Trump and Biden spar over Covid-19

Good morning, NBC News readers.

As Covid-19 cases continue to climb across much of the country, ordinary Americans wonder if they can get the Trump treatment. A lost hiker is found after nearly two weeks and the teams in this year's World Series are set.

Here's what we're watching this Monday morning.

As Election Day draws near, Trump and Biden trade barbs over Covid-19

With just over two weeks to go until Election Day, President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden hit the campaign trail this weekend with divergent messages about the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Trump mocked Biden on Sunday for trusting scientists about Covid-19 shortly after Biden lambasted the president for continuing to "lie" about the pandemic.

"If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression," Trump told a rally in Carson City, Nevada. "We're like a rocket ship."

The former vice president contested that rosy outlook at his own event in Durham, North Carolina. Biden pointed out rising Covid-19 cases across much of the country, before ridiculing Trump for repeatedly saying in recent days that the country is "rounding the corner" when it comes to the pandemic.

"As my grandfather would say, this guy's gone around the bend if he thinks we've turned the corner," said Biden. "Turn the corner? Things are getting worse. He continues to lie to us about the circumstances."

On Sunday Twitter removed a tweet from one of Trump's top Covid-19 advisers, Dr. Scott Atlas, which falsely claimed that masks don't work to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The candidates are set to face off in their final debate this Thursday evening. NBC News' Kristen Welker will moderate the debate.

Check out NBC News' poll tracker.

Covid-19 cases climbing in almost every state as U.S. braces for possible 'third peak'

The U.S. is seeing a major surge of Covid-19 cases, with 38 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam all recording increases in cases over the last 14 days, while nine states have plateaued, according to NBC News tallies.

"We are really struggling," Dr. Todd Vento, director of the Telehealth Infectious Disease Program of Utah-based Intermountain Health, said on NBC's "TODAY" show Sunday. "People are doing heroic work, but they are really getting to the point where it's going to be literally unsustainable."

Epidemiologists are warning of a possible "third peak" of Covid-19, this time largely centered in the Midwest and the Plains.

"Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, we're having what I see as potentially six weeks of super-spreader events, right, in which we're going to be getting together with family and friends," Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious diseases expert at the Emory University School of Medicine, said Friday. "And we can see a lot of disease happening."

Meantime, as more people fall ill with Covid-19, many are wondering if they can get the Trump treatment?

Doctors say, it doesn't hurt to ask what treatment options are available.

"It’s important to be sort of insistent," said Annette Totten, an associate professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology at Oregon Health & Science University. "If you ask a question, you have to ask it again. Sometimes you have to be willing to be a little pushy."

Police grapple with new Election Day threat: Armed men at the polls

The 2020 election is taking place against a backdrop of extreme partisan rancor and social unrest, placing unprecedented strain on the police chiefs and sheriffs responsible for maintaining order at the polls.

The situation has been compounded by the increasing threat of right-wing militia groups and a president who has called for an "army" of poll watchers to monitor contested election areas.

In interviews with NBC News, more than a half-dozen law enforcement officials across the country described their preparations for safeguarding voting sites and their lingering concerns ahead of Election Day.

"There's not a day that goes by where I'm not up late envisioning what the worst case scenario is to make sure that we are able to prevent it," one official said.

World Series set as Dodgers beat Braves

The World Series was set Sunday after the Los Angeles Dodgers captured the National League pennant by beating the upstart Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in Arlington, Texas, in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers will meet the analytics-driven Tampa Bay Rays, who won the American League pennant Saturday by beating the scandal-plagued Houston Astros.

The Dodgers get to stay put in Texas, where the World Series will be played on neutral ground starting Tuesday at Globe Life Field, the new home of the Texas Rangers.

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Plus

• A woman who vanished in Zion National Park nearly two weeks ago was found alive and has been reunited with her family.

• An Indiana police recruit was fired after his ties to a neo-Nazi internet forum were revealed.

• A journalist went undercover with French police. He found racism, brutality and a toxic culture.

THINK about it

The mute button can't save us from any of our current crises. But it can help, freelance writer Lily Mooney argues in an opinion piece.

Live BETTER

Don't feel like working out? 7 ways to trick yourself into it.

Shopping

Should you upgrade to Apple’s latest iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro (or Mini or Max)? Tech expert Whitson Gordon weighs in.

One fun thing

In case you missed it, "Saturday Night Live" put itself in the position of many Americans last week and took on the task of flipping channels back and forth between the Trump and Biden town halls.

Next week, aside from politics, we can look forward to a new host: the singer Adele.

"Bloooooody hellllll I’m so excited about this!!" Adele wrote on Instagram. "And also absolutely terrified! My first ever hosting gig and for SNL of all things!!!!"

Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.

If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send me an email at: petra@nbcuni.com

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Thanks, Petra