AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI

Trump defiant about virus record at first rally since COVID illness; Biden makes concerted push in Ohio, once seen as long shot for him

The campaign trail was a tale of two states as Donald Trump in Florida and Joe Biden in Ohio dueled for votes in critical locations three weeks before Election Day.

Defiant and bellicose about the coronavirus, Trump turned his first campaign rally since contracting COVID-19 into a full-throated defense of his handling of the pandemic that has killed 215,000 Americans, Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire report.

Thanking the audience for their well-wishes and declaring he was no longer contagious, he embarked on a frenetic final campaign push while lagging in the polls. Trump joked hat he was healthy enough to plunge into the Florida crowd and kiss voters.

VIDEO: Trump says he'll 'kiss everyone' in crowd at rally.

There was no social distancing among the thousands in front of Trump and mask-wearing was spotty as he held forth for an hour, trying to to get his struggling campaign on track.

Joe Biden was in Ohio as he attempts to expand the battleground map and keep Trump on the defensive in a state thought to be out of reach, Bill Barrow and Will Weissert report.

The Democratic presidential nominee stressed an economic message while casting Trump as having abandoned working-class voters who helped him win Rust Belt states that put him in the White House in 2016. He held events in Toledo and Cincinnati.

VIDEO: Biden says Trump 'turned his back' on Ohio's workers.

Attacks on Harris: Trump and his Republican allies are increasingly raising baseless questions about rival Biden's health and alleging that his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, will really be in charge if Democrats win the White House. Trump claims Harris will assume the presidency within three months of a Biden inauguration. He's also called her a "monster," coded language based in sexism and racism aimed squarely at Trump's base. Harris allies say she and Biden should focus on their policies while outside allies push back on such attacks, Kathleen Ronayne reports.

Courting Fauci: Trump and Biden are both looking to harness the credibility of America’s best-known infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, as they make their case to American voters. The doctor has called out the Trump campaign for taking one of his quotes and putting it out of context into a campaign ad to suggest Fauci is in the president’s corner, Meanwhile, Biden is eagerly promising to seek Fauci's advice if elected. Overall, it’s an uncomfortable season for Fauci, who’s been studiously apolitical over a five-decade career, Aamer Madhani reports.

Policy Watch for Trump vs. Biden: Where they stand on health, economy, more.

AP PHOTO/PATRICK SEMANSKY

With GOP lauding Barrett and Dems skeptical, Supreme Court nominee to face senators on health care, legal precedent

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is set to face senators’ questions during a second day of confirmation hearings and it's expected to be a much rougher ride.

The mood is likely to shift to a more confrontational tone as the conservative appellate court judge is grilled in 30-minute segments by Democrats gravely opposed to President Donald Trump’s nominee, AP's Mark Sherman, Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick report.

Barrett's approach to health care, legal precedent and even the presidential election are expected topics. Republicans are rushing her to confirmation before Election Day on Nov. 3 to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In opening statements, Barrett presented her approach to the law as conservative and fair at the start of fast-tracked confirmation hearings. Democrats cast her as a threat to Americans’ health care coverage during the coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats say the winner of the presidential election should choose the nominee but they are virtually powerless to stop her confirmation, which could lock in a conservative court majority for years to come.

Day 1 Takeaways: Coronavirus at center of Supreme Court hearings.

VIDEO: Republican Sen. Graham, GOP say hearing safe from virus.

VIDEO: Democratic Sen. Feinstein says health care at stake.

VIDEO: Barret statement.

Affordable Care Act: The Trump administration wants the court to strike down the entire health care law known as “Obamacare.” Barrett has criticized the court's two earlier major rulings supporting it. Democrats therefore strongly contend a Supreme Court with Barrett could quickly get rid of the law that gives more than 20 million Americans health insurance coverage.

But that’s not the inevitable outcome of a challenge the court will hear Nov. 10, just one week after the election. Experts say the litigants have an “uphill battle” to have the court overturn the entire health care law. Democratic lawmakers still say Barrett's nomination puts protections for pre-existing health conditions at risk, Jessica Gresko and Mark Sherman report.

POOL PHOTO VIA AP/TOBY MELVILLE

UK imposes 3-level lockdown; Cuba relaxes restrictions; 2nd COVID-19 vaccine trial paused over unexplained illness

The British government has carved England into three tiers of risk in a bid to slow the spread of a resurgent coronavirus.

The northern city of Liverpool is in the highest category and will close pubs, gyms and betting shops. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the three-tier national system was designed to “simplify and standardize” a confusing patchwork of local rules. He said the country faces a “crucial phase” in which hospitals are now filling up with more COVID-19 patients than in March.

But pubs, restaurants and other businesses are pushing back, arguing that they alone are not to blame for rising infections. Under the new measures, areas of England will be classed as at medium, high or very high risk and placed under restrictions of varying severity, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui report from London.

Authorities in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao said they have tested more than 3 million people following the first reported local outbreak in nearly two months.

India has registered 55,342 new cases, its lowest single-day tally since mid-August. The Health Ministry raised the confirmed total to more than 7.17 million cases on but said the country was seeing declining daily cases over the last five weeks.

Cuba Easing: The country is relaxing coronavirus restrictions in hopes of boosting its economy. It allowed shops and government offices to reopen Monday, and it is welcoming locals and tourists at airports across the island except in Havana. Face masks and social distancing remain mandatory. But authorities will no longer isolate those who have been in contact with suspected cases, Andrea Rodriguez reports from Havana.

Vaccine: A late-stage study of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant’s “unexplained illness” is related to the shot. The company said that illnesses, accidents and other adverse events are an expected part of large clinical studies. The pause is at least the second to occur among several vaccines that have reached large-scale final tests in the U.S. Final-stage testing of a vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University remains on hold in the U.S., though it has restarted elsewhere.

U.S. Virtual School Rules: Toys that look like weapons. Barefoot students. Disruptive imagery in the background. Pets roaming the room. All a clear violation of rules inside most American classrooms. But as is clear, 2020 has been very different. How do those standards translate when everyone is logging on from home? Weeks into the fall semester, a growing number of school officials are navigating those grey areas, reports Kathleen Foody.

How long can I expect a COVID-19 illness to last? The AP is answering Viral Questions in this series.

COVID RIPPLES

As a pandemic presses on, waves of grief follow its path

A widow speaks hauntingly about the coronavirus death of her husband, the folk-country musician John Prine.

A small-town undertaker grieves over losing so many familiar faces to COVID-19. A cancer doctor forced to deliver bad news virtually laments the loss of human connection.

Illness and death are the pandemic’s most feared consequences, but a collective sense of loss is perhaps its most extraordinary, writes Lindsay Tanner in this moving piece.

With job layoffs, canceled family visits, shuttered restaurants and closed gyms, the pandemic has spread grief by degrees around the globe. Experts say even seemingly small losses can leave people feeling empty and unsettled.

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