Good morning. I'm James Holman from The Washington Post and this is the Daily

202 for Friday, October 16th. In today's news, coronavirus hospitalizations are rising in most states.

President Trump was warned that Rudy Giuliani was the target of a Russian intelligence

operation.

And Trump rejects emergency aid to help California recover

from the worst fires in state history.

But first, the big idea. Separ separated by five states two television news outlets and a deep

trough of mutual animosity Trump and Joe Biden held dueling town halls on Thursday night that offered a jarring contrast of their opposing political styles and approaches to major issues like the pandemic.

The split-screen events with Trump on NBC in Miami and Biden on ABC in Philadelphia

appeared to be broadcast from entirely different dimensions or planets. The soft-spoken

Biden leaned back in a white chair, relaxed and

conversational as he hit upon notes of optimism and uplift.

Trump's appearance was heated and at times abrasive with the candidate leaning forward as he defended his record and

challenged the motivations of moderator Savannah Guthrie. In a rapid-fire 60 minutes

Trump doubted the effectiveness of wearing masks to prevent the virus from spreading,

refused to denounce the baseless Q-Anconspiracy theory,

repeatedly declined to say whether he was tested for the coronavirus before the last debate

and battled with Guthrie who pressed him with details and a mastery of the facts

that other moderators have not possessed when sparring with him.

Trump said his FBI director Chris Ray was, quote, not doing a very good job because he does not

embrace the president's false claims of widespread voter fraud.

He denounced white supremacy after being asked why he would not do so in the first debate, and

...