>> brennan: welcome back to "face the nation." we want to go now to former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb in westport, connecticut. good morning to you. >> doctor: good morning. >> brennan: we have now eight million infections in the united states, record hospitalizations in terms of the red zone areas that the white house is concerned about, and 26 states fall into that category. where are we headed as a country? >> doctor: probably the most difficult phase of this epidemic. i think the next three months are going to be very challenging. there is really no backstop against the spread we're seeing. we're probably two or three weeks behind europe, and europe is in a very difficult position right now, too. as we enter the winter,

we'll see continued spread. there are 42 states where hospitalizations are rising, and arc is above one, meaning they have expanding epidemics. there is not going to be an intervention that really thwarts this short of the ability to get a vaccine, which is probably an event that happens late next year. >> brennan: you point out -- >> doctor: i lost my sound. >> brennan: i can still hear it, dr. gottlieb, but i think we're working on being able to reestablish his aud. audio. can you hear me? we're going to work on fixing that, and come back to the conversation with dr. gottlieb in a moment. we're going to turn now to another important conversation with the head of one of the 12banks that make up the federal reserve system. that's raphael bostic who joins us from atlantic this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning, margaret. >> brennan: there was a front page story in the wall street journal just yesterday that pointed to

the south, the area of the country you watch most carefully. and it said it has been largely unscathed economically by the pandemic. it has a 6.9% unemployment rate, the lowest of any region as of august. when you look at those numbers, does it vindicate the political decision by governors in the south to go ahead and reopen against the advice of health officials? >> well, margaret, i don't know i would say vindicate. as dr. gottlieb was just saying, we we're still very much in the midst of this crisis. one of the reasons i think the south has benefited is because the virus came to us after it had been to california and new york. we got to learn how we might be able to operate and do our economics with the virus with us. and i think that has turned out to be something that has been quite helpful. >> brennan: an important caveat there. when you look atlanta, in particular, i know you pointed out recent interviews that eviction

levels are higher than where they were a year ago. what are some of the indicators that you are watching that make you concerned rather than optimistic, as the white house paints us to be on a clear upward trajectory? >> well, i'm definitely concerned, and i'm concerned because as i go around and talk to people and businesses in the district, what i see is two real stories going on. in some segments the economy is recovering and rebounding in a r & r very robust way. but things like hotels and restaurants and small businesses, in particularly low income and minority, they're seeing much more difficult situations. the recovery looks something like this, where you have a number of sectors that are going up. this is what i call a left-bend sign, and in other institutes you're not seeing any recovery at all. so those segments where we're not seeing that

recovery, that's really what i'm concerned about as we move forward. >> brennan: disjointed recoveries is kind of what you're sketching out there. there was one number that i saw, i read about this week, that really stood out to me. i want to share it with you, and it paints this picture of white-collar and working class america being on different trajectories. according to the latest poll, between seven million and 11 million children live in a household where children just didn't eat enough because their household couldn't afford it. this is the richest country in the world. we're being told that the economy is recovering. this doesn't say that to me at all. what does this indicate to you? >> well, first of all, we have to recognize that the issue of food insecurity is something we've had in this country for a long time. it is not new and it is not just as a result of the virus. but what the virus has done, it has put a wedge in our economy. and for all those wht have been in more precarious

situations, it made them even more precarious. so those who have been in distress are in manage more distress. while others are not really feeling that at all. i think it is important to recognize that whatever people are experiencing, there are a lot of other americans out there who are struggling and are on the edge. and that eviction stated is just one example of that. >> brennan: black americans have recovered just over a third of employment they lost ?! during this pandemic. this speaks to what you're talking about in terms of different experiences. according to the fed, only 34% of black households own stocks. you've been writing and speaking a lot lately about widening inequality in this country. what needs to be done about it? >> well, first of all, we have to acknowledge that there is a problem. and we have to be willing to talk about it. my institution has, for a long time, not been willing to be out in front and to talk about the importance of racial

inequality. i think that has been a mistake. what we're seeing is many of more of my colleagues jumping up and being willing to talk about this. in terms of what to do, i think there are two dimensions on this. one is that we have to change the trajectory for the generations to come, so they have good schooling and training and real access to capital. and they can progress just like everyone else. but we also have a lot of people today who are trying to benefit from this economy and participate in it. so we need to make sure we're providing resources and infrastructure to help those people as well. >> brennan: joe biden has been calling for the feds to start regularly reportedly on racial gaps. you're name appears in a number of reports this week as a potential member of a biden administration, either as treasury secretary or head of the federal reserve. are those jobs you would be interested in? >> you know, margaret, there is so much going on right now, i am not thinking about that. i've got a pandemic and an economic crisis, and i've got my own bank to worry about in terms of the policies we're doing. i'll let things play out

as they were. and we'll just see how that goes. >> brennan: all right. that is not a no. thank you, mr. bostic. we will be bake in a back in a moment. ah! come on! let's hide in the attic. no. in the basement. why can't we just get in the running car? are you crazy? let's hide behind the chainsaws. smart. yeah. ok. if you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. it's what you do. this was a good idea. shhhh. i'm being quiet. you're breathing on me! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. let's go to the cemetery! laso you can enjoy it even ifst you're sensitive. se. yet some say it isn't real milk.

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and this town said: not today. ♪ >> brennan: i want to go back now to dr. scott gottlieb. we have fixed that technical issue, we hope. you were just saying we were headed into a very difficult period. you predict the vaccine is an event well into 2021. when we look at what is happening right now, there is such an outbreak in the midwest. in wisconsin, they had their highest daily case total since the pandemic began on friday, and residents are being told to avoid crowds. but the president held a rally there just yesterday. he seems to not be adopting any further health restrictions, even after having recovered from the virus himself. how dangerous is that? >> doctor: i think it is problematic, and i think it is adding to the

challenges. look, the spread we have right now is with the mitigation that we have in place. so we are taking some steps. if we weren't taking those steps, if people weren't wearing masks generally, and some states weren't adhering to some mitigation tactics, we would have much worse spread. if you look at the white house strategy, they have come out against universal masking, they have come out against testing asymptomatic people, and the testing should be reserved just to the vulnerable. they want businesses and schools reopened, as we all do, and they're against targeted mitigation like closing restaurants. so it begs the question: what is the strategy? and i think the strategy is just to endure the spread until we get to that vaccine. the reason that is problematic, because even if you get companies filing applications at the end of november, and i'm on the board of pfizer, one of the companies developing one of those vaccines, it will take the f.d.a. two to four weeks to turn that application around. and it will take another two or four weeks to get the initial people

indicated for the vaccine vaccinated. and then they need to get a second dose. and two weeks for the immunity to kick in. so you're looking at a situation where the first batch won't be protected probably until february, maybe march. that is a long way off. we're going to have to endure this wave of spread, and it is probably likely to be the biggest wave we endure without the benefit of a vaccinated population. we'll have to rely on those mitigation steps. >> brennan: you're talking about connecticut, a state in the yellow zone. you plan to vote in person. but if you live in a red-zone state, how safe it is to go out in the midst of an epidemic and vote? >> doctor: i think it is possible to protect yourself, but you need to take precautions. the biggest risk is when we let our guard down. when you talk to the governors about what the spread is occurring, it is occurring in congregate settings, a local elks

club or a large family gathering. when you go out to vote, they're sequencing people carefully and cleaning the voting stations in between voters. the lines are going to be long, but they're going to take precautions inside those settings. when people go out to vote, if they wear high-quality masks, they can protect themselves. the biggest risk is where we let our guard down and we're not taking those kinds of precautions. i think you can vote safely, even in places where there is high prevalence. >> brennan: and when you say high-quality mask, you mean not a cloth one? >> doctor: right. if you wear an n-995 mask, that is even better. >> brennan: when you said large family gatherings are a major source of spread, are you advising people not to celebrate thanksgiving? > >> doctor: i think people need to weigh their individual risk. if you have people in your family who are vulnerable, i think it is advisable to

try to protect them. i think this will probably be the hardest phase of this pandemic. the good news is we have a lot of medical treatment and better medical care, so we'll do a better job at preserving life, but the bad thing is we'll probably infect a the lot more people. we're in this about eight, nine months, and we have a short period of time to go. we're probably in the seventh inning. >> brennan: and we keep hearing about the therapeutic, breakthrough drugs. how likely will be they? >> doctor: they'll have to be rationed. and i think there will be challenges distributing them. right now the plan is to distribute them at emergency rooms. so you're going to have to compel people who are largely well, people who have the infection but haven't yet really developed symptoms to come into an emergency room to get infused. that is going to be a challenge. >> brennan: a challenge in the midst of a pandemic. all right, dr. gottlieb,

thank you for your analysis and advice. and we'll be back in a moment.

>> brennan: we want to go back now to the presidential campaign and check in with both sides. first quarter we gfirst we go t. good morning. >> good morning. >> brennan: our cbs news battleground tracker shows your candidate, joe biden, has the edge in arizona, by 3 points, and a 5-point lead in wisconsin. a lot will be dependent on turnout. do you think the democratic party has done enough, in the midst of this pandemic, to drive up either easy balloting or ability to go to the polls? >> well, i always caution people never go on the "pollecoaster." we take nothing for granted. you saw the early vote totals in wisconsin, over a quarter of the people have already voted in wisconsin. they voted absentee. you look down in florida, 2.4 million people voted down there.

what is really interesting is that the democrats are overwhelming turning in their ballots. and 350,000 of the democrats that have turned in their ballots haven't voted in the last two elections. so it is not just people who are voting for convenience. it is people who haven't turned out, and that shows the enthusiasm for joe biden and kamala harris. we have a lot more work to do, but we're expanding the battlegrounds. we're competing in places like arizona, texas, ohio, iowa, georgia, and elsewhere. and it's because we have a candidate who i think is uniquely qualified to bring people together. he does have a plan to deal with our crisis, our coronavirus crisis, or economic crisis. he is a uniter, not a divider. that is why joe biden is making the progress he is making. but we have more work to do, and folks have got to get out there and vote. >> brennan: and the biden campaign has emphasized that that lead is a lead, but it still could be neck-in-neck.

and interestingly, when you look at our arizona poll, the majority of likely voters in arizona, 56%, give democrats more blame than they do to republicans or the president for not getting an economic relief package to them right now. i mean americans are in an economic emergency and these negotiations remain more or less stalled on capitol hill. do you think that strategy of holding out is going to backfire for democrats? >> it is the democrats who passed a bill five or six months ago, and the republicans did nothing. they're moving heaven and earth to fill a supreme court seat so they can undo the affordable care act and undo -- >> brennan: but this is blaming things to you now, this is backlash. people are saying they see blame being put here with the democrats in their view. >> in the last week, i've traveled both to arizona, nevada, and florida. what i've heard from voters throughout those

travels -- i was with folks in orlando on thursday. and people working at disney world, one person is going to lose her health care coverage on thanksgiving day. that's when she loses her health care. but the republicans don't want to pay for cobra coverage for people who have lost their coverage, who have lost their health care. they have lost their jobs. that is unconscionable. people understand this is a health care election. in the middle of a crisis, we have a president who wants to undo coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. he wants to turn the bak on health care. it is the democrats who have been fighting for it -- >> brennan: but talking and doing are two different things, and not doing is what democrats are getting blamed at for here. when you talk about get-out-the-vote efforts, yesterday there was a court that ruled in republicans' favor when it comes to a rule in michigan about mail-in ballots needing to be returned by 8:00 p.m. on

election day. this is a state that could really be decisive. how much of a setback is that? >> well, we've been organizing early in michigan, and organizing early elsewhere. in wisconsin, for instance, back in april, the republicans tried to weaponize the pandemic because they wanted to win a supreme court case. and we won it because we outhustled them, and we turned out absentee voters in droves. and voters have options in michigan, thanks to a ballot initiative in 2018, and they're using those options. you look at the early vote totals, and, again, democratic energy -- >> brennan: so you don't see this as damaging? >> i would rather -- i believe democracy works better when everyone can cast their ballot and every ballot is counted. we're in an unprecedented pandemic here, and courts in other states have allowed votes that were

postmarked by election day to be counted as long as they're received within a short period of time after election day. this court did it differently. i disagree categorically with that ruling. but we're moving ahead in michigan and everywhere. the pandemic in michigan and the pandemic everywhere, this is a crisis. people understand -- this president has no plan. his closing argument in michigan is lock her up. he is fanning the flames of division. he doesn't have a plan for the coronavirus. he doesn't have a plan for the economy. he is divisive. joe biden is -- >> brennan: all right. >> people in michigan remember it was joe biden and barack obama who saved the auto industry when republicans -- >> brennan: all right. tom perez, thank you very much. we're going to turn now to cbs news political analyst reince priebus, he was the first white house chief-of-staff for president trump. and he joins us from

kenosha, wisconsin, his home town, this morning. good morning. >> good morning, margaret. >> brennan: i opened up the "washington post" day and i see you have re-entered the trump campaign mix. you're advising him on strategy, including coaching him in that recent nbc townhall. and it says you are concerned about the president's chances. is that right, your concerned that the president is headed for a loss? >> no, not at all. in fact, i'm not concerned about that at all. i'm concerned about early vote. i'm concerned about absentee ballot voting. but i'm always worried about early voting and absentee ballot voting. i haven't reemmerged. i've always been helpful to the r.n.c. where we're at in the pandemic, and having five times more people vote in florida than ever before. these are unprecedented times. the polling is all over the map. this is something that will come down to the wire. i hope and expect the

president to win. >> brennan: what are the battleground states that you think he can win. because as you heard from our polls, joe biden is at an advantage here. >> first of all, margaret, the polls are really, really complicated to measure. we have regional -- aside from working-class, white voters, suburban women, one of the other things going on in this country is president trump is winning in these rural parts of the country in unprecedented numbers. we have northern wisconsin, the center of wisconsin to the north, and president trump won by 18 points in 2016. today he is pushing 30 points ahead in rural america with enthusiasm off the charts. yes, it is a little down in the suburbs. but the hard thing for these pollsters, margaret, as you bring up, they can't measure this kind of disparity between the rural parts of this country and what is happening in the suburbs. >> brennan: so you think he is still going to win wisconsin? >> well, i've got to tell you. i saw the cbs poll this

morning, and i'm not spinning you. i was slightly encouraged by it because in the real clear politics average in wisconsin, in 2016, the president was actually down by 6.5 points, and he won. but also, margaret, jerry johnson got 106,000 votes as well in 2016. trump didn't just win wisconsin in 2016 when they said he would lose by 6.5, he won, plus another conservative candidate got 106,000 ballots. >> brennan: one of the things with wisconsin as anthony salvanto pointed out, that base, that white, non-college-educated voter that came out strongly for the president back in 2016, that margin is shrinking. why do you think there is that erosion? >> i don't know if it is an erosion or not, margaret.

clearly -- i think one of the things you're going to see over the next couple of weeks is that the president will be point of viebepivoting, and the president will be in the debate. let joe biden defend the economy, and defend why isis was running while. and let joe biden d.v.d. why he didn't want to go forward with the osama bin laden raid. those are the things that those voters are going to be listening to. i think it is really complicated. i don't think anyone can predict early voting and what is happening in the country. >> brennan: it is hard to predict, and it is incredible that we're in the midst of a pandemic that is shaping so much. how do you not address that, though? do you really believe that there is not a political cost to the deaths that we are seeing in this country?

i look at wisconsin, where the president just had his rally, and the majority of likely wisconsin voters tell us the response is going badly. 49% of them say that the trump administration has hurt wisconsin's effort. >> well, clearly, i think it is going to be important for the president to remind everyone that it was he who shut down most travel from china. it was he who developed the task force. it was he who helped pass the cares act, the $2 trillion two weeks after the country was shut down. >> brennan: the hospitals are getting overwhelmed -- >> granted, margaret, sure, no one likes what is going on in this country. no one likes that their kids are at home. no one likes that a lot of these states are shut down by democratic governors. that is all true. but the question is: what this person over here, joe biden, have done things better or differently. and i don't think that joe biden has made that clear.

but the point is i think that the uphill in the debate is it is a great opportunity for the president to make that case -- >> brennan: well, we will be watching. we'll see if he takes your advice. thank you, reince. we'll be right back. (grandma vo) you'll be safe, right? (daughter vo) yes! (four girls vo) the polls! voted! (grandma vo) go out and vote! it's so important! (man at poll vo) woo! (grandma vo) it's the most important thing you can do!

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. battleground blitz. election day 16 days away. president trump packs the schedule with campaign rallies attacking his rivals and taking on michigan's democratic governor, the target of an alleged kidnapping plot. >> they said she was threatened. >> it is wrong. it's got to end. it's dangerous. >> biden sets his sights on north carolina, a must win for the president. the final presidential debate expected this week. record turnout, voters have their say in person or by mail, we speak to california's secretary of state about disputes there and keeping voters informed. in