Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, October 7, 2020:

WEST WING OUTBREAK

POTUS HEALTH: While President Trump’s doctors say he is doing “extremely well” and experiencing no symptoms, medical experts agree that the president is entering a critical few days, about a week after the onset of symptoms, when many COVID-19 patients have taken a turn for the worse. NY TIMES

MORE POSITIVES: A Coast Guard admiral who was at the White House on Sept. 27 has tested positive, as has one of the president’s close military aides who is tasked with carrying the nuclear “football.” Top Pentagon officials, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, are in quarantine after possible exposure. Stephen Miller, senior policy adviser to the president, has also tested positive and is in isolation. CNN

VP DEBATE

Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will square off tonight in Salt Lake City for the first and only vice presidential debate of the cycle. Susan Page of USA Today will moderate, and no list of topics has been released. The candidates will be 12 feet apart on the stage and protected by plexiglass partitions, despite objections from the Pence camp that they are overkill since he has tested negative. VP debates don’t typically move votes, though this year could be different given the ages of the candidates at the top of both tickets. NPR

POLLERCOASTER

The latest round of national and swing-state polls amounts to a flashing warning sign for the Trump campaign. With less than a month until Election Day, Joe Biden has opened up a double-digit national lead among likely voters, ranging from 10 points in the Cheddar/SurveyUSA poll to 16 points in CNN/SSRS. Biden leads by 10 in Pennsylvania (Monmouth) and 8 in Arizona (NYT/Siena), and is consolidating support among seniors, according to several surveys. Polls are a snapshot and time and not necessarily predictive of where the race will be on Nov. 3 -- and if this year has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen -- but Biden appears to be pulling away in the race as of right now. CHEDDAR

MAJOR HURRICANE

Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified over the last 24 hours and is now approaching landfall near Cancún, Mexico as a strong Cat 3 storm with 120 mph winds. The system will likely weaken as it moves over the Yucatán, but conditions in the Gulf are ideal for it to regain strength as it sets its sights on the hurricane-weary U.S. Gulf Coast later this week. TRACK

TRUMP ENDS STIMULUS TALKS

Stocks plummeted after President Trump declared that he was halting all stimulus negotiations until after the election. The president says he has instructed Senate Republicans to instead “focus full time” on the Supreme Court nomination. Hours before the sudden reversal -- Trump had urged stimulus negotiations to continue just three days earlier -- Fed Chair Jerome Powell argued that Congress needs to go big on a new stimulus in order to avert long-term economic fallout from the pandemic. Overnight, Trump contradicted himself with new tweets urging some kind of immediate economic relief. NBC NEWS

IPHONE ANNOUNCEMENT

Apple has officially announced the event that will likely be used to introduce the new iPhone 12. The virtual event, scheduled for next Tuesday at 1 pm ET, is being teased with a “Hi, Speed” tagline -- a good indication that it will feature the first-ever 5G iPhone. Apple watchers expect four iterations of the new flagship device that will differ in size, price and camera technology. 9TO5MAC

LAKERS ONE WIN AWAY

LeBron James led the Lakers to a Game 4 win over the Heat, putting the franchise within one victory of its 17th championship. James had a huge second half to take control of the game; before tip-off he had texted his teammates two words: Must win. And they did. Game 5 -- win or go home for Miami -- is Friday night. ESPN

IN MEMORIAM: EDDIE VAN HALEN

Eddie Van Halen, the influential guitar virtuoso whose eponymous band helped usher in the “hair metal” era, has died at 65. The cause was cancer, according to his family. Van Halen’s mastery of the guitar -- despite never having learned to read music -- is widely considered to have reoriented the course of popular rock ‘n roll toward the explosive, glam sound that defined the 1980s. OBIT

STERN PAYDAY

Howard Stern is reportedly nearing a contract extension with Sirius XM that would net him $120 million per year, a healthy bump in pay for the satellite-radio shock jock whose previous contracts were in the $80-100 million range. Stern’s ability to command that much money is made all the more notable by the fact that the biggest paydays in audio are going to podcasters, not radio hosts. In fact, Stern had talks with Spotify but they did not go very far. BLOOMBERG

LEFTOVERS: THANK YOU, THOR!

After 3,000 years, Tasmanian devils have returned to Australia’s mainland. Conservationists have released a total of 26 of the meat-eating marsupials into a wildlife sanctuary near Sydney. The hope is that they will help naturally rebalance the ecosystem and push back the incursion of invasive species. Australia’s own Chris Hemsworth helped do the honors: WATCH

Listen to the N2K Podcast! Looking for more context and analysis on the big stories of the day? Check out our podcast! Hosts Jill and Carlo break down the headlines, every weekday morning Listen on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!

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