not going to be there if it is a virtual debate. see if they can put pressure on the commission to reverse their decision. >> sandra: the timeline as far as the presidential debate commission letting the campaigns know about the virtual nature of this planned debate next week, the president said in that interview i believe that he found out the same time that we all did just moments before he began that interview with maria. >> yeah. that is part of the problem is

that the campaign is declaring this was a unilateral decision. they didn't know about it. it is interesting to note, though, that not long after the president said it, the campaign was out with a fairly comprehensive statement. i am not sure if they had writers who wrote it quickly or the whole thing about what the president was saying to maria and what the campaign did was coordinated. we'll look into that. >> sandra: it is rather lengthy and signed by bill stepien who is also fighting the coronavirus. we'll have brand-new reaction to all of this from white house economic advisor larry kudlow. he will be joining us live coming up moments from now. >> can you imagine if you knew on january 28th as opposed to march 13th? they knew and they covered it up. >> when you look at the biden plan it reads an awful like lot

what president trump and our task force have been doing every step of the way. looks like plagiarism which is something joe biden knows about. >> we knowed reform of our policing in america. >> there is no excuse for what happened to george floyd. justice will be served. there is also no excuse for the rioting and looting that followed. i mean, it really is astonishing. >> trace: vice president mike pence and kamala harris keeping it cordial for the most part. they traded issues on whether a biden harris administration would pack the supreme court. griff, quite a contrast from last week's debate in cleveland. >> yeah, that's right, trace. good morning. we're certainly not in cleveland anymore. much more civil in the hall

behind me. the plexiglas didn't stop any of the punches being thrown because when it came to that coronavirus we saw senator harris delivering her harshist criticism at vice president pence over the administration's handling of it. that heated exchange continued as the covid conversation turned to a vaccine. >> if the doctors tell us that we should take it i'll be the first in line to take it absolutely. if donald trump tells us we should take it, i won't take it. >> we'll have a vaccine in record time. in unheard of time. in less than a year. the fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in the vaccine, if a vaccine emerges during the trump administration is unconscionable. >> we saw vice president pence going on the attack attempting to draw senator harris out over her record. >> you did nothing on criminal

justice reform in california. you didn't lift a finger to pass the first step act on capitol hill. the reality is your record speaks for itself. >> he attacks my record i would like an opportunity to respond. i will not be lectured by the vice president on our record of what we have done in terms of law enforcement in keeping our communities safe. >> the voters certainly served better by this debate getting a better picture seeing where the candidates stand. the contrast drawn on issues. when you break the clock down they spoke for almost equal time. harris just under 34 minutes, pence just over 35. the fly spent 2 minutes 03 seconds on pence's head. time will only tell if it will move the needle on where the race stands. in the latest fox news poll you see biden leading by 10, 53-43.

we'll see those candidates, harris, pence and joe biden on the campaign trail all in the state of arizona today. trace. >> trace: hopefully the fly stays behind. griff jenkins live from salt lake city. >> sandra: bring in dan henninger deputy editor for the "wall street journal" and fox news contributor. more on the debate in a moment. first the news this morning the presidential debate commission has now decided that next week's presidential debate, the second one of three, will be completely virtual, not in miami as planned and the president moments later on fox business saying he will not debate virtually. dan. >> i'm sorry, sandra. i think the debate commission did blindside the candidates on this with this sudden announcement. let us not forget donald trump is the author of the art of the

deal. and any such statement should, i think, be taken as an opening negotiating position on this. i'm not certain that mr. trump will, in fact, not show up anywhere next week for a debate. he and his team are going to discuss this and negotiate this with the commission. having said that, i think it would be a bad idea if the president were to forego any kind of debate format next week. the fact is he is behind in the polls. and the election at this point has about 90% of the electorate already decided who they will vote for. the battle is over 5 to 7% undecided voters and the president needs to find a way to move those voters into his column. i don't think his experience with covid did that. last week's debate did not do that. i would guess that mr. biden would be all together satisfied not to have a debate next week and not to talk about the

issues that kamala harris is ducked in her debate with mike pence last night. incidentally i also think that mr. trump does very well in town hall settings. i think he is more relaxed. he -- if they can assure in a virtual setting that vice president biden would not be using tell prompters so they might even have to sweep the room for bugs that it would not be the worst kind of venue for the president to appear in. >> sandra: pam bondi made that point. they would have to have assurances there wasn't anything like that going on. you reference some of those exchanges last night with mike pence and kamala harris. one of those was over court packing. mike pence really pressed her on this and didn't really get a response. >> are you and joe biden going to pack the court? >> in 1861. >> i would like you to answer the question.

>> let's talk about packing. >> you gave a non-answer. joe biden gave a non-answer. people deserve a straight answer. the record should reflect she never answered the question. >> sandra: one of a handful of key moments on the debate stage last night. >> yeah. i think it was very, very revealing as vice president pence called it a non-answer. i was trying to keep track on that, sandra. it seemed to me that kamala harris failed to answer at least five key issues right from the start when she was asked whether the biden/harris team would continue or support shutdowns over covid she wouldn't answer that. whether they align themselves with the green new deal she ducked that. on our relationship with china she couldn't talk about it. when asked about whether she would support any restrictions on abortion, no answer. finally culminating in the

court packing issue, which she really refused to answer. so there is obviously a sense in which the biden-harris campaign is trying to put a lot of distance between itself and the left wing of the democratic party, which is actually a -- president trump should put those questions to biden and draw distinctions the biden-harris team has refused to talk about. >> sandra: and maybe why this was written. mike penn's reelection case told voters facts about the biden agenda they haven't heard. vp debates rarely change the course of the election. gop ticket remains far behind. the clash shows that mr. pence is much more than merely a loyal deputy and harris's views

are more to the left than they want americans to know. they have to have a policy contrast to have any chance of victory and mr. pence showed how to do it. dan, does the editorial board declare anybody a winner from last night's debate? >> i think yeah, i think mike pence was clearly the winner. kamala harris certainly did not win. she had to show that she could do a workman-like job. sandra, i think one of the other issues we haven't talked about too much was it is assumed given joe biden's health status and so forth he might not finish out a first term. running in the background has always been the question of whether kamala harris was able to step up to the presidential level. i honestly did not think she did that last night. i think she provided a kind of proforma workman-like vice presidential candidate performance but really didn't

strike me as presidential. mike pence clearly had a grasp of the facts. he understood in detail what was going on inside the u.s. domestically and foreign affairs especially. so on that point i think he clearly was the stronger debater. >> sandra: we'll have continued reaction to the big debate last night as we go through the morning. dan henninger, appreciate your time this morning. thank you, sir. >> trace: fox news alert. hurricane delta heading straight for the gulf coast after making landfall in mexico. threat is posing to louisiana. new weekly unemployment numbers and what they reveal about the state of the economy. white house economic advisor larry kudlow is here to react to that as well as to last night's debate. >> joe biden believes you measure the health and strength of america's economy based on the health and strength of the american worker. >> we have spared no expense to help the american people. y pay r what you need.

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>> mandatory evacuations underway from louisiana to mississippi. hurricane warnings now in

effect throughout the gulf coast as the category 2 storm approaches. it already slammed mexico's yucatan peninsula triggering widespread flooding and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. it is expected to make landfall in southwest louisiana sometime tomorrow afternoon. >> sandra: this just in. new weekly jobless numbers showing 840,000 americans applied for unemployment benefits last week alone. white house economic advisor larry kudlow joins us now. good morning to you, larry. always appreciate your time. what does this number tell you about how this economic recovery is going? because that's still -- that number hovers at an historic high for this country. as of this morning, 29 weeks since the coronavirus lockdowns began the number totals 63 million. that works out to 40% of the u.s. labor force. this is a lot of americans still hurting as a result of

this pandemic. >> i don't deny that a lot of americans are still hurting. i think there is still a lot of hardship out there. i do want to note these weekly unemployment claims have fallen sharply from the peaks registered in mid to late april, early may. they have been trending lower now for five months. i also want to add to that, sandra, continuing claims which is the actual payments, not the applications but the payments fell sharply by over 1 million. that number is usually a pretty good forecaster of the next month's job. so i think labor situation is looking much better. we're moving in the right direction. i might add 2/3 of the return jobs come from the lower wage end so we're prospering there. it is a tough battle. it is not going to be done just in five months after the

terrible pandemic contraction and all that went with it. the reality is the economy is in the right direction and still looks to me very much like a v-shaped recovery. you'll have a huge number for q3 gdp. we've been saying 20% plus. the fed and others and goldman sachs saying 35%. housing boom, auto boom, retailing boom, manufacturing boom going on to restock inventories. when you look at the all the numbers you see a strong self-sustaining recovery. i still think we should have some of the target assistance packages that president trump and steve mutschin are talking about. the economy is in have good footing and recover everything faster than anybody thought. even the federal reserve has

upped its economic growth forecast for the second half of this year and early next year. >> sandra: i want to point out the new claims are the lowest, although still very high, the lowest since march 14th. the continuing claims you point out, another important number, almost 11 million but still the lowest since march 28th, larry. the president joined maria bartiromo on fox business and asked why he ended those stimulus talks knowing so many people still need help including american businesses. here was his response. >> president trump: shutdown talks two days ago because they aren't working out. it wasn't the workers fault or airlines fault that china did this. >> sandra: larry, you are advising the president. you see what's happening in the economy. can you tell the american people that something gets done before election day? does it? >> i would like to. i don't think the recovery itself depends on the so-called

assistance package. however importantly we have made targeted pleas for assistance in key areas and now the president believes we should shift into a stand-alone bill to get the key points through. the big package had way too much spending for state and local bail-outs. ended the hyde amendment. federal funding for abortion. additional healthcare for illegal immigrants. a whole bunch of things in there that had nothing to do with covid or economic recovery. now we've been asking secretary mnuchin doing a great job of difficult negotiations. we would like to see some unemployment assistance. we had an executive order but that won't last forever. we need congress for unemployment assistance. like to extend the ppp small business loans. money left over, $135 billion. let's use it. the president has signed off on the assistance checks.

they will be direct mail. we need legislation to do that. we also want to help the kids get back to school and make the schools as safe as possible. now, those are just vital targeted assistance areas that would strengthen the economy, deal with covid, and help those. you mentioned before correctly there is a lot of folks unemployed and a lot of hardship. >> sandra: this is an important issue. >> let's help them in a targeted way. >> sandra: i have limited time. we would like to see this on the debate stage. the president said virtual no thank you. do you think he should still do the debate even if it's virtual? >> i think you'll see a renegotiation of that. i think the president is getting well. he will pass the test and will be showing negative testing, so i'm not sure that's going to happen. i do want to say, sandra, it is so important to me. mike pence showed last night in

the debate, which he won going away, in a calm manner he took command of the debate and crucially time and again pointed out the key differences between biden-harris and trump-pence on taxes, on regulations, on energy, on socializing and nationalizing healthcare. tough on china and good trade deals. and, of course, right to life and stacking the supreme court. he made this so clear. differences matter, okay? you have a very extremist left-wing democratic candidate and you've got a good mainstream conservative candidate who by the way increased living standards by five times as much in three years as the obama people did in eight years. i want him on message and i want him to show the

differences between the two teams as mike pence did brilliantly yesterday. by the way, mike pence looked like a president to me. >> sandra: larry kudlow, thank you. >> thank you, appreciate it. >> trace: parts of new york facing new coronavirus shutdowns as cases spike in some areas. the state will now begin enforcing new rules today. why some are slamming the restrictions as biased. protests breaking out in minneapolis overnight after a former officer charged with murder in the death of george floyd is released from jail. where the case stands now. >> he shouldn't be able to leave and he should be in there until trial. many other names ever got justice. i don't really see any hope.

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>> sandra: it is the bottom of the hour. time for top stories on thursday morning. president trump giving his first interview since being released tr walter reed hospital saying he will not take part in the virtall presidential debate and plans to hold rallies instead. >> trace: vice president pence and joe biden and senator harris heading for arizona today where joe biden leads president trump by more than 3 points in the real clear politics polling average. >> sandra: more violence in the city of chicago after a 10-year-old girl was shot in a park in the southside

neighborhood. police say the girl is now hospitalized and she is listed in serious condition. no arrests have been made and an investigation is underway. [shouting] >> trace: after the ex police officer charged with the murder of george floyd is released on $1 million bond. we're following it live from chicago. what are the demonstrators saying there exactly? >> you saw there in the video there is a lot of frustration over the officer being out of jail and mostly free waiting for his trial. i say mostly. there are conditions to his bail. he can't have any contact with george floyd's family. he can't work in law enforcement or security. can't have any guns and has to remain in minnesota under court supervision. here is how the aunt of george

floyd reacted to the news. >> i'm upset about it. i'm still trying to process it. but the last thing that we need right now is more violence. so i'm just telling the community, keep holding because i'm not giving up. this is a chance for real change. >> in response to chauvin's release the governor enacted the national guard and mobilized officers to help police respond to unrest. several people took part in a peaceful march but then a smaller group moved over to the 5th precinct building and had exchanges with police and one protestors throwing fires works at the building. three dozen people were arrested. things were more tense in the milwaukee suburb of wawa toes yeah after a district attorney

said there wouldn't be any charges against an officer who is black and shot three people in five years. dozens of folks marched through the streets breaking windows of businesses and some homes as they went by and throwing large rocks at police who tried to break up the crowd with tear gas. folks in the town are coming out to help clean out and they are upset that this happened in an area that supports the black lives matter movement. >> sandra: just moments ago joe biden was departing on the tarmac at new castle airport and asked about the president saying no thank you to a virtual debate after it was announced by the commission this morning and here is his reaction to that. >> we don't know what the president is going to do. he changes his mind every second. for me to comment on that now

would be irresponsible. i will follow the commission's recommendations. if he goes off and have a rally, i'll -- i don't know what i'll do. >> sandra: larry kudlow thinks there will be a renegotiation on the form of the presidential debate next week but for now the commission says it's virtual. joe biden says he will do it. the president says he will not. we'll have more reaction coming up. >> trace: protests erupting in a brooklyn neighborhood after new york governor andrew cuomo announced in coronavirus restrictions. the rules will impact businesses and schools in covid-19 hot spots but critics say the state is unfairly targeting jewish communities. the mayor is defending the crackdown. david lee miller live in new york city. just how hot are the hot spots authorities are worried about? >> trace, the overall infection rate in these hot spots is a little more than 5%.

that compares with 1.3% across the state. in one brooklyn community, people testing positive for the coronavirus is 18%. it is because of numbers like these that the state today is going to begin enforcement especially here in new york city of these new restrictions but there is resistance from some in the community. hundreds as we saw of ultrareligious jewish demonstrators took to the streets for the second night in a row to protest their opposition for closing worship centers and schools and non-essential businesses and voice their support of president trump who tweeted in support of their cause. the restrictions backed by democratic mayor bill deblasio and ordered by andrew cuomo target so-called red zones in brooklyn, queens and areas north of the city where the infection rate has spiked. many areas have significant large numbers of jewish residents who refuse to wear masks and take other

precautions. at the daily briefing the mayor yesterday issued this warning to protestors. >> the nypd will not tolerate people doing harm to others. there will be no tolerance for assaults or damage to property. for setting fires. anything like that is unacceptable. >> the street protests might just be the beginning of the effort to roll back these restrictions. the leader of one orthodox jew i shall group is saying they are now considering the possibility of going to court. trace. >> david lee miller live in new york. thank you. >> sandra: president trump again says he will not participate in that second presidential debate after the commission this morning announced that it would be entirely virtual. what that means for both campaigns with the election now just weeks away. plus new hope on capitol hill for more coronavirus stimulus before election day after

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who else reads books about submarines? my dad. yeah. oh, those are -- progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. look at that. >> sandra: facebook changing its advertising policy saying it will block all political ads after the polls close on election day and the move is designed to create confusion or abuse. less than a month before the election. they're saying it will remove any ads that encourage voters to engage in poll watching. >> trace: big changes may be coming to next week's second presidential debate. the commission on presidential debates announcing president trump and joe biden will face off virtually citing safety concerns following the president's covid-19 diagnosis. president trump says he won't take part if that's the case. >> president trump: i'm not going to waste my time on a

virtual debate. that's not what a debate is all about. that's ridiculous. >> trace: howie kurtz is a fox new media analyst and host of "media buzz". the format of the debate is in your wheel house. president says he won't do it. biden will abide by the rules. what do you think of a virtual debate, the format? what is the advantage? your thoughts. >> first, i think i would be very surprised if president trump winds up boycotting this debate. the candidate trailing, the president is down 10 points in a brand-new fox news poll usually wants to debate to change the trajectory of the race. president trump is well-known for negotiating position taking a position as he just did on the stimulus negotiations with the hill and then coming back to the table after breaking things off. now, i happen to think a virtual format, remember, a town hall debate, could benefit the president for these reasons. he can use the white house as a back drop. secondly, resolves the covid

concerns but more important the side-by-side comparison of him standing next to joe biden on the stage taking audience questions and biden the practicing politician for 47 years is more at ease. >> trace: you don't think there would be a concern using the white house as a back drop. you had the concern with him using the white house with the convention but this would be fine with the democrats? >> i think the democrats would complain but the president has already used the oval office now that he is back. this is october 15th. it is a while from now. it would certainly seem that the incumbent shouldn't get to use the white house as a back drop. it's a strange year and stranger things have happened. >> trace: as for last night's debate you write the following quoting here. if trump and biden staged a cable shout fest, harris sometimes shook her head as pence spoke. the debate was a draw with both

candidates hitting talking points aimed at the top of the ticket. you think it was a draw but that advantages kamala harris, why? >> right. if this was anything close to a tie, most people are saying it was roughly even perhaps you have to bring a sigh of relief to the biden campaign because they are sending a national newcomer, freshman senator up against an incumbent vice president. they each scored their points. mike pence scored on fracking and biding raising taxes forcing kamala harris to say it's only to people making $400,000 a year. harris scored points on covid-19 and also on obamacare's protections for pre-existing conditions forcing the vice president to say we have a healthcare plan that deals with that but we haven't seen that plan yet. >> trace: lastly the moderator, susan page, "politico" writes the following. page repeatedly allowed kamala harris and mike pence to interrupt each other as her

throughout the debate. she posed probing questions during the 90 minutes she declined the post follow-ups when they dodged the substance of the questions. your thoughts. >> i thought susan page did a very good job of asking tough questions about their records to both men. she did lose control in the second half and they clearly were ducking questions. for instance, kamala harris repeatedly ducking questions about packing the supreme court. i think the biden campaign did not want her to answer so you could say that biden is dodging this question. mike pence ducking questions direct questions on roe vs. wade and other issues, peaceful transfer of power was another one. so moderator i think that's where you can follow up. you didn't answer my question. let me correct you again. she chose not to do that but certainly didn't have the harsh tone of the first trump biden face-off. in fact, we're already talking about the top of the ticket in the next debate. i think this will be forgotten in a day or two.

>> trace: howie kurtz. good as always. thank you, sir. >> thanks, trace. >> sandra: president trump's supreme court pick judge amy coney barrett speaking with senate democrats ahead of her confirmation hearings that begin next week. we will have a preview plus this. >> you got my gun. you got my gun. >> sandra: that dramatic video of an officer getting attacked inside of his own police station but it didn't end there. the shocking police pursuit that then followed. it's time for sleep number's fall sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable.

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>> sandra: a los angeles police officer attacked in his own

station. the violent confrontation was caught by several cameras. we want to warn our viewers it will sound disturbing. >> he got my gun. he got my gun. >> sandra: christina coleman is live in los angeles on this for us. christina, difficult to watch that video. what are police saying about why this happened? >> hi, sandra. at this point seemingly random attack. no word on a motive. these videos give us a close-up view of this officer fighting for his life against this man at a police station just south of downtown l.a. police say on september 26 the man attacked the officer, grabbed his gun and beats him with it. he pointed the gun at the injured officer before running off and that's when another officer shows up to help. >> he got my gun.

he got my gun. >> the man jumped in his truck and took off and officers went in pursuit and stopped him. listen to the intense moments during his arrest. >> the officer's gun was recovered in guzman's vehicle and he faces seven charges including two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer. the injured officer was released from the hospital and this is just one of several attacks on law enforcement in the l.a. area in recent weeks. l.a. county sheriff's deputies are recovering from their injuries after shot while sitting in their patrol cars.

>> sandra: christina coleman. thank you. >> trace: president trump saying lenot participate in next week's debate after organizers said it would be held virtually. joe biden says he will show up. how does that work? we'll get into that next. with spray mopping to lock away debris and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad. bradley, get a freshly made subway footlong instead. try my favorite, turkey. order on the app. anything for my fans. try the new subway buffalo chicken or bbq chicken. some things are good to know. like where to find the cheapest gas in town and which supermarket gives you the most bang for your buck. something else that's good to know? if you

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>> sandra: it is a brand-new hour. here is what's happening inside "america's newsroom."

>> it was more civil this time. but the plexiglas didn't stop the candidates from throwing punches and senator hair use threw an expected one of her hardest punches over the coronavirus. >> if the doctors tell us we should take it i'll be the first in line. if donald trump tells us we should take it, i'm not taking it. >> the fact that you continue to undermine confidence in the vaccine. if the vaccine emerges during the trump administration is unconscionable. >> the gulf coast preparing for hurricane delta. the storm headed for the u.s. after slamming mexico's yucatan peninsula. >> for some reason i have a feeling of doom about my house. >> stimulus negotiations are off. we're looking at the potential for stand alone bills. there are about 10 things we agree on. >> sandra: more on those top stories throughout the morning. first the fox news alert president trump now says that he will not participate in the

second presidential debate against joe biden. this after organizers announce moments before that the event would be entirely virtual. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom" where the news is coming in fast. good morning, i'm sandra smith. >> trace: good morning to you. good morning, i'm trace gallagher. the debate commission says it is going virtual in order to protect the health and safety of all involved. in an interview this morning president trump said he would rather face his democratic opponent in person. and biden responded. >> i'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. that's not what debating is all about. >> we don't know what the president is going to do. he changes his mind every second. for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible. follow the commission's recommendation. >> trace: mike emanuel live in washington why is the president saying this change is unacceptable? >> good morning. sounds like he didn't like it being sprung on him. he explained why he is

objecting to this change in format. >> president trump: that's not what debating is all about. you sit behind a computer and do a debate. it's ridiculous. we learned it the same way you learned it. they called two minutes ago and it was announced. they're trying to protect biden, everybody is. >> the next debate was a different format than the first trump biden showdown with moderator chris wallace. this morning biden was asked if he would go forward with the debate even if president trump doesn't participate? >> we don't know enough to know right now. i don't know. you never know what is going to come out of his mouth. >> biden ally says the president's reaction is a reflection of the weakness of the trump campaign. >> you see campaigns getting the kind of bad news that he has been getting through this month. a lot of times you will see these kinds of increased arguments over rules,

withdrawing from opportunities, flailing. there it is too bad. the more the american people can hear the two candidates side-by-side even if it's virtual the better. >> a trump ally says the concern is the new format would be unfair. >> to hold a virtual debate benefits joe biden and lets his staff be in the room. lets him receive assistance. one of the real concerns a lot of people have is if joe biden is even up to it and if you insulate him and let him do the debate from the basement that's eliminating the debate aspect of it. >> most expect this will lead to renegotiation with limited time. trace and sandra. >> trace: mike emanuel live on capitol hill. >> sandra: for more on this let's bring in "new york post" columnist miranda devine. to this debate back and forth that's now happening. it popped up around 8:00 this morning before the president went live with maria bartiromo.

can you hear me, miranda? while we get her reconnected i'm going to put up on the screen a quote from the biden campaign responding to the virtual debate announcement from the presidential debate commission saying they are all for it if that's what they want to do. biden wants to speak to the american people to building back better. so the biden camp has confirmed that they will move forward with a virtual debate that has been announced. it was president trump this morning in the interview said he won't waste his time with a virtual debate. trace, the reaction keeps pouring in this morning. here we thought we would be talking about the vice presidential debate last night all morning but now this change from the commission and both campaigns saying that they learned about it just about the

same time we all did this morning. >> trace: i think john roberts made a good point saying the president said with maria bartiromo he learned about it when we learned about it. seconds after that the white house -- the campaign actually gave out this specific statement. so maybe there was a little more wiggle room than we're being let on to know about. >> sandra: miranda, should the president refuse to debate if indeed it goes forward as an all virtual debate? >> absolutely. it's a joke. this plays completely into joe biden's campaign. his virtual campaign. he will have his teleprompter. >> sandra: we don't know that. we don't know anything about what they've agreed to what they'll have. that's a question. go ahead. >> well look, if you are behind a computer screen, then there is a lot of options to have

other people help you. that is the way joe biden has been conducting his interviews. his staff have been there and biden refusing to answer the questions. i think he is right. you know what i think ought to happen. joe biden just said he will go ahead and do this virtual setup. so i think that what donald trump should do is send along his proxy, mike pence. he did such a brilliant job last night against kamala harris that i think he would be more than equipped to debate joe biden. joe biden was a vice president. it would be a good match. >> sandra: that's an interesting suggestion based on what we just heard from inside the president's white house. larry kudlow, chief economic advisor just joined us and he suggested that we might see a renegotiation of debate terms in the coming hours and days.

listen. >> i want him on message and i want him to show the differences between the two teams as mike pence did brilliantly yesterday. >> sandra: so he wants him back up on the debate stage. didn't say mike pence like you are suggesting. he wants the president back on the debate stage and his words he wants the president on message. what did you take away from that? >> well, i think probably, you know, the first debate, although the president the overall optics were he was projecting strength he just didn't allow joe biden to make mistakes. he kept on cutting in and interrupting. so i think that was a tactical mistake. next time i think if the president just stuck to his message, allowed joe biden to say what he wanted just as happened last night with mike pence and kamala harris, a respectful debate. each side presented their own

arguments. i think it just allows voters to understand what the whole election is about rather than the chaotic mess that the first debate was. i do think that the president -- i'm quite serious about the president allowing mike pence to have more of the stage. he really is the secret weapon of the trump campaign and he neutralizes all the fears and anxieties that on the fence voters might have about the president that he is a bit chaotic. mike pence is so steady and so reassuring on top of all the detail. i think he should be much more in the last few weeks of this campaign, much more in the spotlight. >> sandra: interesting. the "wall street journal" editorial board had a similar take this morning. mike pence's reelection case. he told voters facts about the biden agenda they haven't heard. the vice president's debates rarely change the course of an

election and the g.o.p. ticket remains far behind but the clash showed pence is more than a loyal deputy and harris's views are more left than democrats want america to know. mr. pence showed how to do it. did this debate in your view change the course of the election as the "wall street journal" is suggesting? >> well look, yes, because it matters much more than the average vice presidential debate. much more consequential before it even started because everyone expects that joe biden's cognitive decline will mean he won't be able to serve out his first term if he wins and that means that kamala harris will be president. and so scrutiny is on her not just as a side kick. she is the main game. she showed last night she is not ready for prime time. outclassed by mike pence in

every way. he pressed her very courteously on important issues such as was she going to stack the supreme court and just like joe biden refused to answer on fracking, she and joe biden are on record several times saying that they would abolish fracking. abolish oil and gas, etc., coal. and the green new deal is all about that. and yet she was all over the place. she denied it. she didn't give any detail to her denial. so i think the overall impression is this is a very radical agenda being run by two people who don't really know what they are doing. mike pence managed to do that in 90 minutes. i think he should be more on the stage and given the opportunity to tell the american people that this is what they're facing. >> sandra: so many more moments from that debate stage to dig into. we'll do that throughout the hour.

great to have you this morning, miranda. thank you. >> trace: this just in. another apparent coronavirus case at the white house. a top security official has been hospitalized since last month with the disease and is now reportedly in grave condition. the official is said to have gotten sick before the rose garden event where president trump announced amy coney barrett as his supreme court nominee. >> sandra: speaking of judge barrett, her confirmation hearings are set to begin monday, next week. yesterday she met with six senate democrats who sit on the judiciary committee that will consider her nomination. those senators include chris coombs of delaware who said this. judge barrett possesses qualifications that i think are appropriate and relevant for a nominee for the most significant court in our country. my concern isn't her qualifications, it's her judicial philosophy and her views and ways in which those

will have real world consequences for millions of americans. >> president trump: i said look, we're not getting anywhere, shut it down. i didn't want to waste time. in any event, after that we got back, both sides very capable. we got back and started talking again and we're talking about airlines and a bigger than airlines. we're talking about a deal with $1200 per person. >> trace: president trump talking to maria bartiromo earlier the morning about the status of a covid relief bill. yesterday steve mnuchin and nancy pelosi spoke on the phone about a stand alone bill to fund a new bail-out for the airlines. pelosi told the secretary that democrats had already thrown their support behind the measure and its congressional republicans who stand in the way. chad pergram live on capitol hill with the late est on this back and forth.

>> this is a head scaefrp. the secretary of the treasury mnuchin and pelosi spoke three times since the president put the brakes on. here is the speaker of the house. >> i could never explain to you any rational linear path of action on the part of the president but i will say this. it is really important for us to come to this agreement when the president popped off to make that announcement without even informing us that that was the case. >> one area of focus has been on the airlines. house democrats tried to advance a bill crafted by transportation committee chairman last week providing more than $20 billion for the airlines and republicans blocked it. a push by the president for individual stimulus check. mnuchin offered a plan to provide those out of work an extra $400 a week.

some republicans think it is too much. the biggest sticking point remains cost. >> we have a number of things that we agree upon, a broad base of support to get a deal. but yet she was continuing to stick to her 2.2 to 2.4 depending how you calculate it trillion dollar deal when secretary mnuchin offered 1.6 but willing to go to 1.7 trillion. she would rather have zero than that kind of number. >> pelosi has rejected the idea of doing piecemeal bills. she will have a press conference in 30 minutes and we'll ask her about that whether or not she is willing to do the stand alone bills. she and mnuchin are scheduled to talk later today. even though the talks supposedly evaporated they never really went away. the other thing, they've never really advanced the ball forward. they've been talking two or three times a day for weeks now and they do not have a deal. >> trace: stuck in the mud. chad pergram on capitol hill.

>> sandra: control of the senate could hinge on what happens in north carolina. a new scandal is forcing the democratic challenger to cancel campaign events. vice president pence and senator harris going toe-to-toe over taxes and the economy in their first and only debate. who came out on top with pocketbook issues. >> cutting middle income taxes substantially. they know that. that's what made this thing successful. dropped even lower. at newday, veterans can shortcut the refinance process and save $250 a month. $3000 dollars a year. with the va streamline refi at newday, there's no appraisal, no income verification, and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $3000 a year.

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>> sandra: a florida school board telling parents of children killed in a school massacre they have to prove that they suffered mental anguish because of it. more than a dozen families are suing the broward county school board over the mass shooting in february of 2018. the broward county school district is asking those parents to turn over psychiatric records and funeral expenses among other things. court is holding a hearing on the school board's request today. >> trace: now the latest on the senate race in north carolina upended by scandal. thom tillis has been trailing in the polls. now democratic challenger call

cunningham cancelling campaign appearances after racy text messages surfaced. cunningham says the army reserve is investigating him. rich edson, why is the military getting involved here? >> good morning, trace. the u.s. military is investigating lieutenant colonel cunningham. the democratic candidate here is in the u.s. army reserves and extramarital affairs do violate the code of military justice. his campaign says he will participate in the army's inquiry and he is staying in this race. the associated press is reporting cunningham's extramarital relationship appears to have extended beyond just text messages and into and intimate encounter as recently as july. cunningham has largely avoided the public this week. a local television station caught up with him and he told them he has hurt his family, disappointed his supporters and he is taking responsibility for that.

his opponent thom tillis says voters need to hear from cunningham about this. >> at the debate stage last week he said it is about integrity. i agree. his family should be kept private. he has teenage children. all voters, he owes a thorough explanation for what we know are two separate events. he is an officer in the military. >> tillis has his own and different campaign challenge. he announced last week he tested positive for covid-19. he sits on the senate judiciary committee and one of several who contracted covid and attended the rose garden ceremony september 26th for judge amy coney barrett's nomination to the supreme court. now the polling in this north carolina senate race is very close. in a nationwide race that is very close for control of the u.s. senate. republicans have that advantage right now 53-47. trace. >> trace: rich edson at the

nation's capitol. >> sandra: hurricane delta barreling toward the gulf coast as slamming parts of mexico as a category 2 storm. what to expect on landfall in the u.s. vice president mike pence asking senator kamala harris whether she sports democrats packing the supreme court. what senator harris had to say about that or didn't say on that issue. >> the american people deserve an answer, senator harris. your party has openly advocated adding seats to the supreme court if you can't win by the rules, you will change the rules. now you refuse to answer the question. joe biden has refused to answer the question. ng, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches! wait, what? said she's gonna need crutches. she fell pretty hard.

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>> sandra: it is almost the bottom of the hour. time for top stories. president trump says he will not take part in next week's presidential debate after the commission announced it would go virtual. that event scheduled to take place next tuesday. >> trace: the number two in the marine corp testing positive for covid after they were at a meeting with an infected coast guard official. no other leaders at that meeting have been infected so far. >> sandra: hurricane delta heading to louisiana. it pummeled mexico. delta set to hit the gulf coast tomorrow afternoon as a

category 3 hurricane. >> let's talk about packing the court. witnessed lifetime appointments to strict courts and courts of appeal. people who are purely ideological and reviewed by legal professional organizations and found to have been not competent. our substandard. >> i want the record to reflect she never answered the question. the american people, maybe the next debate joe biden will answer the question. >> trace: kamala harris dodging questions about packing the supreme court during last night's debate. pence pressing the issue repeatedly and joe biden avoided the question last week. mo elleithee, matt gorman is from the national congressional committee. thank you both. court packing in seconds. quick responses from each of you on the breaking news.

mo elleithee, the president says he will not participate in a virtual debate. joe biden says he will. your thoughts. >> well, i think it's a missed opportunity for the president, right? he is down in all the polls. people have already started voting. he needs to change the trajectory of this race. the debate is a good opportunity for him to do it. he didn't do so well in the first debate according to the polling. he could have used the next one, when you are behind, you have to shake up the race by backing out of the debate he is taking away a huge opportunity to try to do that. >> he makes a good point. a lot of republicans are saying the president needs this more than joe biden needs this debate. >> i agree with mo. i don't think the commission should have announced this unilaterally. they should have talked to each campaign before this. but look, i don't think that the president is going at the end of the day turn down a chance to talk to 80 million people. if you believe that i have a

fifth avenue gold tower to sell you with his name on it. but i agree he needs something to change the game. it's getting late early out here. people are voting. he is behind and he needs this. >> trace: mo, why not answer the question to court packing. joe biden wouldn't answer the question last week and kamala harris won't answer. some believe they're not willing to answer the question is because they're bound to offend somebody in the democratic party. >> well, i look at it differently. look, they are making a strategic calculation here that a majority of americans are not focused on that question. not on that issue. people who are the most animated by it are the most conservative voters and most progressive voters. most voters care far less about how many seats are on the supreme court and care much more about what the court is going to do. how it will act on these issues.

that more people are concerned about what -- how the court rules on the affordable care act or how the court rules on a woman's right to choose. so by staying away from the rabbit hole of process issue they're trying to keep it focused on the substantive issue where they feel they're on stronger ground. >> trace: a lot of republicans saying nine justices for 150 years. a fringe issue from the left. now it's mainstream. your thoughts on this. >> i guess if it's not a huge issue why not just answer the question, right? kamala as we've seen time and again with the primary debates is extremely good when it comes to pre-planned attacks, when she is practiced and honed it but far more unsteady on her heels trying to dance around an answer. we saw that last night. and it was odd because she knew it was going to come up. and the key to not answering a

question is to not make it so obvious that you aren't answering the question. her riff on lincoln was bizarre. i don't think it will hurt the biden campaign at the end of the day but at the very least it gives more oxygen to a story that it didn't have to give oxygen to at all. she could have answered it. >> trace: she deflected to the lower courts. listen. >> and do you know that of the 50 people who president trump appointed to the court of appeals for lifetime appointments, not one is black? this is what they've been doing. you want to talk about packing a court. let's have that discussion. >> trace: we should note joshua fox worth tweeted the following. i'm sorry kamala harris made her answer on supreme court packing clear. the court is not racially representative of the nation and should be changed.

katie pavlich responded. kamala harris dojs the question of court packing by accusing president trump and republicans of racism. mo, your thoughts. >> look, i think diversity on the courts is a legitimate conversation to have. diversity in all aspects of public life is an important conversation to have. but, you know, again i go back to what joe biden said last week on this issue which was, you know, let's talk about how the court is going to impact your access to healthcare. they still believe that's where most people are going to connect with the issue of the courts. now to matt's point about not giving this oxygen, look, if republicans actually wanted to give this issue oxygen the president stepped all over it today, right? by the president coming out hours after the debate saying he will not participate in the next debate that's now become the main story of the day. and so again, i think he is trying to step on his own campaign's strategic objectives.

>> trace: matt, last word. >> at the end of the day it's incumbent upon them to ask them whether -- we need to get a straight answer out of joe biden and kamala harris whether they keep the supreme court at nine or not. >> trace: to pack the supreme court you have to do three things. win the presidency, win back the senate and have to end the filibuster. people are concerned those are some big steps. mo elleithee and matt gorman, good to see you both. thank you, gentlemen. >> sandra: concerns about an october surprise coming from one of the most dangerous regimes on earth. this weekend marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of north korea's ruling party and now analysts are warning that kim jong-un use the occasion to unveal a new strategic weapon capable of reaching the u.s. correspondent greg palkot is following that story for us

from london this morning. >> that's right. just a few weeks before our election, north korean leader kim jong-un could threaten us with something new. we were there for 10 years ago when a young kim made his first public appearance. he took over when his father died a year later. this year according to experts, the north korean leader could be rolling out, among other things, a new solid fuel, multi-stage, intercontinental ballistic missile with a range which could allow it to target mainland united states. it is said that chairman kim wants to unify a domestic audience who have endured this year typhoons, flooding, tight covid lockdown and an economy hit hard by u.s. sanctions. it is also said that he is frustrated with a lack of action in nuclear talks with president trump. he has held back showing off a lot of this nasty stuff since

their summits began. this military parade this coming weekend according to analysts could be the biggest one he has ever held. now sandra, according to the experts no major missile launch is expected in the coming days but also say there might be one after our election. just to remind the united states and whoever wins that vote that kim is still there, kim is still a danger. back to you. >> sandra: greg palkot, thank you. >> trace: insurance companies in california are asking regulators to allow steep rate hikes as dozens of wildfires continue to burn across the state. hikes from 54 companies range from under 7% to as high as 40%. and in areas designated high risk for fires, premiums can increase by even more and in 2017 to 2018 insurance companies lost a record $25 billion because of wildfires. >> sandra: what was once a

reliably red state arizona could go blue. we'll take a spin on the touch screen. verizon knows how to build unlimited right. start with america's most awarded network, include the best in entertainment, and offer plans to mix and match starting at $35. plus, get two samsung galaxy s20 fe 5g phones for $200 when you switch. only at verizon. i remember herwho was because she had a bracelet that had the names of her children. she asked me, 'doctor, am i going to be okay?' and i could not give her the answer that i wanted to give her. there is no excuse for why we don't have this under control at this point. joe biden listens to medical experts. he actually has a plan that does the things

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>> trace: food and drug administration has a new warning on anti-anxiety medications. the fda require drug makers to list the potential risks on the drug's label. >> sandra: fox news democracy 2020 as promised told you we would take you for a spin on the touch screen. data in arizona. the candidates campaigning in that state which appears to be up for grabs in this election. you are looking here at arizona's 6th congressional district. a key poll just came out of the ohio predictive incite poll showing a narrow margin that the president is still leading

by in that district just a 1-point lead there. i want to bring in darren shaw. can you tell us the importance of what we're seeing played out there? a near tie and by the way, this lead does fall within the margin of error which is just over 4% there. this is a district that president trump won by 11 points back in 2016. so what does this near tie mean for the president in that state? >> consistent with the polling we've seen statewide including i think fox has done two polls in arizona over the course of 2020. we've seen an erosion of president trump's support from 2016. he carried the state fairly comfortably last time around. you couple the polling data we're seeing now along with the surprising senate result we got in 2018 where kyrsten sinema beat martha mcsally.

that state was reliably red is trending purple and leaning blue lately. >> sandra: if i flip the screen and go to the real clear politics average in arizona now you have joe biden leading in the state by 3 points. a state that president trump as you know won by 3 1/2% back in 2016. so is arizona up for grabs in the 2020 election? >> absolutely, yeah, absolutely. you know, in fact, it was one of the main targets of the biden campaign kind of suggested they were going to have on the radar screen early on. polling data consistently showed a 3 to 4 point race one way or the other absolutely within the margin of error. a fairly easy state to target in many ways. it is difficult to get to during the pandemic, it only has two major media markets. tucson and phoenix. almost all the action in the race will be in maricopa county, that's all of our viewers out there need to focus on what's going on in greater

phoenix because the person who wins phoenix has a huge leg up in carrying the state. >> sandra: i want to flip to the last screen and you can talk about this when i talk about maricopa county. more than half of the state's residents of arizona are from maricopa county. but here is sort of a breakdown of registered republicans and democrats in 2016. if i flip the screen to 2017 you will see 35% to 30% democrats and that number has grown as far as registered republicans and democrats. republicans stayed the same. number of democrat in that state what grown if you tally it up. 170,000 additional democrats. to your point looking at the math when we break it down and see how important maricopa county is in arizona. talk about what is happening there. we know joe biden and kamala harrising their first post

debate campaign stop is going to be in this state today. when you look at what happened back in 2016 president trump squeezed out a very narrow victory there. you go back to 2012. mitt romney pulled off an 11-point win there. the president won it in 2016 but very much in play this time around. what are you watching there? >> sandra, your talking about the changes is spot on. that's what's going on. it's attracting a lot of population migration from the upper midwest states, snow birds are coming in. people from california resettling in places like messa and tempe and scottsdale bringing their political attitudes with them. the new construction and growth in the area you have a lot of people in the service sector and a lot of people in the construction industry. a lot of hispanics and young people as well bringing their

democratic sensibilities with them. this was the red rock republican, now it's kind of one of the leading indicators of changes that we're seeing across the rocky mountain states and southwest. >> sandra: if you could finish off by talking about the issues in the state of arizona. i believe if i flip back over here you will see some of the top issues that people in arizona are looking at. it is the economy which we consistently see. bringing the country together 19%. jobs and economy almost tied. covid-19 still a very big problem there. they're at 6.5% positivity in the state. healthcare, climate change. what do the residents of arizona, what is at play when it comes to selection and the importance of these issues? >> in a lot of ways arizona is a microcosm of the country. it's a border state and more interested in issues like immigration. that has been on the radar screen for a while but as you

were saying it is the economy, healthcare, pandemic. a lot of at risk older voters, less affluent voters concerned about the economy and combination of the economy, covid and healthcare. they are concerned, they're a little down on how the president has handled this stuff so they're open to biden and the democratic changes make it an attractive target. trump will have to work to hold onto the state. >> sandra: interesting how jobs and the economy doesn't quite top the list. it's bringing the country together that got 19% of the respondents there. covid a big problem as well. it was great to take this spin on the touch screen with you. hope we can do it again. thank you. >> thank you. >> trace: barry goldwater would be stunned by those numbers. biden and trump's economic plans taking center stage at the vice presidential debate. pence said biden would raise

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>> joe biden will repeal that tax bill. he will get rid of it and what he will do with the money is invest it in the american people. >> joe biden says democracy is on the ballotment make no mistake about it. the american economy and comeback is on the ballot. >> trace: the nation's economy a hot topic on the stage last night. they sparred over taxes and which ticket can help america recover from the pandemic recession. the host of making money charles payne. always good to see you. confused by the numbers. i went on the irs and looked at

the numbers and they say the president's tax cut has helped people making 40 to 50,000 a year. now kamala harris comes out and says that day one joe biden will repeal the president's tax bill but not raise taxes on anybody who doesn't make $400,000 a year. that would be a magic trick that i don't know how they'll pull off, charles. >> i don't, either, trace. to your point that group, the 40 to 50,000 they were the largest beneficiaries, 14.5% decline followed by 250 to 400,000. here is the thing. even households with 15 to 20,000 in income saw a 12% decline in their tax liability. the tax cuts helped everyone. look at the economic group. look at blue collar wage growth and last week we heard from the federal reserve which does the big report every three years from 2016 to last year through

last year wealth among black folks grew by 34%, hispanics 65%. for whites only 3%. that sort of leveling off suggested by the democratic platform, the notion of shared wealth and shared prosperity. we were actually really in the midst of it in ways we hadn't seen perhaps in generations until covid hit. >> trace: i want to put this on the screen. the biden tax plan says he will raise corporate tax rates to 28%. impose penalties on companies that outsource jobs. no tax increase anyone earning $400,000 or less, expand child tax credit. what does that do to jobs, though, when you talk about the corporate tax rate going way up? >> corporations have this thing called an income statement and at the bottom of the income statement they like to show this thing called profits. i have argued on your show and

many other shows there are examples of corporate greed but when you target corporations in the sense where you promise to raise taxes to 28%, a hefty raise. i think they go well into the mid 30s to be frank with you. it means they have to find other ways to make money. less investments, less hiring, less benefits. whatever it is, maybe even finding other ways to offshore. you don't have to offshore jobs to import the disinflation of other countries. this week earlier this week the administration put out a new visa program because a lot of companies particularly silicon valley companies are importing workers from other countries at far less money than they have to pay the american counterparts. that's another way of offshoring prosperity doing it a different way. >> trace: can i give you 10 seconds quick. kamala harris says that pence and the president were riding the coattails of biden and obama coming into the economy in his term. your thoughts quickly. >> we rebounded from the great

recession under obama and biden but the worst post recession rebound in history. running thin and president trump took over. i give them credit along with the fed are reserve but where trump took the economy had very little to do with what he inherited. >> sandra: fox news alert. brand-new reaction to president trump saying he will not take part in a virtual debate with joe biden. rnc chair ronna mcdaniel will join us at the top of the hour on what it all means for the 2020 race.

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even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. >> sandra: fox news alert. new fallout as the president says he will not debate joe biden virtually calling the remote face-off a waste of time as he revealed more about his health in a brand-new interview this morning. welcome back to "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. hi, trace. >> trace: i'm trace gallagher. minutes after the commission announced the showdown in remote locations president said he will not take part. joe biden says he will follow the commission's recommendations. it is a move coming in response to safety concerns over the covid-19 outbreak at the white house but in his first interview since his diagnosis the president tells maria bartiromo that he does not think he is contagious anymore. >> president trump: i am a

perfect physical specimen and extremely young. so i'm lucky in that way. you know -- i don't have heart problems, i don't have diabetes, i don't have any of the problems that you read about. perhaps a couple of pounds we could lose here or there but you know, there are a lot of people in that category. no, i'm in good health. >> trace: let's get to chief white house correspondent john roberts who is live with more. >> tongue in cheek from the president there this morning. he is feeling good. the one thing we do not know from the white house, though, because they haven't told us is whether or not the president continues to test positive for coronavirus or if he has had any negative tests. the one thing that is certain is that the president seems to have no hesitation being involved in saying he is not going to be involved in any kind of virtual debate as the commission on presidential debates has indicated next thursday's event in miami will be. listen to what the president

said. >> president trump: no, i'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. you sit behind a computer and do a debate is ridiculous and they cut you off whenever they want. but i'm not doing a virtual debate. they didn't even tell us about this. we learned it the same way you learned it. they called up two minutes ago and it with as announced and they are trying to protect biden. >> in addition to the president the trump campaign slamming the commission east unilateral decision to turn next thursday's event into a virtual defent. for the swamp creatures at the presidential debate commission to rush to joe biden's defense to cancel an in-person debate is pathetic. not how debates are done. president trump will posted multiple negative tests for the debate and no need for this. the safety of all involved can easily be achieved.

we'll pass on this excuse to bail out joe biden and do a rally instead. joe biden himself reacting earlier this morning. listen here. >> we don't know what the president is going to do. he changes his mind every second. for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible. i think that i will follow the commission's recommendations. if he goes off and have a rally i'll -- i don't know what i'll do. >> trace: the chief economic advisor at the white house larry kudlow earlier this morning suggesting that this position may just be a negotiating tactic. listen here. >> i think you'll see a renegotiation of that. i think the president is getting well. he will pass a test and showing negative testing so i'm not sure that's going to happen. >> one thing i do know is president trump really wants to be there in person in miami for next thursday's debate. he says he feels great. he says he would love to do a campaign rally tonight if it

was possible he would have liked to have done one last night but again, trace, the thing we do not know has the president had a negative covid test yet? we'll see if the white house discloses that information today. >> that's the key. john roberts live at the white house. mike pence and kamala harris facing off in the first and only vice presidential debate last night. both dodging questions on major issues ranging from coronavirus to stacking the supreme court. griff jenkins live for us in salt lake city, utah. >> trace, i'll tell you what a difference a week makes. last night they were way more civil in the hall behind me. that plexiglas they put between the candidates didn't stop the punches from being thrown. we counted it up. harris attacking 84 times with 9 intersuptions while pence launched 93 attacks on harris with 16 interruptions and there

was dodging on both sides. key moment standing out over a question revolving around packing the court. watch. >> joe and i are very clear, the american people are voting right now and it should be their decision. >> they would like to know if you and joe biden will pack the supreme court if you don't get your way in this nomination. >> let's talk about packing. come on. >> you gave a non-answer. joe biden gave a non-answer. people deserve a straight answer. >> let's talk about packing the court then. >> i want the record to reflect she never answered the question. >> harris delivered a stinging review of the handling of covid. >> when i look at their plan that talks about advancing testing, creating new ppe, developing a vaccine, it looks a little bit like --

>> they've witnessed the greatest failure of any administration in our country. we need to get a hold of what's going on and save our country and joe biden is the best leader to do that and frankly this administration has forfeited their right to reelection. >> whether it will move the needle in any direction. coming into last night by fox news latest poll you have the president trailing biden by 10 points, 53-43. and we'll see most of the candidates on the campaign trail today. pence, harris and joe biden all campaigning in the state of arizona. trace. >> trace: which is now in play. griff jenkins live in salt lake city. thank you. >> sandra: for more on this and the president's refusal to take

part in the virtual debate with joe biden let's bring in ronna mcdaniel rnc chairwoman. it happened so fast. we were starting out around 8:00 a.m. with the president's interview on fox business network but it was moments before that that we learned via a statement from the debate commission that they changed this to a virtual debate. the president reacted moments later and said i'm not doing it. was the campaign consulted on this and made aware of this change prior to it being made public? >> i haven't talked to the campaign but clearly the president had no knowledge of it. he said he had just found out on the air. listen, this is not a nonpartisan commission. it is filled with republicans who have been very critical of this president and a large group of democrats. they have hurt this election by holding debates after voting started which the campaign asked them to move the debates earlier so voters could get a chance to see these candidates. now they aren't following the

science. they're saying we'll go virtual. biden didn't ask for that. the president didn't ask for that. science certainly doesn't dictate that. cdc has said they aren't shedding live virus 10 days after diagnosis. why are they changing the rules? a lot of americans right now are saying this is d.c. at work. 47 years of joe biden being in d.c. has bought him a lot of favors across the aisle. and i will just tell you i hope no future nominee of our party works with this commission. they are a total joke. they are hurting our democracy and impacting this election. >> sandra: you are making the case they changed the virtual to benefit joe biden. >> absolutely. >> sandra: the commission saits they are a nonpartisan commission. >> they are not. let's look at the comments. if you look at -- you look at john, one said he is the most divisive president. they are not on a nonpartisan commission and they are

affecting the election right now. people are not going to be able to see these candidates campaign or debate in person because of a commission inserting themselves into a democracy in our election process. >> sandra: they're saying they're doing it for safety reasons. the president did get sick with covid-19 merely days ago. it would be important to know if the president tested negative yet. do we know anything on that front? the white house hasn't released that information. >> the white house has been transparent. the doctor has been briefing the american public. the president would understand that. joe biden didn't ask to not have in-person debates. this is the commission unilaterally making a decision. we had an in-person debate last night. why are they changing the rules and not following the scientist and why aren't they talking to the candidates and saying if you test negative let's go in person. this is not good for the voters. that's what i care about.

the voters deserve to hear these candidates in person debate and this gloss off approach and joe biden doesn't have to give interviews and gets to have lids on every day and let him debate from home with the prompter and aides. this is not good for our country right now. >> sandra: are you hearing anything about renegotiation. larry kudlow suggested that he believes there will be a renegotiation that takes place in the coming days leading up to this. are you getting any indication of that? >> i hope the dnc and the biden campaign will join me in saying this needs to be an in-person debate. this needs to be an in-person debate. if the president tests negative which he should it should be an in-person debate. >> sandra: those are conditions willing to offer. as far as the campaign and party is concerned, the white house, where are you willing to get? you're saying if you can prove the president has had multiple negative tests give me other information that you would bring to the negotiating table to get this to be in person?

>> i won't get ahead of the president and campaign. those are reasonable guidelines. i just think, sandra, the fact that they started the debates after voters had started voting. the fact that they just changed this on the fly without consulting the campaigns. the fact they've been on the record against this president, this commission and that they are not working on behalf of the american people is a problem and it is affecting this election. >> sandra: to go back to that larry kudlow interview he said if it does remain virtual the president should still show up and stay on message. ronna, where do you fall? if there is no change made to what is now going to be a virtual second presidential debate, do you side with the president on not showing? >> i have real concerns about joe biden doing a virtual debate. we've seen him. sandra, we've seen it. we've seen the prompter showing up on his tv screen and say move the prompter up. we deserve to have a debate between two candidates

face-to-face. last night was successful with the vice president and kamala harris. no reason why we shouldn't have that. the american people deserve that. there can be safeguards put in place. >> sandra: the president said he will plan rallies instead. what can you give us in an update. he says he will rally. >> of course he is going to get out and campaign and talk to the american people and continue to make his case. >> sandra: does he have a plan for next week? >> i am not privy to all the plans they put forward. the president said today he will make sure he is not contagious before he does rallies. he is going to make sure he is putting the people and attendees first and foremost. we have to debate the policy. what we saw last night joe biden and kamala harris will raise taxes, kill our energy independence and will not answer the question that they are dodging that they want to fundamentally reshape the third branch of government. people are voting now. we should know are you going to stack the supreme court or not?

are you going to get rid of the filibuster if you get the senate? it will transform our nation forever if they do that and they will not be honest and forthcoming with the american people. this commission by doing what they just did with this debate is once again preventing us from getting solid answers from these candidates on what their policies actually are and what they are running on. >> sandra: appreciate you coming on with us this morning. thank you. come back with an update soon. >> trace: vice president pence hitting the campaign trail in arizona one day after his face-off with senator kamala harris. more on his plan to make inroads in that state pivotal to the president's reelection bid. a new poll shows joe biden with a smaller lead in the top battleground states than in national polls. so is this race closer than many in the media would have you believe? more on that next. >> president trump: i had one last time i was nine down in nine different states and i won all of them. i was in nine states i was down.

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>> sandra: vice president mike

pence fresh off the debate stage from last night heading to arizona today for a rally. the vice president trying to shore up support in the battleground state. polls show joe biden with a slight lead. matt finn is live in peoria, arizona for us this morning. matt, the vice president is not the only one stumping in the state today, of course, good morning. >> that's right, sandra. former vice president joe biden and senator kamala harris will be in the phoenix area today and with just weeks before the election the president had to cancel two campaign events in the critical state of arizona. shortly after those cancellations vice president mike pence announced he would be holding a maga rally at this arizona business which manufactures items like body armor for police swat gear. also today here in arizona we expect to see vice president joe biden and senator kamala harris is campaigning in this state that historically voted republican but has become much more of a contested state this

time around. trump-pence ticket won arizona in 2016. now some polls like the real clear politics average show biden ahead by 3 percentage points within the margin of error. since the president is not here today because of his battle with covid, vice president mike pence is essentially picking up the mantel. a short while ago the president said he is ready to do rallies again right now. >> president trump: i think i'm better. to a point where i would love to do a rally tonight. i wanted to do one last night. but i think i'm better to a point that i feel better than i did, you know, i jokingly said 20 years ago. i feel perfect. there is nothing wrong. >> interesting to know here in maricopa county, arizona, which contains phoenix, scottsdale and suburbs 57% of voters in 2016 voted early by mail

compared to just 16% that voted in person. there is so much focus on mail-in ballots perhaps we could see more than 57% of this major county vote by mail. we'll see if the vice president mentions that today at his rally. >> sandra: matt finn live on the ground in arizona. thank you. >> trace: new poll numbers indicate a tighter race in the battleground states. it shows joe biden ahead of president trump by 4.6 percentage points in the top six swing states. big difference from the national average that has biden leading by almost 10 points. the founding editor for the washington free beacon. i look at these numbers, talking about national an battleground states strictly dealing with the voters that hillary clinton got in 2016 and donald trump got in 16 and how much will the candidates

maintain those polls. let's put the first one up here. joe biden will, according to the hoover institute take 88% of hillary clinton's voter and donald trump will take 83% of his voters and you have on the flip side here joe biden will take 4.1% of the president's voters in 2016 while the president will only take 2.3% of hillary clinton's voters. but in the battleground states you have a different story, right? biden taking 91 plus percentage points of hillary clinton's voters, the president taking 82% of his voters but you look 2. for donald trump. 2.3 for joe biden so in the battleground states this thing really is neck-and-neck. >> i think that's right, trace. this is the hoover institute is david brady, not a partisan poll. what he found is biden's national lead is larger than hillary clinton's was at this point but his lead in the

battleground states is actually smaller than hillary's was at this point. four years ago right around today we had the axis hollywood tape. low point of the trump campaign in 2016 and four weeks later he came back with a stunning upset. i think there is a great urge among a lot of people in the press and in washington, d.c. to declare this race over. it is not over. >> trace: what i found fascinating in that study from the hoover institution is this thing matthew. it says quoting here the bulk of 2020s undecided voters are those in in 2016 voted for a third party candidate or waited until the end to decide how to vote. biden holds the lead here more than 60% of such voters have not yet decided who to support. so 60%. that's what everybody is gunning for now and the ones they want. we have 27 days to go. there is still time. >> that's right. there is still time. what is fascinating is how much events will play a role, trace.

if you think about the very final weeks of the 2016 campaign, a lot happened that wasn't in hillary clinton's favor just as donald trump is really running a very disciplined message in his final days there. so the events critically in these last 10 days will be very important and we've seen how big a role events play just for the last 10 days between the debate and donald trump's diagnosis. he has time to recover not only from covid but i also think from the position he finds himself in which is narrowly behind in the battleground states. >> trace: you talk about the president saying he will not participate in a virtual debate, matthew. right now you see he is down. he needs these debates. in your assessment does he need to be part of these? >> it's hard to say. usually the first debate is the one with the largest audience. if the rules are rigged against him i'm not sure it is in his interest to participate in

another debate honestly. he needs to reform his message looking forward about the economy and draw the contrasts of the biden-harris ticket that mike pence made in last night's debate. maybe a debate would be the way to do that but a speech to the country or the resumption of the rallies would also make a fair venue for those types of arguments. >> trace: we shall find out. matthew, good to see you. thank you. >> sandra: we're recapping last night's vice presidential debate. both candidates dodging big questions on that stage. how about the moderator? how did she do? president trump wants u.s. troops out of afghanistan by christmas. how he plans to make that happen. >> president trump: 19 years is enough. they're acting as policemen not troops. i wiped out 100% of the isis caliphate and i called

soleimani and baghdadi.

>> trace: top stories making headlines. police in minneapolis arrested dozens of protestors after a peaceful march turned into a chaotic mob demonstrating after the officer of killing george flied left jail on a $1 million bond. >> sandra: the president's campaign says he will hold a rally instead of the debate.

>> trace: both mike pence and kamala harris are stumping in arizona. pence going solo while the president is in quarantine. senator harris's first campaign stop with joe biden. >> i think it's one of the things that make people dislike the media so much in this country, susan. you selectively edit like senator harris did comments that president trump and i and others on our side of the aisle make. senator harris conveniently omitted after the president made comments on either side of the debate over monuments he condemned the kkk, neo-nazis and white supremacists. >> sandra: he called out the media now. joe, what did you think of that moment? >> i thought it was very

telling. it reflects the sentiment of the american people. let me share with you two very telling polls. one was by monmouth university that found that more than 3 in 4 registered voters, 77% said they believe that major traditional television and newspaper outlets report fake news. survee monkey 92% of the republicans say traditional news outlets report false or misleading stories sometimes. when you say that's okay. nearly 8 in 10 independents agree with that sentiment. so it's something we used to see with jon stewart and the daily show. that was for comedy. now we see it in realtime being done by major news organizations and i go back to two town halls that recently just happened. nbc holds a town hall with undecided voters. turns out they were on msnbc saying they would vote for joe

biden. cnn town hall with joe biden. 16 questions from audience members, 3 from republicans, 13 from democrats. if i'm objective i would have gone eight and eight. >> sandra: clearly a point worth making on the debate stage last night with so many americans watching him. to the debate moderator. a lot of talk about her performance last night and how she did. i'll ask you that in a moment. first some criticism this morning that she yielded more time on the debate stage to harris. watch. >> he said that because the president wanted people to remain calm. well let's go -- this is important. i'm speaking, mr. vice president. i'm speaking. >> 15 more seconds and we'll give -- >> sandra: after so much interruptions in the first presidential debate a lot of eyes were on the moderator to see how they could rein it in

and keep the candidates under control. how did it go? >> better than it did the week before that. that's where susan page gets a thumbs-up. but i wouldn't have chosen here as the debate moderator in the first place. she is currently working on a biography. here is the title. madam speaker, nancy pelosi and the lessons of power. that's coming out in a couple of months. in it she calls pelosi the most consequential speaker in modern times since sam rayburn. the optics look back. we have c span the next moderate for with the next virtual debate. think there will be -- scully was an intern for joe biden. with all the great journalists. you don't have to take somebody from tv. do a print reporter. somebody who covers the white house and doesn't have their opinions injected in every story. i think you wouldn't have all people at least in the trump camp and supporters of him saying wait a minute.

this thing looks fixed to me. last night i heard no questions about denouncing antifa, no questions from page about stacking the courts. no questions as far as blowing up the filibuster. those are three big questions that have to be asked and susan page dropped the ball, sandra. >> sandra: now the second presidential debate in question now that it's been announced by the commission it is virtual and the president said he won't waste his time with that. we'll see where that goes. thank you. >> trace: large part of the louisiana coast is under a hurricane warning. hurricane delta is expected to make landfall sometime tomorrow. new video from the hurricane hunters giving us a bird's eye view of the storm. the video captured last night during the team's mission. hurricane delta hammering mexico's yucatan peninsula yesterday triggering widespread flooding and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people. >> sandra: president trump says u.s. troops will be out of afghanistan by the end of the year tweeting this we should

have the small remaining number of our brave men and women serving in afghanistan home by christmas. jennifer griffin has more on that from the pentagon this morning. >> the president appears to have gotten a head of his negotiators and national security team when he announced last night in that tweet that all u.s. troops should be out of afghanistan by christmas. with some warning this may reward the taliban and undermine the delicate negotiations taking place right now. the deal where the u.s. made with the taliban if february said all u.s. troops would be home by may if certain conditions are met. he contradicted his national security advisor who hours before said the u.s. would go down to 2500 troops by early next year. the president indicated he might have other plans for those troops during an interview this morning with fox business. >> president trump: i will have them home by the end of the year. we have to be always prepared for china and russia and other places. we have to be prepared. maybe north korea. what happened to north korea,

by the way? remember we were in a war with them, we're getting a long very well. >> the taliban welcomed the news in a statement today. in 2017 the president warned against making such pronouncements and criticized the obama administration for doing the same. >> we will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on. america's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. >> the president's plan originally called for 4500 u.s. troops to remain in afghanistan through november. now that plan appears in question leaving the afghan government vulnerable and confused. sandra. >> sandra: jennifer griffin, thank you. >> trace: d.c. and several other counties taking action

after a growing covid-19 outbreak linked to the event with amy coney barrett. what those areas are now doing and speaking of the supreme court, the topic of packing the court came up during the presidential and the vice presidential debate last night but the current v.p. didn't seem to get a straight answer from senator harris. the impact this could have on the race is next. >> let's talk about packing the court then. let's talk about the fact >> i just want the record to reflect she never answered the question. ed to new all time lows. veterans can refinance their loans with no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. one call to newday usa can save you $3,000 every year. you could start saving, beginning with your next mortgage payment. refi now at these historic low rates.

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>> sandra: the mayor of d.c. taking action after the white house refused to do contact tracing for its covid-19 outbreak that may be linked to the rose garden ceremony announcing amy coney barrett. the mayor saying everyone attending that event or working in the white house to get a

covid test and contact the health department about the covid rules. she is teaming up with nine other counties in this effort. >> are you and joe biden going to pack the court if judge amy coney barrett is confirmed? >> the american people are voting right now. and it should be their decision >> they would like to know if you and joe biden are going to pack the supreme court if you don't get your way in this nomination. >> trace: vice president pence pushed for an answer. senator kamala harris dojds the question leaving open weather the biden-harris ticket to support adding justices to the supreme court. the former assistant to president clinton is joining us now. i want to put up the fox news polls. we spend a lot of time talking about the supreme court. the most important factor to voting for a president. you see it talks about is this

packing the court important and 39% favor more supreme court justices and 41% oppose that. the first one says this. you've got coronavirus as the number one topic, 44%. the supreme court is all the way down at number five at 25%. does it surprise you at all with the voters thinking that? >> this does not surprise me at all. look, what everyone in this country is confronting every single american is confronting the crisis of coronavirus. it may have impacted their own family with a family member dying or getting sick but it has impacted them economically. it has impacted them because their kids aren't in school. coronavirus is the overwhelming question on the minds of voters as we go to vote now. the supreme court sometimes rises up but it is almost never in the top 2 or 3. the economy, sometimes global situation as after 9/11 and now the coronavirus are always the dominant issues.

>> trace: we have some conservatives who believe they have thoughts on why kamala harris and joe biden aren't bringing up the supreme court packing issue. packing the supreme court fundamentally thank our country more than any other issue on the table 57bd it blows my mind how these moderators have moved topics instead of pushing biden and harris when they refuse to answer the question. guy benson on top of that says biden and harris do not want to answer on court packing because they don't want to alienate any part of their coalition prior to the election. we deserve to know what they would do with the power they're asking for while pledging to return to norms and bipartisanship. it is a fair assessment that either way they come out of this whole supreme court packing thing somebody in the democratic party is not going to be happy. >> that may be but let's remember where -- how we got here. mitch mcconnell said in 2016 that he would not move the nomination of maieric garland

after justice scalia died because we were in an election year. that was 10 months before the election. his rationale was not republicans control the senate. people were going to vote for president and their voice deserved to be heard and lindsey graham said twice on tape if he changed the rules for president trump shame on him we should hold him accountable. guess what, they changed the rules. now what senator schumer and others are saying everything is on the table. they lied to us. we will try to prevent this incredible hijacking of the process that congress set up. >> trace: thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> sandra: this just in. a response from the biden campaign to the president saying that he will not debate the former vice president virtually after the commission announced that that would be

the case this morning. the campaign putting out a statement the biden campaign reading in part as a result joe biden will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on october 15th, which was supposed to be the day of the debate. and as he has done on several occasions in recent weeks given the president's refusal to participate on october 15th, we hope the debate commission will move the biden trump town hall to october 22nd so that the president is not able to evade accountability. so the biden campaign is saying that he will still take questions on the planned debate day which was october 15th and they are suggesting that the debate commission move the town hall to a later date. they named october 22. that's news just in and we'll have more on that coming up. and this just in to "america's newsroom," house speaker nancy

pelosi just spoke on the stalled coronavirus aid package. her comments have been having market impact and the market was up, the dow was up a couple hundred points earlier in the day and given up most of those gains just up 39 points now. the news conference just wrapped on capitol hill. chad pergram was monitoring it for us. what was the news? >> we have heard a lot of chatter that the speaker of the house and secretary of treasury were discussing maybe doing a stand alone bill something for the airlines. house speaker nancy pelosi has been skeptical from the beginning about trying to do some sort of individual narrow bill. she wants a big bill. she reiterated that this morning. listen. >> let me just be really clear. i have been very open to having a stand alone bill for the airlines or part of a bigger bill. but there is no stand alone bill without a bigger bill. >> we're told today the speaker

of the house and secretary of the treasury will meet virtually, talk by telephone at some point later today. they've been talking two or three times a way for a week or so now. i asked her specifically if she thought that the secretary of the treasury was dialed in with the president and also with white house chief of staff mark meadows about this and she said i can only presume if he has been deputized to be in the talks they're probably on the same page. it seemed like the secretary of the treasury was surprised when the president called the talks off. he called it a strange tweet. the other issue that came up she has questions about how healthy the president of the united states is. listen to this. >> i think that the public needs to know the health condition of the president. there is one question that he refuses -- they refuse to answer. when was -- before he got the virus and admitted to it, when

was his last negative test? >> the speaker this morning was also asked a question about the 25th amendment where you turn over power from the president to the vice president and on down the line. she said that she would have more to say about that tomorrow. also something that was notable at this press conference she wore her mask for the entire time during the press conference. that is a first since the pandemic started. back to you. >> sandra: chad pergram on the news from capitol hill this morning. thank you. >> trace: the terrifying moment a los angeles police officer is attacked in his own police station and a warning, some viewers may find this disturbing. >> he got my gun. >> how the violent encounter started and ended next. it's time for sleep number's fall sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed.

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>> sandra: lapd video showing an officer violent ayinde tacked in a police station. some viewers may find this disturbing. >> he got my gun. he got my gun. >> sandra: christina coleman is live on the story from los angeles this morning. do police know what caused that attack? >> hi, sandra, no, they don't. a seemingly random attack. no word on motive. these videos give us a close-up view of the officer fighting for his life against this man at a police station south of downtown l.a. police say on september 26th jose guzman suddenly attacked the officer. grabbed his gun and brutally beat him with it.

fortunately the gun did not go off. he was pistol whipping the officer. guzman pointed the gun at him before running off and another officer jumped into help and guzman and that officer exchanged gunfire and guzman jumped in his truck and took off and police stopped him a short distance away. take a listen to the intense moments during his arrest. [shouting] >> the officer's gun was recovered in guzman's vehicle. the injured officer was released from the hospital, though he had cuts and bruises. this is just one of three attacks on law enforcement in the l.a. area since last month including the ambush of two

l.a. county sheriffs deputies just sitting in their patrol car. sandra. >> sandra: thank you. >> trace: a busy morning of changes ahead of the next presidential debate, which it looks like might not happen at all. the president said he wouldn't waste his time on a virtual debate. now joe biden weighed in by proposing a new date for an in-person debate. will the white house respond? that's next. you can cut your family's mortgage payments by $3000 a year. the va streamline refi is a benefit your spouse earned. it shortens the refi process so veteran families can save money by refinancing. there is no income verification. no appraisal. no out of pocket costs. all time low mortgage rates have now dropped even lower.

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today, except whether there be a presidential debate next week. >> sandra: that is up in the air for now, biden campaign is asking for a later date, we'll see where it goes. trace gallagher, good to be with you this morning. "outnumbered" starts now. >> harris: let's get going. a stunning move, 26 days before the election. president trump says he will not take part in the next presidential debate, after the debate, commission announced the town hall event would be all virtual, with the candidates appear nothing separate remote locations. that debate is scheduled one week from today. the president told maria this. >> pres. trump: i heard the commission changed the debate style and that is not acceptable to us, i'm not going to do a virtual debate. i will not waste my time on