Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the 2020 election here.
President Trump took the stage in Sanford, Florida, tonight for his first rally since testing positive for coronavirus.
Trump tossed packaged face masks into the crowd as he walked to the podium. Trump was not wearing a mask. Most of the supporters directly behind him were wearing masks but most attendees at the venue were not wearing masks.
“Hello everybody, hello Orlando, hello Sanford… it’s great to be back,” Trump said.
“It’s a lot of people,” he said of the crowd, criticizing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s rally size.
Earlier today, White House physician Sean Conley said Trump has tested negative for Covid-19 on consecutive days.
The White House still has not revealed the last time Trump tested negative prior to his positive diagnosis, offering varying justifications for withholding that information.
Trump is “not infectious to others,” Conley added.
The doctor’s assessment came moments after the President was seen boarding Air Force One without a mask on his way to the rally.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has officially scheduled a business meeting for Thursday to consider the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court.
With Sens. Thom Tillis, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz all set to attend proceedings in-person, the GOP will have a quorum to hold the meeting.
At the Thursday meeting, Democrats will use their power under the committee rules to delay the vote for a week — until Oct. 22.
In other words, everything is on track for the GOP to get Barrett confirmed by month’s end.
Tillis’ campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo confirmed the senator will attend the proceedings in-person. After testing positive for coronavirus, Tillis spoke remotely Monday as proceedings got underway. His office has not yet said if Tillis has tested negative.
Democrats criticized Graham’s move.
Ranking member Dianne Feinstein called it “unprecedented” in her time on the committee that a vote on the nomination has been scheduled before the hearing has concluded.
White House physician Dr. Sean Conley has released a new memorandum Monday evening regarding President Trump’s recent coronavirus test, saying the President has tested negative on “consecutive days.”
“In response to your inquiry regarding the President’s most recent COVID-19 tests, I can share with you that he has tested NEGATIVE, on consecutive days, using the Abbott BinaxNOW antigen card,” Conley wrote, noting that those tests were taken “in context with additional clinical and laboratory data.”
His memo comes moments after the President was seen boarding Air Force One without a mask on his way to Sanford, Florida, where he will rally a large group of supporters, many of whom are not wearing masks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, blasted the Trump campaign for using his words in a campaign advertisement touting the President’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, calling it “really unfortunate and really disappointing.”
“I think it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing that they did that,” Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper this afternoon. “It’s so clear I am not a political person and I have never either directly or indirectly endorsed a political candidate and to take a completely out of context statement and put it in what is obviously a political campaign ad I thought was very disappointing.”
When asked if the Trump campaign should take down the ad, Fauci said, “I think so.”
He also said that if the Trump campaign were to feature him in another ad, it would be “outrageous” and warned it could backfire.
“That would be terrible,” said Fauci, when asked about being featured in a second campaign spot. “I mean, that would be outrageous if they did that, in fact that might actually come back to backfire on them.”
“I hope they don’t do that because that would be kind of playing a game that we don’t want to play,” he said.
The Trump campaign released the new ad last week after Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following treatment for Covid-19.
The 30-second ad, which is airing in Michigan, touts Trump’s personal experience with the virus and uses a quote from Fauci in an attempt to make it appear as if he is praising Trump’s response.
“President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America,” the ad’s narrator says. “Together we rose to meet the challenge, protecting our seniors, getting them life-saving drugs in record time, sparing no expense.”
The ad then flashes to an interview with Fauci in which he says, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.”
Watch here:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s Jake Tapper Monday, that “the President is what would be well within the 10-day timeframe of being non-transmissible.”
Yet he might consider wearing a mask out of caution.
Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, was responding to a question about the statement made by President Trump’s physician that the President was no longer considered a transmission risk after his bout with Covid-19.
Trump and Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, also recently infected with coronavirus, have been conducting official government business in the last few days, to the concern of many.
Fauci said that people who’ve very recently been infected, such as Trump and Lee, should probably wear a mask, out of an abundance of caution.
“As the better part of caution, I think that that would be appropriate to do that. I mean, I certainly think from a practical standpoint, I probably would do that myself just to be extra careful,” Fauci said.
He also said the President or Lee could also get a test to determine the level of viral remnants.
That, Fauci said, “would probably get people to be feeling much more comfortable about the lack of transmissibility. And they very well may do that to just go that extra step to show that an individual, whoever that might be — the President or anybody else, a senator or anybody — to just go that extra step in addition to the 10-day period to show that the virus itself is not present in a form that would be transmissible.”
As for whether the President is immune, Fauci told Tapper, probably yes — but it’s unclear for how long.
He noted there have been well-documented cases of people getting reinfected with coronavirus a second time.
“So you really have to be careful that you’re not completely quote ‘immune,’” Fauci said.
Watch here:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said in the context of public health, having political rallies “is asking for trouble.”
Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper Monday, Fauci said, “We’ve seen that when you have situations of congregate settings, where there are a lot of people without masks.”
“The data speak for themselves,” he said.
All regions are seeing cases on the rise, he said. “So if there’s anything we should be doing, we should be doubling down in implementing the public health measures that we’ve been talking about for so long,” Fauci said.
“We’re entering into the cool months of the fall and ultimately the cold months of the winter, and that’s just a recipe of a real problem, if we don’t get things under control before we get into that seasonal challenge,” he said.
Watch here:
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s economic message drove his remarks in Toledo, Ohio, Monday afternoon — his first of two stops in a state that President Trump won and the Biden campaign is recently investing in more as it considers it a potential “win back” state on its path to 270 electoral votes.
Speaking at a United Auto Workers hall at a drive-in rally, Biden continued to chip away at the class divide as he painted the campaign against Trump as “Scranton versus Park Avenue.”
Biden commented on the Supreme Court hearing of Amy Coney Barrett, saying that it was purely about President Trump’s desire to “wipe out the Affordable Care Act.”
Biden also slammed the President’s campaign for misrepresenting Dr. Anthony Fauci in a campaign ad. “Point I’m trying to make is it’s a knowing lie like everything we’re being told about Covid consequences,” he said.
Biden reiterated his criticism of the President’s handling of Covid-19 – both personal and presidential. “He told Woodward he didn’t want to panic the American people. That’s why he said nothing. We don’t panic! America doesn’t panic!” Biden said. “But Trump panicked. His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis has been unconscionable. The longer Donald Trump is president the more reckless he seems to get.”
At the drive-in style rally, Biden notably received loud honks when he praised unions and promised to support them if elected. He touted his record working on the Recovery Act, making it local to the Ohioans.
With only 22 days until Election Day and early voting underway, Poll Defenders, a group of students working to secure on-campus polling sites, drop boxes and satellite offices across the country, is announcing three new on-campus polling sites at New York University, University California (UC), Berkeley and Wake Forest University.
Poll Defenders is part of a joint initiative between MTV and the Alliance for Youth Organizing, and, according to organizers, the polling resources will reach more than 335,000 students across the country up until and on Election Day.
The participating students, known as Poll Defenders, have confirmed a total of 22 polling sites to support students and their communities in 10 states including locations at Florida State University, University of Michigan, University of Texas Austin, Georgia Tech, Columbia University & Barnard College, University of Nevada Reno, James Madison University, North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Alabama A&M University and more.
The sites are a result of the work of a number of student leaders including Izzy McMahon, a college senior, who helped solidify the one stop early voting site on-campus at Wake Forest. Earlier this fall, McMahon worked on voter registration efforts including creating a QR code to help students check their registration.
“These incredible students have been working tirelessly in recent months to ensure that 22 on-campus polling places will be open this election season, allowing students across the country to cast their ballots early and on Election Day without leaving their campuses,” Vaughan Bagley, senior manager of Social Impact at ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Brands, told CNN.
“MTV and our +1 the Polls partners are committed to continuing to support these Poll Defenders as we work to eliminate barriers and improve access to voting,” she said.
Vice President Mike Pence was interrupted by protesters today while giving a campaign stump speech in Columbus, Ohio.
There were a couple of interruptions by anti-Trump/Pence demonstrators early in the speech, and Pence stopped briefly while security intervened.
When the protesters were removed, Pence said, “Boy is it good to be back in the heartland. I tell you what, I come from a place with strong hearts and opinion … This is a country that loves the proud heritage, past, present and future of the good old USA.”
At least one set of demonstrators were quiet and held signs saying “5K jobs lost in Lordstown.”
Pence’s speech touched on his support for law enforcement, the administration’s coronavirus response, and tax cuts, among other topics.
On Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Pence said, “Now the Senate started their confirmation hearings this morning. All the senators were doing their opening remarks. Questioning will probably start tomorrow. The president said Democrats on the Judiciary Committee need to give Judge Barrett respectful and dignified hearing this time. But we have reason to be concerned.”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tested negative for Covid-19 today, the campaign told the press pool.
From the campaign:
The World Health Organization said elections can be done safely during a global pandemic.
“We’ve seen many examples over the last nine months where elections have actually been held very safely and with appropriate measures,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said during a Monday briefing. But, “It takes effort,” he added.
While WHO doesn’t specify “what the proper choice is for the type of election they need to run – that is based on their own risk assessment,” Ryan said the organization does offer advice about how to reduce those risks during in-person elections.
He added that elections “are an essential part of our lives and they’re absolutely central to how many societies live survive and thrive. They are a very important part of the cycle of life.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows came briefly to the stakeout camera today. He moved back the mic stand but when he started to take off his mask but was asked by CNN to leave it on. He said, “Well I’m more than 10 feet away.”
Reporters insisted he keep on the mask and Meadows refused.
“Well, I’m not going to talk through a mask,” he said, and walked away.
Here’s the complete exchange:
A federal judge ruled Monday morning to maintain the 7-day grace period for accepting ballots in Minnesota, according to court documents.
Judge Nancy E. Brasel denied a preliminary injunction for the lawsuit filed by Republican presidential electors James Carson and Eric Lucero, saying that neither plaintiff had the standing to claim personal injury by maintaining the extended deadline. Brasel also rejected the notion that electors would be injured by “last‐minute litigation over ballot eligibility” that could prevent certification of Minnesota’s election results.
“The prospect of hypothetical unlawful votes in the upcoming presidential election is not a harm unique to the Electors,” Brasel said in her decision.
She also noted that the claim that with the change of rules would cause “chaos and uncertainty will result,” but said that the electors “alleged confusion and uncertainty is speculative at best.”
The suit claimed that Secretary of State Steve Simon exceeded his authority in allowing the extended receipt deadline for ballots, and that the extension violated the congressional mandate that election day be held on Nov. 3.
On Aug. 28, Simon issued to guidance to voters that allowed any ballot postmarked before or on Nov. 3 to be accepted within a week of Election Day. The guidance came after a lawsuit filed in May that argued that the strict adherence to the ballot deadline even when ballots were sent by Election Day “disenfranchises thousands of voters,” according to the lawsuit.
Brasel was nominated by Trump in 2018 and confirmed as a district judge on the US District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien has returned to campaign headquarters after testing positive for coronavirus on Friday October 2.
“I am back at headquarters in full accordance with CDC guidelines,” he told reporters at the beginning of a campaign briefing call.
He joked that he “appreciated the notes, flowers, and chocolates.”
As he boarded his plane to Ohio in Delaware, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told reporters on the tarmac that Amy Coney Barrett’s faith “should not be considered” during her Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearing taking place this week.
Instead, the Democratic nominee said the focus should be on health care.
“Let’s keep our eye on the ball. This is about whether or not in one – less than one month, Americans are going to lose their health insurance,” he added.
Follow live coverage of Barrett’s confirmation hearing here.
As Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination hits the Senate floor Monday, Demand Justice, a progressive movement focused on restoring “ideological balance” to the Supreme Court, is ramping up resistance efforts to block Barrett’s confirmation.
Ahead of Barrett’s Senate hearing Monday morning, organizers with Demand Justice protested outside the Capitol and Supreme Court wearing hazmat suits with signs that said “No COVID Test No Hearing.”
The organizers were joined by protestors from the Center for Popular Democracy, another progressive organization working to fight efforts to confirm a new Supreme Court justice ahead of the election.
Tonight, Demand Justice will host a virtual celebration in honor of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg featuring speakers including Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Stacey Abrams, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Ayanna Pressley, as well as celebrities, artists and leaders such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Jessica Biel, Gloria Steinem, Chelsea Clinton, Rosario Dawson, Chelsea Handler and more.
According to organizers with Demand Justice, the star-studded line up will focus their remarks on Justice Ginsberg’s dying wish to not be replaced until a new president is elected.
Demand Justice is also out with a new ad for digital Monday, which focuses on what the organization says are “broken promises” from Republicans who fought to withhold a Supreme Court nomination process in 2016 featuring audio from Sens. McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst and Ted Cruz, as well as PresidentTrump.
“They don’t care about being called hypocrites,” the ad says, “they care about getting to take away healthcare, reproductive rights, civil rights.”
The group has been responsible for projecting images with phrases such as “No more Trump justices,” “Save Roe v. Wade,” and “No Confirmation Until Inauguration” onto the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC.
Voting at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, was delayed for about an hour after what appeared to be a technical glitch with the poll pads that are being used to cast votes.
Steve Koonin, President CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, told CNN, “I am very upset that we were put into this position, that’s why we required people on site and I’m glad to say it got resolved quickly.”
Some context: Today is the first day for early voting in Georgia. State Farm Arena is being used as a voting supersite to accommodate large numbers of voters. Many arenas around the country are being used as voting sites this year to help maintain social distancing during the pandemic.
Koonin said 60 poll pads needed to be rebooted.
“The cards were being rejected by the machine. When a few voters put their cards in, and they were rejected,” he said, adding that voting has since resumed.
CNN has reached out to Fulton County and the Georgia Secretary of State for comment.
President Trump’s reelection campaign and the White House are pushing for an in-person presidential debate after Trump — who has repeatedly flouted best public health practices since his Covid-19 diagnosis — declined last week to participate in a virtual format.
The latest effort from senior campaign surrogates and West Wing staff on Sunday comes after the White House physician cleared Trump to resume public activity, but declined to say when the President’s last negative test took place.
With the backing of their health advisers, the commission had announced Thursday morning that — because Trump had recently tested positive for Covid-19 — the debate that was scheduled for Miami would be held virtually, with the two candidates appearing from remote locations.
Trump swiftly rejected that plan, saying he would not show up and setting off a series of events that put the future of all general election debates into question.
The last-minute push for an in-person debate reflects the mounting risk of Trump’s decision to walk away from the virtual debate at a time when his campaign is trailing in national polls and in a number of key swing states with less than four weeks to go until Election Day.
Read more here.
The Trump campaign on Sunday held a call with grassroots surrogates to further its Joe Biden court-packing messaging ahead of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings, further showing that it is an issue the campaign believes is key to resonating with conservative voters considering casting a ballot for Biden.
The campaign invited CNN to join the call.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who will participate in this week’s hearings, said court packing is an issue that comes up frequently when she speaks with her constituents and encouraged surrogates listening to the call to “highlight this issue” during media appearances.
Democrats, she suggested, “are talking about a partisan takeover and overthrow of one of our three branches of government.”
Trump deputy campaign manager Justin Clark claimed Biden’s unwillingness to directly answer the court packing question in recent days shows he wants to “pack the Supreme Court with left wing radicals and hijack our Constitution.”
The campaign seized on comments from Biden Saturday, who briefly said voters “didn’t deserve to know” an answer to the court packing question.
“Let that sink in for a minute, you have a former Vice President, and a major party nominee for president, who wouldn’t say whether he is opposed to or supports a radical overhaul of our constitutional structure that has existed in this country, in the same form of nine supreme court justices for over 150 years,” Clark said.
Blackburn provided some talking points regarding President Trump’s Supreme Court nomination just weeks to the general election: “The people did speak. They spoke in 2016 when they elected President Trump, and he has done his constitutional duty of making a selection.”
Clark also, at one point, suggested that Sen. Kamala Harris is “driving the bus on court packing and the size of the Supreme Court,” and not Biden.
More than 7.3 million Americans have already voted in the general election, according to a CNN and Edison Research survey of election officials in 36 states reporting voting data.
More than 4.3 million of those votes come from 12 of CNN’s most competitively ranked states. And Democrats lead Republicans in all six of those states reporting returns by party.
This data does not predict the outcome of any race, as polling around the country shows Republicans strongly prefer to vote in-person on Election Day rather than early.
The information contains insights and details about who is voting ahead of November 3.
While the returns represent a small fraction of the expected number of ballots to be cast in 2020 — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton received about 130 million votes combined four years ago — some states have reported that the numbers of ballot requests and returns have already set records.
Ballot requests in 38 states, whether by mail or through some form of in-person early voting, surpassed 35 million this week.
Pre-Election Day ballots cast across the country are expected to rise quickly as the country moves closer to the November 3 election. By the end of the week, the ballots will be available in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
Here’s a look at data from two critical states:
CNN’s got answers to your questions about voting — and how Covid-19 is impacting the process. Read up here.
