we have mike memoli covering it for us. you can see from the way that joe biden is campaigning. >> absolutely, katy. i'm hearing the cheering and you're pointing out a lot of folks not wearing masks at the trump rally. here it is a drive in rally for biden. you have been to a lot of campaign events, i have been to my fair share as well. i heard an announcement at this one which is please remain in your vehicles. if you can't touch your car you're too far from it. welcome to campaigning during a global pandemic. this is what the biden campaign is encouraging here. if even there is no mask mandate, even if they have not followed other blue states, the biden campaign is doing everything they can do be safe and have their supporters and the local community be safe. as far as the message we're seeing for joe biden as he makes his fourth trip to florida since the democratic convention, the second most of california, you come to south florida, miami-dade to the south here or broward where we are today. and you try to run up the sc

mike memoli, we know you have to get situated. mr. haake, we turn to you, in the sunshine state. former president obama will be rallying voters there where you are in orlando. next hour -- this is his second rally in florida in the past few days. he was in miami-dade county a few days ago. we know that florida is an all-important battleground every presidential election. what can we expect to hear from president obama in a few minutes? >> reporter: all-important and almost always close. you'll hear the honking horns behind me at this drive-in rally. i think we can expect to hear a few things. first, he can endorse joe biden, speak to his credentials for the jobs like no one else, having worked side by side when he was president for eight years. second, i think we'll hear a lacerating speech from the former president here. that's what he's done at his previous two campaign stops. he's gone after donald trump in a way that few other campaign surrogates really do. we know from past history that the obama's remarks about the president can get under his sin. that's not something barac

nbc's mike memoli in salt lake city ahead of the vice presidential debate. robert gibbs, former press secretary to president obama, and dr. vin gupta, pulmonologist and global health policy expert at the university of washington medical center. peter alexander, you heard from chief of staff mark meadows this morning. what is the latest on the president's condition? because we haven't heard from the doctors in two days except for a brief statement. and the schedule, because there was some suggestion from meadows that he might even be wanting to go into the oval office, conceivably. that raises a lot of questions. you have to walk from the residence through all those corridors, to the elevator, presumably, his elevator, down through the other corridors in the white house, to the oval office, while they're trying to control the spread. >> yeah, not exactly isolation like you would imagine and like they've said they would be enforcing for this parking lot. >> exactly. >> in terms of his covid diagnosis right now, his infection. to give you a sense of the white h

mike memoli, what have you found out?biden campaign quickly accepted the presidential debate commission's statement that they would move forward with a virtual debate, which the president said he would not attend. the biden campaign says the former vice president will find an opportunity next thursday, when the debate was going to happen, to be able to speak with voters. they're also urging the debate commission to still move forward and try to schedule a new debate in the town hall format. this is their argument. they say that because the president in their view is tried to evade accountability for his handling of the coronavirus in the kind of format that this debate was going to be, a town hall format, rather than allowing the president to just step out of this debate and back out of it, they should be adding it, just postponing it, so it would allow both parties, the president and former vice president, to appear on the debate stage together in a safe, responsible way with town hall format still moving forward. that's

mike memoli in wilmington, north carolina.ol lee where the president is about to be in littitz, pennsylvania. >>> ahead, eight days away from the election right now, the paths to victory are getting smaller and narrower for president trump. we're going to show you what that looks like on the big board. >>> plus, a top adviser from the trump campaign is going to join us. and later, the covid crisis stretching far beyond america's rural areas, hitting hard, too, leave be health care workers overwhelmed. and some hospitals, at their breaking point. this administration and senate republicans want to overturn laws requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. they're rushing a lifetime appointment to the supreme court to change the law through the courts. 70% of americans want to keep protections for pre-existing conditions in place. tell our leaders in washingtn to stop playing games with our healthcare. and sweetie can coloryou just be... gentle with the pens. okey. okey. i know. gentle..gentle new p

we begin with nbc white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host peter alexander, nbc's mike memoli, and pbs news hour's yamiche alcindor. let's sort through what the biden campaign is now saying, they want to change the format of the october 22 debate. >> yeah, andrea, i think what we've had happen in the last few minutes here is a debate on debates has broken out with all of the participants here. let's rewind and start with this morning. that was the debate commission announcing to the surprise, frankly, of both campaigns, that they were going to move forward with a virtual debate in the town hall format for next week. this was done without consultation of either of the campaigns. the biden campaign said they were just getting ready to begin their conversations about how this debate were to move forward, if it moved forward at all, given the president's diagnosis. very quickly the biden campaign said they would gladly participate in such a debate but the president ruled it out. kate benefiting field, the deputy campaign manager of the biden campaign, says given the president's un

mike memoli is following the biden campaign in grand rapids, michigan. nbc senior business correspondent stephanie ruhle has her eye on the markets for us this hour. geoff, let's start with you. chief of staff mark meadows a few moments ago walking out to that group of reporters without wearing a mask again, saying he fully expects there will be more positive cases in the president's orbit over the next few days. what else did we learn from mark meadows? >> reporter: he said president trump is in good spirits. he described him as being energetic. he said president trump's first question to him when they spoke by phone this morning was how is the economy doing. mark meadows also confirming on the record president trump is experiencing mild symptoms as he put it. he said he's optimistic he will make a quick and speedy recovery. even there, though, the white house chief of staff was making clear there is a continuity plan in place should one be needed. interestingly enough, mark meadows spoke about two things, one, the treatment and the timeline. i'll talk

mike memoli.abe gutierrez is in billings, montana, where hospitals are struggling to keep up with an influx of new virus patients. let me start with monica in michigan. so, monica, this midwest push combined with the president desperately trying to put covid in the rearview mirror. wherever he goes, covid is there in much bigger numbers than any rally he can hold. >> that's exactly right, chuck. it's impossible to escape. the headlines, all of the local news i was watching this morning before coming here talking about the rise in cases in the midwest, particularly here in michigan as hospitalizations and concern over space if surges continue in the trend they are going are top of mind for health officials. experts who say holding events like the one right behind me with thousands of people packed together couldn't be more irresponsible. but the president is running out of time, and his campaign feels this is the best asset they have in the closing days. we now have a picture of the final schedule

nbc's mike memoli and "washington post" bureau chief phil rucker. welcome, all. peter, i know you've been up through the night, let's talk about you, the white house team, hallie jackson, of course, all night. tell us about what we heard from mark meadows today and the rest of the white house staff. you have the marine guards, the pilot on marine one, the pilot on air force one, others on the staff, the usher, the wait staff, there are a lot of white house staff and their families who all could be implicated. >> andrea, you're exactly right. it's best to describe this as a constellation of contacts, starting with hope hicks, the president and first lady, and it goes out, the rings of folks they have have interactions with over the last 72 hours, perhaps more than that. let's start with the details about the president and first lady. i'm told they're both experiencing mild symptoms right now. they are in isolation here at the residence behind me. meadows saying that the president is in good spirits right now, an aide telling me it's business as usual, that the pre

joining us now, live from salt lake city, nbc news correspondent mike memoli. mike, a very good morning to you. thank you for getting up early for us on mountain time to preview what we've got going on tonight. what do you expect from kamala harris? what is the biden campaign looking for from her? and walk us through how the pence camp is getting ready for it. >> reporter: well, kasie, it's great to be with you, i'm a late-comer to the "way too early" party here. i'm glad to be with you at this hour. and it's appropriate that we're here talking about the vice presidential debate given how i've covered a certain vice president over the years. the tenor has changed over the last week. the word "secession" is front of mind for the public as they watch this tonight. there are questions coming into this campaign about joe biden and his age, that is what made the selection of kamala harris, hi search process, such a higher priority focus for the public because there are questions about his age. once had you the president diagnosed last week about the coronavirus himse

mike memoli, and white house reporter ashley parker. welcome all. kristen, how are you, how are the president, vice president and chief of staff responding to outbreak of coronavirus to really close aides to the vice president and he's still off on the road today? >> well, andrea, thank you so much for your comments. you're absolutely right. president trump, vice president mike pence still campaigning with just eight days left to the election, saying vice president is an essential worker. that is how they are explaining the fact he is out on the campaign trail. they insist he's going to follow cdc guidelines. it is worth noting cdc guidelines require someone to wear a mask in public, particularly if you do have any concerns that you may have been exposed directly or indirectly. now, in terms of the messaging here, president trump out on the campaign trail trying to make the case that the country is turning the corner in the fight against covid-19 but that is undercut by the fact that five of the vice presidents associates have tested positive, inclu

because that would rob him of a path to get to those 270 electoral votes, andrea. >> geoff bennett, mike memoli, thank you very much. mike, try to get some rest sometime, somewhere, sometime. joining me now, pbs news hour white house correspondent yamiche alcindor, nbc's jacob soboroff, author of "separated: inside an american tragedy," jim messina, manager of president obama's 2012 presidential campaign, and nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. welcome, all. yamiche, you've been on the firing line at white house news conferences. it's unimaginable, the pressure on kristen last night. president trump trying to attack biden through his son hunter, but to my eye, he never really explained to a general audience what those unsubstantiated charges were all about. unless you were in the fox bubble, as he is every day, he wasn't really explaining the substance behind it, that he alleges. and biden was just ready to pounce. let's listen. >> you were getting a lot of money from russia. they were paying you a lot of money. and they probably still are. but now, with what came out today, it's

mike memoli, dr. ramirez, thanks for being with us today. >>> as the fbi breaks up a plot to capture and possible kill the governor of michigan, concerns about the dangers posed by domestic terrorists are growing, just weeks ahead of the election. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ndrea mil reports" only on msnbc ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. confused about which medicare plan is right for them. hey, that's me. i barely know where to start. well, start here with me, karen. i'm a licensed humana sales agent. well it's nice to meet you karen, i'm john smith. hi john. at humana we know you're unique, so you have different needs from other john smiths. yeah, i've always thought so. and together we can find a plan that's right for you. great! i go to the doctor a couple of times a year and i have some prescriptions, but i'm never fully sure of what's covered and what's not. with humana's all in one medicare

nbc's mike memoli for joe biden's first event today. and nbc correspondent chris jansing talking to seniors in sarasota. florida is crucial to president trump, it could solidify a victory for joe biden. it's florida, florida, florida, that's why you're there today, kristen. >> reporter: it's always been florida, florida, florida, andrea, you're absolutely right, and the fight for the sunshine state is intensifying today, the fight for 29 electoral votes. that's why you'll see dueling rallies today, amidst the backdrop of our latest nbc news/marist poll which does show biden with a very slim 4-point lead. that's within the margin of error. as you say, they were tied, though, a month ago. so why this small bounce? it's because he's surging with independents and seniors. he's leading with seniors 53-46%. but president trump is leading among some key groups as well. white men and the all-important latino votes. with latinos, president trump leads 52-46%. 57% of votes have voted early -- i should say, it's increase of 57% from 2016. it shows

mike memoli, let's talk about a very different 90 minutes, which was joe biden in philadelphia. he's on his way to michigan, i guess, where you are today, and detroit. but one thing he did dodge was the question about whether he would pack the supreme court, being caught between two parts of the democratic caucus on this in the senate on this. this was george stephanopoulos trying to pin him down. >> if they vote on it before the election, you are open to expanding the court? >> i'm open to considering what happens from that point on. >> you said so many times during the campaign, all through the course of your career, it's important to level with the american people. >> it is, but george, if i say -- no matter what answer i gave you, if i say it, that's the headline tomorrow. it won't be about what's going on now, the improper way they're proceeding. >> don't voters have a right to know where you stand? >> they do have a right to know where i stand before they vote. >> he said he would explain it all before election day. but people are voting right now, some 12 million or more

for that, mike memoli is in miami. we know we're going to hear from joe biden tonight. he has been focussed for months on the coronavirus pandemic in his campaign. what are you hearing from your sources on the campaign about how the president's campaign might change what the former vice president might say tonight on his town hall tonight on msnbc with lester? >> that's the question everyone has been asking since the early hours of friday morning. when we got the president's diagnosis. the short answer from the biden campaign is not much. with one exception. we saw on friday the biden campaign announced they'd pull down their negative campaign advertising. the former vice president was doing a virtual town hall. he said he doesn't want to attack the president while he's hospitalized. he's old school in that regard. if anything the president's diagnosis has led the biden campaign to double down on what they've done since the early days of the summer when he began to get out on the campaign trail. to make sure they're campaigning in a very co-vid conscience way. the biden

mike memoli, not hearing much from joe biden today, what's going on behind the scenes and are we goingo hear much or at all from him before this upcoming debate? >> no, steve. in fact, joe biden is in wilmington today visiting one of the local theaters we think he might be doing some of his debate prep in addition to recording some virtual activities that may pop up during the week. it's a measure of how important they think the second, not third and final debate, could be as you look back at 2016 and what they remember about candidate trump then. he was a different candidate in the final few weeks of that campaign. much more disciplined and on message. the biden campaign guarding against that. there was a time when the biden campaign was really at war with a lot of the bed wetters as they like to call them in the party, those who were seeing doom and gloom where the biden campaign didn't in the polls and in other metrics but now the biden campaign warning about complain sensy. when you're the candidate with the double digit leads in the polls you're running not only just against your

joining us now, nbc news correspondent mike memoli, who is live for us in ft. lauderdale. mike, thank you so much for getting up early with us on this fifth day -- >> good morning. >> -- before election day. give us your sense, frankly, of the broad state of the race. how is the biden campaign feeling? i mean, clearly, it's not as bad for trump as it was three weeks ago, which was sort of, sort of a low point for them. but that doesn't necessarily mean that the map is trending all the way in trump's direction, shall we say. he had a lot of ground to make up after that low point three weeks ago. how's the biden campaign feeling this morning? >> well, kasie, if you look at all of the sort of national polling averages, they all have the former vice president hovering around double-digit leads, but every democrat remembers four years ago when they had a similar advantage a few weeks out and they're looking at biden's campaign schedule and wondering if he should be doing more. that event yesterday in delaware, where he made note of what the president -- the scene after his rall

mike memoli is live from belmont university where president trump and joe biden will face off tonight>>> and before we go to break, we want to know, why are you awake on this thursday morning? email us your reasons at way o waytooearly@msnbc.com or drop me a tweet @kasie using #waytooearly, and we will read the best answers coming up later on in the show. l read the stbe answers coming up later on in the show did you know that 70% of the soils on your clothes are invisible? under u.v. light, you see the invisible dirt trapped deep down. try new tide pods hygienic clean heavy duty. for a deep clean, just toss in a pac. formulated with 10 concentrated cleaning actives, that clean deep down into the fabric to remove invisible dirt. see the difference, after being washed with tide hygienic clean. for a deep clean, try tide hygienic clean! with a 100% money back guarantee! if it's got to be clean, it's got to be tide. expectand action. 16 people died! did he catch our bad guy? we're know as the charmed ones. you got one day to show me what you got. i want to fight. you need us harry. what

mike memoli, this is the biggest campaign day for joe biden in states like iowa, minnesota, that have not been the center of attention this election year. wisconsin, importantly. is he paying enough attention to the midwest? it's coming late. >> reporter: yeah, andrea, yesterday it was all about in a battle for florida. today it's the battle for the midwest. and really this is ground zero for the election, when you consider what happened four years ago. all those blue wall states that crumbled, that enabled donald trump to win the white house. and the biden campaign sending a very clear message that they are fighting to win them back. andrea, it's amazing when you consider what happened 270 days ago, joe biden leaving here after the caucuses, very much humbled, talking about a gut punch. to think that he's coming back here today as the democratic nominee with a chance to win this state, potentially. he's also coming here, though, as part of an effort to win back the senate. this is a key battleground in that race as well. his itinerary certainly giving a lot of democrats some last-min

let me move to mike memoli. mike, warm springs, georgia. i'll tell you. it was fascinating. asked this to kate bedingfield on sunday. the last week of the campaign, four years ago, the clinton campaign said, hey, we're going to expand the map to georgia and arizona. and the biden campaign has said they're not going to get ahead of themselves and yet they're in georgia. they must really feel confident about georgia. >> yeah, chuck. first things first. you remember the day that the clinton campaign announced four years ago they were going to go to arizona, send the candidate there? it was the day of the comey letter. obviously, everything changed from that day forward. if you look back to may when the biden campaign first laid out their vision of the general election battleground map, they had 17 states on it. actually 15 states and two congressional districts. and where did we see today they announced their closing television ads, 60-second spots were going to go on the air. 17 states. it's pretty significant, chuck. typically when you shrink a battleground, the biden campaig

. >> joining us now, nbc news correspondent mike memoli, who is live in des moines, iowa, for us, very early on this friday morning. mike, good morning to you. as we're covering this and looking at where everyone's going in the final days, you know, obviously, the candidates' time, the most valuable thing they can deploy here, it's almost like we have two campaigns going on, one in the sun belt and one for the midwest. since you're in iowa, why don't we start with the midwest? we know that the biden team is going to minnesota, which is a state that was on president trump's sort of reach list. you are in iowa, which is in some ways on the biden reach list. can you just walk through how you see the map in the final days and what the biden campaign is saying about where they're playing defense and where they're going on offense? >> yeah, kasie. it's interesting, because just a few days ago, when biden was in georgia, you had some democrats with 2016 fresh in their minds, saying, what about that blue wall in the midwest? you've got to protect that. you've got to spend some time there. don'

let me start -- let me start with mike memoli there in coconut creek. mike, joe biden coming to florida. this is considered a busy day for him on the trail. what is the goal, and who is the focus? >> well, chuck, as you well know, covering florida politics, you look at broward county, miami-dade county. first on election night if you are a democrat. you want to run up the numbers. they're trying to push early voting here, making sure that their democratic base is getting out. we also heard this morning biden in a new ad targeting latino voters announce that he would, on his first day of office, sign an executive order, create a task force focused on the more than 500 families separated at the border. very clearly the need to get the latino vote where it needs to be at this point. so the turnout operation here in south florida. then he flies up to tampa where it's much more of a persuasion argument. that's the strategy in florida. turnout here. persuasion up there. but really, chuck, the biden message has been so consistent from day one. and so adaptable

nbc's mike memoli, thank you so much, my friend. i really appreciate it.head. >>> still ahead here, we've got a look at some of the best moments from this past weekend's new episode of "saturday night live," including the cast's take on the final presidential debate. that's next in "the cooler." "way too early" back in just a moment. early" back in just a moment who has time for wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair®. we've got the retinol that gives you results in one week. not just any retinol. accelerated retinol sa. for not only smoother skin in one day, but younger-looking skin in just one week. and that's clinically proven. results that fast or your money back. unless you're attached to your wrinkles. one week is all it takes. neutrogena®. who trust in our performance and comfortable, long-lasting protection. because your strength is supported by ours. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. unstopables in-wash scent booster depend. downy unstopables unlike ordinary memory want supplements-ter? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients

mike memoli, thank you so much. monica alba, good luck to you. you for joining us today. >>> and still to come, how the president testing positive could affect the final weeks of the 2020 race. we're getting reaction from voters in swing states in ohio and wisconsin. remember, on the covid reaction on the covid response, the president is doing terribly in the polls. how is this going to affect it? >>> we're also going to look at capitol hill and contact tracing. how an outbreak could impact every level of our government. as a republican senator who was at the white house over the weekend without a mask hugging people, kissing them on the cheek, tests positive. - [narrp combines powerful suction with spray mopping to lock away debris and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad. taking california for a ride. companies like uber, lyft, doordash. breaking state employment laws for years. now these multi-billion-dollar companies wrote deceptive prop 22

mike memoli, joe biden has taken of course the polar opposite approach to this debate. he's actually been preparing for the debate, not going to rallies. does he think that they have figured this all out and will the mute button that at least permits them supposedly to make their opening statements in each segment uninterrupted by their opponent, do you think that is going to help? will that reduce the wreckage we saw last time? >> well, the former vice president in a local television interview he did this week said he welcomed the mute button if that's what we're calling it, the opportunity to silence one of the microphones during the opening statements, the answers to each of the six different subject areas. but listen, andrea, as far as biden's preparation, despite what has been a roller coaster of a general election campaign with a lot of both external events impacting the discussion and attempts by the president to shake up the race constantly, what has been surprisingly consistent is the polling averages, nationally especially, except for one exception which was t

that's why they hope he makes the at affirmative case for another four years, joshua. >> mike memoli, that audience at least in the polls is trending closer and closer to joe biden. what's his strategy tonight? is it just to remain on course, not upset too much or are there other notes that he's going to try to hit? >> reporter: well, joshua, the official line from the biden campaign is that he views these debates as opportunities to have an unfiltered opportunity to lay out his vision for the country to a wide audience of the american people. and to really make clear that contrast between his style of leadership and what we've seen over the last four years with president trump. but i think you can put it more simply than that. it's survive and advance. when you're the front-runner as joe biden is in the polls, double digits in some case nationally, with advantages outside the margin of errors in some of the key battleground states. this is all about avoiding pitfalls that could stand in you getting elected president of the united states. one comes on hunter biden, and his foreign bus

mike memoli is covering the biden campaign. steve kornacki is standing by the big board for us. carol, let's start with you in pennsylvania. president trump's rally in allentown, the first of three for him in pennsylvania today. how key is that state to the trump strategy right now? >> reporter: pennsylvania is critical to the trump strategy, craig. it's a state that has 20 electoral votes. the president is in a tough fight for the state of pennsylvania. he obviously won it in 2016. it was one of those states that went for president trump that really helped hand him the election in 2016, so the trump campaign is hoping to have a doovd do-over and have the same thing happen in 2020. the president just arrived in allen town, telling reporters he believes he is up in pennsylvania. the polls are tight, and most show biden leading slightly, within the margin of error. the president is determined to try to win the state of pennsylvania, so he's stopping in allentown. then to lidetts and martinsburg. that is the schedule the president will be keeping from now to election day. multiple

mike memoli in coke cut creek in all-important broward county. mike following the biden campaign's swing-through state. steve kornacki standing by at his trusty big board. before we check in and get the latest on the campaigns in the ground, let's get a lay of the land. walk us through this new nbc news poll of all-important florida. >> craig, obviously the headline here, biden 51, trump 47 in florida. obviously the margin of error here is four, so it remains a very tight race in florida. of course, you already knew that. every four years it's a very tight race in florida. every four years it seems it comes down to just a few votes. we certainly seem on track for something like that in florida. obviously this is a pivotal state, particularly when you look at the president when you look at those road-to 270 scenarios. it's very hard to find a path for re-election for the president that doesn't involve winning florida. this one obviously crucial. what is going on that gives joe biden the advantage right now? here is a big shift we're seeing in this

i'm here in washington along with carol lee outside the white house, msnbc's mike memoli in salt lake city and michael steele, along with former cdc director and president and ceo of resolve to save lives, dr. tom frieden. thanks for being here all of you. carol over the course of 55 minutes the president seemed to have a lot to get off his chest, includes dropping out apparently of next week's debate. >> for now, hallie, the president saying that the debate in a virtual format is just not worth his time. he even suggested in this interview with fox business that that sort of format might not allow him to dominate, to interrupt in the way that we saw him do in the first debate. take a listen to what he had to say. >> no, i'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. that's not what debating's all about. you sit behind a computer and do a debate, they cut you off. they're trying to protect biden. everybody is. >> now this is a decision that the commission of presidential debates made on its own. it did not consult the campaigns about this. they informed the campaigns before makin

right to nbc's mike memoli joining us from flint. good day to you, mike. what can we expect to hear from biden and obama today? >> reporter: alex, this is a day a lot of democrats waited a long time to see. certainly since president obama endorsed his former running mate in april, once he locked up the nomination. the last time i've seen these two men together on a stage was probably four years ago. that was the day president obama gave biden, awarded him the president's medal of freedom joking then about their bromance together, really praising his record of public service at the time. he ended that speech by saying the best part is he's not done yet. that's certainly the message that the biden campaign has been using on the airwaves throughout this campaign. the fact he is the democratic nominee is in large part because of the partnership forged for four years in the white house. when we see them onstage you'll see the dual roles obama played for biden throughout the campaign. obviously talking about what he did for the american people both in eight year

mike memoli is in detroit, michigan, and josh lederman is in ocala, florida, where the president will be this afternoon. mr. memoli, what is the biden campaign saying about his town hall performance on thursday night and what's the message that he's tailoring to voters in michigan today? >> reporter: well, craig, the biden team would have preferred for last night's town hall debate to have gone forward, but they had the solo town hall and they would have preferred it not to be competing against trump at the same time. but the word of the day and the campaign has been contrast. any viewers who were watching side by side with the split screen, maybe dvr'd, they came across with a contrast that works in biden's favor. he enjoys interacting with the voters and he talked about the crime bill, for instance, expressing regret about some elements of it that led to the mass incarceration. he talked about the supreme court fight giving us a little bit more insight into what he peoples about the so-called court packing, expanding the supreme court and he'll give us a position on that before the

they think they can brush that argument away pretty quickly. >> mike memoli on the road there. mike, thanks very much. ari melber, you think about these larger questions about the law quite a bit. there's aert pa of me that's listening to the republicans there creating the straw man on the religious argument. some of it i feel like is being done out of fear. what are they afraid of? are they afraid of this spotlight, too? this is happening, not happening. there seems to be some -- you create a barrier because you're worried about people walking into that barrier. what are they afraid of here? >> well, i think that the choice issues here can cut in different ways. so i think that what you can traditionally have in the old days of the hearing, call it the pretrump era, was a pursuit of someone that would limit or overrule roe versus wade or otherwise. difference for judges. judges are not supposed to perjure themselves in the supreme court confirmation process. senator mccaskill referring earlier to the question, if you're going to explicitly demand this, are we going to learn th

mike memoli, let's talk about the campaign. all this back-and-forth over the debates between the two camps. has the biden strategy changed at all? >> reporter: craig, really not much when you think about this, since march, the biden campaign has felt that the coronavirus and the president's handling of it was going to be the number one issue that voters were going to make a decision about in november. the broader strategy since the day biden got into this election campaign was the more the voters could see the president's leadership style side by side with joe biden's, that they would win that comparison. from the biden perspective, there's no better illustration of the contrast between these two men that the president has been confined to the white house all week because of his own diagnosis with the coronavirus. meanwhile, joe biden is finishing what has actually been the busiest week of in-person travel campaigning since the onset of the pandemic in march. he's hit four battleground states with multiple stops in most of thos

. >> eamon javers on the trump campaign mike memoli. >> reporter: a very different scene here in delaware no rally no crowds. >> joe biden picking up where he left off in last night's debate hammering president trump. biden vowing if elected president he would immediately confer with the nation's governors to develop a robust pandemic response plan biden saying only with a clear national strategy can the nation safely reopen the economy. he would not shut down the economy until we shut down the virus. shep, with ten days of campaigning left, the biden campaign heading to a key poll producing region of pennsylvania biden near his hometown of scranton as the trump campaign tries to seize on his energy plan transitioning away from fossil fuels away from fossil fuels kamala harris is in georgia, heading to ohio tomorrow we'll see president barack obama back on the trail heading to florida. >> mike memoli on the trail. thanks votes coming in with no signs of slowing. get this, so far 53 million of us have cast ballots steve kornacki is here digging through the numbers. a lot of enthusiasm. wha

joining me now mike memoli in detroit. good to have you with us.biden campaign feeling about his town hall performance, and what are we expecting to hear from biden on the trail today? >> reporter: will, ayman, anybody who might have seen part or both of those dueling town halls last night really, you get a feel when you see the contrast of what we missed out on by not seeing those two candidates on the same debate stage together in a town hall format. from the biden campaign's perspective, short of being able to be with donald trump in that setting, they feel it was a home run for them, one adviser giving him an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 for his performance. they've leaned on that town hall especially in the early primaries when he was struggling to gain traction and they thought it was really strong. i will tell you, donald trump won't be happy about it. our bosses probably aren't happy about it. but the biden team thrilled at the ratings showing his town hall outrated the president's. now, as for what we're seeing in terms of the message today, b

mike memoli in des moines. stand by. president trump overlapping with joe biden in iowa and wisconsin, but michigan is all his. where's he going in michigan? >> reporter: he'll be in wartford township in just a couple of hours, craig. and it's in oakland county, a place that he actually lost four years ago to hillary clinton, but of course, that's because this state was his most razor-thin margin of any place that he won. the critical rust belt, michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, delivering him the white house, in effect. and the terrain is not as confident that all three of those states will be in his corner this time. they're feeling very optimistic about other key battlegrounds like florida and north carolina. just like memoli pointed out, pennsylvania is where they can see this thing coming down to the fire. they're less confident about what they've seen in michigan and wisconsin, and that's why he's coming here to campaign and heading over to wisconsin. but both of these states in the midwest seeing a critical surge

nbc's mike memoli in flint for us. good talking to you.e want to go to redding, pennsylvania, 60 miles northwest of philadelphia where president trump will hold his second rally of the day after wrapping up in newtown just a short time ago. making a blitz across the state. incredibly important state for the president if he wants to win the election on tuesday. nbc's carol lee standing by for us. good to see you this afternoon. we were taking a listen to the president addressing his crowd there, making his play across the state of pennsylvania, understanding how important it is for him to clinch this battleground state. talk us through what we're hearing from the president today? >> reporter: you're essentially hearing vote. that's the president's message. at this point in the campaign, his campaign feels there are persuadable voters they're trying to pull over into the president's column. that it's all a turnout game. what we heard from the president was get out and vote. he said it himself, go today, tomorrow, go on tuesday, just do it. t

nbc's mike memoli is in miami following the biden campaign for us there on the ground.l us about joe biden's agenda today, and what more do we know about how the campaign is adapting to this situation that president trump is in? >> reporter: well, craig, as you say, the former vice president just left his home in delaware, beginning that trek down here to miami, where our focus, of course, is on tonight's town hall meeting. you can see behind me, the set is ready, as our workers get last-minute, finishing touches for the event tonight. the former vice president and the biden campaign are focused on voter registration. there are 13 states, craig, that have voter registration deadlines today. florida, of course, the biggest electoral prize of that group. that's why biden is on his way for a pair of events that are really key with his florida strategy. it is all about targeting different individual constituency of key voter blocks. we've talked about the latino vote, but it is more diverse than that. he'll visit little haiti, where we expect him to mention the president ca

. >> nbc's mike memoli is in grand rapids, michigan. monica alba in orlando, florida, the president was initially supposed to go today. quarantining, of course, because monica was on air force one. you obtained an email or letter or memo from the trump campaign manager to the rest of staff, right? tell us about it. >> exactly, hallie. bill stepien alerting all members of the trump re-election team that anybody who was exposed to someone who tested positive for coronavirus should be self-isolating and monitoring their symptoms. so who is he talking about there? anybody who came into contact obviously with the candidate, with president trump, but also with hope hicks and we know from being on air force one on tuesday this was the largest group of staffers or family members that i have seen around the president in a long time, and they were all traveling together for the most part without wearing masks. something we have really come to see culturally as a sign of how they view the coronavirus pandemic. they have only worn masks in very sma

mike memoli, your thoughts about this speech? this was an important one. one where the vice president had to nail not just a message, but the tone, is there a sense on his campaign that he did that? >> yeah, nicole, there's a reason we talk every four years about the october surprise, right? perhaps because there's no better test of how a candidate for president would deal with a crisis as president than how they respond to something they're not expecting during a time when the pressure of the campaign is at its highest. and the speech you just heard joe biden give there is the same speech he was going to give before the president's diagnosis was going to be given, other than with him extending his thoughts and wishes to the first family, to the president, and to the first lady. the message that he's been running on this entire campaign and especially since the on set of the pandemic in march is exactly the message he was delivering there. they billed this speech, nicole, as a speech about the economy. he was speaking to a union audience, but with the bide

mike memoly. >> the president has not taken the virus as seriously as many seniors are taking it. he is hosting a rally at the villages. is there any concern that he might turn off more voters by doing this at the largest retirement community in the country? >> that is a great point, katy. these voters in this county. these voters behind me, they are the ones that really tipped the scales for trump in 2016. trump in the exit polls in 2016 won the senior vote by 17 points. there is a cnn poll that came out on wednesday that showed biden leading among seniors by eight points and biden leading the state as a big result of that. the president obviously in the final days of the campaign have been doubling down on the message that he had for awhile now about the coronavirus. down playing the concern of it, ov overhyping when a vaccine could be coming. saying it was weeks away and scientists are saying it will be well into 2021, and that has hurt him with seniors here. he is trying to shore up support with seniors in the final days by holding that number of senior focused events. he trie

joining me now nbc news correspondent mike memoli in miami. the president's hospitalization changing the biden's campaign approach? >> well, andrea, the fact that the president himself has been diagnosed with the coronavirus certainly draws attention to the severity of the ongoing crisis in the country but doesn't change what the biden campaign has been doing for months really, adapting to this coronavirus campaign taking extraordinary measures to keep the vice president safe, conduct rallies in a way that's responsible and safe. as the former vice president comes here for a town hall meeting with lester holt tonight, the real question is will he come back to miami in ten days. that's when the next scheduled presidential debate, also a town hall format is scheduled to be. just in the last hour biden answered the question for reporter before getting on his plane. let's take a listen. >> the scientists say it's safe and the distances are safe, then i think that's fine. i'll do whatever the experts say is appropriate thing to do. >> reporter: and

mike memoli live in delaware mike. >> reporter: shep, a different scene here in delaware no rally or crowd, but joe biden picking up where he left off in last night's debate, hammering president trump for his handling of the covid crisis. biden vowing if elected president he will immediately confer with the nation's governors in red and blue states to develop a robust pandemic response plan, biden saying only with a clear national strategy can the nation safely reopen the economy, saying he would not shut down the economy until we shut down the virus. with ten days of campaigning left, the biden campaign heading to a key coal producing area, biden near his hometown of scranton as he tries to seize on his energy plan, wanting to transition away from fossil fuel to clean energy. we will see president barack obama on the campaign trail heading to florida tomorrow. >> thanks. >>> the votes are coming in early and often with no signs of slowing. get this so far 53 million of us have cast ballots steve kornacki is here digging through the numbers. a lot of enthusiasm. what do we read into

andrea. >> vaughn hillyard and mike memoli. memoli in nashville where the debate is happening. kristen welker, the moderator expecting -- looking forward to that on thursday. let's bring in our panel, "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker author of the new best seller "the man who ran washington, life and times of james a. baker." former democratic congresswoman donna edwards, a contribute be columnist at the "washington post." peter barraker some breaking ne trying to project confidence with his campaign team. woulder going to learn, learning from monica alba. he's calling dr. fauci a disaster, quote, and saying there's always a bomb when he speaks, when fauci speaks. i guess this after that "60 minutes" report last night, we showed a clip, then saying the president saying joe biden is a criminal who should be in jail, talking about his opponent, his rival who is going to be on the debate stage with him this week. is the poll -- are the polls driving that or is it also "the new york times" reporting on the front page today by your colleague maggie haberm

. >> mike memoli in des moines, thank you. >>> let's take a look now at south carolina.for a republican president since 1976. that year voters chose jimmy carter. while trump won the state in 2016 with about 55% of the vote, some polls predict the margin could be slimmer this year. here is the rolling 28-day average. i just got back from columbia, south carolina. more than 1.2 million early ballots have already been cast. that's more than twice the amount of early votes tallied in 2016. 30% of that vote has been african-american. here is the executive director of the state democratic party. >> if those numbers stay anywhere near 30%, that will be record african-american turnout in the state of south carolina ever, i mean absolute records. sometimes you'll get 25, 28%. we have hit -- i think we had 29 but the turnout was lower. not only will it be a greater percentage, it will be the largest number of african-americans to vote, as well as we may well have the largest turnout overall. white voters may turn out at a greater percentage, too. >> i also spoke with south caroli

jackson in washington joined by carol lee in pennsylvania, kristen welker at the white house, and mike memoli in delaware. let's get started on this busy monday. eight days until election day. and carol, boy is president trump hitting the trail hard in this last full week. >> reporter: that's right. the president trying to make the most out of every day from now until the election day. he's keeping a robust schedule and not just him. the vice president, mike pence, is continuing on with his schedule despite aides testing positive for coronavirus, he'll be in minnesota today. the president starts here. first of three events in pennsylvania, he'll be in allentown and then he comes here where folks have been lined up for hours in the rain. then he heads to martinsberg, pennsylvania where he closes out the day. as they battle for the 20 electoral votes in the state. it's a big prize. it's a huge battle ground. and probably not the last we'll see of president trump, but he's going to be then going onto more states tomorrow. we'll hit michigan, arizona and even nebraska which might sound odd to som

we want to start in florida, though, with nbc's mike memoli in coconut creek, monica alba in tampa, and steve kornacki at the big board. we have our expert in florida politics, politico senior writer mark caputo. mike, i'll start with you, as we see our team lined up around the country. biden is in the air headed to from are for his fourth trip as the democratic nominee but interestingly, our new poll shows he has a narrow lead but one within the margin of error. >> reporter: there's no state that biden has been to more than florida other than pennsylvania so that gives you a sense of just how important this is both terms of dictating an outcome. biden team thinking this is a state we might get a fairly quick count and if the lead that he has now in our marist poll holds up a four-point lead that could be a positive sign where this election is heading. elections are measures in fractions of a percent. four-point lead would be considered a landslide if that's what the final outcome is. the biden strategy you get a sense of how you win florida. broward county, a heavily democratic turnout

. >> i'm hallie jackson in washington joined by our road w warrio warriors, mike memoli, garrett haake and shaquille brewster. what do we know about the final week push for biden? >> reporter: you said it at the top. this is a campaign sending the message it's very much on offense. it's got the foot on the gas pedal with the finish line in reach at this point. we're seeing that with the campaign schedule. georgia today. democrats haven't won it since 1992. florida thursday. iowa and wisconsin on friday. that's states we knew would be the most hotly contested but iowa and georgia folks thought would be beyond biden's reach at this point in the campaign. we're seeing it in terms of a closing message as well. the biden campaign previewing a speech in warm springs as the beginning of a closing message. historical significance here, fdr came here to recover from polio. the biden message is about a country that while it faced a crises in the past under fdr, united, the country can do the same thing now. michael bloomberg is going to be investing $15 million in new television advertising in o