captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: i'm margaret brennan in washington, and this week on "face the nation," after 10 days of coronavirus quarantine, president trump prepares to get back on the campaign trail as the nation and the world see alarming increases in covid cases. the white house is now one of the new red zones in america, a site responsible for at least 25 reported cases of covid-19. after a week characterized by one conservative columnist as bizarre, beserk and almost biblical, the president's struggle with thestfkdis now over as his doctor has declared him no longer a transmission risk. outside 1600 pennsylvania avenue, the d.c. health

department set up a temporary testing facility, and the reminders of the danger inside are clear. >> we have a super spread der event in the white house. >> brennan: but inside the gate on saturday, it seemed to be business as usual: a campaign-style event on the south lawn. >> president trump: get out and vote, and i love you. >> brennan: the president's post-virus message consistent to what he has been saying for months. but his recovery seemed to come after regeneron. >> president trump: i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. this was a blessing in disguise. i want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president. >> brennan: is the president's enthusiasm warranted or even accurate. >> president trump: we have a cure. more than just therapeutic, we have a

cure. >> brennan: we'll talk with len sleev leonard, andll talk with scott gottlieb and neel kashkari. and our cbs news battleground tracker takes a look at the president's dismissive attitude about the virus in some key states. democrats are predictably outraged. >> the stabilizing effect it is having on our government is unconscionable. >> brennan: it's all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ >> brennan: good morning and welcome to "face the nation." although president trump's doctor has declared him no coronavirus, there are still many questions surrounding his health and

whether the disease will have any lingering effects. the president has called his treatments a cure. but across the country, new cases are on the rise. 50,000 new infections have been reported every single day since wednesday. we begin this morning with cbs news national correspondent mark strassmann, who is outside of atlanta. >> reporter: out came the president, off came the mask. >> president trump: first of all, i'm feeling great. i don't know about you. how is everybody feeling? >> reporter: on the white house south lawn stood several hundred conservative voters. shoulder to shoulder for the president's first in-perperson appearance since returning from the hospital. 13 states have positivity rates higher than 10%. new infections rose nationally, and 10 states set records for single-day increases in cases, and new hospitalizations rose

last week in 41 states. >> there have been some personal stories shared with us at meetings from some of our intensive care unit nurses and physicians that are heartbreaking, and they feel very overwhelmed. >> reporter: in the northeast, many people also feel scared. a second wave of covid with an asymptomatic spread. boston district plans to reopen schools. but there is hope. a new report from the c.d.c. found that covid cases declined by 75% in arizona after a mask mandate and other mitigation measures. it is a success new york city is hoping to replicate. hundreds of city employees keep handing out masks. but there is resistance here, too, in a city averaging more than 500 new cases a day, the most since june. >> people are being a little hostile towards o lht o everything that is happening. >> reporter: that includes early voting. long lines in indiana and ohio. more than nine million people have voted early

already in 30 states. >> this is way off the charts for what we have seen in previous elections. >> reporter: by the end of the week, more than 40 states will mail out absentee ballots. the trump campaign is desperate to refocuses efforts on the election not the infection. donald trump, jr. will speak here tomorrow. as for his father, the president, he is heading to florida, pennsylvania, and iowa, for the sort of in-person rallies he relishes. margaret? >> brennan: mark, thank you. we polled likely voters in three states last week for our battleground tracker. in michigan, joe bid 52 to president trump's 46% support. in nevada, the same picture. mr. biden is up 52%, and mr. trump is at 46%. in iowa, a state that the president won easily back in 2016, this year it is tied with 49% each.

cbs news elections and surveys director andrew anthony salvanto is in new york. what does this mean for the overall race? >> good morning, margaret. joe biden currently leads in our electoral college count, 279 to 163. somebody needs 270 to win. that's as of this moment. let's look at this state by state. you mentioned the states in the upper midwe michigan where biden is leading, iowa, where it is even. and then i'll toss in wisconsin, biden leading, and pennsylvania as well, all places that the president won in 2016, and he is even or trailing now. the reason that is important is broader picture, let's look at the sunbelt where florida is a toss-up, georgia, north carolina. even if those go into his column, he comes back, and i'll put them in red here, if the president wins

those, we're still back in the upper midwest, where the president would need to flip a couple of those states to put himself back over the top. having said that, margaret, he has done it before. >> brennan: anthony, did the president's illness, his diagnosis with coronavirus, have an impact? >> not for the voters that he needs to move. now, margaret, let me show you in our michigan poll. on balance, both voters felt that the way the administration handled that covid crisis was a bad example, set a bad extreme, for the country by 60-40. and voters there are still concerned about getting coronavirus themselves, and they told us they felt the way it was handled by the white house was more irresponsible. you see the bigger numbers here, in michigan and nevada and in iowa. this, margaret, is that the administration's messaging on this was, of course, to try to inspire confidence, that the virus could be

beaten as the president recovered. well, voters in these states told us while they're still worried about getting it, they feel like, by very large numbers, over 70% in all three, that were they to get it, the treatment that they would receive would not be as good as what the president got, margaret. >> brennan: anthony, what about the economy? that has been the president's strongest message. does it still work? >> it has. in state over state he has an edge over joe biden on handling the economy. but in michigan, they're even, at 45% each, and something else is driving the vote here, and that is views of how the candidates handle themselves personally, on which joe biden has a large edge at 56-32 over the troubleshooter right presid. >> prime minister jean chretie

>> brennan: we want to go to the chairwoman ronna mcdaniel. and she is recovering from the virus herself. good morning. how are you feeling? >> feeling a lot betank yo very >> bnnan: i'm glad to hear that. do you know if you can still transmit the virus? are you going to be out there soon on the campaign trail? >> yeah. i've been told, and i'm working with my doctor, so i'm going to follow the science, that 10 days after having the virus, you're not contagious. but i'm going to make sure. i've been fever-free for sign.0 days, so that's a >> brennan: good luck to you with that. on the president's front, he is recovering. you just heard our latest read from anthony salvanto. do you think these days off the campaign trail and a canceled debate for this week have put the president behind? >> we have been looking at

our numbers i internally as well. we are not seeing that. we are seeing the president actually increase. i think the voters are very angered that the commission would cancel a debate. that the 47 years that joe biden has had in d.c. is again protecting him from facing the voters. and americans are frustrated that this election commission interfered with our ability to see these two candidates debate. >> brennan: there are republicans on that commission, and that decision was made in due in part to health -- >> those republicans have been very critical of this president. they did not follow the science. it was done unilaterally without talking to the candidates. and they interfered with the election. it is corrupt. it is what d.c. is. they're in the pocket of joe biden, and they're prevented the americans from seeing these debates. >> brennan: when you

heard the stats on the economy in particular, that stood out to me because you always say this is the most resinant message for the president. but in michigan, he is even with biden on who would be better for the economy. why isn't that working? >> i think the debate situation is a negative for biden. i think it plays into this d.c. politician who visit been there for 47 years, who isn't getting tough questions from the media. he is refusing to answer about whether he is going to pack the supreme court, up-ending 150 years of our traditional standards. and he is saying i'll tell you after the election? this is egregious that he is getting away with this. >> brennan: what about the economy? >> the president, of course, is doing better on the economy. the p.p.p. saved businesses. this president had our economy in the best shape before this pandemic. he is already leading us

out of it -- >> brennan: it sounds like the republicans aren't going to pass the bill that the president -- >> no. nancy pelosi wants to do a power grab and fund cities that were already in financial distress in the name of the pandemic, and i think the american people -- >> brennan: the republicans are adjusting to it, too. i want to ask you, are you going to start resuming in-person fundraisers? and if you do, are you going to have masks being worn -- >> we're going to do everything we need to do. but let's go back to the issue, margaret. have you a candidate for president -- >> brennan: i want to ask you -- >> what he is doing is an absolute power grab. joe biden is running on the biggest power grab in history, and you want to talk about fundraising pro coals. >> brennan: i want to ask what he is doing in the next few days -- >> he wants to pack the supreme court, get rid of the filibuster, and he is given a free pass. i understand you don't

like donald trump. i understand you don't like republicans. you have a democrat running on the biggest power grab, the absolute biggest power grab in the history of our country and reshaping the united thates of america and noteranswo talking about. >> brennan: i think you answered the question of yes of resuming in-person fundraisers -- >> who cares if we have fundraisers? >> brennan: because it is the president. i want to know what he is doing. >> but he is going to up-end checks and balances in the third branch of government, why are we not talking about this non-stop. this is joe biden who is going to get rid of the checks and balances that are fundamental to our constitution and won't answer if he is going to stack the supreme court. that's all the media should be focusing on. >> brennan: the r.n.c. about 40 pieces of litigation involving voting integrity. and republicans are suing to outlaw things like drop

boxes. is the party strategy here to, as democrats allege, to basically try to limit the number of voters in order for republicans to n? are ngn every staterts -the doc to get rid of signature verification, to extend the length of the election, to get rid of all of the witness requirements to ensure election integrity. we are saying you can't just change laws before the election. you need to have the safeguards -- >> brennan: but you're trying to outlaw drop boxes in pennsylvania. >> no, we are not. there should be monitoring. we should have a standard. you shouldn't be able to put them anywhere without notification. those are the types of reasonable things we're asking for. also, we have won on democrats trying to expand ballot ha harvesting, getting rid of signature -- >> brennan: it was a

trump-appointed judge in pennsylvania who just yesterday rejected the r.n.c.'s effort to limit rop boxes -- >> it didn't win -- >> brennan: they said you dent eve didn't even make a speculative case on fraud. what are you suggesting happened to all of the ballots -- >> you should know where the drop boxes are, that's pretty reasonable. there should be some notification. we won in pennsylvania, we just won in south carolina, we just won in -- >> brennan: about drop boxes? >> yeah. and we should be able to know where those drop boxes are, and i think they should be monitored. states shouldn't be able to put drop boxes in without any notification. again, let's go back to the crux of the issue. you have a democrat running for president who wants to up-end our entire system of government to get rid of checks and balances. >> brennan: i wanted to talk about the mechanics

of how people can actually vote and these pieces of litigation. we're out of time. thank you for joining us. i hope you feel better. "face the nation." will be right back with michigan's governor gretchen whitmer. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive.

yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! >> brennan: last week is 13 members of a militia group were arrested as part of an alleged plot to kidnap and put governor gretchen whitmer on trial for treason. she joins us from lansing, michigan. good morning. do you know if the security threat is over? do you feel safe? >> governor: i have always felt safe. i am protected by the michigan state police. they are an incredible professional organization. groups likes this group, the domestic terrorists, are finding comfort and support in the rhetoric coming out of republican leadership from the white house to our state house.

so i remain concerned aout safety integrity going up to this election. >> brennan: i want to get into integrity in a moment, but to button this up, three of the men that were arrested as co-conspirators and part of this plot were also involved back in the spring, in april, with storming the michigan capitol with guns at the time. governor, these are your constituents. how do you, in your state, unify things? i know you're talking about the president and rhetoric, but what do you do to deal with this? >> gord >> governor: so the center of all of the work we've been doing around covid is trying the save lives. if people support me politically or supported my opponent, my job as governor is to make sure that michigan is a place where we're saving lives and getting our economy back on track. we have saved thousands of lives by the actions that i took. we also have reengaged our economy. we're one of the 10 top economic resurgences in

the nation because of that work. >> brennan: but you know that the michigan supreme court has tried to limit the powers that you used to do some of these things like masked mandates. now in order to do further things, you have to work with republicans. clearly there is some deep, deep divisions in your state. can you work with them, with the republican-controlled legislature? >> governor: absolutely. i was raised in a household with a republican parent and a democratic parent. but the fact of the matter is we have to find common ground. i think that is what is so important in this election. joe biden is deeply decent and has been known for collaborating and putting the interests of the public first. donald trump has been in incredibly divisive, whether it is covid or the rhetoric coming out of the white house. there are decent human beings on both sides of the aisle, but we need a leader who can bring them together. >> brennan: you heard me ask the chairwoman whether

it is republican strategy to try to limit access to the vote because of all of the litigation. she says it is democrats who have litigation trying to essentially skew the vote. in your state, which is going to be so key, and votes are going to be closely watched, your secretary of state has said they will not be able to report the results of the election november 3rd. how long do you think it will take to know what the vote in michigan was in a define tifdefinitive way. >> governor: she has said we're going to get every vote counted and we're going to keep people safe as they go to vote. we're working with our attorney-general, who's has been a fierce advocate of people's right to vote. michigan will be able to announce results, but we are not going to have artificial deadlines set by people with political agendas.

it will be soon after polls close -- i'm not going to put a number on it. i want to remind michiganers you can vote today. so every day between now and november 3rd in michigan is election day. the more people that vote earlier, the more likely yo'll be safe and get counted. >> brennan: the law says if it is post-marked by november 3rd, as long as it arrives by november 17th, it will count. on the question of poll monitoring, in our poll, in our battleground tracker, we found that half of the president's voters in michigan think the president should encourage his supporters to go stand near polling places as watchers. do you think this is going to be a problem in michigan? >> governor: here is what i can say: we are prepared. we are prepared to make sure this election goes smoothly. we're going to keep people safe as they go to the polls. we will not tolerate anyone who is trying to

interfere with someone's ability to safely vote. we are still in the middle of a global pandemic, which is why we're really encouraging people to avail themselves of the ability to vote absentee d drop off their ballots -- >> brennan: are you encouraging -- given what happened to you this week, governor, are you worried about violence on election day or around it? >> governor: i'm not worried, but we are preparing to make sure we did everything to keep people safe. i have incredible confidence. i know that the people of michigan want to vote. we see how high the stakes are in this election. we're going to have historic turnout, and we're going to do it right. >> brennan: you are a surrogate for joe biden. yesterday in an event in pennsylvania, he seemed to question the integrity of the vote. he said: "the only way we lose this is because of the shawinigans going on related to polling." are they accusing the r.n.c. of trying to

intimidate voters? >> i think that a reasonable person can draw the conclusion that the efforts to undermine the postal service, to undermine mail-in balloting, to claim that if you don't have results the moment that polls close that it is not legitimate -- all those of efforts to undermine people's confidence in this election. i think that is what joe biden was trying to commune kate. sometimekate --communicate. but the fact of the matter is every vote is going to get counted. we've never had a significant issue with fraud via mail-in voting. >> brennan: to be clear: the integrity of the vote in michigan is something that you stand by, and that is not something that joe biden is questioning, is that what you're saying? >> governor: correct. >> brennan: governor, thank you very much for your time. >> governor: thank you. >> brennan: we'll be right back with a lot more "face the nation." stay with us.

the support we've had over the last few months has been amazing. i have a soft spot for local places. it's not just a work environment. everyone here is family. gonna go ahead and support him, get my hair cut, leave a big tip. if we focus on our local communities, we can find a way to get through this together. thank you. ♪ if you are ready to open your heart and your home, check us out. get out and about and support our local community. we thought for sure that we were done. and this town said: not today. ♪ joe biden will not raise taxes on anyone making under 400 thousand dollars. biden will close tax loopholes

for big corporations. trump's tax cut giveaway exploded our debt, so he's threatening social security and medicare. biden will make the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share. so we can protect social security and medicare and invest in schools and health care. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. >> brennan: on monday,

cbs news nfir hearings that supreme court nomee judge amy coney barrett. our cerage stas at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

a woman who was young had covid-19. i remember her 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 that we should have been doing many months ago. and joe biden is not going to let his ego get in the way of fighting the disease. ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad. to severe plaque psoriasis uncover clearer skin that can last. in fact, tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an iecr sytoms

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