. 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 texas, we see obstacles

and legal struggles. plus, covid infections rise in the fall, in the u.s. and abroad. more wildfires scorch the west, spacex launching satellites intended to make wifi universal and a sea lion plagued with seizures saved by surgery. this is the "cbs overnight news." >> good evening everyone i'm major garrett in washington. president trump has returned to the campaign trail with gusto, pressing against re-election head winds. most polls are showing him trailing vice president biden in key battleground states. but he is tapping unexpected pockets of support. a battleground tracker poll

shows mr. trump trailing the former vice president in wisconsin, a state that mr. trump narrowly won in 2016. and trailing biden in arizona. this weekend, the president made stops, in michigan, wisconsin, nevada and california at airport rallies he was greeted by big crowds, many not wearing masks. as the nation watches, it is voting in astonishing numbers. more than 27 million ballots cast by mail or in person. a reflection of pandemic fears and political energy. with 16 days to go, election history is being made every day. one of the next chapters, a final president aal debate this week. we are starting off with the president in las vegas. >> reporter: president trump started his day at a church service in las vegas, nevada. one of five states with the covid-19 positivity rate higher than 20%. wisconsin is also on the list,

where the president held a rally last night with out social distancing. >> we are rounding the corner. we have the vaccines all thatment but even without it, we are rounding the corner. you will see it. we are rounding the corner. >> reporter: former vice president joe biden doubted that. >> had my grandfather would say, this guy's gone around the bend if he thinks we have turned the corner. [ cars beeping ] >> turned the corner? things are getting worse. >> reporter: from battleground north carolina, biden urged people to vote. >> the very soul of the nation at stake. as my coach in college used to say, it's go time. >> reporter: president trump is banking on the economy for help, arguing democrats will hurt it with lockdowns. in michigan, he criticized governor gretchen whitmer. >> the schools have to be open, right? [ crowd chanting lock her up ]

>> alimolock them all up. >> we have not had a stay-at-home order since late spring. >> reporter: whitmer was a victim of a large kidnapping plot. >> inciting this domestic terrorism, it's wrong, it's got to end. it's dangerous, not just for me and my family but for public servants everywhere. >> laura trump, a campaign adviser defended the president who is her father-in-law. >> he was not doing anything i don't think to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. he was having fun. >> many people who attend trump rallies don't cover their faces. today, twitter removed a tweet from dr. scott atlas, mr. trump's hand-picked medical adviser that claimed that masks do not work. because the post contradicted guidance from the world health organization that wearin masks can suppress transmission and save lives. >> we are joined from las vegas,

nevada. one of the biggest questions for the president's re-election campaign, and fellow republicans will he have a different strategy in the coming thursday debate? >> well, major, you know, president trump received wide-spread criticism from democrats and republicans alike for aggressively interrupting joe abibiden in the first match. advisers are encouraging him to not do that this week. but we expect he will go hard on biden about his son hunt er and the issue of court packing. major? >> in california, more than 3 million people have already voted early. that's nearly 21% of the state's entire turn-out in 2016. california is one of 43 states where early voting is occurring by mail or in person. last week, a nasty dispute erupted over unofficial ballot drop boxes and president trump got involved via twitter. california secretary of state,

alex padilla joins us from california. explain the dispute you have with the california republican party over drop boxes and where the dispute stands? >> california has boxes that allow voters to return someone they trust the ballot for them. that was the problem. what was brought to our attention, unauthorized and unofficial drop boxes that were representing themselves as official when they werenot. and they were not knowing if the ballots would ultimately arrive at the county to be counted. so, it's a violation of state law. and undermining of voter confidence in the election. thankfully it seems that they have been removed. >> now, the republican party in california said third parties can collect ballots, you eluded to that, and these are rules

that they are following that you and democrats and others authorized earlier this year. your response? in the state of california?owed- absolutely. but even ballot collection has strict requirements. including the person assisting the voter in returning the ballot must also add their name and signature, relationship to the voter to the envelope. and that again, is what was lost with these in unofficial, unauthorized drop boxes. >> mr. secretary, i'm sure you noticed, president trump said we will see you in court, he said it on twitter. had l will it be foder for the president? >> we stand by free and fair elections in california, they are accessible and they are secure and yes, they are safe and so, if team trump wants to sue us for anything, then we would like our chances. >> along those lines what are you seeing in terms of efficiency and the use of vote

centers and mail-in balloting statewide? >> look, if voter registration numbers are my indicator, we are going to see a huge turn out had this election. >> california second of state, alex padi a, thank you for

now to the latest on the covid crisis, 70,000 new infections were reported saturday, as of today, more than 8 million people have been infected and more than 220,000 have died. >> the latest surge relentless, hitting almost all of america. in new york, a coronavirus crackdown, officials are breaking up an illegal gathering in a banquet hall. and health officials ban a wedding where 10,000 were expected. >> we have to move fast. jump on top of that viral spread cluster. >> reporter: michigan breaks its record for the biggest weekly jump in cases. >> there's no relief in sight. our numbers keep getting worse.

>> reporter: ohio also set a pandemic record for the most infections in a single day. >> this thing is roared back. >> reporter: 26 states are in the red zone for new infections in all 38 states, and they have new cases trending up. nationally over the last week, new cases jumped 18% averaging 51,000 a day. five states have positivity rates higher than 20%. especially shocking, south dako dakota's rate, 50%. >> it can happen to anybody. >> reporter: this woman is still battling long haul issues. >> i have body aches, and headaches. >> reporter: face the nation was told, it's going to be a tough holiday season. >> i think this is probably going to be the hardest phase of the pandemic. >> reporter: as covid touches

every part of american life. nick saban test ting negative a coming back on the sidelines. as one coach is in, one coach is out. dan mullen is now announcing he is covid positive. without a vaccine, americans are bracing for what can be a tough fall and winter. more gatherings inside make it easy kwier for the virus to spr and there's the wild card of flu season. they are hoping that all of the health measures will be enough to avoid more and stricter lockdowns. >> thank you. europe is facing tough new covid restrictions as governments reassert efforts to control the virus. and elsewhere, there's signs of progress. cbs news chief foreign correspondent, elizabeth palmer reports. >> movie theaters in india reopened this week. though customers were few. the coronavirus infection is slowing here. just a little. as it is in another of the

world's hot spots. brazil. but the number of deaths every day remains along with the u.s., the highest in the world. in iran, the infection rate is climbing again after flat-lining for months and hospitals are braced for a lethal wave. but it's europe's governments that are scrambling to suppress the most dramatic surge, nearly 100,000 new cases a day. in pairs and other major cities, french police are enforcing a curfew. anyone out after 9:00 p.m., has to have a good reason. and across the continent, covid weary europeans are preparing for a bleak season. across the uk, different restrictions are in place depending on how bad the outbreak is locally. here in london, for example. as of this weekend, people from different households can't visit each other, even if they are family. but even as the authorities

crack down in britain, there was a ray of hope from the head of the vaccine task force, kate binge am h-- bingeham. >> until there's a vaccine though, anti-covid measures, masks, social distancing, and limited travel will be with us. as well as on again, off again lockdowns. israelis are emerging this weekend from their second since the pandemic began. life is returning to normal after a strict month long lockdown got the virus back under control. though how long for is anybody's guess. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> to colorado now, where mandatory eevacuations have been ordered after an explosive wild fire oerupted in boulder county. thousands of acres and homes

have been scorched outside denver. the cameron peak fire. the largest wild fire in colorado history is still raging. it has blackened 200,000 acres and several properties. >> ignition, and lift off. >> spacex fired another falcon 9 rocket in to space this morning. the mission, to release 60 star link satellites that will join hundreds already deployed, part of a plan by elon musk to create a wireless, high speed internet based service. there's a lot more news ahead on the cbs overnight news. a record turn out in texas for early voters despite long lines and long lines and how a dummy with a bad cough shows flying could be safe again and a sea lion's life saved by cut canning edge surgery. i give to shriners hospitals for children

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now, to america decides. counting your vote. tonight, texas, early voting is under way in the lone star state and like elsewhere, it's happening in record numbers. represent governor greg abbott has limit ready places to drop off ballots to one per county. that has prompted unexpected challenges and prompted lawsuit. at this point, the governor's order stands. >> reporter: richard and may inside this red pickup truck just drove 35 miles to vote. >> really does not make sense. it's totally inconvenient. >> but we had to do it. >> reporter: they used to drive just a few minutes to an absentee drop-off location near their home outside of houston in harris county. which has almost will 5 million residents. there were 12 drop boxes in this largity democratic county, but the other 11 were forced to close under republican governor greg abbott's executive order,

limiting every county to a single collection site. is there a legitimate reason to closes the satellite drop-off locations? >> i don't see a legitimate reason. i think it's completely ill logical. >> reporter: harris county judge has joined civic leaders across texas in criticizing the governor's order. >> i think we can all see transparently it's about voter suppression. >> reporter: this tent is now the only place to drop off a ballot in all of haurs county. a county that is one of the most populace in the nation. spang more than 1700 square smiles and larger than the state of rhode island. the nickersons in their 70s had time and transportation to make the two hour round trip. they worry about those that don't. >> the bus ain't going to bring you here. you can't walk across this parking lot, they are not going to let you. so you have to have some type of vehicle to get you in to this location. >> in a tight race, what could

be a barrier to the ballot box. >> janet in cbc news, houston. >> still ahead, what this dummy is proving about the covid protection provided bay mask. -- by a mask. i can't believe it. what? that our new house is haunted by casper the friendly ghost? hey jill! hey kurt! movies? i'll get snacks! no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on our car insurance with geico. i got snacks! ohhh, i got popcorn, i got caramel corn, i got kettle corn. am i chewing too loud? believe it! geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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the military was hoping to learn a hot from a dummy. in this case, a dummy simulating a coughing airline passenger. the testing aiming to determine transmission risk on a plane. the findings could be welcome news to those itch ing to get back in the sky. >> reporter: this is ruth, a test dummy simulating a coughing passenger. during 38 hours of flight time, and 45 hours of time she spewed out 180 particles. they wanted to the know what the exposure risk for viruses like covid-19 was for troops riding on an airliner. they used a united airliners triple 7. >> the exposure risk was shown.

>> especially when the coughing test dummy wore a mask. .003% of the particles reached another passenger's breathing zone. and sitting next to someone coughing, there was limited risk as the mask minimized exposure. >> it should give people confidence in flying. and people inclined to travel, this makes flying more attractive as an option. >> using 42 bio defense sensors to act at passengers set up in every seat, each section of the plane was tested. >> specifically, can i tell you sit in seat x, y, z, no, they all performed well. >> researchers say 99.9% of the simulated cough particles were filtered out of the cabin in 6 minutes due to the plane as advanced air filtration systems. they use hospital grade hepa filters and push air straight down instead of cycling it down the cabin. it did not show what happens when a person moves through the

cabin or if the passenger takes off the mask to eat or drink. the findings are awaiting peer review. >> there's more news ahead on the "cbs overnight news."

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finally tonight a survival story, humans we must admit can be hard on animals, perhaps we forget it's a planet we share. sometimes we humans help in extraordinary ways. here is tom hanson. >> each day, at six flags discovery kingdom hin vallejo, california, she gets a greeting from this guy. >> he likes to spend time with us. he is a sweet heart. >> meet cronut, he has a serious medical condition. >> he a seizure in the water and if we had not stepped in, he would have drowned it was touch and go. >> a growing number of marine mamals are suffering seizures and other brain damage from algea blooms. they turned to a doctor in uc san francisco for a ground

breaking brain surgery using pig brain cells to reverse the affects of epilepsy. >> my first reaction was wow, we would love to try. i was not sure we were going to be able to play it off. >> it sounds like you were building the plane while you were flying it. >> that's a great way to say it. >> they will not know in the procedure was successful for 30 days. >> that's really great. a second chance at life for crona and a procedure that doctors hope will save countless lives in the wild. >> this surgery gave him an opportunity to survive but not just survive, but thrive. >> tom hansen, cbs news, new york. and that is the "cbs overnight news" for this monday, for some of you the news continues, for others check back later for are cbs this morning. follow us online at rbs.com and join me for my podcast the take

out. report approximatiing from the capitol, i'm major garrett. ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs overnight news." good evening i'm major garrett in washington. president trump has returned to the campaign trail with apparent gusto, pressing against re-election head winds, the president is trailing biden in key battleground states in most polls. the president is continuing to bet on unexpected pockets of support. a new cbs news battleground tracker poll showing mr. trump trailing the former vice president in wisconsin. a state mr. trump narrowly fwhon 2016 and the president trail s

biden in arizona. the last democrat to win there was bill clinton in 1996. the president made stops and at airport rallies he was greeted by big crowds often not wearing masks. the voting has been in astonishing numbers, more than 27 million ballots cast by mail or in person. a reflection of pandemic fears and political energy. with 16 days to go, election history is being made every day. one of the next chapters a final presidential debate this week. we are started off with the president in las vegas. >> reporter: president trump started his day at a church service in las vegas, nevada. one of five states with the covid-19 positivity rate higher than 20%. wisconsin is also on the list. where the president held a rally last night with out social distancing. >> and we are rounding the corner, we have got the vaccines, all that.

even without that, we are rounding the corner. you will see it. we are rounding corner. >> reporter: former vice president joe biden doubted that. >> my grandfather would say, this guy's gone around the bend if he thinks we have turned the corner. [ cars honking horns ] >> turned the corner? things are getting worse. >> reporter: from battleground north carolina, biden urgented people to vote. >> the very soul of the nations at stake. folks, as my coach used to say in college, it's go time. >> reporter: president trump is banking on the economy for help, arguing that democrats will hurt it with lockdowns. in wisconsin, he criticized governor gretchen whitmer. [ crowd chanting lock her up ] >> lock them all up. >> we have not had a stay at home order since late spring.

>> whitmer was a target of an alleged kidnapping plot that disagreed with her orders. she blamed the president. >> inciting this type of domestic terrorism is wrong, it's got to end. it's dangerous, not just for me and my family, but public ser is haven'ts everywhere. >> reporter: laura trump defended the president who is her father-in-law. >> i don't think she whe was do anything to threaten this woman at all, he was having fun in a rally. >> many in trump rallies do not cover their faces. today, twitter removed a tweet from dr. scott atlas, mr. trump's hand picked medical adviser who claimed that masks don't work, because the post contradicted guidance from the world health organization, that wearing masks can suppress transmission and save lyeives. >> one of the biggest questions will he have a different

strategy in the coming thursday debate? >> well, major, you know, president trump received widespread criticism from democrats and republicans alike for aggressively interrupting joe biden in the first hatch up. a senior campaign official tells cbs news, advisers are encouraging him to not do that this week. we do connect he will go hard on biden about his son hunter and the issue of court packing. major? >> thank you. in california, more than three million people have already voted early, that's nearly 21% of the state's entire turnir ou in 2016. california is one of 43 states where early voting is occurring. by mail or in person. last week, a nasty dispute erupted over unofficial ballot drop boxes and president trump got involved via twitter. secretary of state alex padilla joins us. mr. secretary, explain the dispute you have over drop boxes

with the california republican party and where that dispute now stands? >> california law does allow voters who need assistance to choose somebody they trust to return their ballot for them and there in lies the problem. what was brought to our attention were unauthorized, unofficial and frankly deceptive drop boxes that were representing themselves as official when they were not. and voters were duped in to dropping a ballot in a box not knowing who would pick them up or not knowing if they would arrive at the county. it was a violation of state law and under mine voter confidence in the election. thankfully it seep lly -- it se have been removed. >> the republican party said that third parties can collect ballots and they are following rules that you and your party authorized earlier this year. your response?

>> is ballot collection allowed? absolutely. but it has strict requirements, including the person assisting the voter in returning the ballot must add their name and snafr -- their name and signature and relationship to the voter on the envelope. that was what was missing. >> i'm sure you noticed, mr. trump said we will see you in court. mr. -- will it be foder for the post election contention? >> we stand by free and accessible elections, they are safe and assessable. the if team trump wants to sue us we like our chances. >> what are you seeing in the efficiency of vote centers and mail-in balloting statewide? >> if voter registration numbers are any indicator, we are going to see a huge turn out this

election. more than 21.5 million voters on the rolls and growing every day. if early ballot returns are any indicator we are going to have a record breaking election. nearly ten times the number of ballots returned at this stage, compared to four years ago. >> california second of state, alex padilla, thank you for your time, sir. >> thank you. >> to colorado now, where mandatory eevacuations have been ordered after an explosive wild fire erupted in boulderer county. the fast moving fire fueled by 70 mile an hour winds scorched homes in the foothills outside denver. the cameron peak fire, the largest wild fire in colorado's history is still raging. it has blackened more than 200,000 acres andsever s and se properties. >> ignition and lift off. >> spacex fired another falcon 9 rocket in to orbit from kennedy space center. the mission to release 60 star link satellites that will join hundreds already had deployed,

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♪ this is the "cbs overnight news." i'm major garrett in washington, thanks very much for staying with us. there's two weeks and a day until the election. but more than 27 million americans have already cast their ballots either by voting early or through the mail. but as millions mail-in ballots arrive in local election offices, some are being flagged because they have beenfilled in incorre incorrectly, when this happens, it can be more did difficult to fix a mail-in ballot than to vote in person. >> he voted absentee or so he

thought. >> i'm weak in the knees i'm wondering why my ballot is not going through and nobody is like really telling me anything. >> reporter: hakeem learned that his ballot asked for a signature. as the state requires. >> i asked for it back, i can't get it back. what do i do? do i vote again? >> reporter: until this week, procedures for remedying this is tied up in court. laws in 46 states regarding voting rules in a pandemic. in texas and ohio, there's challenges to ballot drop boxes. in pennsylvania and wisconsin, legal battles over mail ballot deadlines. david becker is a cbs news contributor and election law expert. >> changing the rules late in the game even if they are good changes, that can be really a problem for voters. voters need certainty about what the rules are. >> reporter: in 2006 the supreme court weighed in with something called the purcell doctrine,

that said election rules should not be changed close to an election. it does not define how close is too close. >> the voters need certainty. >> reporter: republican tim moore, speaker of the house in north carolina, filed the lawsuit, saying the rule reduces lost and rules cannot be changed late in the season. >> whatever the rules are, those are the rules. you can't change the rule s midway in the game. >> reporter: hakeem's ballot was invalid. >> my ballot was reject sod i'm here to vote again in person this time. >> reporter: so yesterday, he headed to his local early voting center to cast a new one. and did so successfully. >> do you feel like this election is more important than other elections in your life? >> yes. this one is more important than any one i done seen yet. >> by any measure, hakeem was an

atentative voter, he was tracking the process throughout and knows his votie its in and will be counted. that raises questions of access and they show the percentage of black absentee ballots that have not been accepted is nearly 2.5 times higher than white voters mail-in ballots. now to the campaign. now, president trump and former vice president biden will meet for the final time in election season. and a lot of fact checkers will be hanging on their every word. >> reporte . >> what they are doing is a hoax with the ballots. >> reporter: for 3-1/2 years the president, donald trump has made 10s of thousands of claims. >> mexico is going to pay for the wall. don't worry about it. the tax cut, our's is the biggest passed. >> reporter: the washington post fact checker has been trying to keep track of all of them. >> politicians speak in code

words and they use phrases to mislead people. >> reporter: he said no one does it more than donald trump. it's not even close. >> he is basically broken the fact checker meters. > reporter: the meter of mistruths. a scale of pinocchioss ranges from 1-4. >> previously most politicians would get 4pinocchios, the worst rating, 15-20% of the time. president trump gets 4pinocchios, 60% of the time. >> reporter: his work has been acknowledged by the president and used across the media landscape to assess the president's truthfulness. >> the washington post break down of all the lies and misleading claims. >> according to the washington po post since taking office, he has made over 16,000 misleading claims. >> reporter: the donald trump

and his assault on truth book, they layout the accusations. he covered trump for news day. >> he has not changed much, what was different, people were not necessarily recording it on a day-to-day basis. >> reporter: three decades later, fact checking president trump is an all consuming job. >> he lies just about everything. it's about himself, his persona, and he lies about his enemies. he lies about policy issues. he misleads about things that he could actually not have to mislead about. >> reporter: take for example the president's claim of job creation in his administration. >> since my election, we have created 7 million new jobs. >> kesler points out that 600,000 of the jobs were created after trump's election but before he was sworn in to office. >> there's no reason to mislead about it and yet he does. >> how much of it is normal and typical when it comes to the white house? >> well, every president lies at

some point. but most presidents are known for one big lie. you can think of, george w. bush, talking about weapons of mass destruction. >> the iraq regime continues to possess and conceal -- >> or barack obama, and you know, if you want your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. >> they will see that if americans like their doctor, they will keep their doctor. >> what is unusual about president trump, it's a constant, constant series of misstatements. >> reporter: there's no better example than one of the president's free wheeling rallies. >> i was the man of the year in michigan. can you believe it? >> reporter: for the book, kesler studied his longest one to date. last december in battle creek, michigan. >> the rallies are where he goes in to over drive. >> i have the greatest economy in the history of this country. >> in two hours, kesler presented as one statement presented as fact per minute. and 60% labeled as false or

misleading. he bake a full-time fact can checker ten years ago. five years later, he was profiled and the team at fact check.org in a 2016 campaign, and since then, new players have entered the field. >> i brought back 700,000 jobs they brought back nothing. >> daniel, how do you rate that claim? >> everything about that claim, wolf is inaccurate. >> some. in journalism worry its not enough. a member of the new york times board, said facts are vital, but insufficient. and fact checking trump lies is essential, it's increasingly fruitless. and it was written, fact checking may make less of a difference than ever. >> with all due respect to margaret who i think the world of, i don't think she is right about that that. he has never achieved about 50% popularity and the washington post, we range to have a poll where we tested 11 of his biggest falsehoods and asked

americans whether they believed it or not, without identifying whether trump said it and most americans did did -- the did not believe it so i'm not sure it's working on him. sgl >> his 2017 tax bill slashed taxes on companies that sent production and jobs overseas. >> joe biden has his own history of exaggeration and embellishments. >> reporter: how has your time in the trump presidency impact how you fact check joe biden? >> it has not impacted the way we fact check biden. we have less time probably, the fact check for biden, every day trump has come up with something new. trump is harming himself, he only has so much band width. i gave four pinnochios to joe

biden the other day. >> you talk about the lasting impacts on the presidency post trump. what will it be? >> a lot depends on whether or not trump gets re-elected. if he is defeated, i think politicians will say. telling scant falsehoods is not a ticket to success. ? if he win sns. >> all bets are off. >> the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. life doesn't stop for a cold. [man] honey... [woman] honey that's why there's new dayquil severe honey. it's maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honey-licious taste. dayquil honey. the daytime coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, power through your day medicine.

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government less than a week ago. linked to the chest hospital now closed. until then, life in china had returned to a kind of post-covid new normal. for 56 days in a row, the government claimed no cases of symptomatic community spread. >> while china's many critics said that beijing cannot be trusted to tell the truth. the people seemed to believe them. people were criss-crossing the country in a recent national holiday. only possible after a lockdowns that people were welded in to their homes and taken to hospitals. a sophomore at the campus of new york university believes china did the right thing. >> people were so willing to just quarantine, wear masks and follow the guidelines and i think it's something that china has done well. other countries have not been

doing so hot. >> reporter: while everyone follows the the guidelines when told to do so, those that don't faces harsh punishment. what makes these people so safe? >> we are inside china. >> reporter: they welcomed back students this fall. he has lived in china for a dozen years. his students attend mixed mode classes. in person and virtually, 800 are still stuck outside china. >> when our students leave campus, they are out in to normal life in shanghai, it's often without masks and people acting normally. >> reporter: to try to preserve the normal way of life, china sprung in to action again this week testing millions. proving the country is ready, willing and able to do all it can to stop the disease. >> reporter: china is keeping most foreigner out is and with

it the virus. a new great wall to protect the country. in a nation steeped in history, they are hoping it will be around for

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wild thing. if you ride, you get it. geico motorcycle. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. . make no bones about it, halloween is right around the corner, and that's just fine for one young man and his new best friend. steve hartman found their story on the road. >> reporter: it's hard being an only child. >> put the dirt in there. sfwl >> reporter: especially in a pandemic which may explain why he felt a strange attraction to a halloween deck ragoratidecora. >> he got loannely and found a skeleton and thought he could be

my friend. >> reporter: i swallowed my pride and said, if it makes my son happy, i will do it. do what? take them on a play date to the beach. >> she was hoping that would be the end of it but the pair hit it off famously and for the last month, theo and the skeleton, who they named bennie have been joined at the hip bone. dining together. dressing up as ghosts. and winding down at the end of a hauntingly long day. >> yeah, some weird way, it's comforting. he likes to read bennie books. which is so cute. and creepy, but cute. are you excited to take bennie to the grocery store? >> reporter: creepy but cute, not exactly what parents want for the first bro-mance, but it's remarkable. no bones about it.

you would swear this skeleton was a brother from another mummy. he almost seeps happy, his humerous clearly showing, and who wouldn't want this kind of friend for their child. >> he sees the ke -- he sees th skeleton as somebody who needs love. >> it's fine, unless he starts walking around with a casket. >> yeah, that is too far. >> this october, especially i think we can all benefit from a little less fright and a lot more friendly. >> you are so nice. >> steve hartman. cbs news. on the road. and that's is the "cbs overnight news" for this monday. for some of you, the news continues. for others check backater for cbs this morning. follow us online, at cbs news.com and join me for my potd cat, the take out. reporting from the nation's capitol, i'm marriage garrett.

it's monday, october 19th, 2020. this is the cbs morning news. 15 days to go. how president trump and joe biden are targeting swing voters in the final weeks of campaigning. covid-19 crackdown. as the number of cases rise nationwide, one state forces a wedding to change plans after up to 10,000 people were originally expected. found alive. a california woman united states with her family after missing two weeks at zion national park. how park rangers finally located the 38-year-old hiker.