you look at me, donald. you do not treat my joe like that, all right? he's a nice boy. >> kamala, i got this. >> uh-uh, joe, let momala go to work. >> that was "snl's" take on the presidential debate. it's "way too early" for this. good morning! and welcome to "way too early," the show that could always use a little mothering from maya rudolph. i'm kasie hunt on this monday, october 5th. we will start, as we always do, with the news. the white house continues to

provide limited and oftentimes contradictory information about president trump's health. we learned yesterday that the president has been given dexamethasone, a steroid that's used to treat severely ill covid-19 patients. some health experts argue, that's a red flag, because while the drug can reduce the risk of death for critically ill patients, it can cause harm to those who have less severe symptoms. dexamethasone is the third drug that the president has taken since being hospitalized on friday. he's also taken the antiviral drug remdesivir and an experimental antibody cocktail by regeneron. white house physician sean conley said yesterday that the president haas experienced two episodes where his oxygen saturation levels dipped. one of those instances was on friday, when the president was running a fever and was given supplemental oxygen. speaking to reporters on saturday, dr. conley repeatedly evaded questions about the

president receiving oxygen. and yesterday, he tried to clear the matter up. >> has he ever been on supplemental oxygen? >> he -- right now he is not on oxygen -- >> i now you keep saying "right now," but should we read into the fact that he had been previously? >> yesterday and today he was not on oxygen. >> so, he has not been on it during his covid treatment? >> he is not on oxygen right now. >> over the course of his illness, the president has experienced two episodes of transient drops in his oxygen saturation. thursday night into friday morning, when i left the bedside, the president was doing well with only mild symptoms and his oxygen was in the high 90s. late friday morning, when i returned to the bedside, the president had a high fever and his oxygen saturation was transiently dipping below 94%. yesterday, there was another episode where it dropped down, about 93%. >> irregularities in his lungs? are there any -- >> -- today to disclose that the

president had been administered oxygen? >> it's a good question. >> thank you. >> so, i was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, that his course of illness has had. i didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction. and in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn't necessarily true, and so, here i have it. he is -- the fact of the matter is, is that he's doing really well. >> dr. conley went on to say that the president could be discharged from the hospital as early as today, if his condition permits. i guess we'll see what happens. while the president's doctors, as you saw, said he's doing very well, white house chief of staff mark meadows had a more sober assessment about the president's health. according to "the new york times," meadows told reporters outside of walter reed medical

center on saturday that the next 48 hours are going to be critical in terms of his care and that, quote, we're still not on a clear path to full recovery. people close to the situation tell "the new york times" that those comments infuriated the president, who then later posted a four-minute video on twitter, saying that he's feeling well. here's a rundown of the positive coronavirus tests that we have learned about since president trump's diagnosis on friday. the first lady, melania trump. she is currently isolating in the white house and reportedly experiencing mild symptoms. senior adviser to the president, hope hicks, she tested positive on thursday. rnc chairwoman ronna mcdaniel tested positive on wednesday. kellyanne conway, who attended amy coney barrett's nomination ceremony at the white house and was also part of the president's debate prep team, she announced on friday that she had tested positive. former new jersey governor chris

christie, who was also involved in the president's debate prep and attended barrett's nomination event, tested positive on saturday, and he checked himself into a hospital. we're thinking about him. trump campaign manager bill stepien also announced on saturday that he tested positive. two republican senators who attended barrett's nomination event at the white house, senators mike lee and thom tillis, both tested positive. they both serve on the judiciary committee. and a third gop senator, ron johnson, also tested positive, though he was not at the barrett event. nick luna, the president's personal aide and so-called body man, tested positive -- very close to the president a lot of the time. and nbc news can confirm that roughly three weeks ago, two white house residence staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. this thing spreads so fast. at least seven people who attended the white house ceremony nominating judge amy coney barrett to replace the

late justice ruth bader ginsburg have been infected with the coronavirus. the event took place just over a week ago, on september 26th. six people who later tested positive, including first lady melania trump, sat in that first row. you can see it there, during the rose garden ceremony. as you can also see in the wider photo, few people wore masks or practiced social distancing at the outdoor event with close conversations and photo ops. the indoor event at the white house diplomatic room was even more striking for the lack of masks and social distancing. look at these photos from "the new york times." they show republican senator thom tillis, who later tested positive, standing near barrett. the first lady and president trump both also tested positive. and you can see right there, they're not wearing masks. and in this photo, the president and several white house officials all lined up before one of barrett's daughters.

again, no masks in sight. attorney general william barr and health and human services secretary alex azar -- there they are -- also without masks, standing in front of judge barrett. and take a look at this. gop senator thom tillis elbow to elbow with barrett's young son, both not wearing masks. and republican senator mike lee of utah, here he is, up close with judge barrett. he tested positive. the white house said that all guests at the barrett nomination ceremony tested negative for the coronavirus prior to the event. joining me now, author of the "washington post's" early-morning newsletter "power up," jacquelin almini. thank you so much for being up early with me this morning. i think what we just ran through, this shows americans why they're not going to concerts, why they're not going to large gatherings, why they're wearing masks. it's very clear that this event had some sort of effect and has

now sickened so many who are at the top echelons of our government. what's the white house doing now to prevent further spread inside the white house and at the top echelons of the trump campaign? >> it's a really great question. and as we're trying to figure out just how sick the president is, due to the dearth of information that's coming out of the white house and to the lack of transparency, we know that the white house is not doing much right now in order to scramble to make sure that this superspreading event doesn't spread even further in around the country. we can report that there's been serious frustration with the president's chief of staff, mark meadows, for his lack of guidance and the amount of political influence that has been inviewed into this process, into the lack of transparency. you still have white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany saying that they're not even going to release when the president last tested negative for covid-19. we can also report that out of

the 150 people that attended that event last week for amy coney barrett, that you just detailed, contact tracing efforts haven't begun. in fact, the president's physician, dr. conley, put a stop to the contact tracing efforts that were implemented and ready to go, ready to be rolled out to get in touch with even all of the different states -- ohio, minnesota, new jersey, that the president traveled to, in order to make sure that people could protect themselves and further stop the spread of the virus. so, this is really emblematic of just how, you know, unseriously the white house has taken this infection that has killed 200,000 americans. >> it's really, really quite stunning. and jackie, yesterday, the president took a little bit of a tour. he left the hospital to get into his car to go greet supporters. there's been some criticism of that, because it seems like he would have exposed the secret

service agents, and potentially, others, as he did that. what's the white house saying about that this morning? >> the white house is defending the decision. they're saying it was approved by the white house, by president trump's physician, dr. conley. and again, as you pointed out, there has been poor reaction to the president's decision to do this. this is the white house trying to posture the president as strong, as a triumphant warrior in the face of this disease. he is, you know, 14 points down nationally in the polls from vice president joe biden. there's 30 days left until the campaign. so, this is a president who's eager to get out there, but this is a highly contagious and infectious disease. being in an enclosed suv with secret service agents who have already been put at risk due to the white house's lack of precautions taking the lack of mask-wearing, is really problematic. and again, it just shows how,

you know, the president and his approach to the coronavirus is not on bar with what we are seeing and what the pandemic is actually doing to the country at a national level. and i think you really make a point that a lot of these staffers that we don't see in the media, the janitors, the people in the kitchen, the people who help president trump on a day-to-day basis, they are also being affected by this. and doing political stunts like this, like getting in an suv to go on a joy ride while you are infected with coronavirus, really just can hurt and endanger and cause more work for the people around the president. >> and of course, many of those people, so much more vulnerable and potentially putting their families at risk. the "washington post's" jackie alemany, thank you very much. great to see you this monday morning. still ahead on "way too early," with 29 days until election day, we're breaking down new polling that shows the state of the race. plus, "saturday night live" recreates the first presidential debate in its season premiere. those stories and a check of the

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second and 18. wentz is going to air it out deep down field, and it will be caught. and into the end zone he goes for a touchdown! >> wow! i love kicking off our sports morning with that. that was eagles quarterback carson wentz connecting with receiver travis fulghum on the pass in the fourth quarter to put my philadelphia eagles ahead of san francisco on "sunday night football." and the eagles actually hung on and they beat the 49ers, 25-20. originally scheduled for yesterday, the week four new england patriots/kansas city chiefs game is actually going to be played tonight after the league announced on saturday that patriots quarterback cam

newton had tested positive for the coronavirus as well as the chiefs' practice squad qb. newton made a public announcement about his diagnosis yesterday, posting this photo on instagram with a caption that reads, "i will never question god's reasoning, just will always respond with, yes, lord." he added, "i appreciate all the love, support, and well wishes." our thoughts are with him. it's the nfl's second setback because of the pandemic. yesterday's originally scheduled matchup between the steelers and the titans was postponed after 1 members of tennessee's organization tested positive just in the past week. and sources now tell espn that the team's being investigated for possibly violating the league's coronavirus protocols. so dangerous to do that. in another consequential nfl matchup, the indianapolis colts scoring early, kept the bears out of the end zone until the fourth quarter yesterday, dealing chicago a 19-11 loss.

now, why is this important, aside from the actual football? well, this matchup, apparently, only happens every four seasons, and it happens to coincide with election years. since 2004, the winner of the bears/colts regular-season game has successfully predicted whether a republican or a democrat would win the presidency. if the trend continues, it means president trump will be elected to a second term. wonder if the streak will be broken there. time now for weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. bill, happy monday! what have you got? >> hey, kasie, happy birthday to you. i love stats and numbers, but that one, wow. bears/colts, who knew? all right, what's the least thing that we need out there? a hurricane heading towards the united states at the end of this week, but that looks like it's going to be a good possibility -- >> bill, don't do it! don't do it! >> so, let me introduce you -- i'm going to do it. this is tropical depression number 26. we had about ten days off from hurricane season.

now it's back. so, this is tropical depression 26. it's south of jamaica, south of cuba. and here's the new forecast out, just from the national hurricane center. nothing good ever happens when we get a storm into the gulf of mexico. and by my account, this would be the fifth storm to head towards louisiana. i mean, how horrible is that? so, the cone of uncertainty goes almost to houston and almost over to tallahassee. and again, the hurricane center right now is calling for a category 2 landfall into louisiana come thursday night into friday morning. so, now is the time for preparations. our computer models are in pretty good agreement that it's going to head right in between mexico and western cuba, into the central gulf. and then, there's still, you know, the average air four days out in the forecast, it's about 160 miles. five days is 200 miles. so that's why i'm still saying anyone from the texas/louisiana border, all the way over to the panhandle of florida needs to be prepared. and the one thing that's good, the water's cooler now in the northern gulf. so, hopefully, the storm will weaken as it arrives.

as far as other stories go, just some rain out there in florida today. otherwise, it looks like a pretty nice day across the country. but kasie, give me a break, another possible hurricane heading for the u.s. mainland. >> i think we all need a break, and especially those residents down south who have dealt with so much already this year. bill karins, thank you very much, my friend. we'll see you tomorrow. still ahead here, what majority leader mitch mcconnell is saying about the timing of amy coney barrett's supreme court confirmation hears after multiple senate republicans have tested positive for coronavirus. we're back in just a moment. tested positive for coronavirus. we're back in just a moment. - [announcer] welcome to intelligent indoor grilling with the ninja foodi smart xl grill. just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. it also turns into an air fryer. bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. is now a good time enough, crohn's. for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis, stelara® can provide relief, and is the only approved medication

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when you look at some of these key demographics, biden leads among senior citizens by 27 points and among suburban women by 25. that's huge. the latest reuters/ipsos national poll of likely voters gives biden a ten-point edge over president trump, 51%-41%. and meanwhile, in new battleground state polling, the latest cbs news/yougov poll has biden up by seven in pennsylvania, 51%-44%. and while the latest "the new york times"/sienna college poll also has the vice president with a seven-point lead in the state, 49%-42%. in florida, "the new york times"/sienna college poll shows biden with a five-point lead, 7 47%-42%. and in ohio, the latest cbs news/yougov poll shows trump and biden tied at 47% apiece. in arizona, the latest usa

today/suffolk university poll puts biden and trump in a statistical tie, 50%-46%. the senate race in that state, however, showing democrat mark kelly ahead by nine over republican incumbent martha mcsally, 49%-40%. some really tough gaps to close for a lot of those senators. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell announced that the senate would not meet as planned this week after three senators tested positive for the virus, but he indicated that republicans would push to confirm judge amy coney barrett to the supreme court without any delay. in a statement, he said, "the senate's floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair, and historically supported confirmation process previously laid out." the announcement comes after three senators, two of them on the judiciary committee, tested positive for the coronavirus since friday. republican senators mike lee of utah, thom tillis of north carolina, and ron johnson of wisconsin all tested positive.

still ahead here, the president is facing criticism this morning for leaving the hospital to drive by and wave to his supporters. critics are calling it political theater. plus, senator lindsey graham and his democratic challenger, jamie harrison, battle it out on the debate stage. we'll show you how harrison used the senator's own words against him. but before we go to break, we want to know, why are you awa awake? email us your reasons for being up at waytooearly@msnbc.com or send me a tweet @kasie with #waytooearly. we will read your best answers coming up later in the show. l rs coming up later in the show. - [narrator] the shark vacmop 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.

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♪ welcome back to "way too early." it is just before 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kasie hunt. president trump pulled a surprise publicity stunt with a drive-by outside walter reed medical center yesterday. trump waved to his supporters from inside his black suv motorcade with the windows rolled up. president trump donned what appeared to be a cloth mask while secret service agents in the vehicle wore full personal protective equipment, including a surgical gown, face shield, and an n-95 mask. the gathering of trump supporters who caught a glimpse of the president all stood near each other, many of them maskless. the drive caught reporters off guard after the white house said the president was not expected to travel or make any public

appearances. just before the surprise move, the president posted a message on social media to coincide with his appearance, claiming that he, quote, gets it. >> it's been a very interesting journey. i learned a lot about covid. i learned it by really going to school. this is the real school. this isn't the let's read the book school. and i get it, and i understand it. >> the drive has since sent shock waves across the medical and secret service communities. james phillips, a doctor at walter reed medical center, took to twitter to condemn the president's actions, tweeting in part, "that presidential suv is not only bulletproof, but hermitically sealed against chemical attack. the risk of covid-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures." the doctor also pointed out that the agents in the vehicle will now be forced to quarantine for two weeks. meanwhile, the "washington post"

reports that just days before the drive-by, secret service agents expressed their anger and frustration to colleagues and friends, saying that the president's actions have repeatedly put them at risk. one fed-up agent reportedly said, quote, he's never cared about us. meanwhile, president trump's re-election campaign is moving to get back on track, as he is recuperating from the coronavirus. vice president mike pence is going to lead the effort. he is expected to make campaign stops this week in arizona and nevada and is scheduled to debate his democratic challenger, senator kamala harris, in salt lake city on wednesday. yesterday, trump campaign senior adviser jason miller described an effort in which pence, members of the trump family, and more than 50 other surrogates and key supporters would begin fanning out across the country in a modified campaign that he described as "operation maga." okay. senator lindsey graham,

meanwhile, faced off against his democratic challenger, jamie harrison, in a contentious debate for the u.s. senate seat in south carolina on saturday. the two candidates were situated 13 feet apart on stage for the event, but harrison added a plexiglass divider as an added safety measure. graham's team declined to comment on his opponent's move. during the span of the debate, graham chided harrison for having what he called a radical liberal agenda, while harrison notably came after the senator for his flip-flopping on whether to confirm a supreme court justice during an election year. >> mr. harrison -- >> you know, sometimes listening to senator graham is like, it reminds me of playing monopoly with my son. you change the rules -- he changes the rules every time he gets. you know, senator, you said, "use my words against me," and you said it after the kavanaugh meetings, not before the kavanaugh hearings, after the kavanaugh hearings. and your words, your promise was that no judicial nominee should

be considered or approved or what have you in the last year of an election. my grandfather always taught me, he said, jamie, a man is only as good as his word. well, senator, how good is your word when you made a promise to the american people? even more, you made a promise to the folks in south carolina that you wouldn't be doing what you're doing right now! >> and joining me now is nbc news correspondent leigh ann caldwell, who is down in south carolina covering this race. leigh ann, i'm fascinated by this particular contest, in part because, you know, you and i, i know, have a lot of conversations with folks on the hill, and this seems to be a pretty good, or at least interesting barometer of where things stand overall -- the fact that lindsey graham is in trouble at all is a huge alarm bell for republicans. i guess the counterweight that i've been hearing is that, well, at the end of the day, south carolina's still too republican for him to really be at risk. what have you learned about the state of the race covering it the past couple days? >> hey, kasie, that's right.

that's what republicans are betting on, that this is essentially a conservative state. the numbers, the math just don't add up for a democrat, jaime harrison, to win here, but the numbers are also concerning. we're seeing in public polling that the race is essentially tied or very, very close, much closer than, obviously, republicans would want it. and lindsey graham is soft in some really critical areas, just like the president. he's lost a lot of support among women. and he's also been pretty soft with the trump base, the republicans who are hard core trump supporters who maybe don't vote in off-year elections or for down-ballot candidates and who, perhaps, remember senator graham's work on immigration, perhaps remember senator graham's criticizing the president in 2016. so, this whole play with the confirmation of amy coney

barrett -- graham is betting that his leading role in that is going to, first off, firm up those really hard-core trump supporters, encourage them to vote for him, instead of leaving the senate race bloc blank on election day, or whenever these people vote. and also, he is saying that because south carolina is conservative, he's hoping that these independents who do tend to lean center-right, who do, he says, want a conservative court, will also vote for him because of this. so, this amy coney barrett confirmation is really big for him, and he thinks it's going to push him over the line to victory, kasie. >> very quickly, leigh ann, lindsey graham was someone who was very close to john mccain and had staked himself kind of as a maverick or independent in that lane and previously had had problems on his right in primary processes and stuff like this. is this partly him being punished by voters for seeming

to completely change his political stripes in the course of a couple years? >> i think it's a couple things. that is where the lack of trust, the lack of loyalty with the far right comes in, as far as lindsey graham is concerned. you know, senator graham reads the polls better than any of us, and his shift to the president over the last four years and really tying himself closely to the president was a calculated move. you know, on the other side, there are a lot of people who are disgusted with this president, even down here in south carolina, who aren't going to vote for him again, especially those women. and so, that is the big question of where these women, where these independents come down. but it's going to be a tough race for harrison to actually pull this out. again, republicans are just betting that the state is too conservative. and at the end of the day, will come home to the republican party, kasie. >> all right. nbc's leigh ann caldwell, thanks for getting up with us early to

share this story. i'm fascinated by it, so i really appreciate it. still ahead here, we're going to gather around the water cooler for a look at the star-studded return of "saturday night live." "way too early" coming back in just a moment. "way too early" coming back in just a moment. (burke) deep-sea driving, i see... (customer) something like that... (burke) well, here's something else: with your farmer's policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. (customer) that is something else. (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

- with spray moppingrk vacmop to lock away debrisuction 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. ♪ time now to gather around the water cooler for some of the things that are going to have people talking today. "snl" returned over the weekend for its 46th season and first live show in four months to have its most-watched season premiere in four years. chris rock hosted the big night. and maya rudolph reprised her emmy-winning role of senator kamala harris. musical guest megan thee stallion used her performance to protest the breonna taylor ruling. and "snl's" kate mckinnon honored the late rbg. watch.

♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> as if we needed anything else to make 2020 even more cursed, meanwhile, archaeologists in egypt unearthed a sealed tomb that held at least 59 ancient coffins for the last, get this, 2,600 years. the tomb was found in saqqara, home to some of the great pyramids, and held the colorfully decorate ed coffins with ancient egyptian hieroglyphics along with other artifacts. better than opening the tomb, the archaeologists opened one them and found a pristine mummy of an ancient priest. just what 2020 needs, a disturbed mummy on the loose. thanks for that, guys. anyway, still ahead, i'll

check in with a leading health expert about president trump's coronavirus diagnosis. and as we go to break, a look back at this date in history. in 1984, the space shuttle "challenger" blasted off from the kennedy space center on an eight-day mission. the crew included katherine sullivan, who ultimately became the first american woman to walk in space. >> the countdown for the 13th launch of the space shuttle reached t-minus zero with no problem. >> one, zero. we have srb ignition and the history's largest astronaut crew is on its way. >> "challenger" lifted off just before dawn, its rockets lighting up the florida sky. beforeaw dn, its rockets lighting up the florida sky. p 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.

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we created bionic and put the word out with godaddy. what will you change? make the world you want. even after the leader of the free world contracted coronavirus, wearing a mask at the white house remains optional. chief of staff mark meadows exercised that apparent right on

friday in front of reporters. >> why aren't you wearing a mask right now? >> yeah, so, i've obviously been tested. we're, hopefully, more than six feet away. and if there's any concern there from a guidance standpoint, we have protocols in place. >> meanwhile, a trump campaign senior adviser yesterday mocked joe biden's precautionary mask-wearing. >> with regard to joe biden, i think too often he's used the mask as a prop. mask is very important, but even if he's -- he could be 20, 30 feet away from the nearest person and still have the mask on. that's not going to change anything that's out there, but also, we've seen with joe biden -- i mean, we can't all just stay in our basement for the rest of our lives. >> joining me now, infectious diseases physician and medical director of the special pathogens unit at the boston university school of medicine, dr. nahid bhadelia.

she is an nbc news and msnbc medical contributor. doctor, thank you so much for getting up early with us, because i think there are so many questions that have come out of what we learned and didn't learn over the weekend. let's start with this masks-optional situation. i think for many americans, certainly who work at big companies, that's not what's going on. should the white house implement a mask policy, in your opinion? >> yeah, kasie, i think we only have to look so far as most workplaces in the country have done this, partly because cdc guidance is that, indoors, it is much harder to keep that distance when you're in enclosed spaces and the ventilation is not as good. so, i would definitely recommend that. and you only have to look as far as what happened this saturday, you know. we've had a white house that's been heavily reliant on testing, which is an important part this.

the testing helped them quickly pick up people who have been infected, but because others around them were not wearing masks and were not observing the physical distance, the presence of a person amongst them who might have been infected then led to this cluster of a lot of other people becoming infected. and so, that itself should sort of convince the white house to take this next step. >> so, doctor, we seem to get a lot of contradictory information over the weekend about just what is going on with the president's health. they, on the one hand, are trying to reassure us, say, well, he could be discharged as soon as today, but on the other hand, they started him on a steroid that, apparently -- and i just -- i would love it if you could walk us through what it means to you that they started him on that drug, because my understanding was that was for cases that were pretty serious. how do you read what we know and what we don't know, based on what the president's doctors are telling us? >> kasie, there's been a lot of

he head-scratching as of yesterday. personally myself, when i heard yesterday they had started him on steroid, i was more concerned about the severity of this case than i was on friday or saturday. so, just to sort of step back and talk about how covid works, there are sort of two large phases to this. once you become infected, the virus does damage, and then the immune system revs up because of its response to the virus and sometimes can have a maladaptive response to it. and when it does that, it's damaging the body itself. so, the types of drugs, the medications that the president received on friday, the regeneron antibody as well as the remdesivir, those are aimed at trying to bring the virus down. what they then are worried about is that if they can keep the virus down, hopefully, the immune system won't rev up. the trouble with something like dexamethasone, the steroid, is that we generally give it in patients who we're seeing enter that second phase, who might be having that maladaptive immune response, and we can't rush that. we don't give that to patients early. we don't say out of abundance of

caution, let's just give it to someone who might have a mild case, because giving a steroid is like a blunt instrument. you're depressing the good immune response and the bad immune response at the same time. and so, that balance that dr. conley talked about, they had to think conley talked about they had to think about and weigh the benefits and the risks and they decided to go in the favor of getting serious which means they're concerned that his case was moderately severe. so his care is different than the regular, you know, public's. he goes back to the medical unit at the white house and generally a patient that i had in the condition i wouldn't feel comfortable discharging them today. >> all right. dr. bhadelia, thank you so much. we'll rely on you throughout all of this. so thank you so much for being here. i really appreciate it. earlier on in the show, we

asked why are you awake? i'm here to hang with you and hear about the news. janice tweeted this photo of her dog with the post, well, she had to go outside. from mike, i'm up way too late, getting the news before bed here in las vegas. thank you for staying up late with us, mike. i have a photo of some adorable alpacas that i will tweet so you can share it. i appreciated that one. coming up next, we have a look at axios' one big thing and coming up on "morning joe," continued coverage of president trump's condition. plus, amid calls to postpone amy coney barrett's confirmation hearings the senate, senator sheldon whitehouse will join us. r sheldon whitehouse will join us. you may not expect the unexpected,

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joining us now, political reporter for axios, hans

nichols. good morning. what's the one big thing, let me guess? >> joe biden's new plan post positive announcement from president trump and the new plan looks like the old plan and that's because it's staying the course, it's protecting the candidates and it's no mistake. what you're seeing from the biden campaign is some limited surgical travel for the next four weeks. we started to see a little bit of that. they'll stay the course there and they're going to put an emphasis on protecting the candidate. that's always been the case. their theory of the case, the biden campaign, really since march hasn't changed and that is they need to talk directly to the american people. they can't engage in a back and forth with donald trump and they see no need for the candidates to be out there in dozens of states in this final sprint. now here's the caveat to this, restricted travel doesn't mean unrestricted money and they're

awash in cash. expect some big dollar buys in ohio and texas. they're already spending money there but the expectation is they're going to pump a little bit more. i talked to the state party chair down in texas and he said, you know, with 25, $30 million which think we can win this. in another year that would be a crazy ask. in this year when you look at the money coursing into the biden campaign that's not a crazy ask. that's something that could be on the table and we'll see what happens in these closing weeks, where they spend their money and how much they put in. kasie? >> yeah. normally you wouldn't casually talk about trying to put texas on the map because it's so expensive. and to your earlier point, it's hard -- it's very clear that the president's -- the vice president's strategy for handling covid-19 lines up with the news where we saw the large event in the rose garden that we led to so many people getting sick, but hans, let's talk about the vice presidential debate.

it's still on in salt lake city, but i mean, if you're kamala harris, did you have to change -- did they have to change the way she's preparing to take on mike pence in this debate? >> they did. and my colleague and i reported this out over the weekend, but mainly on the harris side. all they dial back the personal attacks. remember she had the slashing debate style during the primaries. the whole biden/harris biden is trying to be a bit beyond that, a bit less partisan, more unifying. so yes, they want to tie mike pence and donald trump's record together and attack that record but it won't be maybe as scathing as you would have thought in the past. she is prepping with pete buttigieg standing in for mike pence and mike has tapped pam bondi to play kamala harris. so pence is doing his diligence, he's a much more serious student than donald trump.

he has blocked off several 90 minute debate sessions so both sides are taking it seriously. obviously the entire conversation has changed but the biden campaign as well as the pence and trump campaign say they're preparing for the events that's true for the presidential debates. when you talk to the biden people, they say, oh, no, we expect this to go forward. they're still negotiating about the health and safety protocols but they're planning for another two presidential debates and the even debate. >> that's going to depend on whether or not president trump is up to and how his disease progresses. i know a lot of people who have struggled with this -- with coronavirus symptoms for weeks if not months after actually getting through the toughest part of it. let's talk, hans, as well about the white house staff and the people that have been surrounding the president over the weekend. watching those pictures of the suvs driving through with the

secret service agents in n95 masks in the front seat, you know, we pointed out earlier that there was a doctor who tweeted that the limousine is hermetically sealed which means they were trapped in there with president trump. what's the level of frustration among -- not just the secret service, but also the rest of the white house -- the west wing staff about how this is being handled. >> frustration is high. i'd almost say off the charts and there's a single target for that and that's mark meadows the chief of staff. there's a great deal of criticism levelled against him on how he's handled this. remember, he gave that briefing where he was first off the record on the back ground and then it was clear it was meadows who was doing the different messaging from what the president's own physician was saying. so there's a combination of chaos and recriminations which is not where you want to be in october of an election year. kasie? >> yeah. that's an understatement.

hans nichols, thank you so much. we'll be reading axios a.m. in a little bit. thanks for getting up "way too early" with us. stick around because "morning joe" starts right now. did the president's -- we've been told he's been tested and when he was tested on thursday morning -- >> yeah, i won't give you a detailed readout at every time that he's tested, he's tested regularly and the first positive test he received was after the return from bedminster. >> was he tested thursday night -- >> i won't give a detailed readout but safe to say his first positive test was upon return or after bedminster, that trip. thank you. >> that is how forthcoming the white house has been with information regarding the president's covid-19 testing. we have no idea when he actually tested positive. good morning and welcome