more sow division among americans. and in some ways also trying to hurt president trump's campaign. according to the intelligence community. >> president trump responded to the russian part of the assessment tonight. let's take a look. >> i think the last person russia wants to see in office is donald trump because no one has been tougher on russia than i have, ever. >> well, that's not -- >> i don't care what anybody says. >> evan? >> that is obviously not exactly true. one of the frustrations for people inside the administration has been that the president has pulled his punches whenever he talks to russian president vladimir putin. he's not brought up anything about russian interference in the election in quite some time. it's quite the opposite of what the president portrays. >> or even the alleged bounties offered to the taliban. >> exactly. >> startling.

i mean, it still seems like the intelligence community does not have the support of the white house, is reflected in the president's comments. >> right, and that's where it gets complicated. if you're talking to the people who are the career people who are trying to protect this country, they believe they have a job to do. as far as responding. to the russians, what you try to do, they're not what the president will do. >> i'll hand it over to chris cuomo, "prime time." >> welcome to "prime time", repeating lies is a very effective way to sell them. too often with trump he doesn't get checked every time he says something that's untrue. right now especially, he must. the only thing worse than this president's inaction is his active deception about the reality and this statement from

the president of the united states is a lie. >> a pandemic which is disappearing, it's going to disappear. recent cases are up because we're doing -- one of the reasons, we're doing a lot of testing. >> the only thing that has disappeared is his credibility on this issue. please know that this is the truth. if you don't socially distance. if you don't wear a mask when you can't socially distance, if you don't practice good hygiene in and outside your house this virus will not slow down, let alone go away. believe me. i learned this the hard way, i do not want you to go through what i and my family went through. take no comfort in his words. we have cases because we are mismanaging the situation.

the proof? look at hospitalizations. why are they going up in so many places if it's just about testing? this is not about counting, it's about contagion. it is what it is, mr. president. a pandemic and it will keep beating us until we get rapid testing everywhere we need it. don't waste our time on these lies. tell us you get this. tell us that you will get rapid testing like they did in the u.k., better than that. make that your message. not this misinformation. your inaction on a testing plan is killing us. the cdc predicts almost 1,000 of us will die a day on average within the next three weeks. it doesn't have to be like this. instead of dealing with the situation for what it is, he's

trying to distract you with fake news. not on our watch. this ugly deception that he wants you to think he's about to do a big move to help you is going to do a big move. he says he's pursuing an executive order, okay? this was the news today. trump says he's pursuing executive order to require all health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions and says, this has never been done before. listen, i'm not making it up. >> we will be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all of its customers. this has never been done before. >> have you no shame? now, he happens to be right, we can find no record of a president ever doing this before, lying to this degree to

you, about your existing legal rights. pre-existing condition protections currently exist in obamacare. the law of the land for now. why do i say that? to make this worse, not only is he lying to you about giving you something you already have, he's actively trying to take it away. he's suing right now to try to overturn the aca, obamacare. that would get rid of the pre-existing condition that he says he wants to give you that you already have, unless he wins and takes you away. it's not just him, he was reading those words. whoever you are, how could you even write that, you know it's a lie. he needs to take that b.s. to thailand, go bury it in yosemite park. this president literally can't

speak the truth. he can't say words the right way, let alone tell you what they mean. and he lies about what matters most. this isn't i'm the best president this is the best tax package ever, that's politics. this is perfidy, this is a breach of sacred trust to protect people. trying to sell you on a false reality so you send your kids to schools that can't count cases. deceiving you, wanting you to believe that kids are almost immune. every statistic shows kids are built to handle this, he says. it's a lie. and it's a dangerous lie. who lies about kids? the country tragically just lost a beautiful 7-year-old boy in georgia, with no underlying health conditions. we have more about that in a moment. but of course you have a right to be scared as parents. my wife and i are worried.

these hybrid plans seem like the worst of both worlds. of course the data shows it hits adults harder than kids. on average. it doesn't mean they're immune. think about being that family, god forbid, there but for the grace go we. parents mourning their own child? and they're not the first. people have lost kids to covid. kids have gotten very sick, kids are making other people sick. see this picture? this is out of georgia also. a state that was bending backwards, their governor kemp, to have trump say, they're good, they're reopening ready or not. i don't blame the kids. what do you think they're going to do? if you tell them things are normal they'll act as if things are normal. many not wearing masks, of course not six feet apart. don't blame them, blame us.

that's on the people in charge in georgia. that's why so many of us are unsure about whether they want to send their kids back to school for in-person learning. i want to, but i'm not exposing my kids to that. and what about the teachers, the staff, the family at home of those kids. the kid who took this picture got suspended for it. not supposed to use your phone. oh, really? and what about the reality they captured. on "prime time," you get rewarded for exposing the truth. it was good trouble this person got in. and you will hear her story. why? i don't want any of our kids to have to be put in a position like this. we have a president who is encouraging it with lies and inaction. this would be okay if we could test those kids every damn day and get the results fast. he can make that happen and he isn't. at the opposite end of accountability and responsibility, you have my

brother in new york. he has made a lot of difficult choices. he hasn't been perfect, nobody is. we've had problems here and failures. he was able to say today that all school districts are cleared to reopen. but not to throw water on my brother's own parade. be very clear, he didn't open the schools. this is going to be very case by case. i don't know if i have comfort having my kid go back to school. he said, they are all eligible to be open. there's no blanket restriction. it's going to be community by community. there are requirements they will have to meet. districts are going to have to submit their plans. masks are going to be warn at all times if you can't socially distance. this was the state, remember, new york got its ass kicked by covid. we were where you didn't want to be. and now, even though it had everything going against it, travel hub, tons of density,

more people in need than it had requirements to meet them. didn't have a lot of money in the budget for this. now every region is well below its infection limit. and if infection rates spike, before scheduled reopenings the governor says he's going to have to revisit things. he better, right? the whole point is for us to be healthy. i think his decision today comes with risks. no question about it. let's talk about the realities here, okay? i believe in staying with sources that i know i can trust so that what they tell you is worth acting on and that's why i have infectious disease specialist with vanderbilt university, dr. william schaffner on the show as often as i do. i know his credentials, i tracked him over time on this. nobody knows everything. he asks the right questions and he's worried about the right things. thank you for being a gift to

the audience and to me when i was sick during this time. >> good to be with you, chris, listen, here's a reality, it may be three hours early, but congratulations on entering the second half century of your life's adventure. happy birthday, pal. >> there will have to be better scientists than you to keep me alive another five years, let alone 50, but thank you very much. let's clear up a little thing, you know health policy very well. this is an easy fact check. pre-existing condition protection exists now in the law. this administration is fighting it in court. he's not giving us anything with an executive order the way he says he is. is that the truth? >> it's the truth. i'm kind of baffled. maybe existing conditions need the protection of an executive order against members of his own party who want to repeal it. i'll take all the help i can get to keep those in. when i was an intern, i thought

by now we would have universal health care for everyone. i have gray hair, we're not there yet. we certainly don't want to move backwards. >> in terms of opening schools. you see that picture down there in georgia. i don't blame the kids. if you tell them to go back, they're going to do what they normally do. what is the obvious set of factors that pops out to you in this scenario in this type of proximity and population? >> well, we're all concerned, right? some places can be more confident than others. including your own state of new york, because you people have started as a hotspot and turned it into a cold spot. and the countries that have opened schools successfully, have been those where they have controlled the community spread. so then they can open the schools and even they have done it carefully. but across the country we have varying conditions in the communities for the most part, this virus is out of control.

so i understand the anxiety of the parents. and we grandparents have a high schooler going back, someone going to college. we're worried about all that. >> one more question. is it true that the deciding factor in terms of what we can control when it comes to school has to be rapid testing? the only way to control a population like that is to have very short interval turnaround on what's going on with that big of a population. so you can make adjustments in realtime. you can't wait 7, 8 days. if you don't have rapid testing, back in a matter of hours, you can't do it. >> that would be beautiful. they're doing it for the national football league, why can't we do it for the national scholastic league. that's what we would like to do. >> thank you very much. i'm telling you. i'm going to ask you about schools a lot going forward. i see it as a metaphor for everything. our kids matter the most. you can't go to work if your kids going to be home.

economy is not going to get back and god forbid kids start getting sick? think we've seen disruption from this virus already, we haven't seen anything yet if it starts affecting our kids. be well and thank you. >> thank you, chris. >> we all have a role in in this, and i am not going to let the president say things that are dangerous and untrue, especially about our kids. because we cannot have the level of confidence he wants us to have. i want it, by the way, we all want it, i want to believe that my mario who had it already with the antibodies, he's going to be good. i don't know that. my two girls they haven't had it, i don't know what's going to happen to them. what if they catch a bad case? it happens. covid just claimed its youngest victim in georgia. the kid was seven. we have the mayor of atlanta. georgia's biggest city. she had covid, her family had covid, she's fighting the fight

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listen, nobody wants anything bad to happen anywhere in this country or you shouldn't. but when you reopen without being smart, without putting safety first, you will have

problems, it is an immutable truth in a pandemic. if you put people together in ways you can't count and you can't keep them safe, they're going to be sick. breaking news from georgia. another problem in another school district. this time it's cherokee county, just north of atlanta. it has only been a week. one week, 260 kids, 8 teachers have been told to quarantine because kids tested positive and the return on the test, there was a lag, and this is what happens. covid positivity rates are going up in major cities all across this country. you may be saying didn't i hear this about georgia? you did, but it was a different county, it was gwinnett county. that was 200 something teachers and staff. this is a different group of 200 in a different county.

and it's students. this is what you risk. the white house task force coordinator deborah birx warned in a private call with state and local officials this week, that nine cities in particular are on their radar. you can see that includes atlanta, where the mayor is in a legal face-off with the governor over mask mandates. can you believe that anyone in charge still has a problem with telling people to wear masks if they can't socially distance? governor kemp is against them. even when it comes to schools. that is a smart idea to one person, trump. he says it should be up to local officials. why give them the choice on something like this? it can only help. this is what we all saw. this is what happens, when you leave it to them. you leave it to people, there's

risk, and here's the reality. kids cramming a hallway, i don't see any masks in the picture. and remember, i know the president told you it's going to disappear. he's lying, i know he told you kids are basically immune, he's lying. kids get sick, just not as much as we do. but over the age of 10, they can be as contagious as we can. why did a 7-year-old boy have to die in georgia just this week? no underlying conditions? atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms joins me right now. it's good to see you, but i'm very sad about these circumstances, mayor. that picture of that high school is scary. i don't know what the numbers are in that county, i don't know why they felt this level of confidence, but i wouldn't put my kid in there, would you? >> chris, kids are kids. >> i don't blame the kids. go ahead, mayor.

>> well, no, what i was going to say is, i was out with two of my kids yesterday, and i watched them fidget and take their mask on and off. there's only so much we can expect from kids. that's why as adults, we have to make sound decisions. and it's no surprise that we are where we are in this state. but when you look at those kids in the hallways and you look at the kids not wearing masks at school, think of every bus driver and custodian and cafeteria worker and teacher in that school who's also been exposed and it's frightening and terrifies me to think of where we will be two weeks from now. >> and they go home. they go home, who's at home. is mom diabetic, is grandma there? is there an auntie around? do they have a kid brother or sister that has a vulnerability. when you said this to the

governor, what is the state of his rationale when you say look, it was gwinnett, now it's cherokee. what do you think is going to happen to. >> things he deferred to local control. when we were back in the spring and decisions needed to be made as to whether or not school systems would close down. he deferred to local control. he's continuing to do that as to whether or not it relates to whether schools are opening. atlanta schools have decided to go the first nine weeks virtual only. which is absolutely the right decision, but as it relates to masks, the governor wants to control who can and can't mandate masks in our city. we are in mediation with the governor right now, i'm encouraged by that mediation. he acknowledges that wearing masks saves lives. but we now have to just iron out whether or not local jurisdictions will have the ability to mandate them. >> the local jurisdictions should be the ones suing. not the president on their

behalf. he doesn't even have the standing. the local jurisdiction -- but forget about the law, this is practicality. you heard about this little boy in georgia, of course he's the exception, not the rule. not trying to magnify it, but tell that to his family. the idea that kids are immune just isn't true. i know how worried you were about your own kids, i know how worried i was about mine. just because a doctor says they'll probably be better off. that's not very heartening especially when you hear about something like this. >> that was heart breaking. my twins are nine, and i shared before all of my kids have asthma. this child didn't have any underlying health conditions. it's frightening and frustrating that we are still here. our kids were -- left school in march, mid school year, they left in march. we had the spring, we had the summer. and we're still in this same spot, but on many days we're

even worse, our icu's are at capacity, we weren't at capacity -- quite at capacity back in the spring, because we had shut things down, and people weren't out in traffic and having car accidents and many other issues that send them to the er. now we have businesses open as usual. we have schools open, on top of a pandemic. >> georgia's positivity rate exceeds 10%, therefore remains in the red zone. a federal designation for states with more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents. that's supposed to be a signal that you're slowing down, not accelerating. it is not easy to say you have to have kids at home for school. it screws up everything in the household as you know. but that is leadership, because if they get sick, they'll never forget who put their kids in harm's way. madam mayor, be well. good to see you looking well.

i wish the best to your family and your husband. >> happy birthday to you. >> thank you very much. >> i don't look a day over 57. take care, mayor. thank you very much. >> thank you, chris. >> that picture that we showed you, from the high school. we wouldn't have it if one of the students didn't feel she needed to show you this. and they wanted to suspend her. god bless congressman john lewis, he talked about good trouble. may not have been the thing that was by the letter of the law, it was important to make things more just. we have her tonight, and she should be rewarded. because we would never be driving the coverage how the risk is being made manifest without this young woman. she's going to join us to talk about her school and her experience next.

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back in them. ideally. right? but all of us are checked by the same instinct. i have to keep my kids safe. they can't count the tests, they come back, it takes so long. that's why this photo is going viral. it captures our fear. as far as the eye can see, kids are all over each other and not a mask in sight. i'm not mad at the kids, they're going to do what you allow them to do. the picture was posted online by a concerned student after it exploded on social media, the school suspended her. they should be suspending themselves for allowing this. since then, the school backed off. that doesn't take the onus off of what they're allowing. this photo is the fear. let's talk to the student who took the picture. i want her rewarded and recognized for this. hannah waters a sophomore at north paulding high school outside atlanta. good for you, young truth

warrior. i know this came with some drama that you were worried about, but tell us when you saw the scene in your high school, connect the dots for us about what you thought to do about it and why? >> i was very concerned for everyone in our building and everyone in our county. this is obviously nowhere near safe. and especially because there's been multiple people getting tested or multiple people testing positive inside the county from august 3rd when we opened back up. >> you took the picture, put it on social media. what was the response? >> i did not expect it to blow up so fast. it really did. i posted it after school hours. it was probably around 15 minutes after dismissal at the most. i want to say 10, 20 minutes after i posted it, i had multiple reporters asking the rights to the photo and the story behind it.

>> make 'em pay. no, so what happened with the school, when they decided to come and take action, what was that like? how did that affect you and your parents? >> it was wednesday afternoon about noon, they pulled me out of class, and i knew what it was about. i knew they figured out it was me. we talked about it, i wrote a statement, and they informed me that i broke three policies in county code of conduct, and they gave me five days of out of school suspension. >> what did your parents say? >> we fought it. my mom got the call when i was sitting in the principal's office, she -- the assistant principal referred her back to the principal so she could talk to him about it. >> why did they relent? >> they referred her to the principal and he never called her, she called him twice, and

never got a response and it wasn't until the next day where he said he would get back to her today. and earlier this morning at around 9:30 he called her and told them that he was sorry, he apologized and he deleted the suspension completely. >> so good for you. you called it good trouble in honor of the recently passed congressman john lewis, where sometimes you have to bend some of what they're telling you is right to show what's ultimately really right. good for you in having the bravery to do that. how do you feel about going back to school, if it's still that way? >> especially after that kid just died, the 7-year-old, it's very upsetting that it's going to take people dying to get people's attention. because people shouldn't have to die for people to be worried about it. people shouldn't have to be risking their lives to go to

work or school. even just to stay home, if your kid goes to school and comes back with it, you're going to catch it because who wears masks around their family. you shouldn't have to risk your life going to and from work, the grocery store, and i just am very hopeful we can take more precautions going to work and school and everything of the sorts. >> how old are you? 15, 16? >> i'm 15. >> boy oh, boy to have a 15-year-old make sense in the way your own governor isn't is something. as a kid your age, how do you make sense of the adults around you not doing what seems like such common sense to you? like not making you wear a mask? not changing how it is at school during class change periods like that, to suit an obvious need. how do you process that as a kid your age? >> i mostly know that even

though these things aren't enforced, i know that what i'm doing is right, and i'm not only helping myself and the people at home, but i'm helping everyone around me and that motivates me to do it, because i have immunocompromised people at home, and i myself have had asthma since i was a kid. it really does motivate me to help not only my family and everyone around me. >> hannah, you are a brilliant demonstration of something they will never teach you at any level of school. you have character and you took a risk, and you saw it through because you knew you were doing the right thing. even if they hadn't removed the suspension, you've given a window into the reality there that may change the reality. maybe not for the kids there, you have stubborn people at the local level. principal's got way bigger troubles than your suspension. maybe it will make others make different decisions for their kids in their schools. thank you, be healthy, god bless

you and your family, say hello to them for us. and thank them for letting you do the interview. >> thank you for your time. >> all right, truth warrior, take care. great, 15, knows what's right in a way her own governor doesn't. that's an american right there. another huge concern, russia is doing what it does. you want to talk about it is what it is? they're coming at us just like all the intel people that trump put in power tell you. we know they're going to do it. how do we know? his intel people tell us. they briefed lawmakers. there is an effort afoot to derail biden's bid on behalf of trump. now, he says nobody's been tougher. show it. prove it. do something now to beat back the foreign interference. tom friedman brilliant mind, open eyes, clear head on an obvious situation next.

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california's economic challenges are deepening. frontline workers stretched too thin. our nurses and medical professionals in a battle to save lives. our schools, in a struggle to safely reopen, needing money for masks and ppe, and to ensure social distancing. and the costs to our economy, to our state budget? mounting every day. we need to provide revenues now, to solve the problems we know are coming. of course russia is trying to hurt america again by interfering in our election. we knew this is what they were

going to do. intel officials told us this. congress was charged with finding ways to make it stop. frankly it faded a little too quickly with the impeachment. once it became not about trump and whether he would stay or go, really, the security of the process has not been an equal concern. yet here we are, months from an election. and according to our top election security official, russia is at it and surprised. they're trying to denigrate joe biden's white house bid. the president of the united states, donald john trump, responded this way moments ago. >> i think that the last person russia wants to see in office is donald trump, because nobody's been tougher on russia than i have, ever. >> that's not what -- >> well, i don't care what anybody says. >> that's the problem. you don't care what anybody says. because you're only focusing on

what you think looks good for you. if they wanted you to be president. why would they go after your opponent? and who cares if they want you to be president, your job is to stop their efforts. let's get some perspective from pulitzer prize winning "new york times" columnist, the author of the best selling book "thank you for being late," not a bad title for the president and russia threat, tom friedman. good to see you, young man. >> good to be with you. >> so what is the obvious move right now? >> well, you know, chris, i've been waiting for this move for a long time. if i were advising the president, the administration, i would simply tell him to call up putin and tell him the following. if we catch russia in any way, any place interfering in our election, between now and election day, we will throw out your ambassador, close your

consulates, and break off diplomatic relations. our elections are the core of our democracy, sacrosanct, and if you attack our elections, you are attacking the most valuable thing we have. and frankly, we're happy to cut relations with you. all you make is vodka, carvier and nesting dollars. you are nothing but a third world country with nuclear weapons. we are very happy to cut off relations with you. we will never let you interfere in our elections ever again. which part of this sentence don't you understand? >> can we do that? can we stop them from interfering? and two, do they care about those strong words? >> yeah, i think they would care if we closed their embassy, closed off economic contacts. what do we need any economic contacts any more? oil, gas, caviar, nesting dolls and export, that's what putin exports, and we don't need to be

buying them at all. they need us so much more than we need them. i don't know why we keep rolling over for them. i don't know why we don't pick up the "new york times" tomorrow and see all of vladimir putin's billions of dollars of hidden wealth displayed on the front pages of the "new york times" with every bank account. two can play at this game. why we sit back month after month year after year saying, why is russia doing this, they must be laughing at us. it's time to play hardball with them. >> what's the answer to your own question? why do you think trump, who always seems to be spoiling for a fight, just not with this guy. i stand by the statement that helsinki was my most embarrassing moment as an american, let alone as journalist, hearing him say he believed putin about interference on the world stage. what do you come up with about why trump plays it this way? >> i don't know if putin has something financial on him or not. no idea. it's clear that trump admires dictators. he admire what's he sees as

powerful men. he knows to the extent putin is going to intervene it's because he wants trump re-elected because he sees him as a patsy. that's clear. we should understand what i believe russia will try to do in this election. not only whatever they can do to get trump re-elected. they will try to delegitimize the results. what russia would love to see is a chaotic american election, that delegitimizes democracy in the biggest and most important democracy in the world. that's what serves putin's interest most. >> why do you think he sleeps on testing instead of embracing rapid testing, making it a maga point, and really pulling out progress right before the election? >> it's really inexplicable to me, chris, for a simple reason. it's the virus stupid. what i mean by that is, if the virus goes down, the economy comes back. if the virus goes down, kids go back to school. if the virus goes down, more

restaurants get opened more places. it's always been about the virus. and why he doesn't make that the centerpiece of his policy. why he wouldn't make mask wearing a national law, because it would only serve the interests of our economy, our country and for him his chances of re-election is simply inexplicable to me. >> if i were to say right now, and i never would. unlike the african-american community with notable exceptions, the latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. if i were to say that, i would be apologizing my ass for the next three days and rightly so and that would be at home let alone on television. joe biden says something like that, how could people have confidence that his head is screwed on tighter than trump's? >> i really don't know, chris. i don't know where that comment came from. >> it came from his mouth. i'm asking why.

>> which part of his brain. yeah, i really don't know, i couldn't answer. you know, the truth is, chris, that both biden and trump have a certain kind of teflon, each guy's teflon is different. trump's teflon is mud. when you're covered in mud, you throw more mud at the guy and nothing sticks, it's not visible. the whole notion of a stain on donald trump is like an oxymoron. biden's teflon up until now, people think he's a decent person. when he says some kind of crazy stuff sometimes or stuff that doesn't seem to add up, people give him the benefit of the doubt, because they think at heart he's a good and decent man. i don't think he should test that teflon much further, let's put it that way. >> i think the test for him is especially as a contrast to trump, if you don't believe this, tell me that. tell me -- here's what i was trying to say. and maybe i have this wrong, but

my feeling is that -- whatever. the black community is -- tends to be more of a monolith politically and latino -- that's what it is. i don't know his rationale. he has to do better than trump in these situations. can't double down on it, can't run away from it. can't have better people apologize for it. he's got to explain to the people, because that's what we're craving. someone who's straight with us. tom friedman, you always are, blessing on this show, you're part of my birthday gift as far as i'm concerned every time you come on. >> happy birthday. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> be well. russia is messing with our election, and i don't know what we're doing about it. because instead of seeing some big effort mounted we seem to have our own president messing with us as well. messing with us on the pandemic. and messing with the u.s. postal service. it does seem like he's messing with them for his own benefit in the election. democrats are voicing concerns about certain changes at the usps. what are they and why? we have the ranking member of

the senate committee which overseas the postal service. what is he upset about? what is his proof and what is the fix, next? awesome internet.

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have is mail-in ballots. because with the mail-in ballots, called universal mail-in ballots, it is a much easier thing for a foreign power, whether it's russia, china, iran, north korea. it's much easier for them to forge ballots and send them in. it's much easier for them to cheat. >> their efforts, to this point, have been largely cyber. and the one thing we know, for sure, makes it easier for foreign actors to mess with us is when our president seems to invite it. there is no evidence of any of what he just suggested happening. there's plenty of evidence of them messing with us online. and planting messages and memes. right? all that crap we had to learn about the last time around. and now, he is saying the same stuff. i don't know why.

i don't know why. they're really afraid of me. so, say it to them. tell them what you're going to do if they keep doing this. tell them what you're going to do, if you catch them. instead, he is doing the same kind of thing to our postal service. he is trying to undermine your confidence in the ability for the postal service to process ballots. let me ask you something. you ever get a bill, late, from the postal service? they handle lots of stuff, all the time. they can handle this. okay? the question becomes, whether what some see as new delays at the usps are attributable to trump and the postmaster general he appointed. in other words, is trump creating the risk, that he is actually making sure comes true? as a result, top democrats are now calling for an investigation into postmaster general louis dejoy for making sweeping policy changes there. in a letter to the postal

service inspector general, they say it's led to slower and less reliable mail. and, quote, these changes threaten the wellbeing of millions of americans that rely on the postal service for delivery of social security checks, prescriptions, and everyday mail of all kinds. they appear to pose a threat to mail-in ballots and the 2020 election. senator gary peters is the member of the homeland community that's looking into this. >> great to be with you, chris. thank you. >> what is the strength of your case, at this point? >> well, right now, it's an investigation. we want to look into what we are hearing. certainly, i am hearing from constituents across the state of michigan that say, over the last few weeks in particular, they've just seen the mail delivery delayed. they're waiting longer for very important mail. you mentioned some of that from our letter. we've got senior citizens who need drugs, that are delivered via the mail, and are very concerned because they're not getting them on time, as they always have. they get social security checks.

we have folks who get bills that need to be paid. and if they're not paid, there are penalties for doing that. we are even hearing from the veterans administration that's concerned about how long it's taking for some of their drugs to get to the veterans from the service. it just is unacceptable what we are seeing, these last few weeks. and now, it seems to be correlated, as you mentioned, to some policy changes, brought about by the new postmaster general. was appointed by president trump. his main qualification for this job is that he is a large political donor for president trump. now, is in charge of the postal service. and has put in policies that folks in the post office, the letter carriers, the postal workers, are saying to me, they've not seen the mail pile up like it's happening now. and it's because of changes, like reducing overtime, dramatically. so when there is a surge of mail, they don't have the manpower to get it out. we are also seeing some of the transportation trucks that move mail as it piles up. they'll send an extra truck because the postal service is

always about get the mail in, move it, continuously. move it as quickly as possible. and yet, you are seeing these slowdowns, including not using processing machines as aggressively as they did before and forcing folks to hand sort mail. so, of course, it's going to start slowing down and this is critical for everyday business and it's unacceptable. so we need to get to the bottom of what exactly is happening here. >> postmaster general dejoy said this today. >> while i certainly have a good relationship with the president of the united states, the notion that i would ever make decisions concerning the postal service, at the direction of the president or anyone else in the administration, is wholly off base. >> do you believe that? and is there a better explanation than the one you're offering? inefficiencies. that he asked for money and you didn't give it to them. you know, that this is just about making cuts in tough times. >> well, certainly, the postal service has a real strain, as all businesses do right now, with coronavirus. that's why, in the cares act, we

appropriated a $10 billion line of credit to help the postal service get through this. unfortunately, the treasury department has delayed the ability for the postal service to get that money. and, quite frankly, to have him say that he had no part of this. we've had conflicting statements. initially, he responded to an oversight letter that i sent. which basically said this is a local decision. it's not policy of the postal service. and then, in a letter we just got friday, they said, well, yes, this is a policy that we've put forward. but the questions that weren't answered and the questions that we asked were, well, did you actually study whether or not these changes would have any impact on the reliability of mail delivery? or slow down the process? and what sort of oversight do you have to -- if -- if this isn't working, that you can immediately change to the types of standards that we saw previously? and they're silent. they're silent, which is why we need to get answers to these questions. you mentioned vote by mail. if -- if it's slowing down now, for everyday business, when you get a surge of ballots, as we

just saw in michigan with record numbers of absentee ballots cast during our primary. it's going to get even bigger in the general election. we have to make sure we get this right. and the postal service has the capability to do that. the men and women who work in the post office are amazing folks who work hard. they're committed people. but if management decisions are being made to slow down the mail, impacting every day citizens and their everyday business, as well as slowing down the voting process, that is simply unacceptable and we have to make sure that we call it out. >> and i know that you guys are also asking the inspector general to review the couple's holdings. the dejoy couple. you believe that they have millions in assets and usps according to their financial disclosure forms. concern? >> it is a concern. and the one reason we're concerned is i think if you -- if you look at the statements president trump has made, and the kinds of actions