craig melvin: that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. you tomorrow the news with i'm shepard smith on cnbc, and this is "the news. cases climbing hospitals overwhelmed. tonight dr. anthony fauci with us live. are we ready for the life-threatening challenge facing us all in the fall? >> it's just -- it's devastating. >> drenched, destroyed and devastated the deadly aftermath of hurricane delta. >> we're resilient we're louisiana. >> after back-to-back monster storms we find the heroes stepping up to help their communities. day one of the senate confirmation hearing for judge amy coney barrett. judge

amy coney >> i hope your employer will take care of your health care needs. >> we should provide financial assistance to those who have lost their job. >> early voting at a record high, but it's not without problems. s that didn't belong to us. >> ton >> we wind up getting ballots that didn't belong to us. >> tonight the ballot mix-ups happening in spots around the country. >> announcer: live from cnbc global headquarters, the facts, the truth, "the news with shepard smith. good evening one week ago president trump was in the hospital infected with covid-19 tonight, he's holding a campaign rally in florida these are live pictures. late today the white house doctor said he's tested covid negative two days in a row the president speaking in sanford, near orlando, florida, in front of a crowd packed with supportersand will join us dr. anthony fauci is live with us and will join us for an interview and i'll ask him about that as the president speaks coronavirus infections are rising to levels we haven't seen in nearly two months

covid cases climbing in more than covid cases climbing in more than 40 states across the nation just over the past week. right now we're averaging about 50,000 new cases each day in america. the last time it was that bad was the middle of august more and more states are seeing record high numbers of hospitalizations the number of hospitalized covid patients jumped in 34 states over the past week killing o it's still killing on average more than 700 americans every day.tion some states in particular have an infection rate much higher than the rest of the nation like iowa, where in some counties the positivity rates are double digits, and in others they're above 20%. cnbc's jane wells is in cnbc's jane wells is in iowa, the town of winterset, not far from des moines. jane. >> reporter: hi, shep. yeah, the president is coming to iowa on wednesday, a state that is seeing covid hospitalizations hit a record iowans find themselves dealing

iowans find themselves dealing with a series of covid outbreaks in new places, out in the countryside. >> our positivity rate has been above 10% for weeks now. austin >> reporter: dr. austin bait is a narrative. overall 76% of iowans say they wear masks almost all the time out in public. but out on the farm? >> only 39% of rural residents reported wearing a mask. >> reporter: iowa ranks eighth in the nation in new cases per 100,000 residents and tenth in deathsd tenth in deaths there have been over there have been over 1,000 new cases four days in a row, that's a first here, and the segment of the population with the most cases is now 18 to 40 years old. >> wear a mask. >> we hate wearing them but we think it helps. >> i spent 20 hours a day in bed. it was absolutely miserable. >> reporter: kevin owns a winery in madison county and he contracted covid in july. >> we can't live in fear of this we can't stop living our lives or running our businesses, but

you do need to take some basic precautions around that. >> this pandemic is a test of our humanity it's a test of our empathy. >> but the president is also right, we can't let covid-19 dominate our lives. >> reporter: iowa governor kim reynolds has not instituted a mask mandate across the state.es she's repeatedly said she trusts iowans to do the right thing, even as she's been questioned about the death toll. >> do you want to talk about the people that are dying because they delayed care? do you want to talk about the suicides that ticked up? do you want to talk about the kids that aren't in school we have to figure out a balance that not only protects the lives and the livelihoods of iowans. >> reporter: the governor says despite the spike, hospitals do have enough capacity kevin fifo wishes there was a statewide mask mandate because it would be a lot easier for him in his winery if he wouldn't have to play bad cop telling people to wear one he is also giving platelets to help others in iowa recover from the virus. back to you.

let's turn to dr. anthony fauci, a key member of the white house coronavirus task force, director of the national allergy and infectious diseases and the top disease expert it's an honor to have you here, thank you. >> thank you thank you for having me. >> we heard jane welds reporting from iowa. we've heard you. if everybody wears a mask, everybody gets better. but covid has become as tribal as our politics. some will wear them, some won't. some will wear them, some won't. if we don't change and make masks mostly universal in america, what are we facing this fall and winter?a whole lot of trouble the reason i say that, >> i think we're facing a whole lot of trouble the reason i say that, i think you indicated in the lineup for the show that is we have a baseline of infections now that vary betwee. that's a bad place 40,000 and 50,000 per day. that's a bad place to be when you're going into the cooler weather of the fall and the colder weather of the winter in addition, we would like to

see th in addition, we would like to see the percent positivity be coming down. unfortunately, if you look at the states of the country, the midwest, the northwest, the states that you mentioned, including iowa, instead ofctionn seeing it go in the other direction, down, we're seeing an increase in test positivity. so you combine an increase in test positivity, which is alway ultimately more hospitalizations and ultimately more death, and you combine that with a predictor of more cases and ultimately more hospitalizations and ultimately more death, and you combine that with a baseline of 40, 45, 50,000 new cases a day, as you go into a weather system where you're going to be spending more time indoors rather than outdoors, which is a perfect setup for anacceleratio respiratory-borne diseases, that is unquestionably a problem. so that's the concern that i acceleration of respiratory-borne diseases, that is unquestionably a problem. so that's the concern that i have and that so many of my fellow public health officials have we're in a bad place now we've got to turn this around.

>> dr. fauci, you've been sidelined. your briefings have been cancelled. your television appearances limited by the white house your words taken out of context in a campaign ad just the other day by the president in hindsight, doctor, have you put up with too much >> well, i don't know what you mean by put up with too much obviously there are a lot of things that are going on that you would prefer did not happen, like the ad which put me in a political context which i spent my entire career staying out of political context. helpful but i' that's not helpful but i'm certainly not going to give up. this is too important a problem. i devoted my entire professional life to fighting infectious diseases this is an outbreak of historic proportions, the likes of which we have not seen in 102 years. there's no chance that i'm going to give up on this and walk away from it, no matter what happens. >> doctor, you're a trained scientist. have been there been times when you felt like i just can't handle this. i know what's right, i'm telling people what's right and we're getting other messages that make no senseno sense

>> well, that's a problem, there's no doubt about >> well, that's a problem, there's no doubt about it. you can't run away from that, but that doesn't mean that you give up. you've got to keep hammering out the correct public health message.e do fiv if we do five fundamental things, universal wearing of masks, maintaining physical distance, avoiding congregate settings or crowds, as it were, doing things more outdoors as opposed to indoors, and washing hands frequently, those simple things, as simple as they sound, can certainly turn around the spikes that we see and can prevent new spikes from occurring. we know that we know that because our that is th experience has proven to us that that is the case we just need to hunker down and do that.s mask tribalism in the past >> you have tried to fight this mask tribalism in the past have you thought of any new ways to convince going forward, because it sounds from all you've said it's an urgent matter

>> well, i can't think of any new creative way to do that, shep the only thing i can say is that we've got to keep trying to impress upon people, and i have a great deal of faith in the american people and their e facing a ability to realize when we're facing a significant problem we've got to convince them that public health measures is not meaning to shut the country down we're not talking about shuttinc health measure anything down. we're talking about using public health measures as a vehicle or a gateway to keeping the country open, to keeping the economy going. obstacles, it's actually it is not an obstacle, it's actually an avenue to keeping the country open if we can convince people of that, we're in good shape. >> but science-based restrictions make sense to you >> well, yeah, they do but you don't want to do it in such an offensive way that people pull back from it you've got to understand that people do need to have some

leeway to do the things that are important for their livelihood that's why i always stay away from we're not talking about shutting down the country, but we're talking about prudent, seh considerations like wearing a careful, serious public health considerations like wearing a mask, like avoiding congregate settings that's not very difficult to do, and it should not interfere with getting the economy open again. >> the president tweeted about an hour and a half ago, dr. fauci, that democratic governors should open their states right now. he singled out andrew cuomo of new york in new york, three weeks ago the number of average cases per day over the week, three weeks ago was 855. last week it was 1,294s three weeks ago it was 855 two weeks ago 1,294. last week it was 1,400 do our restrictions need to drop do we need to open up as the president suggestsas the president suggests >> well, you >> well, you know, new york

after they're getting hit really, really badly months and months ago, they did very well in keeping the level of infection, the test positivity down they're trying to open infection, the test positivity down they're trying to open up, which we're all trying to do, and they're seeing an uptick in cases. what they have got to do is to just turn -- hunker down, as i say, which means make sure people do the things that we're talking about. they don't need to shut down completely. if they do that, they don't need to shut down completely. they need to gradually and carefully open up. and i believe that's what governor cuomo is trying to do. >> it is, but that's not what the president is telling him to do and that's confusing not just for leaders, for everyone. how do you stay so focusedd to ? >> well, we need to be doing ex and what do we need to be doing? >> well, we need to be doing exactly what i just said. >> and not what the president said going to do because he has a lot of experience in that. i just think that we need to >> well, you know, governor cuomo is going to do what he's going to do because he has a lot of experience in that. i just think that we need to

focus on the four or five fundamental things that we need to do. we got into trouble when we tried to open up the economy and several states decided it was going to be an all-or-none all-e phenomenon either they were going to lock down or open up completely that's the reason the task force, of which i am a member, put together some guidelinesputs there was a gateway before you star there was a gateway before you start decreasing, then phase one, phase two and phase three, a gradual way of carefully and prudently opening. prudently opening. th this all-or-none phenomenon, either stay shut or just throw caution to the wind doesn't work we've proven it doesn't workso e careful wa so the prudent way and the careful way we know will in fact get us open and we'll do it in a safe way >> we're all friends and family members and we all have neighbors.e help those who don't understand your message to somehow understand if you how do we help those who don't understand your message to somehow understand if you put on

that mask, we're all going to be so much healthier?- appeal, excuse m >> i think we need to appear -- appeal, excuse me, appeal to the better angels of which i know exist in our society because when you prevent yourself from getting infected, you do it not only to helplf, b you wantto not propagate yourself, but you do it because you want to not propagate the outbreak if you say to yourself i don't care if i get infected, i'm a young person the chances of my getting seriously ill are very low so to heck with it, i'm in a vacuum. let me get infected and enjoy whatever it is i want to enjoy the problem with that is that by doing that you are doing that you are inadvertently, and i'll use the word innocently, propagating the outbreak although the infection may not hurt you, because you're young and healthy, you will almost invariably infect someone else who will infect someone invariably infect someone else who will infect someone else, who will then infect a vulnerable person. that can be someone's grandfather, that can be a woman

on chemotherapy for breast cancer, that can be an immunodeficient child. thinking that we exist in a so we've got to stop thinking that we exist in a vacuum only for ourselves. we're all in this together we're all part of a society t or that's going to g that's either going to get hurt or that's going to get helped by our actions. so we want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. >> thank you for that wisdom loy i've talked to a lot of mighty important doctors, dr. fauci, over just the last few days and over the last week every single one of them agrees we need dr. fauci. would you commit even upon this president's re-election to staying with us through the next term >> oh, absolutely.the president. >> that's all i need to hear dr. fauci, thank you so much i'm not going to walk away from this outbreak no matter who's the president. >> that's all i need to hear dr. fauci, thank you so much all the best to you and yours. >> thank you very much, shep thank you for having me on your show next, the vote and the state of the race.

tonight president trump rallies his base in person, and joe biden makes moves to win a battleground state >> get out and vote. >> back on the trail, biden leads in the polls president trump plans to rally but what will change the trajectory of this campaign? just 22 days until the vote. the titans finally back to practice this week, but the impact of covid-19 on football is far from over plus, the story behind this out of control boat. >> the facts, the truth, the news with shepard smith, back in 60 seconds

the vote, 22 days until the election, 10 days since president trump tweeted he was diagnosed with coronavirusk now. you can se he's back now. you can see it there his rally in sanford, florida, is underway not far from orlando. it's his first official campaign

stop since he left the hospital following his covid diagnosis. cleared th the white house doctor has cleared the president, saying that he could hold public events as of saturday has as i mentioned earlier, his doctor has said the president has had two days of testing negative for covid-19 in a row that said, here are some facts the cdc recommends that people with covid-19 refrain from being around people for ten days after symptoms first appear.h no feve that includes 24 hours with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications the cdc reports people with more severe symptoms could be infectious for 20 days after symptoms begin geoff bennett at the president's rally in central florida geoff bennett at the president's rally in central florida now geoff. >> reporter: hey, shep, good evening. president trump began his remarks here on the rally stage behind me saying these heartened and humbled by the prayers he's received during his recovery from covid-19. he then quickly pivoted to the usual attack lines that we've heard from the president on campaign stages just like this one.

president trump is keeping up a fairly aggressive campaign schedule just this week in fact. a rally tonight in florida he then heads to pennsylvania, . his trip then iowa, then north carolina, then back here to florida. his trip here coincided with a new memo from the white house physician, sean conley, saying that president trump has now tested negative. the white house has, as you y know, for days refused to say precisely what president trump's status was was he testing positive or negative we still don't know when the president last tested negative before he was infected but the president back on the campaign trail, hoping to jump start his campaign now that most polls show him trailing joe biden nationally and in those key battleground states. >> geoff bennett with the president. now to the other side of the aisle, joe biden holding campaign events in ohio today, making moves to win that state, one that president trump won by eight points back in 2016. today the race is like that, and the real clear politics average revealing vice president biden

holds less than 1% lead. so statistically nothing he's also boosting ad spending there, working to turn the buckeye state blue here's mike memoli in toledo. >> reporter: the biden campaign says ohio has always been on its battleground map looking at looking at donald trump's big win here in 2016 and wondering just how competitive the buckeye state really would be in 2020. the biden campaign though looking at double-digit leads in national polls and believing they have a shot to win here and that's why joe biden held two events in the state today, in cincinnati and here in toledo where he rallied union workers pitching his economic message. g with his running mate, senator kamala harris, tied up in washington at the supreme court confirmation hearings, biden blasted senate republicans for rushing judge barrett's nomination through, saying it's part of an effort to undermine the affordable care act. now, there was a time during this pandemic when joe biden campaigned exclusively at home in delaware. in august and september he was out maybe once or twice a week

but with now three weeks to go until the election, joe biden is pressing the gas on his campaign schedule after his events in ohio today, two events in the other must-win battleground state of florida tomorrow on thursday instead of that second presidential debate, he'll be holding a nationally televised town hall in philadelphia expect to see him back in the midwest before the end of the week, shep. >> mike, thanks. so what about the polling? vice president joe biden has expanded his lead. on average it's now double digits across the nation we don't vote across the nation, we vote state to state, and there are signs that that state-to-state story may be different. analysts say president trump's numbers could be stronger than they look. steve kornacki here with the polls. >> what other numbers are you looking at, steve? >> yeah, shep, something interesting here two numbers that normally line up, we're used to seeing line up in presidential elections that aren't lining up this year it's the president's approval rating you can see here this is nationally

if you average the polls together, his approval rating is basically at 45% on average. people who say they approve of the job he's doing, and yet when you match him up against joe biden in a head-to-head race, look at that, he's running at just under 42% so you can see there's a 3% dropoff there between people who say they approve of the job the president is doing versus those who say they're willing to re-elect him re-elect him this extends to some this extends to some battleground states. a new poll out of michigan today, trump's approval rating in michigan is 45% in the head-to-head against biden, he's only running at 40%, a 5% difference there. in wisconsin, his approval rating in a new poll today, 44%. he's only running at 41% in the state against biden, a three-point difference there theories for what might be going on here, but from the trump campaign standpoint, thi there's a lot of different theories for what might be going on here, but from the trump campaign standpoint, this is one of the reasons they think they still have a shot. they think there's a small group

of voters out there who do like the job the president is doing and who will ultimately come home to them it wouldn't be enough to put him in the lead in these states but it would make things a little bit closer. >> and then there's consideration of whether the polls are even right, you know >> and that was 2016 obviously let's look at it this way. these are a bunch of battleground states. these are the poll averages in those battleground states. what happens if the polls miss in 2020 like they missed in 2016 in these same states we're just going to apply what the polling miss was in 2016 now the red starts to pop up trump gets ohio, iowa, north carolina look how close wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan become. that's where the biggest misses were in the polling in 2016, the midwest. so keep that in mind if the polls were off like they were four years ago, that tightens things considerably too. >> people always say it. but when you say it, you mean state-to-state in the battlegrounds where it switched. but the national poll, the national number was pretty damn close. a

two-point race nationall >> yeah, you were looking at a two-point race nationally and looking at three points in the final polling there. the real miss when you look at the polling, it varied it wasn't even you can see it, look at wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan biden leading by eight now if you apply the same miss, he's barely winning those states. the midwest, the midwest, noncollege white voters in particular, look at florida. it wasn't much of a miss would only bring it down a point and a half or even in ohio or in iowa again, look at what that polling miss would do. that's where the polls were really off in 2016 that's where i think the uncertainty is with the state-by-state polling. a boat takes flight in florida and a celebration gets a little too rowdy in california coast. on a cnbc trip, coast to coast >> california, lakers fans had a wild night celebrating the team's first championship in a decade

people spilled into the streetsh shot fireworks, chanted the late kobe bryant's name cops said it was an unlawful assembly and arrested people who wouldn't leave, protesters marcd through portland last night pulling down statues of abe oregon, protesters marched through portland last night pulling down statues of abe lincoln and teddy roosevelt. they called the event indigenous people's day of rage to counter columbus day cops called it a riot and said protesters smashed store fronts and windows. florida, an unmanned boat crashed into a port st. lucie dockluci it began spinning out of control after three passengers fell overboard. you can see it flying into the air and slamming into that concrete dock. no one seriously hurt. seriousl. massachusetts, thousands of bananas slipped of massachusetts, thousands of bananas slipped off a truck. a tractor-trailer carrying crates of the fruit rolled over on the mass pike here it is being flipped back over bananas could no

authorities said the bananas could not be saved and that's a wrap on this cnbc trip coast to coast. rebuilding continues along the golf south after delta, the second hurricane to hit louisiana in two months. we wer we were there when it made landfall, and we're there again tonight talking with the people surviving the storms that just keep coming. and quarterback alex smith back on the field. his two-year road to recovery after an injury that almost cost him a leg, plus bottom of the hour headlines coming at you

a horrible ankle injury in dallas last night, dak prescott has had surgery and we're pulling for him, but an inspiring moment in washington the quarterback there, alex smith, returning to the field after a brutal leg injury nearly two years ago.e football team' alex smith went in the hospital after the football team's starter, kyle allen, hurt his arm. the l.a. rams sacked smith six times. the washington team lost 30-10, but alex smith had his family in the stands to cheer him on the veteran qb reflecting after the game >> obviously very surreal at first. to have i to have it happen -- to have it happen as fast as it did was probably also a blessing. >> alexander smith broke his tibia and fibula back in november of 2018 he had not one, but 17 surgeries. doctors considered cutting his leg doctors considered cutting his leg off.

but yesterday, he completed his comeback, 693 days after that horrible injury. onl expect more mickey online. the house of the mouse making big changes and that tops what cnbc's on the money tonight. disney says it's making a major reorganization its primary focus will be digital, read digital plus the ceo fired up about california's lack of a reopening plan. >> it seems to me that the guidelines that are set up by the state of california are more stringent than any states across the country. and if and if you look at the history of disney and what we've been able to do during reopening rather than arbitrary standards that are set up without regard to what actual fact is and what we've been able to do as a company, i think you might comeu to a different decision about reopening disneyland >> disneyland was supposed to be open in julynneyland. >> disneyland was supposed to be

open in july best wes also best western telling cnbc this situation we are in now, it's not sustainable, it's really bad, and that's a quote, urging congress to pass a new relief bill. and apple will reveal its new iphones tomorrow one well-known analyst called it the most significant iphone event in years it's expected to include a it's expected to include a whole new look, which you haven't seen since 2017, and four different sizes and prices [ bell ringing ] on wall street, the dow up 250, financials higher ahead of earnings reports from jpmorgan and citi tomorrow. i mentioned apple. apple is up 6%, amazon up 5% that led broader advances for the nasdaq, up 2.5%. it's less than 2% from an all-time record high the broader s&p 500 up 1.6% today. i'm shepar i'm shepard smith on cnbc. it's the bottom of the hour, time for the top of the news hurricane delta turning deadly at least two dead in louisiana,

including an 86-year-old man in st. martin parish. that's a 40-minute drive east of lafayette. he died after a fire broke out while he was refueling his generator.ng his take a look at this map, hurricane delta leaving thousands without power in texas and mississippi. but it's louisiana hardest hit more than 145,000 customers still without electricity.s stil nbc's sam brock is live in lake charles, one of the hardest-hit regions there. he was there for us that night and is today what are you seeing, sam >> reporter: shep, good evening. residents here will tell you there is not a stretch, a corner, a block in lake charles that has not been touched by multiple hurricanes in the time span of six weeks, and they are bearing the battle scars right now. over my shoulder you see these heaps of debris. this is what it looks like on pretty much every block in the citye heaps actually are not as bad as these heaps actually are not as bad as some of what i've seen earlier today. down the street blue tarps have become the signature for lake charles right now. it tells you the thousands of

homes that suffered structuraldl damage from laura. as we tilt down the block there's three or four on this street alone there are hundreds o damage from laura. as we tilt down the block there's three or four on this street alone there are hundreds of homes flooded as well after delta came in and dumped a foot of rain or more in this area. this house right here actually had two trees splice into it one in the front, and another on the side that you can't see from this vantage pointe from this vantage point but that blue tarp i but that blue tarp is now dangling to the side telling you when delta came in, it reoriented it meaning more water came into this house these folks who have already been through so much now have to deal with another aspect of this recovery process as you mentioned, 150,000 customers in the state of louisiana right now, days later, still without power. >> sam brock live in lake charles where they're recovering from not one but two monster hurricanes all in the span of six weeks. communities doing their best to pick up the pieces nbc's jay gray on how one woman is bouncing back from hurricane delta.

>> reporter: good evening, shep. the devastation we've been talking about is everywhere. two hurricanes in the span of six and a half weeks and you can see it stretches for miles here. but if you can look past the blue tarps and all of the twisted metal and splintered wood, you'll see some real heroes here. lake charles is battered and broken mounds of debris, a mixture of what laura and now delta left behind the doors are still open at big brothers, big sisters of southwest louisiana. not for the 150 kids they mentor but to air out the building and clear out the damage after the storms >> don't remind me. >> reporter: executive director erin davison refusing to let her mission of service be ripped apart. >> if you tell me no, that's not a word in my vocabulary. >> reporter: in six weeks she's raised $12,000 in donations and counting it won't replace the $400,000 the agency expects to lose in o

funding but it is enough to keep things going with staff, mentors and kids scattered across different cities and states now. >> their homes are destroyed, there's no schools, parents don't have jobs. and so my first, you know, priority is who we serve in this community. >> reporter: despite being hit hard personally.er this is erin's house this rv is where she's living now and where she'll likely stay with her husband, two dogs and two cats for a full year >> i know my home is not livable right now, but i'm so focused on my organization and my people. >> reporter: it's hard to get erin to talk about her problems. heroes are like that but she does have her moments. that mak >> we just want simple things that make us feel like we're still living a normal life. >> reporter: though clearly little is normal right now takit the storms taking so much, but

unable to tear apart the will and resolve of erin or her community. >> we're resilientlouisianans, e we're louisianans, we're cajuns. we help each other. >> reporter: you can see the people who don't have those simple things, the things they need to feel normal again. they're going to need that resilience, shep, and also need a lot of help. a lot of help. she's going to take a year to get back she's going to take a year to get back in her home she hopes this area is going to take a lot longer to recover. >> jay gray, live for us in lake charles. supreme court confirmation hearings started today amy coney barrett on the hill. barring something we can't imagine, this is a done deal the gop has enough votes to confirm and that's it. so the hearing was more a campaign stop than confirmation hearing, on both sides two of the big ones, the affordable care act. democrats arguing a confirmation threatens americans health care. and stimulus, multiple senators saying congress shouldn't even be holding these hearings.

why can't they focus on passing a coronavirus relief package instead. ylan mui has been following this for us. >> reporter: shep, they're using this vacancy on the supreme court to wage a proxy battle over the issues they think will help them at the ballot box. ba. for demo for democrats health care helped them flip the house back in 2018 so today they appealed to voters once more, claiming that millions of americans could lose their health insurance in a conservative supreme court >> you know that they are trying to push through a justice who has been critical of upholding the affordable care act and they're doing it in the middle of a pandemic. pandemic. >> reporter: you can als >> reporter: you can also hear how democrats are trying to tie these hearings to the stalemate over stimulus, but republicans turn the tables, calling democrats disingenuousd severalm >> i've heard several of my colleagues basically say the republicans are refusing to work on helping to address the covid crisis

this coming from colleagues who just a month or so ago voted unanimously to filibuster a five to $600 billion covid relief package in the senate. >> reporter: republicans also pointed out that none of this has anything to do with the nominee, amy coney barrett, or her qualifications to serve on the highest court in the land. . >> huge parts of >> huge parts of what we're doing in this hearing would be really confusing to eighth graders if civics classes tuned in to figure out what we're here to do. to do. >> reporter: so, shep, today may >> reporter: so, shep, today may not have been a very good civics lesson, but it was an excellent lesson in politics >> ylan, thanks. a record number of people have already cast their ballots for this year's election we'll take a look at how one state has gotten a headstart on counting the ballots alreadytiny and in hong kong, a tiny diamond, tiny one, see it there?

well, it's not tiny. but what a splash it just made, as we go around the world, coming up. >> the facts, the truth, the news with shepard smith back in 90 seconds

early voting breaking records this year. here are some of the latest numbers from the u.s. elections project. close to 10 million people already cast their ballots in 2016 only 1.4 million had

done so by this point. this is cobb county today outside atlanta, voters waiting in line for hours. that's today they have been voting for a while down in florida. tonight they're already counting data from the u.s. elections project shows one of the nation's highest voter turnout rates, 17.4% of the 2016 vote is already in the ballot box. kerry sanders is live in west palm beach hi, kerry. >> reporter: hey there, shep look, it's an amazing turnout when you think about people do mail-in voting it may be because of coronavirus. it may be because they're sick and tired of wondering when they get to go to the polls because they have already made up their minds. let's take a look at the numbers as we stand here in palm beach county statewide 11.8% of all registered voters have already voted. that's close voted. that's close to 1.7 million voters in a state with 14 million registered voters. now, as you look at the numbers of those, both republicans and

democrats who have voted, if we split it up, it looks as if, well, we can see that the democrats are leading. about 362,000 more votes cast by democrats rather than republicans. but all of that doesn't termine necessarily mean you can determine who's leading. as you're looking at the machines that are counting, those machines are indeed creating a tally, but nobody knows but the computer who's no supervisor of elections. winning right now, not even the supervisor of elections. >> no, no, we only know -- we'll know how many we've counted but we don't pull in the results through a program until after the polls close on election night. >> so even you won't know. >> i won't even know. . >> reporter: the supervisor of >> reporter: the supervisor of elections here in palm beach county, which is the third most populous county in the state, shep, as you know, because you spent time living here in florida, this county is about the size of delaware

when you look at the whole state with 29 electoral votes, this is a critical state, a state that is very much purple and a state that's in play >> kerry sanders live for us thank you. well, they have been early voting in florida and counting in florida for a long while, but nationwide this really is a massive experiment across the country. and the question is can we double the number of people voting by mail and manage it with no problems cnbc's eamon javers is live with us now eamon, what about it >> reporter: good evening, shep. in ohio, officials there say about 50,000 people have already received the wrong ballots they say they're working to not correct that problem, but they say that's not the only glitch that we've seen so far across the country. >> this is a very important election. >> reporter: in los angeles, officials say more than 2,000 ballots were misprinted, and they forgot to include the presidential race. in new york, an even bigger mixup. >> i was very surprised that we wound up getting ballots that didn't belong to us.

>> reporter: 100,000 defective ballots were sent out to voters largely in brooklyn. in addition to those three cases, similar glitches and snafus have occurred across the country.and snatch yo the pandemic is causing states to increase mail-in balloting to as much as 50% of the vote this year last time around, just 1.4% were rejected why? according to the u.s. election assistance commission, of those rejected, 26.9% were because the ballot was not received on time. 15.8% had a nonmatching 13% ha signature, and 13% had no voter signature. >> there are states that don't have the experience in handling absentee ballots, so you just multiply that and we're ending up in a situation where there could be great controversy over the absentee ballots. >> reporter: president trump has alleged baselessly that there is fraud going on, but experts say

the real problems are most likely to come from process errors and not from fraud.hese >> these unintentional snafus, be they administrative, be they technological or be they mistakes that voters make themselves, these are the problems that have bedevilled elections in the united states since we've been studying them since the 2000 presidential election now, now, shep, if the election is won by a wide margin, these kinds of mistakes won't really make a difference. but if it's close, these could be the real flash points for litigation that ties the results up well after election day. l a a a deadly building collapse in nigeria and a tropical storm in southeast asia as we go around the world in 80 seconds vietnam, a tropical storm killing at least 17 people this helicopter saving fishermen as strong winds batter the vietnamese coast floods displacing around 31,000 people, and cutting foodd cuttid

supplies to thousands more supplies to thousands more nigeria, a three-story building collapsed and killed at least eight people crews here saved at least 20 and say they're hoping to find more survivors in the rubble. rubble. it happened at a it happened at a building under construction at a time when building developers there have been accused of paying off regulatory agencies.> italy, ca italy, carlos acutiz, the first close to becoming a millenial saint. he was just 15 when he died back in 2006. he recorded miracles online and helped run websites for catholic organizations. he's already touted as the patron saint of the internet another verified miracle is necessary for sainthood.> hong hong kong, diamonds are forever and mighty expensive, sotheby's unveiling this rare pink diamond dubbed the spirit of the rose. the stone is no bigger than a fingertip, but the price tag up

to $38 million and now it's sparkling up the news, as we go around the world in 80 seconds. in 80 seconds. we've all heard of the payment apps by now, you use them all the time. venmo me, what's your cash app all new ways to pay friends, pay bills instantly, but how safe are they here's new reporting. reportin we als we also expect to get our packages instantly these days. two-day shipping seems pretty normal one-day shipping is even better. but coronavirus might have screwed that up this year, especially for the coming holidays wait until you hear this coming up ♪ you can go your own way

it's time you make the rules. so join the 2 million people who have switched to xfinity mobile. you can choose from the latest phones or bring your own device and choose the amount of data that's right for you to save even more. and you'll get 5g at no extra cost. all on the most reliable network. so choose a data option that's right for you. get 5g included and save up to $400 dollars a year on the network rated #1 in customer satisfaction. it's your wireless. your rules. only with xfinity mobile. remember back when black friday mattered at the mall, when we had those? then there was cyber monday. and now amazon prime day that's tomorrow, and it actually goes for two days. experts are predicting more than $6 billion in sales. that's 40% more than this time last year. big names like walmart and target are also jumping onboard, but with the pandemic, will all

those packages get to all of us on time or at all? here's cnbc's frank holland. >> reporter: a >> reporter: as e-commerce demand accelerates, 700 million holiday gifts globally might not be delivered before christmas according to a new estimate. prime day, amazon's two-day retail holiday kicks off the peak season tomorrow shipping delays are expected to come with those shopping deals >> they will see one, two, three-day delays during this peak season. he runs shipmate ricks a data firm that estimates deli >> reporter: he runs ship matrix a data firm that estimates delivery increases ranging between 23% and 44% last month with amazon seeing the biggest spike. >> the times are going to be longer and it is a totally unprecedented event. >> reporter: amazon known for its signature two-day prime delivery seeing on-time delivery numbers drop dramatically.

95% of numbers drop dramatically. 95% of packages arriving within two days from april to mid-september in 2019. during the pandemic, that number plummeting to only 70% and it's not just amazon >> i would strongly encourage eo customers to start early. >> reporter: the ceo of best buy giving shoppers a holiday season warning last week about delays and demand. >> start shopping early because you just have a better chance to get that product in your hands. >> reporter: and ironically you, yes, you might be the major reason your prime day or holiday gift gets delayed with black friday deals coming earlier and earlier, more and more people are buying gifts for themselves before christmas typically 30% of online buys are returned, just adding to the volume and the potential delays. shep. >> frank, thanks. payment apps, venmo, apple pay and they're all popular but how safe are they? apple well, security experts are now warning that fast payments can equal fast fraudy is kate rooney is live in silicon

valley on this kate, what's the most important thing people need to know when using these payment apps >> reporter: hey, shep these finance apps like you said have become really popular in the past year as alternatives to traditional banks, but people should know they're often more vulnerable to hacks. to we've also seen more mentions of the terms fraud and scams in their app reviews. zelle run by a group of big banks is going in the other direction with fewer mentions. criminals see some of these apps easier to break into tweeting about the cash app or venmo could be bait for a hacker to target your account so be careful what you tweet. o be careful what you >> where are we seeing the biggest concern about this from users? >> shep, it's about customer service.e. not th not the first thing you might think of when you sign up for an app. but if you suspect somebody took your money, you want to talk to somebody pretty fast with these finance apps, they say your only option is filling out an online form and getting in line.

there are some ways to protect yourself and use these apps safely for one, don't reuse your password and if possible use two-factor identification when two-factor identification when you log in it might add some time but also might save you some money in the long run. >> kate, thanks. you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. it's closing time for pubs across the uk. the prime minister shutting them down in areas where covid is surging. why owners who obeyed the orders in march are pushing back now.

covid continues to surge around the world the entire city in china to be tested in the next five days the entire city, 9 million people health officials say there's a small outbreak linked to one local hospital. in brazil, the covid death toll over 150,000. second highest death toll behind the united states. in india, 7.7 million infections reported, close to 75,000 in just the last day. in the united kingdom, a phenomenon and a tipping point that's what a top health official calls the surge there up 50% over the past week alone according to johns hopkins today prime minister boris johnson cracked down, closed

nearly a thousand pubs and bars in england and said there may be more restrictions. pubs across the uk are fighting to stay open here's cnbc's willem marks. >> reporter: in north london the duke of hamilton has welcomed diners and drinkers for the last three centuries.e centuries. in march in march, he and many others learned that pubs and pandemics make for poor drinking buddies. >> we actually shut the doors just before being forced to just because there was such a big unknown. >> reporter: this summer as britain's first lockdown lifted, he put safety measures in and started pouring pints for a thirsty grateful public.r a thirsty grateful public. >> i t >> i think it was quite important for quite a lot of people. >> reporter: now as infection rates respike, these pubs like thousands of others could soon face a second closure. frustratg >> it's really frustrating because we're doing everything we're told to do.

>> i think that the landlords and the publicans have every right to be aggrieved. >> reporter: psychology professor robert west lives next door to his local pub and advises the uk government on public health behavior. >> when you have a blanket closure or something like that,t can make their places safe it unfairly hits the ones that can make their places safe because they have to close along with the others. >> reporter: but immunologists say pub goers are playing a numbers game when it comes to infection risk. infection risk. >> if i go to a >> if i go to a shopping center or a pub, i may well pass 500 people so i've got to be mentally guessing all the time how safe and how distant do i want to be here.s and city centers right across the uk, you'll often find the pub or public house, as it's form >> reporter: in towns and city centers right across the uk, you'll often find the pub or public house, as it's formally known, functioning as the beating heart of the community and that makes the government's plans to close them difficult for many brits to accept. >> a shutdown would be a bit of a blow definitely. >> reporter: especially when,

unlike pubs, the data driving such decisions is not made available for public consumption. for the news, i'm willem marks, london. 70 seconds left on a race to the finish dr. anthony fauci says it doesn't matter who's president or what happens next, he's staying on the job to fight covid-19 no matter what. >> this is an outbreak of historic proportions, the likes of which we have not seen in 102 years. there's no chance that i'm going to give up on this and walk away from it, no matter what happens. >> that from earlier in this new hour. the supreme court confirmation hearings could heat up tomorrow. senators to get a chance to ask nominee amy coney barrett questions under oath that includes the vice presidential nominee, kamala harris and this year's massive and historic voter turnout keeps shattering records more than 9 million americans have already voted voted in 2016 at this in 2016 at this point, only about a half a million people

had voted, and now the voting continues. and now you know the news for this monday, october the 12th, 2020 i'm shepard smith at cnbc global headquarters hope you'll be back with us here tomorrow for another edition of "the news. it is 5:00 a.m. at cnbc global headquarters and here is your five at 5:00. technology stocks coming off their best day in a month. a streaming strategy shakeup over at disney that has the stock surging and one activist investor saying job well done. trouble at johnson & johnson with human trials of its covid-19 vaccine, details coming up next. plus all aboard the spac train as one high profile investment firm gets in on that big