>> jon karl leading us off on a monday night. jon, thank you. >>> and now to that record early voting across this country. as i mentioned at the top tonight, more than 62 million ballots cast so far. americans waiting in line for hours. breaking records in battleground states including florida. and early ballots in texas now adding up to 82 % of the entire vote in texas just four years ago. and with so many mail-in votes and voting by absentee, how much will we know on election night with so many states not even opening those ballots until election day? it could be a long night and beyond and here's abc's mary bruce tonight. >> reporter: tonight, record-breaking voter enthusiasm on full display. americans waiting in lines for hours, even braving pouring rain, to make their voices heard. eight days to go and already across the country, more than 62 million ballots have been cast. 45% of total votes counted in 2016. voters are smashing records in critical battlegrounds. >> whoever you vote for, you should just go vote. >> reporter:

jon karl and martha raddatz standing by live tonight. and after the president told americans don't be afraid of covid, american families whose loved ones battled the virus react tonight. >>> 28 days until election day. millions voting already and what will the debates now look like? president trump tonight saying he'll be at the next debate. what joe biden is now saying tonight. and tomorrow evening, vice president mike pence and senator kamala harris on the debate stage. and tonight, pence now saying he does not want that plexiglass barrier. the biden/harris team asked for it to protect senator harris after the outbreak at the white house. >>> the new warning about covid-19 here in the u.s. the cdc now acknowledging air born transmission of the virus is possible. tiny droplets lingering in the air for minute us, possibly hours. infecting people more than six feet away in poorly ventilated, enclosed spaces. and hospitalizations on the rise in 36 states tonight. >>> the police officer charged with murder in texas. >>> the latest tonight o

i want to bring in jon karl. there's the urgent effort to reach hundreds of people who were at that fund-raising event in new jersey, as we watch marine one now land back at the white house. >> reporter: incredible sight, isn't it? it's an effort being conducted by officials in the new jersey government. the contact tracing at the white house seems to be much spottier. and we are unable to get some very basic answers to questions such as, how many people on the white house staff, david, have tested positive for coronavirus? we've done our own analysis, we've gone and done our own own reporting and counted 18 people that were involved in that ceremony or debate prep at the white house who have tested positive, but you know, there may be more. we just don't know. these are very basic and important questions and the anszs are not forthcoming from the white house. >> really something, jon. you've covered this white house and administrations before this one but never have we seen in our lifetime a pandemic take grip,

some local officials say it is just simply an effort to suppress the vote. >> jon karl leading us off tonight. jon, thank you. we know all of this can be difficult to track at home, the daily headlines on early voting, safe voting in this pandemic. so, our partners at fivethirtyeight have put together an easy to use state-by-state guide on voting both in person and by mail. you can go to abcnews.com/wntvote2020. >>> of course, the coronavirus will be a major issue driving voters, and tonight, the virus is now surging in much of this country. more than 30 states with cases on the rise. and wisconsin is one of the nation's red zones. images coming in from hospitals near capacity. late today, president trump moving a rally from one wisconsin city to another, but now, some authorities in that next community are already sounding the alarm. cases rising in 30 states and puerto rico. most of the country right there in the red. and now, more than 207,000 lives have been lost. in wisconsin, images from the hospitals, front line workers sounding the alarm. and after the president, during the de

>> because i wanted to be sure that it was counted. >> right to jon karl. he's live at the biden rally in tampa tonight. jon, as we've been reporting, election night could be a very long one given the early turnout in the country. voters you're talking to there, so many key stays don't even begin counting them, as you know, until election day, but in florida, they actually do begin processing those votes early. so in florida, if we get a result, it could really frame the entire night ahead, and the entire night ahead, and in several new polls there tonight, this is a close race. >> reporter: david, there are three new polls out of florida voters, just today. all three show a slight lead for biden, all within the margin of error. the fivethirtyeight election forecast gives a slight advantage to biden, about a two out of three chance of winning the state. but there is no question there is a lot of enthusiasm in florida for donald trump, and democrats and republican operatives i have spoken to agree that the president has a very good chance of winning the stat

>> jon karl. jon, six days to go, thank you. >>> more than 75 million americans have voted already. that's more than half of the entire vote four years ago. and tonight here, if you requested a mail-in ballot and haven't sent yours in, what authorities are now saying you should do and now to make sure your vote counts. here's marcus moore tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the early voting tsunami continues, 75 million casting their ballots across the country. texas leads the nation with more than 8 million already voting. that is 90% of the entire vote >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: democrat beto o'rourke lost a narrow senate race in 2018, but saw a huge increase in turnout. he's now canvassing with covid restrictions to try and turn the state blue. >> texas could end this country's national nightmare on the night of november 3rd. >> reporter: biden trails by just four points in the polls. the republican governor going door-to-door himself to hold off the challenge. >> i work in oil and gas, so what biden and kamala harris have said is very scary. >> reporter: in the battleground st

today, he still has not spoken to nancy pelosi, still has not spoken to her since last year. >> jon karl leading off the broadcast again tonight. jon, thank you. >>> and just a short time from now, vice president mike pence and senator kamala harris will face off in their one and only high stakes debate. the candidates will be separated by more than 12 feet and by that plexiglass that had been requested by the biden/harris team. vice president pence at first had said no, then act kwee yes, sired overnight. that plexiglass, a powerful reminder of the unfolding crisis. mary bruce right there in the debate hall in salt lake city tonight. >> reporter: with just hours to go, joe biden today choing to d. >> reporter: kamala harris and mike pence set for their first, and only, faceoff and already the pandemic is front and center. the candidates will both be seated behind mr hinhind plexig than 12 pete apart. harris testing negative yesterday. pence testing negative today. even as the outbreak at the white house grows by the day, pence's team insists the vice president is safe to debate. his doc

mary bruce, jon karl, cecilia vega all standing by live tonight. >>> the coronavirus spreading at an alarming rate. the country now averaging more than 73,000 new cases a day. the highest one-week average of new cases since this pandemic began. and tonight, dr. deborah birx calling out a specific state where she's seeing the least use of masks. and news coming in tonight about immunity. if you've had the virus, what they're now seeing when it comes to antibodies and how quickly they begin to fade. >>> protests erupting over a deadly police shooting in philadelphia. a young black man allegedly armed with a knife shot and killed. at least 30 officers injured. an officer struck by a pickup truck. >>> the wildfires. massive flames closing in on neighborhoods. more than 90,000 homes evacuated. >>> the gulf tonight bracing for yet another possible hurricane. land. as early as tomorrow. rob standing by with the timing. >>> breaking news in a case that's made national headlines. the next yum cult leader sentenced to 120 years in prison. >>> and there's also news tonight on colorectal and whe

jon karl is live. >>> that alarming new number tonight, more than 85,000 new cases and tonight johns hopkins now reporting that another american tests positive for covid every 1.2 seconds in this country. another death every 107 seconds. tonight, images coming in from the midwest to the south and in wisconsin, a warning that there could soon be a shortage of beds in the icu. europe got hit with it before the u.s. and now their second wave and its deadly grip. tonight lockdowns now in france and germany and our foreign correspondent in belgium where icu numbers have now tripled in just three weeks. the deadly hurricane slamming into the u.s. the trees coming down killing several people. its path through atlanta, the power outages and early voting affected by this. snow and rain in the northeast and rob marciano timing it out tonight. >>> the deadly terror attack at a church in france. three people killed. president emmanuel macron tonight deploying thousands of troops declaring france is under attack. >>> here in the u.s. tonight the massive train derailment. cars carrying chemical, s

fauci. >> all right, jon karl helping us start another week here. jon, thank you. >>> with 15 days until election day, as i mentioned at the top, nearly 30 million americans v voted already. voters in the key battleground of florida now lining up today. these are just some of the long lines an long waits. this aim j from tampa tonight. so, how does this compare to four years ago? and where are the numbers tonight in the key battleground of florida? abc's vick totor oquendo from c gables. >> reporter: torrential downpours can't dampen enthusiasm on the first day of early voting in florida. lines starting at dawn stretched for more than an hour in the battleground state where biden and trump are neck and neck. so far, 2.5 million floridians are already voted by mail, that nearly e quails the total number from 2016. >> this election i dont trust the mail-in. i want to make sure my vote is counted. >> reporter: tonight voting is underway in all 50 states, with a record-breaking avalanche of turnout. nearly 30 million boll lots cast, more than five times

let's get to jon karl with us live again tonight. the president saying there that the gold star families wanted to get close to him, that he didn't stop them. but we were all curious, what about the flip side, has the white house reached 0 out to those gold star families in case they were the ones exposed to the virus? >> reporter: david, we found out that the white house did reach out to thed the group thatrohthe gold s es tohoe. the familieshat event and i am milies hested star positive or displayed any symptoms consistent with coronavirus. >> all right, jon, thank you. >>> we're going to turn now to the hurricane bearing down on the u.s. a record tenth named storm to strike the u.s. just this season alone. delta gaining strength tonight, back to a cat 3 now, 1 115-mile-an-hour winds. on track to hit nearly the same spot in louisiana where hurricane laura struck. ginger zee and rob marciano both live from louisiana tonight, and ginger, you've got the newest track? >> reporter: i do, and where i'm standing here in louisiana could se

jon karl and mary bruce standing by. >>> new reporting tonight after the alarming warning about election interference. u.s. authorities say russia and iran have obtained voter registration information and that iran used that information to send threatening messages to some voters. tonight, state and local elections officials have been warned to patch their systems. pierre thomas is standing by. >>> the coronavirus in the u.s. surging across the south, the midwest, across much of this country. nearly 1,000 deaths in 24 hours for the first time since this summer. the major move tonight by the fda, remdesivir becoming the first drug to receive full approval. the images from hospitals tonight, in one icu, four patients to a room. covid patients flipped onto their stomachs to help them breathe. and tonight, we have news on a passenger who died while on a flight. medical authorities now say the 38-year-old passenger died from covid. >>> the evacuations tonight in colorado. the wildfires. the sky turning orange. one fire exploding in size. authorities now going door-to-door. >>> major news toni

jon karl and mary bruce standing by tonight. with just 32 days until the election, the trump campaign in turmoil tonight. postponing some events. will there even be anymore debates? and joe biden late today in michigan. his message for the president and first lady. and his plea to the country tonight about the virus and masks. >>> and tonight questions about the president's age and other factors the he now fights this. dr. jen ashton and dr. ashish jha with us tonight. what happens if the president becomes unable to do his job? terry moran on that tonight. >>> prime minster boris johnson says he nearly died from the virus. his message tonight as global headlines mark the news -- the leader of the free world battling covid. a special edition of "world news tonight" starts now. >>> good evening and it's great to have you with us here on this friday night. it was a lot to take in today as millions of americans woke. in the news that president trump and first lady melania trump both tested positive for covid-19. tonight we just witn

was during a time when giuliani was traveling to ukraine, trying to dig up dirt on the bidens. >> jon karl leading us off again tonight. jon, thank you. >>> and now to the new urgency about the coronavirus in this country as cases hit a grim new milestone today. more than 8 million confirmed cases here in the u.s. the death toll more than 218,000. pfizer announcing they could submit a vaccine for emergency approval at the end of november. and what former governor chris christie is now saying after spending seven days in the icu with covid about not wearing a mask at the white house for that rose garden event and for debate prep, saying it was all a big mistake. here's alex perez. >> reporter: tonight, another grim milestone. more than 8 million americans infected with the virus. cases now climbing in nearly every corner of this country. >> seeing the heat map, how it lights up with test positivity, that is in more than 30-plus states, is going in the wrong direction. >> reporter: 39 states with rising hospitalizations, 13 hitting records just this week. and now the number of deaths also cl

this has been routine. >> that was jon karl. right now on our website, we have several stories about president trump and the first lady testing positive and abc 7 news is updating these articles with the very latest when we get it. >>> now back to the fired that continues burning in the north bay and all the smoke that is now affecting just about all of us. a spare the air alert is in effect through tuesday forcing many people to stay inside this weekend. some are weighing fun indoor activities against the coronavirus risk. in san mateo county, movie theaters can plaoperate at 25% capacity and one woman rented out the theater for her son's birthday for will less than $12 books. >> thought that it would be good idea after remote learning for quite a while. >> cinemark says that is perfectly safe. each auditorium has its objeown conditioning unit and they haven't had any issues. >> i could use a movie. i miss that experience. and also, mike, it is so hot and yesterday i was just trying to get inside anywhere i could. >> yeah, 93 y

jon karl and mary bruce standing by live. >>> the highest number yet, more than 92,000 new cases of covid in just 24 hours. that was the concern as the colder weather arrives. record numbers from wisconsin to ohio. to illinois tonight where they're halting eating in restaurants again, and the state health director saying they're now seeing the flu and covid in some patients. >>> the images coming in tonight. a deadly earthquake. the magnitude 7.0 quake toppling buildings hitting parts of turkey and greece. >>> here at home, outrage this evening. one of the officers in the breonna taylor case now suing taylor's boyfriend for shooting him. >>> actress lori loughlin reporting to prison tonight. >>> and the first major snow in the northeast and what to expect from chicago to boston this weekend. >>> good evening. it's great to have you with us here as we near the end of another week together. four days to go. president trump and joe biden both in three states today. dueling rallies in the midwest where the coronavirus is raging. a new record set. more than 92,000 cases in the past 24 hours in

our white house correspondent jon karl starts us off. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, george. with the first family isolating in the white house we are awaiting details about the president's condition. this much is already clear, everything is on hold. overnight a worst case scenario for the white house. a little before 1:00 a.m. president trump tweeted, tonight the first lady and i tested positive for covid-19. we will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. we will get through this together. the president's physician released a statement saying both were, quote, well at this time without revealing if they were experiencing any symptoms adding, they plan to remain at home within the white house during their convalescence and rest assured, i expect the president to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering. the first lady later tweeted, we are feeling good and the president in a phone interview earlier in the night as he said he was awaiting the results of their tests, first raised t

. >> let's get right to jon karl live tonight from washington. we're learning former president obama will hit the campaign trail for the first time with a stop in philadelphia next wednesday for biden. i know you're following other news coming in tonight about president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani. reports the white house was warned that giuliani had become the target of a russian intelligence operation? >> reporter: abc news confirmed a report first in "the washington post" that u.s. intelligence warned the white house that russian operatives were trying to influence giuliani in a mid to bbid to ge pass misinformation to the president. this was during a time when giuliani was traveling to ukraine, trying to dig up dirt on the bidens. >>> now to the new urgency about the coronavirus in this country as cases hit a grim few milestone today. more than 8 million confirmed cases here in the u.s. the death toll more than 218,000. pfizer announcing they could submit a vaccine for emergency approval at the end of november. what former governor

jon karl is live. >>> that alarming new number tonight, more than 85,000 new cases and tonight johns hopkins now reporting that another american tests positive for covid e

. >> let's get right to jon karl with us live from washington. jon, the trump campaign out with a new ad featuring joe biden's comments on oil last night. it's going to run in the battleground of pennsylvania we know so far. this as joe biden now doubles down on his core issue, the pandemic. the former vice president laying out his plan to bat it will virus, how he plans to reach out, if elected. >> reporter: david, he outlined a rather detailed plan. he said he'd reach out during the transition by reaching out to every governor of every state, democrat and republican to assess which each needed. he outlined a testing plan aimed at testing as many people in a single day as are now test in the a week. david? >> quite a night last night, jon, watching it here with us. >> no doubt. >>> this all comes as alarming coronavirus numbers tonight, cases surging in every state. more than 82,000 new cases in just 24 hours. approaching a record set months ago. more than 1,000 deaths for two days straight now. a public health official breaking down today. hosp

." >> let's get to jon karl again tonight. and jon, very personal words from the first lady today. and in addition to the president and barron trump, both now testing negative, the first lady also revealed she's now tested negative and she hopes to resume her duties soon? >> reporter: and david, the first lady also wrote, "i want people to know that i understand just how fortunate my family is to have received the kind of care that we did." the bottom line is, she wants people to know that she is keenly aware that she received the kind of care that most people simply cannot get. >> jon, thank you. >>> and meantime, jon, as you know, this all comes as we see the virus spiking across the country, amid those fears of a second wave. tonight, the very first vaccine trial in children now approved by the fda and now getting started. hospitalizations increasing in 36 states across the country. wisconsin, as we've been reporting, hit especially hard. a field hospital now set up to take in covid patients. and pfizer beginning that first pediatric vaccine trial in the world. and late today, w

jon karl and mary bruce standing by. >>> new reporting tonight after the alarming warning about election interference. u.s. authorities say russia and iran have obtained voter registration information and that iran used that information to send threatening messages to some voters. tonight, state and local elections officials have been warned to patch their systems. pierre thomas is standing by. >>> the coronavirus in the u.s. surging across the south, the midwest, across much of this country. nearly 1,000 deaths in 24 hours for the

. >> that got a lot of attention, so, let's get right to jon karl this evening. people talking about what's being called the mute button at the debate. i know the debate commission is not calling it that. so, how is this going to work, jon? essentially, what, turning down the other mics from the candidate while one candidate is giving the two-minute answer? >> reporter: yeah, there isn't actually a mute button, what's going to happen is, when the candidate is answering that question at first for two minutes, the other candidate's mic will automatically be turned off by the production staff in the control room, not by the moderator, for the duration of a two-minute answer, but david, after that, there will be 90 seconds of followup and a free-flowing conversation where both microphones will be on. >> we'll be watching together, jon, on thursday night. thank you. >>> of course, one of the issues for the debate will be the handling of coronavirus in this country, particularly as we see these alarming numbers with the colder weather here and americans going indoors.

jon karl is live. >>> that alarming new number tonight, more than 85,000 new cases, and tonight johns hopkins now reporting that another american tests positive for covid every 1.2 seconds in this

jon karl, in place at walter reed. can you see the helicopters? >> i see marine one headed this way. i'm right across the street from walter reed. and the white house in the very little bit of information we've heard the statement from the press secretary, saying he will be here for a few days, working out of what they call the presidential offices here at walter reed. and i can now see the helicopter coming into view quite clearly. >> jon, have you been able to get any indication from the white house about what more information we will be getting from the president, his team, his doctors? >> george, the thing that we've asked for repeatedly is information directly from the doctors, a briefing directly from the doctors. we have the statement that you've discussed, the second statement from his doctor explaining what exactly he's taken in terms of this cocktail. but beyond that, no official information beyond that. and the challenge here is that as we get statements from the president's press secretary, you know, there's just a real question about

jon karl standing by. >>> the coronavirus surging in the u.s. tonight, the images here.he hospitals now full in wisconsin. front line workers sounding the alarm. president trump now moving one lo his rallies to a different

jon karl and mary bruce standing by. >>> new reporting tonight after the alarming warning about election interference. u.s. authorities say russia and iran have obtained voter registration information and that iran used that information to send threatening messages to some voters. tonight, state and local elections officials have been warned to patch their systems. pierre thomas is standing by. >>> the coronavirus in the u.s. surging across the south, the midwest, across much of this country. nearly 1,000 deaths in 24 hours for the

. >> jon karl with us live tonight from walter reed and jon, i just want to show the audience the images just coming in as we're on the air tonight. this is the president coming off of marine one at the white house. just moments ago. wearing the mask, a wave, a salute as he makes his way back to the white house. obviously this comes after three days of treatment at walter reed, waving to the cameras. he did not answer questions. heading back into the white house where he is expected to stay, and jon, as you heard from dr. conley late today, his doctor -- there's the thumb's up, the customary thumb's up from president trump -- you heard dr. conley say, jon, we are still on guard, given where we are in the course of this, dr. conley said we won't know until at least next weekend. >> reporter: and for the time being, all of the president is back at the white house, david, he will confined to the white house residence, where he will continue to have top medical level treatment, but he'll be confined to the residence. that means no oval office, no west wing. the white house insists that durin

same question i asked jon karl, did president trump do what he needed to do?i think he did, george. in terms of his demeanor tonight, i think he ran a debate that was very strong. his demeanor was good. i think he was talking to the american people. and i think the other thing that i knew he needed to do tonight, which i think he did, was to show the contrast between the policies of his administration and what would be a biden administration. so, for people out there who are listening who want to know what the choice is, i think they got a much better opportunity to hear that choice tonight. i think it was a good night for the president. i think he did what he needed to do tonight and what's possible to do in a 90-minute debate and i think the president did quite well tonight. >> rahm emanuel? >> i think joe biden was most passionate about the concerns and the squeeze on middle class families who are sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure out how to pay bills. and that passion of understanding, that intensity of pressure on families in a very intimate a

let's bring in jon karl for more on last night. you were going back and forth between the town halls. what did you see? >> reporter: well, i saw a study in contrast, george. it couldn't have been more stark. on one hand you have joe biden thoughtful, reflective, occasionally long-winded talking about specific policy proposals, legislation. and on the other hand you saw a very combative donald trump offering very little in the way of specifics to what he would do in a second term. george, i thought one of the most telling moments of the night in the donald trump town hall was when he was asked point blank why should people support you and give you a second chance for a second term and he said because i've done a great job. that was the level of specificity. and at a time when most polls show that well over half of americans do not approve of the job that donald trump has done in his first term that is not going to be a sufficient sufficient answer. >> well, that's the question now for the president. how does he change his trajectory

let's go to jon karl. >> we're told he has fever, chills, nasal congestion and a could have.he white house has not confirmed the trip to walter reed, but they've released a statement from the doctor saying the president remains fatigued, but in good spirits. taking regeneron and a series of vitamins and aspirin. they say the first lady has a mild cough and headache. we're awaiting word on the trip to walter reed. >> let's get more from dr. jen ashton. what we know now is that fever, as jon said, the classic symptoms. also the single eight-gram dose of regeneron. what does that say to you? >> well, i think the first thing to understand, george, is that the president's physician and team of consultants will be making an assessment on things like how the blood oxygen level. vital signs, fever, chills. whether or not they may need special care. when you talk about this experimental cocktail of antibodies, it's a treatment for patients who may be thought to be at an increased risk of not being able to mount their immune response. it's been shown to shorten the duration of symptoms

stay tuned for jon karl with "this week." have a great sunday, everybody. arl with "this week."d morning, everybody. i'm liz kreutz. the bay area has broken the record for a number of days under a spare the air alert this year. an alert has been extended until tuesday. the extension marks a total of 51 days this year under an alert, compared to the previous record of 46 days in 2017. smoke from the august complex and red sal mon complex fires triggered this latest alert and it discourages unnecessary driving, bans wood burning and encourages residents to stay indoors. the district says we could see several more spare the air days this year, because upcoming winds and warmth heighten concerns. >>> happening today, diners at john's grill in ellis street in san francisco will get a special treat from the ballet. dancers will leap, twirl and swirl for al fresca diners today. the company's first performance since march. all three seatings for the special one-day performance sold out within 24 hours of ncers wlfo ame ey ot. classical favoriteshits. >>> let's check the weather with met

. >> let me bring in jon karl.clear that the commander wanted to reconcile what he was saying today and the statements he made yesterday which conflicted with the white house chief of staff mark meadows. >> it was night and day, george. he came out with medical data. there was less spinning. he wanted to, you know, come ou out and show he was making up for what happened yesterday. let me remind you, george, dr. conley yesterday refused several times to answer the question about whether or not the president had been on oxygen. at one point he said, quote, yesterday and today he was not on oxygen. now we learned, again from dr. conley, in fact the president was on oxygen on friday. now, that's just a basic fact. he came out and he told us what, you know, seemed like a very serious and factual briefing. it's such a problem when you have the political team at the white house, but the medical team at the white house come out and give a briefing with information that turns out to be flatly wrong. hopefully this time he's