captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. the newshour tonight... >> though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and i agree that all our a evaluation most importantly his clinical status, support the president's safe return home. >> woodruff: outbreak at the white house-- president trump returns from the hospital as more of his staff test positive, for coronavireating disarray in the west wing. then, a race upended-- we talk to representatives from both campaigns about how the president's diagnosis shakes up the election. p anitical stakes-- our politics monday team assesses the impact the outbreak could have on the campaign for the white house and the supreme

court confirmation hearings. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for thebs newshour has been provided by: >> when the wod gets complicated, a lot goes through yo mind. emth fidelity wealth managt, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> the william and flora hewlett foundatin . for more t years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: he's heading home.e thisng, president trump plans to leave a military hospital where he spent just under three days being treated

inr covid-19. he says he'll co his recovery at the white house. our white house correst, yamiche alcindor, recounts the >> alcindor: the president is being discharged from walter reed. s buious questions still remain about the state of his health. today, his physician, navyco ander sean conley, spoke about his progress. >> it's been more than 72 hour since his last fever. oxygen levels including workup reading are all normal. thou he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and i agree all our evaluationsu most importantly, his clinical status, support the >> alcindor: beforing, theme. president tweeted that he wa feeling better than he did 20 years ago. an urged americans not to be afraid of covid-not to let it dominate your life. sunday evening, while still contagious, the president briefly left the hospital.

to wave atupporters outside the hospital. but it potentially put at risk for exposure his secret service agents who wore facial coverings and medical gowns. m thisorning, an attending physician at walter reed blasted the president's visit. >> this was a dangerous move. the c.d.c. guideliare cleartine. person, it requires a mandatornt 14-day quarae. that if you spend that period of ti within six feet of a persy, it requires a mandator 14-day quarantine. there are no ceats for masks, and this wasn't just a normal conversation. this is inside a chemical weapon-proof vehle. >> alcindor: shortly before his surprise drive-by, predent trump posted a video on twitter praising his nurses and doctors. now several months int pandemic, he said he has a deeper understanding of the virus.

id.i learned a lot about c i learned it by really going to school. this is the real school.'t this ihe, 'let's read the book school. and i get it, and i understand it. a indor: thiweekend, the white house also released photos showing him working in the hospital's presidential suite, not wearing a mask. all th as a credibility crisis at the white house has deepened. the biggest issue now, who whshould the public believ it comes to the president's condition and treatment? on saturday, his physician evadeduestions about the president's treatments and painted this rosy picture... >> this morning, theresident is doing very well. the team and i are extremely happy with the progress the president has made. b >> alcindo soon after, the president's chief of staff mark meadows contradicted him.ow mesaid the president's early vital signs were quote" very concerning" and that he wasn't yet on a "clear path to a full recovery." what's still uncle is precisely when the president was infected, and just how many people were exposed as a result. today, white house press nysecretary kayleigh mcena along with at least two of her

de.ties, also tested positi mcenany tweeted: "after testing negative consistently, including ery day nce thursday, i tested positive for covid-19 on monday morning while experiencing no symptoms."en any has regularly briefed reporters, without w mask, including as recently as yesterday. three journalists who work at the white house have also been infected.so far, more than 10 oe president's family and close associates have tested positive for the virus. they include: first lady melania trump, press secretary kayleigh mcenany, white house adviser hope hicks, campaign manager bill stepien, former counselor to the president kellyanne coay, presidential aide r nicholas lun.c. chairwoman ronna mcdaniel, foer new jersey governor chris christie, and three republican senators: mike lee of utah, thom tillis of north carolina, and ron johnn go wisconsin. most of those whthe virus were either at a white house rose garden ceremony held more than a week ago where the president announced his supreme

court nominee, or involved in his debate preparations last week. two of the infected setors, mike lee and thom tillis, are members of the senate judiciary committee considering theid prt's supreme court nominee amy coney barrett. her confirmation hea bngs are set in next week. for her part, the first lady today tweeted that she" feeling good" and would continue to rest at home. vice president pence, who tested negative aga today, is also went to salt lake city, utah ahead of wednesday's debate with his democratic opponent, california senator kamala harris.me while, democratic challenger joe biden dropped his attack ads in light of the president's illness. he said today he's sll open to taking part in the next presidential debate scheduled for october 15th. >> if the scientists say that it's safe, that distances arek safe, i that's fine. i'll do whatever the experts say is the appropriate thing to do. >> alcindor: after continuing to test negative for the virus, the former vice president campaifted thisnoon in the

battleground state of florida. as for the vice presidential face-off, the debate commission haagreed to position the candidates 12 feet apart. th comes after the bceen campaign vconcerns about the safety of the original layout. >> woodruff: and our white house >> woodruff: that president trump does pla i to participathe next presidential debate onth october and yamiche joins me now. so, yamiche, tell us moresi about the de to have the president leave the hospital, go back to the white house, and what dw we kbout how he will continue treatment and recovery at the white house? >> reporter: well, the president's doctors insist that he is well enough t go home. predominantly back his old self. he is not out of the woods yet. that is complicated by the fact that the president's doctor said he wants to give an upbeat outlook to and condition.treatment

and he has admitted to not being fully transparent. so a lot of people are wondering if the information can be trusted. if he is to be trusted, he is saying that the president is fine to go home. he will be monitors 24 hours, 7 days a week. and as a rest there will not be any problems. he says there is nothing they would have missed at e walter reed that tey would miss at the white house. he also says that the walter red medical sta will be backing up the white house medical staff, so there will be added people there. one thing, though: how is the president ing to be monitored? he is continuing to have treatments, including a five-day regiment that is going to continue at the s ite house. itso not clear where the president is going to go when it gets to the there are sources saying he will not go to the west wing, the official part ofe ite house. instead, he will be sticking to the residence. it is not clear if the president might be moing about. again, the president's doctors are really focused on the fact that the safe to go home.pletely this iall okay. there are, of course,

people who are very alarmed by this state affairs. >> woodruff: so, wemiche, as you've been pointing out,ve seen conflicting messages house, the doctorsute the president's condition. what questions do yaou other reporters who follow all of this very closely, still believe are unanswered? >> reporter: judy, theon is a long,list of questions that -- critical questions tht the white house is not providing answers to. chief among them are: when did the president last test negative for the 3 coronavirus? the white housfuis ng to answer that critical question. the president's doctor todasaid he didn't want to go backwards. he also cited hipaa, the privacy law, saying he can't give inormation that his patient has not allowed him tgive. the president essentially saying he wants to keep himself.ormation to another key question is: is there lung damage that the president has

sustained as a result of this fight? he is in the critical risk of being overweight. we don't know if he ever d any problem with his lungs. we don't know when the president last tested before he went to the debate last week, las tuesday. there were a lot of people wondering was the ill?ident already feeling another critical question is: was the president traveling and holenng while feeling ill? that is a big question because possibly he could have been spreading virus while feeling a slightasal congestion or slight cough. and where is the president going to really be whi he is at the white house? there is a big question if he will be endangering the lives of other people, white house staff tts, have to clean up the offices, and so there is a real worry about a of those questis. and the white house doesn't want to answer those questions officially. >> wdruff: yamiche, aside from all of that, what do wenow about this

so-called contract tracing. which the white house d it was going to be doing, contacting people in touch eith the president. and how are theple you talked to, who work in thed white houseling with all of this? >> reporter: i tod t multiple people who work at the white house, who were inside that buitslding, e that building at different events, and people are freaking ot, to put it lightly. people are so anxious. they don't know whether or not they have the virus,y if tsted negative several times and then will testify positive, which happened with the white house press secretary. if the white huse isto see doing contact tracing. the white house says they have an in-ho epidemiologist who will be caring this ou. some people say y not have the c.d.c., but the white house is saying they n handle this. there are a number of people, including chris christy, as well as michael scheer, a reporter

for the "new york times," both turned up positive, but they were not contacted by thehi house. that tells you people who are positive who were atus the white are not part of this contact tracing. so it is concerning for the people who are wondering if the white house is doing the right thing when it comes to contact tracing.oo >>uff: so many unanswered questions, as you say. yamiche alcindor reporting on all of this for us. thank you, yamiche. >> thanks so much. be returning to the white house tonight, but the number of confirmed coronavirus casesus among white staffers ticked higher today, raisingon quesabout the precautions place in the white house, and how well they were followed. john yang gets an insider's perspective from olivia troy.er a former advo vice president pence who previously

work on the white house coronavirus task force. she left the administration in gust and has since been working with republican groups opposing the president's re- election. >> john: olivia, let's start off with t question that judy just posed. what procedures were in place when you were in the white house, in terms of testing the staff, in the west wing and the executive fice building? >> well, certainly we had guidelines posted in measures in place. we had masks available, especially upon entering the west wing, for immediate staff. they wnnecting testing, for example, for me, who saw the vice president on a dailyba s, or any senior staff, who were interacting with the presidt and the vice president. but the truth is, the these masks wereven though available, nobody was really following the protocols internally. the west wing is a very small space. people sit in very close

proximity to each other, and people were not following these guenelines. we w wearing the masks all of the time. frankly, just ver exposed to each other. >> john: en though you were on the vice president' tlead staffer e coronavirus task force, you said you why is that?r a ma is that because it was frowned upon? did you feel pressure not to wear a mask? >> younow, the answer is when i felt -- i tried to st times, and i would wear it around the wt wing, or in the hallways. but the truths it w awkward because you would walk into a meeting, and you would get these look from some of the senior staff in the white house. and at times, you know, i was complicitith that. you take your mask off. granted, i was in a fortunate situation where i am tested, and as you've seen, there iso such thing as a real, you know,

rapid test when some ofme the that wwere tested -- we certain had false negatives and false positives, so that wasn'tgu antee. i was also aware that not everyone in the building is tested. not everyone on the staff is tested. and people co in and out of these buildings all of the time. so the potential for l posure is stere. >> john: you had a lot of experts on this task task force, dr. fauci, what was their reaction when they came into the west wing for task forcend meetingssaw all of the staff not wearing masks, sort of crammed it is a very crowded -- e west whippin wing is a very crowded work space? >> it was frustrating. they were very frustrated with the situation. they had theseer cotions with dr. birx and dr. fauci -- dr. birx has an office in the west wing -- i don't know if she still does, but she did at th timi

was there, and she wore her mask all of the time.le she was about to speak, she did follow the proper protocols. everybody knew it was a matter of time before something like the outbreak you're seeing what happened this weekend. virus doesn'tact is this discriminate. it can impact anyone and everyone, including all of us in the white house wen we were there. >> john: the president on social media -- the president yesterday in this video said, i get it. i get it and i understand it. and then today he said he feels better than he has in 20 years, and that afraid of covid.t be after all of the meetings, all of the task force meetings, all of the briefings that you helpe coordinate, what is your reaction when you first him yesterday saying, i get it? >> i just --y reaction was i wish he would have

gotten it back in january, when we didhe initial briefing, when we told you how this was going to be. the problem is, perhaps you got it, but that is not what you wereling the general public. when i saw him say, i get it. it, i was saddened because it took actually getting covid to finally underse nd it. therlot of americans and people who lost loved ones, who areil suffering with covid today have experienced. s >> john: d today he feels better than he has in 20 years, and people shouldn't be af of covid. and he never mentioned the people you just mentioned, the people who have lost loved ones in the united states. >> i was concerned, actually, when i saw theen presfall ill. and, obviously, you never wants to see the comnder in chief be sick or have he is the leader of our

country. however, i was concerned, knowing what i know about how this white house works and the political dynamics and the messaging that comes out of it, i was ncerned he would use this as an opportunity to continue his messaging of playing down the pandemic and playing dwn the virus, which is just factually incorrect. so i'm seeing it right eyfore my very es, where he is saying, i had it, it is no big deal. everything is fine. don't let this affect your personal life. that is just not curate. >> john: olivia troye, thank you very much. >>inhank you for hav me. >> woodruff: now, were some of the questions being asked about president trump's ion and treatment with t physicians. dr. leana wen is an emergency physician and professor of p healicy at the george washington university.

she is a former health commissioner flt the city of ore. and dr. william lang, a formerse deputy white hhysician and director of the white house medicaunit under pres bih. clinton and george w. b >> woodruff: and we welcome both of you to the "news hour." dr. wen, to you first. baseon what you heard today from the president's doctors at walter reed,ng everythey're saying about him, and the fact they say he is still not out of the woods, that they're going to be contuing to monitor him, what do you -- what iur nderstanding of his condition? >> doctor: i believe, judy, that his condition is very serious. and this is based on all the little pieces of information that we're given, and all of the things that we're not being told. but it soundlike the president has had at least two episodes where his oxygen sauration dropped one of them was severe enough to prompt the heansfer to the hospital inirst place. he also had various lung don't know what it shows.

it sounds like he probably on at least threed he is medications, one of them,xa thasone, is not given except to patients who are severely or critically ill. in fact, it is g specifically nen to patients who have non-severe illness. all of this makes me wonder becau the white house's own timeline, if he first hadth symptoms orsday, then this is day five of his illness. the times we're the mostt concerned aba patient's coursis days seven through 10. so why is he being discharged home right now, or discharged to the white house right now, when the period that we're the most concned about is yet to come? >> woodruff: and that's exactly my question to you: how does everything you just said square with the decision to have him leave the hospitalni t, to go back to the white house? >> doctor: it doesn't.d think that's why we need so many more answers from t president's medical team. they have been inassistant

on painting this rosy picture. that is not what they should be dog. i think about it as a doctor telling a patient's family member about that patiens condition and prognosis. the patient may very well say, here is what you can say, and here is wh can't say. and that doctor would respect that request from thatpatient. but e would not doe ms we would not mislead the patient's fily. we wuld not say he has a mild illness when has a severe illness. we certainly would never lie to the patient's family. and i believe that's what is happening here. >> woodruff: dr. lang, you know th white house setup. thhow well-equipped i white house to handle a patient who is contagis, and especially the president of thewnited states is infected with covid-19, and all of the treatmt he is going to need? >> doctor: well, as you can imagine, the white house is a place he can be monitored during these critical days, a was just

said, ven tough 10 can be critical days, for a patient who is in the at-risk groups. but monitoring today is pretty small. you canring tsmall equipment into the white house. he has a team. the team is at the whi house. he can be monitored very closely at the white house, just s he would be in the hospital. and he can be moved back to the hl spi -- very quickly. as we saw last friday, when he was moved to the hospital quickly. that can happen, if it was needed. but all of the monitoring that can be done, all f the expertise that can be done to monitor, that is all available very eas within the white house compound. >> woodruff: and -- but i guess what i'm askg is, here is someone who is still infectious -- is - that correand ifo, how do you keep everybody else safe? what lengths will they have to go to at the white house to make sure others hon't become infected? >> doctor: well,y'll have to have everyone trained in what is the

appropriate infectious ecaution, as they would be at walter reed. the white house medical unit is a fairly good sized unit. these are medical professionals from the military who know how to deal with infectious disease. they will be wearing appropriate p.p.e., and doing the day-to-day care for thdpresident. he other services, the general household ices, that will be done in conjunction with the medical unit so nobody is put at risk of disease. they will be following the precautions fr c.d.c., just as they would be if it was somebody in a hotel, whereyou have to have cleaning staff come in. but that will be done in conjunction -- han hand-in-hand so that everybody is protected and wearing appropriate p.p.e. as they do these kinds of things. so it an be done very safely. >> woodruff: it sounds as if you're saying they don't have to makehat many accommodations for him. but, also, what we're

hearing is hewill not be going into the west wing. he'll be staying in the residence? i'm sorry. i'm not >> woodruff: i'm just trying to understand what you're sayg. >> doctor: the white house itself, especially the aivate quarters, very private place. there are very few people who go into the private quarters. it's security. it's the household staff, the people who are making -- who are serving ofs meals, those kinds things -- and family and the medical unit. but there are very, very few people. but also within the private quarters of white house, there is office facilities so he can do what he needs to do to run the country, from all of unthe coations, all of the security that is needed for him to do hisay-to-day activities, but just not with other ufople. >> woo dr. wen, how longill the president be contagious? i want to ask you about a "new york times" report tonight that the white house is not going forward with what is known as

contact tracing. they are notifying people who were around the days before he exhibited,, before he tested positive, buthey're not going through the formal process of contact tracing. how much difference does that make. doctor: wow, i only have just heard about this reportbut it is reckless and extremely dangerous. the white house is theof epicente very large outbreak this is an outbreak that plex.gely com i mean, we're talking about individuals who potentially maybe, if this super spreader event happened at the white house rose garden, people came from all over the country this many event. there are white house aides who are very mobil they have gone to events and interacted with people. we're not just talking about the first generation of this spread.ng we're talbout second or third generation spread. there are other individuals co have been tact with those exposed, who all of them may be ymptomatic and not know they have covid-19 and they're

this is what the c.d.c. does. the c.d.c. does contact tracing in these highly complex cases. i know as a former loc health official, i routinely worked with the multi-states orre where jurisdictions involved for contact tracing. that's what needs to be done. every minute matters for contact tracin i can't believe or wrap my mind around the fact they're nodoing this willfully, when this is a huge epicenter. and to your question earlier: president trump should be isolating for at least 10days, from the onset his symptoms to when he can stop that isolation, as he remains fever-free for at least 24 hours. i sincerely hope, and to dr. lang's point, i'm sure president trump will get ceptional medical care, and that the medical staff know how to follow the isolation protocols, but i hope thapresident trump d all those around him

will insist that everyonell the protocols. that aides are not interacting withhe prident while he is in that period of isolation. >> woodruff: dr. lang, we did see the president yesterday take a ride in the presidential s.u.v. to grt the people who were standing outside of walter reed. is is, of course, while he is being treated at the hospital.was that a good idea? is that something his doctors should he been mfortable with? >> doctor: well, if you look very carefully at the w people wre with him. they were wearing not onlyec respiratory pron, they had n-95 masks on. you could see this through they had n-95 masks on, eye protection, and they were ev wearing cover gowns. is it what we would recommend people do all of the time? no, but they were taking the act right precautions, just as if he had been in his medical room. i did not see that this was putting anybody risk. it was not putting him at risk. that the patient -- theing

first patient in this case made him feel more comfortable. he wanted to get out, and he was not putting anybodyis at so i didn't have any significant heartburn with that.l >> woodruff: aight. we're going to leave it there. dr. william lang, dr. leana wen, we thank you both very much. >> doctor: thank you. >> woodrf: with president house, let's turn f hishite re-election campaign's senior advisors steve cortes. >> woodruff: steve cortes, welcome to the "news rdur." so we hhe president's doctors today say he is not out of the woods yet. theyre watching him vry closely. they say they know he is still contagious. given that, why it a good idea for him to go back to the white house?r: >> reporwell, listen, i'm not going to speak to the medical side

of things. that is obviously up to his team. now they approved of this, and i trust in their nldgment. dr. is not only a man of science, but a naval officer ad he served his country in afghanistan. between both his patriot service and his professional credentials, i'm going to der to him. most patients of any kind prefer to at home, but he is not doing this without the approval and cooperation of his medical staff. >> woodruff: it isnd undersle he would want to be back there, but, as you know, again, he is still contagious. we already have at the white house not just the you have the pss secretary, you have two press aides, and you have others on the staff who have tested poitive. and there is going to have to be a duplicative secure area around the sident because he is contagious. it just calls into question why? done for politicals being

reasons. o> listen, no, i can assure you it is being done for political reasons. again, i defer to the medical aut orities. i'm doctor, i'm going to defer to them, that they think this is appropriate, and they believthey can manage him as well as protect other folks at the white house. secondly, i will tell you from a governmental standpoint, although he has an office sui and a considerable one at walter reed, it is not quite the white house. think te president believes he will be more effective as our commander in chief at thehi house, and he can do so while protecting other folks. clearly heeill not b wandering the halls in the west wing. this is thod news. k we all should celebrate this, that our president -- everyone, support his agenda, were understandably worried when mare 1 took o from the white house with our president. and he is now returning home in far, far better condition in just a few short days. >> woodrf: let me ask you about the state of the

campaign. as we know, the campaign manager is n dowwith covid, the chairman of the r.n.c. is down with covid. the president is back behind joe biden by ywhere from eight, nine, or more points in the polls. what is the shape? ew far bind are you in this campaign? >> let me address that on polls. i don't like to play the game of cherry-picking polls. but if we're going to do that, there are some national polls, which aren't all that relevant e to how we elect the president, but save shown us a retreat in our standing, howevere are polls that show us gaining, one like vogbi, and other ones, wits gaining these points since the debate. here is what i think: if you look at battleground states, all of them in the last couple of months have

and even if we don't have a lead in a lot of those states, we are very muchin within str distance. so i view those -- and i'm trying to b unbias as i can -- i view the battleground states as toss-ups even the biden camp woulde roughly agat either side is capable of winning >> woodruff: verystates. quickly, vice president biden, no concerns about hie expos covid, having him travel the country as he is bet now and the lacks lacks electio? >> no. the chaof command -- governmentally, an neither the president, nor pence, nor anyone in our campaign, we will not cower and hide. we will tae reasonable precautions. none of that guarantees safety. but vice-president pence is out there aveling the

country, heading to the debate. this campaign is charging forward. virus and convince the american people to rehiremp donald ts their c.e.o. for this economic revival of the next four years. >> woodruff: steve cortes wih the trump campaign, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: president trump's covid diagnosis al aects joe biden's campaign strategy in the closing weeks before election day. symone sanders is a senior adviser to the biden campaign and she joins us now from salt la city. w druff: symone sanders, welcome back to the "news hour." so how does the president -- the fact that he is still fighting covid, but he is leaving the hospital going back to the white house. what affect does this haveig on the cam do you think? >> thanks for having me today, judy.

always good to see you. first i want to extend our oughts and prayers to president trump and the first lady, the folks in the white house whoave contracted covid-19, but also folks all over this more than 200,000 americans have died from this virus. and more than seven million americans have been infected and have cases of cvid-19. so our thoughts and prayers are with all of those vilks. we don't this as a matter of politics, the president's diagnosis. frwkly, judy, we vie this as a brazen and stark reminder that concern coronavirs is real, covid-19 is real, and you havto take this seriously, all of us, no matter who you are. >> woodruff: the fact at there was thi so-called super-spreader event at the white house, and the facthat people around the president were infected during the hebate, had been infected at the time of debate, and vice president biden was there and other staff mbers were there -- does

that call into question the wisdom of having mr. biden traveling around the country? he is in miamioday. should there be more caution taken in your jucampaign? >>y, we are taking caution. vice president biden andn, our campae're consulting with our medical professionals. friday and yesterday -- on friday vice president biden received two covid-19 tests, they were both negative. they were tp. c.r. test, the one that goes way up to the brain. as did dr. biden, mr. inoff, and senator harris. our staff rectesting on friday and is regularly testing. not one person got a plane on friday until we were sure everyone's tests were vinegative. th president again had another covid tes yesterday. he is traveling in miami today. we're being safe. we're consulting with health care professionals anthey are really guiding us through this process, judy. i'll just note this: we

have taken this very seriously from the onset of covid-1e on the debtage last week, president trump mocked vice president biden's wearing of a mask. the officials in thi house have mocked r events. on the ground, tharecles there to help keep people safe at our event. we are holding events outside. when we ha events inside, we're ensuring we're adhering to local public guidelines. all of our staff are wearing masks in cars and planes and outside at events. we a taking this seriously, and we implore the american people to take this seriously. .c.woodruff: the c.d was out with new guidelines today saying they point out there can be spread in the air from a greater distance than six feet. it can be up to 12 feet or even more, that it can hang, these aerosol droplets can hang in the ai i want to ask you about

the campaign. we just heard steve cortesng advihe trump campaign, in the battleground states, no matter what the polls show, it is a lot closer how do you see wre the race stands right now? >> judy, i'm young but hai been doing this for a little while. i like to say it is alwaysou good if ave the mindset you're 15 points down and you're broke and you don't have y money, and that's how we're running, okay? we know tt the polls are good. the polls are reflective of the work we've done andca how the amepeople feel about the leadership that they have seen over the last four years. this election is a chose choice, a choicewe bet vice president biden and senator hars' vision. and vice president biden and harris, over the course ofexhe nt 29 days, are going to articulate that vision, and make a case as to why vice president biden thould be the nex president of the united states. we're going to continue

traveling, doing it safely, as the public health experts guide us, and we are really working to earn every vote out there, judy. we don't take ang for granted, and we don't think anything is in the bag. we have toampaign hard until the end because people are voting right now. it is not just what happened on november 3rd. think i saw a stat that- i said more than two million americans have already cast ballots in this election. we're excited to be out there, and we loorward to earning the votes of the people in this country. >> woouff: very quickly, the vice presidential debate tween kamala harris and vice-president pence this week, if he comes at heram with thee line of argument that president trump did at his debate with vice president biden last week, saying this is really -- essentignly your camps a stalking horse for the most liberal party, that this iatic socialist philosophy that joe bien and kamala harris bring to the white

house, how doeshe answer that? >> judy, she'll be ready. vice-president pence a good debater, and we are not coming into this underestimating him. i don't think anybody sees an extremist or a liberal socialist. vote know joe biden, and kamala harris knows joe biden, and she is going to speak to the american, peopst as vice president did last week, about their vision for the future. and she is looking forward to it. >> woodruf symone sanders, advisor to the biden campaign. we thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, schools will close tomorrow in parts of new york city where covid-19 infections are rising. avernor andrew cuomo issu order today, affecting 100

public schools and 200 private schools. he cited a lack of testing data. >> some of the schools in the hot spot zip codes have been tested but some have not. how can you send children into a school in a hot spot zip code when you know that you don't have any information as to whether or not it's safe? >> woodruff: the wnild health ortion said today that 10% of the world's population may have been infected s that includes 7.4 million nfirmed cases in the u.s tropic storm "delta" formed over the caribbean today, heading for the u.s. gulf coast. it's on tracto hit western cuba as a hurricane tomorrt . by friday,uld strike between louisiana and the florida panhandle. meanwhile, a storm dubbed "gamma", has stalled o mexico's yucatan peninsula,g kill least six people and forcing thousands to flee.s

wildfi california are burning their way into the record books. as of today, a single fireorth of san francisco has charred onl n acres, making it the state's largest ever.mo than four million acres have burned statewide, twice the old record. the "glass fire," in wine country, is among some two dozen fires still burning. and, fire season still has two months to go. two american and one british- born scientist have won this year's nobel prize in medicine. harvey alter, charles rice and michael houghton discovered the hepatitis c virus in 1989. it kills more than 400,000op , worldwide, every year. rice now works at rosiefeller univ in new york. he says when the nobel committee called, he thought it waa prank. >> basically after a chat with them, he said, 'wellou don't believe me, i actually ost sort of go to the, go

the nobel sort of site. and inn hour, hopefully, we'll convince you that this is, you know, sort of not, not a crank call.' s' woodruff: the nobel committee says the scientiork has greatly reduced the chances of blood transfusionstis c through the u.s. supreme court kicked off its w term today, with toly eight justices. they paid tributheir late colleague ruth bader ginsburg, in a conference held by phone due to the pandemic. chief justice john roberts remembered ginsburg as "a dear friend and a treasured colleague." and, wall street started the week with fresh hopes of new covid economic aid from congress. the dow jones industrial averagd ga65 points to close at 28,148. the nasdaq rose 257 points, d, the s&p 500 added 60.

oodruff: president trump diagnosis has upended a already underway. that is so where do the campaigns go from here? amna nawaz has that and more. >> nawaz: it's been just days since we learned of thevi president's 9 diagnosis. but it's important to point out, r weeks, voters across t country have been casting their ballots. annearly four million amer have already voted, according to data from 22 states andthe unitedtates election project. and by the end of this week, mail-in or in-person early voting will be underway in 43 of the nation's 50 states, plus t capitol, washington, d.c. our politics monday team is here to break it all down: amy walter of the cook political report and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter."

and domenico montanaro of npr. tamara keith is away. >> nawaz: welcomyou both. amy, i want to start with you. because, man, millions of people have already voted. and a lot has happened in just the last four days. so what is the potential election impact, if any, of thesi prent's covid-19 diagnosis in these final weeks ahead? >> amy: right.re yoight, amna, the idea of an octer surprise usually was, we, something that happens in october that gives people three weeks or two weeks,ng or sometto process it, think about it as they go and cast their ballot inarly november. what we see right now is people are voting every single day,ven as huge stories are unfolding in front of us. president, of course, that has contracted the virus. it is people in and around his orbit, at the white house. we could be hearing more stories as we move forward. so it is definitely a factor as we move into

this, you know, what could potentially be more shoes dropping. what we do know, though, na, is that this has been an incredible year of tumult and chaos and big events, and yet opinions of this president and opinions about voting in intent really have notth moved al much. people are pretty much locked in on who they're going to vote for and how they feel about the the one thing we saw today or over the weekendpolls that have come out after the debate or after his diagnosis, have seen the job disapproval ratings go up, and that is not good news f a president that is already running behind. >> nawaz: when you look at some of the states that mr. trump won, there are some of the states where they are just starting to see covid-19 surges and wen'

know what is ahead in the fall. yolook at north dak south dakota, wisconsin is now seeing a surge. could any of thet breaks affect him? >> i don't know that it is going to affect anything as far as how people feel about president trump or joe biden. these are twpeople who have been so well-known for so long. we've seen such a consistent race, certai in national polls. we've seen some tightening, as the trump campaign has pointed out, in key states, especially florida, to the trump campaign. joe biden certainly has the edge overall. and coronavirus has given that just makes iterygs difficult to organize, difficult to get out your vote. and with all of the confusion around mail-in voting and its efficacy and safety, that kes it even tougher for the compaigns to really know who their voters are definitely going to be. >> nawaz: amy, domenico

mentions the challenges for both of th compaigns think back to two weeks ago, i remember when the trump campaign was hammering the biden campaign, saying he was hiding in the basement. things have chaned a little. you have president trump somewhat sidelined and biden isn florida. so have things changed or shifted the biden strategy? >> amy: listen, i think from the very beginning, it has been clear th president trump's strategy, or the campaign strategy, is driven much more by what president trump likes to do than whetr or not it is affective at turning out voters or convincing voters who might not be interested i voting him right now to vote for him. and what the biden campaign has been focused on all along is who arthe voters we need to go and find, and what are other ways we can go and find them, whether that is through the phone or through the internet. and so whether or not joe biden is on and in front

of cros isn't an important issue for the biden campaign. and, quite frankly, what the president seems to be doing rit now, even as he is leaving the hospital yesterday, is his interest in being part of the story. his interest ibeing actually not part of the story, but the story, and showg he is tough and he is strong. and i think the challenge for the president isn't that people don't think th he has the sort of vigor to be president. what they're worried about is that his overallti administ'sandling of an issue that impacts their daily life day in and day ou is why their kids aren't in school. it is why they haven't hugged their grandparents in a while. that's what is mos important, and those are the things that voters are going to take with them into the voting place, notat which cais out there with big rallies or not.

>> nawaz: domenico, speaking of things voters will take with them when they vote, i remember when we were talking about thee suprurt vacancy as the potential big game-cnger, something at could change how voters see the election. do you still think that's nee case? >> ver thought that was the case, first of all. but considering, by the way, to amy's point of president trump having enough vigor to be president, i think after that last debate, there may be a lot of voters who vigor to be president. look, the supreme court cision here is something that has large been unpopular for most voters saying in polls they don't think president trump should go forward wi picking somebody now as compared to, let's say, when president trump put forward merit garlandn 2016. it has gotten a lot of democrats to focus on theco supremt in a way

they haven't in the past years. it has always ulen diffto get democrats fired up for the supreme court. and it has always en what the republicans looked at as to what they want to see th country become you're seeing a supreme court that could be ouanged. this be the biggest legacy of dold trump, that shaped social policy for the next couple of generations, and has huge in pactimpacts on all of the ings we think about in life, particularly when it comes to women's rights and whether or not women n have accessio access to abortion.o and i think aof democrats are realizing that and see this as a anndamental election because of how y more supreme court justices could get in the next term. >> nawaz: and, of course, we should share also that the nomination hearing s been set for judge amy coney barrett. and that is going to start on october 12th. so that will be one to tch for sure. that is politics monday

with amy walter, and joining us today domenico montanaro. thank you both for being with us. >> thanks. >> you're welcome. more with kelly co" debutsl me on pbs. the four-time author and podcaster contributes to the newshour. now she begins a series of meaningful conversations with peop who matter. in this preview, corrigan speaks with equal justice initiative founder lawyer bryan stevenson,w who king to heal the nation's racial wrongs.ch he shares dhood experience with hate after jumping into a pool. >> i remember holding my it took me a minute before i realized that people were going crazy. they were shouting to their

children, get out of the pool, get out of the pool. and there s just one little boy left and the man snatched the boy up by the arm, the little boy started crying and i was so stunned by it. turned to the man and i said, what's wrong? and the man looked at me and he said, "y 're wrong, ( bleep " it was the first time a moment of such complete joy and happiness had been savaged by something so hateful. >> woodruff: that's tell me more with kelly corrigan, tonight on pbs at 9:00/8:00 central. before we go tonight, we invite you to sign up to a very special town hall tomorrow evening. our student reporting labs engaged teens and first-time voters across the country in conversations about how they are participating in this historic election. the evt will features segmentsng on combaisinformation along with intergenerational conversations on civics and democracy. the town hall startstreaming

live tuesday at 7:00 eastern on our website, pbs.org/newshour, where you can go now to sign up. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs stwshour, thank you, pleas safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through

investments in transs rmative leadd ideas. more at kendedafund.org. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed tojuuilding a more , verdant and peaceful world. re information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program way made possiblee corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour proctions, llc

captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> they remain in good spirits. the president has mine orsympto >> as president trump along with the first lady test positive for covid-19 tonight the health of the first couple and the health of a nation already in political turmoil and facing a coequential election. >> i amwi sure the both stage a very strong recovery. >> and reaction from around the world. how has boris johnson governed since contracting covid and how putin's special bubble keeps himself. >> "amanpour & co." is