covid numbers spiking to levels not seen since the height of the pandemic. as four out of five states are seeing a rise. and many consider new restrictions plus covid hitting close to home for vice president pence and his team with eight days until the election more americans have already taken advantage of early voting than they did in 2016 our correspondents are in battleground states this morning with the latest. we'll take you to the nation's largest retirement community where republicans outnumber democrats 2-1. but could this election change all that our kerry sanders visits the

villages this morning you'll meet the trailblazing teacher who went from teaching history to making history. new week, new storm. we are tracking tropical storm zeta, which all but certain to become a hurricane by tonight. "early today" starts right now >> good morning. thanks for getting your week started with us. i'm lindsey reiser >> good to be with you i'm frances rivera we are just over one week from election day in america. president trump is making three campaign stops in pennsylvania today while joe biden spent the weekend campaigning in the midwest and overnight "60 minutes" aired their interviews with the candidates, including a sit-down with president trump that was abruptly cut short after a combative back and forth. >> do you think that your tweets and your name calling are turning people off >> no. i think i wouldn't be here if i didn't have social media but the media is fake and frankly if i didn't have social

media i'd have no way of getting out my voice >> it's not over till the bell rings. and i feel superstitious when i predict anything other than it's going to be a hard fight we feel good about where we are, but you know, i don't underestimate how he plays >> mike pence also spoke and pushed for schools to reopen we're learning this morning about members of his team testing positive for coronavirus. our capitol hill correspondent tracee potts joins us with the latest how is the vice president reacting to this outbreak? >> reporter: well, he's not backing down, lindsey. in fact, we know the vice president will continue on the job. according to the white house, we heard from the chief of staff, that vice president pence is not going to quarantine because he is classified as an essential worker the white house saying he will take precautions after five people close to him including his chief of staff, three other

government employees, and a fund-raiser all tested positive. but the vice president, they believe, is still at this point safe to continue his work wearing a mask and social distancing with other precautions. we also heard from the white house chief of staff about whether or not this administration can contain the virus. >> here's what we have to did. we're not going to control the pandemic we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitt gaigs -- >> why aren't we going to control the pan dem snik. >> because it is a contagious virus just like the flu 37. >> why not make efforts to contain it >> we are making efforts to contain it >> by running all over the country not wearing a mask >> let me just say this. is what we need to do is make sure we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure that people don't die from this >> now, vice president pence

will continue an aggressive schedule he's in minnesota and pennsylvania today and north and south carolina tomorrow. back to you. >> trayce tracie, thank you. president trump determined, will make a three stop blitz through the keystone stayed today. he's currently trailing joe biden by seven points in the latest poll there. nbc's maura barrett has been talking to voters in beaver, pennsylvania >> reporter: president trump won pennsylvania by 44,000 votes back in 2016, largely in part due to white voters without college degrees. a lot of these people were blue-collar working voters especially the ones here in beaver county. looking for a resurgence in steel manufacturing jobs and because they haven't gotten that they're hoping that natural gas might help boost their local economy. so when we see president trump bring up fracking on the debate stage, he's targeting voters specifically here in a county that went for him by 19 points back in 2016 and while we're hearing opposing

messages on both sides and trump on the campaign trail, they're hitting different parts of the state with different focuses trump is going to a lot of places today specifically where he had strong support back in 2016 and can expect to win again. biden, meanwhile, looking to go to places where the race is tighter. hoping to tighten up that margin of support for president trump frances? >> thank you, maura. president trump won iowa easily four years ago, but the latest "new york times"/sienna college poll shows biden has a slim throw-point lead, which is within the margin of error nbc's cory coffin has the latest from des moines. cory, good morning >> reporter: good morning. talk about a tight race in the state of iowa. if you look at these heat maps you can see the progression of the state from slightly blue to deep red with trump in 2016. the president winning the state by nine points four years ago. but now the latest poll shows biden edging out the president by three points, with 7% of people either undecided or

unwilling to answer. we talked to voters yesterday about their feelings about the election just a few days out listen in. >> i think the president will win. i think he'll be re-elected. and i think it will be a little bit -- there are a lot of people and they keep talking about the silent voter i haven't told anybody who i'm voting for >> our last president i didn't see any problems i think there's a lot more results and a lot more people was able to be satisfied and safe versus now it's just a lot of chaos, a lot of confusion. so hopefully this next one can say you know, it was a lot of mess, we need to clean it up, we need to get people back on track. >> reporter: so what are the main voting issues on iowans' minds? it's of course jobs, it's the pandemic but it's also health care and the potential whether or not that would go away under a republican administration. and it's also social justice lindsey? >> all right, cory, thank you. the nation is plunging deeper into unchartered waters as covid cases continue surging. as of now there are over 8.7

million infected americans and more than 226,000 lives lost to the pandemic across the nation the virus trends are triggering alarm bells. 43 states and d.c. are up at least 10% in the last two weeks. meanwhile, in the waeft hospitals in el pooso reaching a tipping point after a record 300% spike in covid-19 patients in just three weeks. the county is issuing a 10:00 p.m. curfew. violators could face a $500 fine the texas governor has requested the feds turn an active duty military medical center into a hospital as nearby health care centers are overwhelmed. the virus has touched nearly every corner of the world as infections bounce to more than 43 million globally. you're is cracking down, imposing restrictions as cases soar in spain and italy. some tough new limits are now being enforced >> reporter: that's right, frances. good morning

the governor introduced starting from today new measures. even newer measures because of the contagion. the second wave of coronavirus seems to be spielg out of control. now, yesterday there were more than 21,000 people testing positive here in italy which is a massive spike compared to the previous days and weeks. that prompted the government to close down all theaters, cinemas, gyms and pools. also they were closed down starting from today at least until november 24th. restaurants at 6:00 in the evening. which doesn't only mean inltsz will not be able to have dinner outside their homes until november 24th. at least they also will not be able to have what we call here in italy an aperitivo, which is the drink italians have with their friends and colleagues in crowded squares like this one. usually crowded squares like this one which will remain as you see empty, at least until november 24th, frances.

>> first time around and here they are again claudio, thank you to president trump's national security aides are headed overseas toindia. secretary of state mike pompeo and defense secretary mark esper will visit new delhi tomorrow for the third edition of two plus two ministerial dialogue. on the docket discussions of the ongoing tensions between india and china and strategic security talks on deemening the u.s.-indian military alliance. for a look ahead we turn to nbc's matt bradley in paris. >> reporter: hey, guys it's not just india. we saw a tweet this frrning month mike pompeo. he said wheels up for his trip all around asia. this is a two plus two kind of trip that means the plus two for pompeo is defense secretary mark esper. he will be traveling with the secretary of state and meeting his counterparts as well, not just in india but in four countries, the mald yves lanka,

india and indonesia. basically doing a tour around the bay of bengal. what's the point one week before the presidential elections why try to chalk up a foreign policy victory this late in the game? the president is trying to burnish his anti-china credentials, trying to show that if nothing else he has shown america is going to be stabbndi up against china and now that it can lever its relationships with its close allies like india specific in trying to counterweight against komina that's why this is being called an indo-pacific kind of arrangement. the united states is trying to project india as the major pacific power. with all these things there's always going to be some awkward moments. we just heard from the president in his debate that india is filthy it's unclear whether or not that's going to offend pompeo's hosts this week. guide? >> important context there matt bradley, thank you. wildfires are still raging across the west.

we go it's area in colorado where dry and windy conditions continued fueling the cameron peak and east troublesome fires. but a weekend snowfall brought some relief. over 12 inches of snow fell on the cameron peak fire and the east troublesome fire saw three to four inches fall on sunday afternoon. meanwhile, in california forecasters say the state could see the most powerful wind gusts of the year, further driving up the wildfire risk. in response pacific gas and electric shut down power to customers living in 36 counties across the state >> those images are just disturbing let's go over to nbc meteorologist janessa webb with the latest >> good morning, ladies. good morning, everyone we are tracking another tropical system our 27th named storm we are headed for records unfortunately. and this is aiming toward the yucatan peninsula right now 37 it will gain speed fairly quickly. and we will have a cat 1 hurricane by tonight right now tropical storm debta

60-mile-per-hour winds before it zarts to head into the gulf. the national hurricane center has it going through that yucatan peninsula. going into the gulf by tuesday evening, and unfortunately this aims toward the coastline snowfall this afternoon. look at the upper midwest. it continues to deal with this brutal air mass. casper today, lots of sunshine but 21 degrees watching that cold air mass, oklahoma city headed toward the 20s. >> shock to the system for that. prermg to vote amy coney barrett onto the preekt today. yesterday all but two supreme court republicans and no democrats voted to advance her nomination, all but assuring her seat on the high court

while barrett is not expected to need a tiebreaker vote from vice president pence like the last justice appointed to the supreme court brett kavanaugh the margin will still be razor thin compared to years past coming up why senior citizens could be thnee w swing voter. and the historic award for one texas teacher. that works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. take the prilosec otc two-week challenge. and see the difference for yourself. prilosec otc, 1 pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. ...crunchy oat clusters with a hotouch of honey...ombine... ...plump, juicy raisins... ...and tasty fiber... ...into one delicious cereal? it took a lot of branstorming. get it? kellogg's raisin bran crunch. two scoops of delicious.

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tonight, try pure zzzs all night. yet formulated to be gentle on your skin. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep. a dallas elementary school teacher made history this month, becoming the first black man to be named as texas teacher of the year eric hale's engaging lessons both before and during the pandemic have inspired students and colleagues alike nbc's jose diaz-balart spoke with him >> who's ready to learn at the highest level? >> reporter: at david g. burnett elementary school in dallas, during a time when almost nothing is normal, teacher eric hale is bringing joy to his young students coping with the fallout from covid >> congratulations, eric >> reporter: he's now the first

black man ever named texas teacher of the year p. >> let's all give eric a big round of applause. >> you've just made history. how does it feel >> it feels great. i'm the first black man to win the award. but i'm not the first black man who deserved it p. >> reporter: the honor all the more special because of what he went through to simply survive a difficult childhood. spending time in shelters before finding a home with an aunt and his beloved grandmother. talk to me a little about the background you have and how it affects the way you interact with your students >> i come from a rough neighborhood and a very rough upbringing i know how hard it is to learn when you're hungry i know how it feels to be ashamed. so all of that plays a role in the way that i handle the children that i teach. it's up to me to not only help them with their educational self-esteem but also their social and emotional

self-esteem. >> reporter: self-esteem taught by lifting spirits with innovative lessons seen here pre-pandemic energizing and engaging young minds. >> it's awesome. >> he's special. >> we're very proud here at burnett. >> motivating staff too like burnett principal sonia loskot >> his story is inspirational. when i heard it, like i said, it changed me as a leader his journey appealing is to give back to a community that really needs. >> reporter: guided by god and now a dad himself, eric hale is determined to be the teacher he wishes he'd had growing up >> not every kid's going to be diamond. but every child is a precious stone. it's my job did to advocate form and to buff them until that greatness and brilliance comes out. >> mr. hale represents texas in the national teacher of the year

competition. teachers deserve so much kudos anyway but whuk give them a full-on award like this one even better good you can see how much fun they were having so lucky the wild ortveime finish to the seahawks-cardinals showdown. this is "early today." dust mite droppings? ewww. dead skin cells? gross! so now, i grab my swiffer heavy duty sweeper and dusters. dusters extends to 6 feet to reach way up high... to grab, trap and lock away gross dust. nice! for dust on my floors, i switch to sweeper. the heavy duty cloths reach deep in grooves to grab, trap and lock dust bunnies... no matter where they hide. no more heebie jeebies. phhhhew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. it's so hon, out here!u guys. are we on yet? oh... i thought we were doing a zoom thing. no. but she wanted someone who loves with the cats.ng.

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rocket for the touchdown >> seahawks and cardinals came down to the wire on "sunday night football." russell wilson had himself a game that put seattle up big kyler murray and the cardinals rallied. a last second field goal gives them a come from behind win 37-34. big moments and close finishes were the normal in week 7 sunday games. in atlanta todd gurley's store with a minute left gave the lions just enough time to come back detroit came down the field and punched it in giving them the 23-22 wib. tom brady surpassed drew brees as the league's aum-time leader in touchdown passes he threw four scores to get to number 259, helping the buck dmooerz beat the raiders in las vegas. and in a battle of the afc's last unbeat een teams the steelr tried to hold on to an early lead the titans' miss field goal seals it pittsburgh wins 27-24.

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meet the newest swing voters senior citizens. for years the majority of seniors have been considered reliable republican voters but this year that may be changing even in one of the biggest, most conservative retirement communities in america kerry sanders has more >> reporter: the villages in central florida, more than 32 square miles, the largest retirement community in the nation like golf carts to cars, republicans here outnumber democrats 2-1. those conservative voters have repeatedly paraded in their carts, showing their support for

president trump. the president among enthusiastic supporters here on friday. for the last four years residents here in the villages say they felt that if they spoke out against donald trump they would face consequences, mostly social isolation but now there are vocal critics speaking out, and the big surprise is who they are >> i'm a lifetime republican >> most of my life >> show of hands, who voted for trump in the last election who is voting for trump in this upcoming election? nobody why? >> to put it simply, i want our democracy back >> i cannot vote for a man who i look at as the great divider rather than unifier. >> his whole platform is divide and conquer. and i gave him a chance. and i feel that we need somebody else >> reporter: recently in what was considered a bold move hundreds of voters here paraded for joe biden.

they're not alone. a recent nbc/"wall street journal" poll shows joe biden up double digits among america's most reliable voters, seniors. has trump lost the loyal base that he has here in the villages >> absolutely not. >> reporter: john colondro is with the remembpublican party i sumter county. he believes most retirees will vote their fixed incomes >> a lot of people want to say the stock market only benefits the rich but there are a lot of people here who are collecting dividends and that's kind of giving them an edge to enjoy the lifestyle we have. >> i would love to see every registered voter vote so after this is all done we can look back and say it is clear, we have a president that the people have chosen. >> reporter: on election night both campaigns will be watching the early results here for a trend. have a significant number of trump's most loyal voters defected kerry sanders, nbc news, the

villages, florida. >> seeing that in some other states with high senior populations like arizona >> absolutely. we know whether you're young or old, especially this election, it is counting >> it matters. thanks for starting your week with "early today. i'm lindse ♪ 100% beef and hearty chili. try my $5.99 chili cheeseburger combo. .

♪ 100% beef and hearty chili. try my $5.99 chili cheeseburger combo. it's pretty delicious. right now at 4:00 today in the bay, dangerous winds arrive in bay area forcing to pg&e to cut the power to millions. the concern, the potential for wildfires some of the video we shot overnight. the winds howling all across the bay area. our team is live monitoring the overnight conditions and what you need to know if you're heading out the door. welcome to a very early edition of "today in the way."