released it is during a pandemic when i always wanted to celebrate grads. i never had the opportunity, you know. >> right, and the timing on that is striking. >> and ipads in it. >> exactly. tianna taylor, we're at the end of the hour. the new album is called "the album" and that does it for us. keep it right here on msnbc. keep it right here on msnbc. good evening, i'm joy reed. h as we recognize the fallen soldiers that served this country this memorial day, it comes as the united states faces challenges posed by the global pandemic. the stark reality the coronavirus death poll is soon likely to exceed 100,000 americans and it continues to mount as the country reopens. to put that horror in perspective, far more americans have died of coronavirus than

all of those lost in any of the last five wars. not only that, but the count is approaching the number of americans who died in world war i. "the new york times" marked the occasion this weekend with a fitting tribute to the victims on its front page. a long and diverse list of names that represent only a fraction of the lives lost. amid this, we saw donald trump attend the traditional wreath laying sermon know aceremony at national ceremony and spent the bulk of a solid weekend lobbying offensive insummsummi insults a golf. ridiculing nancy pelosi for her appearan appearance, mocking stacey abrams's weight and calling hillary clinton a word i will not dignify on air and if that wasn't juvenile enough, the president engaged in a virtual shouting match with the republican senate candidate that

may once chose as his attorney general jeff sessions. as "the washington post" put it, trump's barrage of social media attacks stood in sharp contrast to a sober reality on a weekend for mourning military dead. trump also squeezed in two rounds of golf including one on sunday morning allowing himself to be seen golfing which he rarely has. after encouraging churches to reopen for services. those very visible outings sent the clearest signal yet that the president wants you to believe it's safe to resume life as normal. to pretend all this horror has magically gone away like he said it would months ago. unfortunately, new images of overcrowded bars, beaches and pools from around the country this weekend confirmed that many americans, at least those who take trump's lead feel the same way. trump today defended his decision to play golf saying he wanted a little exercise. i'm joined by elih. white house reporter for the los angeles times. susan is a republican

strategists and michael, nbc news political historian. elih, donald trump is not a church going man that anybody has seen but insisting churches need to reopen. it was rare for us to see him playing golf. he spends a lot of time visiting his golfing resorts. what is the white house want the country to take from that? because it was not a very solum presentation of himself. >> no, but the white house will respond to that critique and say look, this president had the flags lowered to half staff. this president said over and over again one person killed is too many, but obviously, your point is well taken. the message that the president has said those sort of recitations of grief, they have not brought the country together and they have been undermined by other messages the president has sent from his twitter feed or symbolically by hitting the golf course and things he said in interviews that the mourning and the death that is not his focus.

he is very inpatient and eager to get this country back to normal, even though without a vaccine, most people say you can reopen whatever you want, the economy is not going to come back until there is a vaccine. this is an inpatient president trying to send that message. he tweeted over the weekend, the case loads are dropping. that was the day after dr. birx stood in the white house briefing room and said that's not the case and that she's very concerned with the rising numbers in a lot of cities including washington d.c. and los angeles. so, you know, this president is trying to push the country back towards what he views as normalcy and obviously, it just doesn't ring true with the experiences of a lot of people mourning loved ones this weekend and who are still very concerned about their own well being if they decide to go back out and leave their homes and try to re-engage in normal behaviors. >> right. and it's striking if the church going, his church going base follows his lead, they are

putting themselves at great risk. i want to play for you, this is how donald trump used to talk about presidents who spent a lot of time playing golf. >> we have a president who doesn't fight. he goes out and plays golf all the time. he doesn't want to work too hard. he wants to go back and play more golf. he plays more golf than the guys on the pga tour. go golf, golf, more, more, learning how to chip and hit the drive and putt. i want more. if i win, there won't be time to go golfing all the time. i'm not going to be playing much golf, believe me. if i win this, i won't be playing much golf. i'm not going to play much golf because there is a lot of work to be done. what am i going to do? play a round of golf? it's boring. >> so first of all, president obama didn't own golf resorts he could visit as many times as a taxpayer expense trump visited his own. lindsey graham, of course, defended trump's golf outings, of course. saying glad to see him back on links. americans worked hard to

mitigate the spread, yada, yada. this is a president at leisure much of the time. he has a lot of time to tweet. are there any republicans left who find this odd? lindsey graham doesn't think it's a problem but does the party think he's presenting himself in a way that is going to be helpful to them? a lot of them are up for reelection. >> they would be foolish to think he would be helpful to them. we've seen in 2018 he was helpful to virtually nobody. the democrats won in a blue wave. when it comes to the whole golf ing thing, i never cared when president obama golf. is trump a hypocrite? yes. do we know that? absolutely. i'm surprised he's willing to take such a bad vision and put it out there. i mean, frankly, he was standing out there in the weeds where his campaign was. he should be focused on other

things but there are times it's not so bad he's on the golf course because then he's not up to mischief in the white house. i'll put that aside. republicans will be making a big mistake if they think they can tack on to donald trump. they needed him to win a primary but in these swing states, he is going to be an anchor around their neck. >> yeah. michael, it strikes me that that image of a president golfing when nearly 100,000 americans are dead and that contrast with that "new york times" cover, one would expect from a president is missing somehow. there is an ad that the lincoln project is running right now in which it shows, you know, president lincoln narrating a letter to the wife of a war dead. actually, can we play it for a second? this is cut six. if we could play it for one moment because i want you to

comment on the contrast. do we have that? >> i feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a lost soul overwhelming, but i cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the republic they died to save. i pray our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your beravement and leave you the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the solum pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom. yours very sincerely and respectfully, abraham lincoln. >> you know, michael, i'm struck by the formality of language, which i do miss in the way presidents normally speak, but also by the sort of grace of it. you've written a book called "presidents of war." the way that donald trump sounds, how is that meaningful, the way he behaves, the way he

golfs, the way he acts in the case of this calamity? >> all these things are making statements and the statement they make is that he's not devoted 140% to mobilizing the federal government and uniting the country to save lives, to protect americans. if you asked me tonight what is donald trump's plan to minimize the number of people lost for this pandemic, i couldn't tell you and the other thing, joy, is that this is the day in 1787 that the constitutional convention opened in philadelphia. donald trump -- >> let me hold you for one second. we are having some audio problems. we're going to dial you back in. i want to hear you finish that thought. we'll try to dial michael back in and i'm going to come back to elih while we try to reconnect with michael. because there is the sdonald trump golfing and this. this is cut one for my wonderful

producers. this is happening in kentucky where a second amendment protest was held very close to the grounds of the state capitol in which the governor was hung in a place visible to where his -- he lives with his wife and children. that was a thing that happened this week. the sort of rage on the side of the trumpests because they have to be locked down, because there are rules, because at least there are ideas to keep people safe. that's a weird thing. >> yeah, it's refect tiive, this something that's exacerbated it and we have a moment that maybe in another era might have served to help unify this country a little bit at least temporarily and we just have not seen a national coming together in

response to this coronavirus that has taken close to 100,000 americans. it's just staggering and instead, this president has mixed the messages and calls for unity and for mourning with a lot of really sharp political attacks and don'tcontinued to se story mainly through the lens how it reflects on him when he's talked about the numbers of dead, he's talked about it not as people but as statistics and he has pointed to this not as a cause for national mourning, but as a reflection of his own success in combatting this saying again and again whether it's 50 or 70 or 100,000 americans who have died, he keeps saying well, it would have been a lot more if not for the great job we have done and so that is his playbook to continue to pat himself on the back, not to really express the empathy that the country is used to hearing from presidents and to really lash out at the media and at democrats and anybody who he

feels is not giving him his due right now and that is just totally unique. i think in a moment like this, obviously, we've seen and been through a lot of political moments and obviously, this is the country being divided. that's nothing new. michael can talk more about that. this moment that could be about unity, it has not been so far. >> yeah, and we do have michael back. i want to bring you back in and let you finish your thought, michael. >> okay. thank you so much, joy. what i was saying was the constitution says that we americans are striving for a more perfect union and to ensure domestic tranquility, can you say tonight that especially in the last couple months this is someone striving to unite the country, create a more perfect union? is this someone striving to ensure domestic tranquility to

pit citizens in a state against governors to try to protect them or states against one another? this is part of his job. >> it is striking, susan, you know, for your party. this is the leadership he's providing. it's striking people still continue to support him as he is doing this and basically governing a third of the country or whatever share is still supporting him and surprising to me there aren't more people that say no, this is not acceptable in our party and country. >> i wake up every day, sdwroi, a -- joy, and wonder the same thing. where are the people of my party that know better but go into this and they got sucked into donald trump. now, there are still a good deal of republicans who don't really support the president anymore but they just don't know where else to go because frankly, they don't feel like the democratic party is there for them. but there is just one other thing looking at the images you put up today, joy, i just keep

thinking that this president is anything but inspirational. he doesn't cause us to dream. he wants us to hate and divide. that's his message to the country on memorial day is to hate other people and i can't think of anything more disgraceful for the president of the united states to do on a day like today. >> yeah, and we do have a sound byte now of a member of his administration talking about fellow americans and it is again, very striking the way that the trumpests sound when they talk about their fellow americans. let's take a listen. >> robert said that he thinks it looks a little bit like at the end of the world war ii the countries that didn't have their capital stocks destroyed by the war, when the war ended they pretty much got their economies going at 40 or 50% and here he was cautioned about the analogy in a private email. i think that, you know, professor barrow's view, we

don't have our capital stock isn't destroyed. our human capital stock is ready to get back to work. there are reasons to believe we can get going faster than we have in previous crisis. >> you know, michael, to refer to human beings, human workers who are -- the country is depending on to eat, to, you know, to survive this as stock is weird, but it seems to be showing this era. your thoughts? >> i can't believe what i'm hearing and i can't believe when a president is saying things like transition to greatness and it's time to open up the economy. all well and good. his more fundamental job is to save people's lives and save people from this plague and calamity. what you saw today would not give us confidence this is a president spending 140%mobilize

resource a president has to protect all of us and ensure our safety. >> yeah, and i should note that was white house economic advisor kevin hasset speaking about stock. thank you-all. a wonderful memorial data you-all and coming up, the rush to return to normal. will we see a spike in covid-19 cases two weeks from now because of scenes like this in the ozarks? plus the republican war against voters. the party is suing to stop mail in voting. it's all about suppressing the vote. we got much more to get to. stay with us. vote we got much more to get to stay with us getting older shouldn't mean giving up all the things she loves to do. it should just mean, well, finding new ways to do them. right at home's professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation.

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into overcrowded pools despite the on going pandemic. let face it, the weirdness of seeing that bunched up in a human stew. regardless, without specific recalling out the ozarks partie partiers, the director of the missouri department of health released a statement noting covid-19 is still here and social distancing needs to continue to prevent further spread of infections. close contact with others even if you are in the outdoors is still considered close contact and can lead to more infections. the virus can be transmitted among those young and healthy who aren't experiencing symptoms. when they carry the virus and transmit it to a more vulnerable person, this is when we tend to see the long lasting and tragic impact of these decisions being made. the mayor of one of the towns that hosted a party told "the kansas city star" my concern is for the workers and whether some of the folks that have come down might be creating a health problem for the community.

absolutely. the only other thing you can do would be to shut it down. i don't know how you would shout down lake of the ozarks. there is no way to control that. i'm joined by the st. louis mayor. so seattle is a little less than three hours away from the lake of the ozarks, madam mayor. are you concerned that there could be a hot spot in your community because of these parties? >> joy, thank you. you're right. st. louis is about 150 miles maybe from the lake of the ozarks and the lake is a popular place for people throughout the midwest to go, not just st. louis but throughout the midwest and this kind of very risky behavior really, i'm sure it was fun at the time, but very risky behavior and then that's going to go back not only to st. louis, which of course, we're very concerned about but probably to locations around the midwest, and so it's a very serious situation here when

folks just completely disregard the staying six feet apart and wearing masks and that sort of thing. so yes, we are concerned about it. >> yeah and st. louis, thank you for the correction there. so missouri cases and deaths so far, we'll put that up on the screen, 12,508 cases and 602 deaths. here are the reopening guidelines. the social distancing requi requirements do not require individuals with job contacts with other people closer than six feet. under these conditions barber and cosmetology shops and tattoo parlors can operate. missouri hair salon clients were exposed because two stylists at great clips in missouri tested positive after a second hair stylists at the location tested positive for the coronavirus. both of the stylists and their

clients were wearing face coverings as springfield health officials trace the contacts of the stylists, the county is grappling for those testing positive for covid-19 including a walmart, gym and dollar gener general. if people insist on reopening and insist on going in to get a haircut at a great clips, what can you do as mayor? can city officials even do to stop a potential mini pandemic in your city? >> the city of st. louis issued a very comprehensive guideline for businesses if they want to open, and most businesses now are allowed to open. i phrase it like this, we have begun to crack the door open on reopening but certainly not swing the door wide open. it's just so important that folks continue to stay six feet apart and everyone really should be wearing a mask in the city of st. louis, employees are required to wear a mask and we strongly urge customers to wear

a mask. it's really not that much trouble and it possibly is your health, your family's health, your friend's health so wear a mask. >> so right. you have 12,000 cases, more than 12,000 cases in missouri. we just put those numbers up. there is a study that shows missouri is one of 24 states with uncontrolled virus spread from "the washington post", the coronavirus may still be spreading in epidemic states in these 24 states in the south and midwest according to this new research. what are the plans? are you thinking forward to what you'll do about things like schools in the fall, libraries, other places where people may congregate? >> of course, we're thinking of all of those things. what we are doing here in the st. louis region is we are very carefully watching the numbers. how many new cases do we have? but even more important, how many people are admitted to the hospital day by day by day because we know while that is

maybe a week or ten days beyond the time that someone gets covid, it certainly is an indicator of how serious the case is and we've got to simply identify those index cases and contact trace all of the folks around them in order to stop the spread. you know, we're going to be living with covid, i call it we got to learn to co-exist with covid probably for a long time it seems and so we all have to get used to taking these precautions that we need to take. >> yeah, we're out of time but i want to ask quickly, 14 days from now. the scenes we're seeing on the screen now result in an outbreak in your community, are your hospitals ready? >> i think our hospitals are ready because our people have done such a great job. we were on a stay-at-home order for over eight weeks. so i think our hospitals are ready, but if that is the case, if we see a spike, we'll have to pull back. >> all right.

thank you very much st. louis mayor lyda krewson, stay safe. >> thank you. we're looking at a campaign season like no other and nobody knows what to expect. donald trump threatened to move the republican convention out of charlotte, north carolina because the democratic governor is still in a shutdown mood. stx for my constipation. stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate the nerves in your colon. miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. and it doesn't cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. miralax. look for the pink cap. when you think of a bank, you think of people in a place. but when you have the chase mobile app, your bank can be virtually any place. so, when you get a check... you can deposit it from here. and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. you can detect suspicious activity on your account from here. and you can pay your friends back from here. so when someone asks you, "where's your bank?" you can tell them: here's my bank. or here's my bank. or, here's my bank. because if you download and use the chase mobile app, your bank is virtually any place.

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republican convention out of north carolina if the state's democratic governor doesn't reopen faster. trump tweeted if the republican governors need an answer immediately if the space can be occupied. he said state officials are working with the rnc. north carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state's public health and safety. a republican member of the city counsel questioned whether the president had the authority to pull the plug on the convention noting that the city's contract is with the gops committee on arrangements. contrary to public bluster, "the new york times" reported republicans are looking at possible contingency plans including limiting the number of people who descend on charlotte to only delegates and making alternate delegates stay home and aids told "the new york times" trump has mused aloud to several aids why the convention can't simply be held in a hotel

ballroom in florida. a hotel ballroom you say? as for the president joe biden would not commit to being in milwaukee in august. he told a local wisconsin news station that his presence at the convention depends on what happens and what the experts tell us at the time. for more, i'm joined by nbc news political reporter. ceo of the new georgia project and michael steele, former rnc chair. thank you for being here. i'll start with you, there is i think a lot more sort of open thinking on the democratic side. liz smith who ran the pete buttigieg campaign has a piece out in the "new york times" she says we can rethink the way we approach traditionally mar presidential moments like the convention. we've been doing conventions wrong for years. democrats should think how to use the prime time hours across

three nights instead of peachsps they can focus on dynamic content. what kind of thinking do you have as far as the convention? you saw the big graduation, incredible event aired with president obama in it. there are new ways to do these kinds of big events. what is the thinking? >> there are and the dnc, joy, already moved to make it possible to do a virtual convention changed the by laws considering it's not safe. if democrats win that will emboldened the voices of the democratic party like liz smith who won conventions say they are a waste of time and more energy than worth and onto the republican side, president trump seems to be wanting a guarantee for north carolina that the governor is not in a position to offer. roy cooper does not know what the covid situation is going to

look like at the end of august. he can't make this promise that the rnc can be safely held in charlotte with hundreds or thousands of people descending on that city without it being a public health disaster. >> you know, michael steele, chairman steele, having seen that clip of those people waiting in that, you know, very small pool and people hunkered together and lots of protest burning people demanding to be out, you know, you as a former rnc chair, are you anticipating that we are going to see a traditional physical convention whether in north carolina or at a hotel of unnamed branding in florida? >> i suspect at this point that north carolina and the rnc are going to work this out. trump will have to come around because the contractual obligations just the entire world of litigation that would be unleashed on the rnc should,

you know, they try to pull out of this thing at the last minute or whatever would be a problem and like wise, more importantly from a health perspective, the governor is right. he doesn't know what north carolina is going to be like in two and a half months. he's got to be concerned about that. and those inside the rnc concerned about that. that unnamed hotel in florida is likely going to be trump something in florida if that happens and we know this is where that's going so let's not pretend that that's not going to be in play. so the reality of it is this is a lot of bluster by the president who has no idea, none, zero, zip, nada, none what goes into putting on an event at his own hotel let alone something of this magnitude that requires not just the amount of people that would come if you reduce the size, joy, but just the pure

logistics from security to feeding people to all of the other pieces that go into this. so the president needs to let the people who handle conventions inside the party that will be the chairwoman and the committee on arrangements, let them handle the arrangements because they are called the committee of arrangements for a reason, let them do their job and they will put on the best convention for donald trump that he's ever seen whether it is with 50,000 people or 5,000 people or 500 because that's what the party is supposed to do. >> we shall see. it's going to be very interesting to see how these two parties try to play that out. let me welcome our other guest to this hour. let's talk about the state of play and i know that in the new georgia project, it's a lot about turnout. there is a lot of concern about the vote around the country. very quickly, let me read you what republican strategists in

the senate. they are concerned. there is a concern it will be a bleak senate picture right now. according to the washington post, senate republicans are nervous about losing the senate. it a bleak picture across the map. the whole conversation is a referendum on trump and that's a bad place for republicans to be. note from larry, the focus on evenly matched battle for the senate has someways narrowed to four gop seats in arizona, colorado, maine and north carolina, however, the map may be expanding, democrats' best bets is probably montana but we see small republican edge there. there is also a lot of focus on georgia because there are two senate seats available up for grabs and there is a question of whether or not there can be a fair vote in georgia. what's going on in that state? >> well, we are certainly in uncharted territory because there are two senate seats that georgians will have the opportunity to vote on this

year, but it is not looking well for senator. she was a special appointment by the governor and after a closed door meeting with senators in january, we now know she traded $20 million worth of stocks and it is not only democrats in the state that are concerned about it but republicans are also very vocal about whether or not she is there to do the people's business or if she is there to serve her own interests and i think that is showing in the polls, votes from democratic and republican pollsters, many of us are home and, you know, there are conflicting messages about georgia has been open for three weeks and so you have the governor and the president on one side and public health experts on the other side. people are looking for leadership in this moment. people are looking for accountable leadership in this moment and it's going to be a very, very interesting fall.

>> and how is stacey abrams going to be -- how will she be influential? is there a mood in georgia to see her on the ticket? is there a thought her coming into the state to campaign could make the difference for one or both of those seats? >> absolutely. i mean, at this point, we now know that stacy got more votes, democratic votes in georgia than president obama than any democrat in georgia history. but i think the energy and the excitement and enthusiasm for abrams on the ticket or another black woman or a woman of color actually extends beyond georgia thinking about the top of the ticket with senator biden and when people think about a well rounded ticket that is accountable to the democratic base that will excite voters that will move young people and black folks and people of color in general and women out to the

polls, stacy abrahm's name is at the top of the list as are other women of color and given recent events, there is no doubt in my mind that's the injection of energy needed in this moment. >> and let me go back to you, michael steele. if you look at this map now including georgia, and the possibility that it is inching closer to purple, larry's crystal ball, 2020 senate ratings leans dem. colorado, arizona would be pickups, tossups, north carolina, maine. that's not good news for republicans. leans republican montana and iowa. there is a likelihood of one pickup which is alabama but we know it's not like it not possible for a democrat to win statewide in alabama or kentucky by the way because it's happened. how would you be feeling about this map now looking at the senate seat, the senate races in

november for the republicans? >> i would be very concerned and i know the senate committee is concerned. the congressional committee and the house side is also very concerned regarding efforts to take back the house and the reality is that the presidential ticket is one that they have to contend with certainly but could coronavirus and, you know, tax policy and a whole bunch of things that come together that are beginning congeal around this election put the senate in play in a way that i think eight, nine months ago a lot of folks wouldn't believe are the case. i happen to be part of a small group that says you need to watch the senate because the dynamics particularly after 2018 told me at least and i know told a lot of other folks that there was something going on out there that yeah, folks still like trump in those places like north

carolina and elsewhere but that does not necessarily translate to those individuals who will be running for reelection under that banner with trump and that's something that now is really caused concern. >> going to be very interesting. our guests are staying with us. up next, the debate over voting by mail is a political flash point. republican the are turning a perfectly safe and legal form of voting into another attack on the democratic process. we're back after this. e democras we're back afterhi ts.

welcome back. the republican party is suing democratic california governor gavin newsom over his executive order to send in mail in ballots. mcdaniel claims his radical plan is a recipe for disast there would create more opportunities for fraud. alex said expanding vote by mail

during a pandemic is not a partisan issue, moral imperative to protect voting right the and public safety. california is one of several states looking to expand mail in voting for people who believe it might not be safe to go to a polling place because of the pandemic. as for the cries of voter fraud, it's rare you're more likely to be struck by lightning, however when it does strike, it's not always the way donald trump describes it. the most recent case of ballot fraud was in 2018 but a republican operative in north carolina on behalf of a congressional candidate and on a piece of good news, a florida judge struck down as unconstitutional a recent law mandating that former fans pay off their debts before being able to vote. he declared the requirement would amount to a poll tax and discriminate against those that wouldn't afford to pay. my panel is back with me. mail in ballots has become a political football and let's

just put up a list of the states that actually vote all in by mail so it's -- this is what they do in all of these states. h hawaii is one of the states. utah is one of the state. that the notable. colorado is one of the states. washington state also votes all by mail. is there a concern and i guess georgia is always a concern with voter fairness and people being able to access it that there will be a prevention of people being able to use mail in balloting because -- >> absolutely. the truth of the matter is that vote by mail is a safe and reliable alternative if partisan actors get out of the way and let the process work. as you have mentioned, there are states, multiple states in our country where folks vote by mail as a matter of course. we now know there is decades of

studies that to indicate that voter fraud is not a real concern, that it is a dog whistle, that it is used quite frankly by republican actors to try to suppress the vote and particularly in this moment that we're in right now with covid-19 and the loss of lives, it is super imperative that states get out of the way and make it easier for people to participate and vote by mail quite frankly it is the safest most reliable way that we have to vote. we are preparing for a second wave of coronavirus contractions. we saw what happened in wisconsin where people were waiting in line for hours to vote and some folks contracted coronavirus. early voting started last monday in georgia. people were waiting in line for three and four hours because of

concerns about vote by mail but also because that's the way they have always voted. we need our secretaries of state. we need our governors and other elected officials to again remove barriers of participation, to provide ballots. >> indeed. >> postage, again, we want to have robust participation, robust turnout. that is what healthy democracies do and vote by mail allows us to do it. >> indeed. just to your very point, the wisconsin state journal reports 71 people that went to the polls on april 7th contracted covid-19 and the title is uncertain. that is a data point we should note. here is a tweet by donald trump attacking mail in ballots which is of course, what he used to vote in florida. the united states cannot have all mail in ballots. it will be the greatest rigged election in history. people grab them from mail backseats, print thousands of

forgeries and force people to sign. also some absentee okay when necessary. 65%, 32% apose oppose it. is the republican party going to have to change the tune on this? most americans not only support the idea of mail in, utah uses all mail in voting and seem to elect republicans just fine. what is the objection other than lots of people vote and that doesn't help the party? >> first, utah is moving to that this year. this is the first year they are going full all in on mail in balloting. joy, in the last 20 years, there have been exactly, wait for it, 100 -- less than 150 cases regarding fraud through mail in ballots in 20 years, less than 150 cases. the president of the united states just voted in the florida primary by absentee ballot, will

likely vote in the november election by absentee ballot. this idea that this is a fraud, that this is a form of abuse, that tweet is projection. it is fear. my case fear. my case has always been made as a county state and national chairman, who you make your case to the american people, you never have to worry about how they vote. you should have every opportunity to go to the ballot box. so if your case is right, mr. president, what you are afraid of? >> and eli, to get to you really quickly, a lot of people are concerned that this is just a setup for donald trump refusing the election, and the election isn't legitimate because people used mail-in. that is a concern. is there any rumbling of that kind of thinking coming out of the white house? >> joy, it is a conspiracy theory that the president has used to try to rile up his base.

he is always looking for fresh content and the idea that the election could be stolen from him, from his party, that the country, it could be taken away from him unfairly. it is content they tend to take to but there is no evidence as you pointed out that mail-in voting leads to fraud and a comprehensive study by stanford university found that increased prevalence of mail-in voting does not have net benefits for one party or another and for all we know, it could benefit republicans rather than democrats and it is predicated on the idea that the president recognize has generally speaking more people voting tends to be good for democrats and less good for republicans but doesn't necessarily mean it translates to mail-in voting good for presiden republicans or democrats. it will be a massive undertaking for states according to the election experts i talked to and we need to start to get back together in order to process efficiently and on time.

>> indeed. thank you so much. everybody, stay safe. coming up, a very special memorial day this year. as we honor not only america's fallen service members but the health care workers and front line of the battle against covid-19. stay with us. st covid-19 stay with us orld gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, your dedicated adviser can give you straightforward advice and tailored recommendations. that's the clarity you get with fidelity wealth management. and tailored recommendations. ior anything i want to buy isk going to be on rakuten. rakuten is easy to use, free to sign up and it's in over 3,000 stores. i buy a lot of makeup. shampoo, conditioner. books, food. travel. shoes. stuff for my backyard. anything from clothes to electronics. workout gear. i even recently got cash back on domain hosting. you can buy tires. to me, rakuten is a great way to get cash back on anything you buy. rack it up with rakuten, sign up today to get cash back on everything you buy.

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welcome back. kevin tibbles has a look at this very unusual memorial day.

>> memorial day. a day of remembrance. a day of trumpets. a day of tribute. to valor, and sacrifice. but this year, this memorial day, we use the words of war to salute those on a new front line. >> it was like a war zone coming into the icu. >> doctors and nurses, first responders, modern day medics, in the trenches, here at home. >> we're fighting a war. and it's microscopic. >> many of our men and women in uniform now find themselves deployed stateside, joining forces with first responders. battling an enemy you can't even see. one that often preys on the

vulnerable. >> most of those who w.h.o. weren, who weren't impacted they're here on the front likes. they fear bringing it home to their family every night. >> the number of cases staggering. american cases approaching two million. close to 100,000 deaths. taking a toll even on a hospital chaplain. >> i played football. and after that, i was a soldier. thought i was safe coming to the chaplaincy and medicine and all of a sudden i'm learning battle scars with that as well. >> nbc's kevin tibbles reporting. up next, how the president spent his memorial day weekend as the coronavirus death toll in the united states nears a staggering 100,000. we'll be right back. staggering 100,000 we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back to our continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on this memorial day. over the weekend, crowds descended on beaches and parks across the country, with many people not social distancing or wearing masks despite warnings from public health officials. on saturday, fda administrator dr. steven hahn tweeted a stark warning saying with the country starting to open up this holiday weekend, i again remind everyone, that the coronavirus is not yet contained. on this solemn holiday, the number of american lives lost from the coronavirus is approaching 100,000.

with donald trump golfing this weekend, he spent much of his time on social media spreading misinformation and contradicting his own expert. a short time after the fda commissioner's warning, trump tweeted, falsely, that the cases, numbers and deaths are going down all over the country. not true. the president's cheerleading for reopening following the proclamation friday that places of worship are essential to reopen. threatening to override governors who have ordered churches, synagogues and moves not to reopen in the coming days. between the fox news, tweeting at fox news late last night, he began demanded that schools reopen asap. despite the president's push, dr. debra birx of the white house task force said on sunday that places of worship may not be safe for those with pre-existing conditions, and expressed alarm at some of the images that emerged over the weekend. >> i'm very concerned when people go out and don't maintain social distancing. >> we know that it's important for people to socially interact.

but we also know it's important that we have to have masks on, if we're less than six feet, and that we have to maintain that six feet distance. >> i'm joined now by dr. lipi roy, internal medicine physician, and vena, editorial page editor for "the boston globe." the concern is i think that donald trump does what he does, but it's not as if no one is listening to him and taking his advice. i want to play the senator from florida, the junior senator from florida, rick scott, who used to be the governor of florida and who used to run a health care company, talking about this idea of churches reopening. take a listen. >> do i believe that the government should be telling us what to do? do i believe the government can tell us we don't have a right to worship? i don't believe they can. i believe i have all floridians, all americans have a bill of rights and we have a right to worship where we want to and do it safely.

i have a right to worship in a church service if i want to do it. i don't believe they have a right to stop me. >> what do you make of that line of thinking? >> well, i think it's debatable whether governments have the right. there is an authority for governments to post quarantines, for example, but this is not so much a question of whether they have the right to do it but what is the proper role for government in order to protect people during a public health crisis and i think you can't help but hold the president and the republican governors who are sort of conceding to his view of things, responsible for people's reckless behavior and exposing themselves, and others, as far as not wearing masks and not practicing good social distancing. and i think, if you look at the bizarre world that is the trump white house, perhaps in that alternate version of reality, they think that nationwide cases are going down. but the reality in the country is that in at least 18 states,

cases of covid-19 are on the rise, that hospitalizations are on the rise as of this past week, and that we very much don't know the impact of reopening states and how new clusters might be formed. we also know that in rural areas, around the country, we're seeing new clusters of covid-19, and even though they don't represent in raw numbers, say, the growth in cases that we were seeing in the early stages of the epidemic in say california and new york and new jersey, relative to the hospital capacity in the health care facilities, in rural areas of the country, these clusters represent what could be potentially a really high burden of the virus. and a reignition of sort of the worst stages of epidemic for this country. >> and we had on the mayor of st. louis, earlier, in the show, having played some video that went all over the internet, that was quite viral, of people packed into a pool, all

together, about two hours away from her community, just not wearing masks, not social distancing, let me tell you what dr. birx has had to say about asymptomatic spread of the coronavirus. take a listen. >> we've made it clear that there is asymptomatic spread and that means people are spreading the virus unknowingly and this is unusual in the case of respiratory diseases in many cases. so you don't know who is infected and so we really want to be clear, all the time, that social distancing is absolutely critical. and if you can't social distance, and you're outside, you must wear a mask. >> dr. roy, we'll put this up, with people being either in a park or in a beach or in a pool in water, wading all right next to each other, with no masks on, is that, is there any circumstance over which that is safe during this pandemic? >> good evening, joy.

i have been taking a global and kind of philosophical approach when i look at these images but an approach that is still rooted deeply in science and data, and that is that any society that values individual liberties and freedoms over public health and public goodwill never successfully overcome a global health crisis and a pandemic. you heard the governor, i believe, mr. rick scott, saying, i have the right, i have the right to do so-and-so, well, you know, i'm sure maybe the individuals are saying well i have the right to go outside and be in a pool. the problem with that line of thinking is that when you practice your rights, somebody else is going to have to pay the consequence of that behavior. and i of course thinking about the many people around those individuals who will get infected, because as dr. birx said and dr. fauci has been

saying months ago, we now have asymptomatic transmission of this virus, and then as a result, going further downstream, and i think about two to 14 days down the road, the incubation peer, my fellow health care workers, nurses and doctors, are going to be seeing a surge of patients, who are infected, and sick, who need to be intubated. we have already been through that hellish period here in new york state and i'm concerned that's what we're going to be seeing in other parts of the country. >> and it is a strange thing, for something like a basic recommendation to keep yourself and your loved ones alive, has become political, that has become a political thing. the governor of north dakota had a comment about that, let's take a listen. >> this is a, i would say senseless dividing line, and i would ask people to try to dial up your empathy and your understanding. if someone is wearing a mask, they're not doing it to

represent what political party they're in or what candidates they support, they might be doing it because they've got a 5-year-old child who's been going through cancer treatments. they might have vulnerable adults in their life. >> but, you know, when people are not wearing a mask, that is starting to seem political, where people say they're going to shake hands or embrace, just to show their politics, and it is a bizarre circumstance. >> it's absolutely bizarre, and i think this notion that there is necessarily a tradeoff between individual liberty and protecting the health of those around us, i think it needs to be tempered a bit, because people are capable of making decisions on behalf of the greater good. in vast areas of the country, populations stayed indoors for weeks and weeks, avoided spreading the virus. and they need leadership. they need to be guided. and we need cultural norms, so the idea that wearing a mask is

something you do almost like growing in victory garden during world war ii, it's something you do to protect your fellow neighbors, your community members, your church-going friends, your relatives, i think it need tobacco imbued, it needs to be, did it needs to be imbued, it needs to be exemplified by our leaders and i think what is unfortunate is the politicization of the mask, which the governor so emphatically pointed out as an issue is making it so the cultural norm of republicans or let's say trump supporters or particular members of our society, is to not wear the mask. and i think that that's being used in sort of, and sort of brandished as a sign of strength or toughness. and i think it's just tragic, because it's going to endanger people around those people's communities. in their lives. and i think what's unfortunate is that the virus itself is apolitical. it is going to infect red or blue, it doesn't care what your

cultural norm is around wearing the mask. it only is trying to find a good worthy host so it can propagate and survive. so i think the consequences of this natural experiment where people are practicing really excessive gatherings, almost to sort of flout the public health advice in certain areas is going to play out and we're going to see in the next few weeks where the transmission has been accelerated by some of these events. there is already indications that a cluster in arkansas was triggered by a high school pool party. so this image from missouri is troubling on that score as well. >> indeed. droplets, the way it's spread. >> the other issue that has become politicized is donald trump's attempt to pitch a treatment. he is not a scientist. he is not a doctor. but he has higydroxychloroquines

the cure, he claims he has taken, t-and whee have nbc reporting that world health organization has temporarily halted a trial of hydroxychloroquine over safety concerns. here is queet. fears of the drug's potential danger are causing it to e recommend recommend on the side of caution, cited the british journal the lancet which published findings that it doesn't help covid-19 patients and might increase death. are we facing a situation dr. roy, where people are wanting to take a treatment because donald trump says they should take it, and not because it would actually help them? and that it could hurt them? >> you know, joy, what is really concerning to the medical community, when we see things like this, is that what we really need is we need our political leaders to lead by example. right? the medical community and the public health community has been saying for a long time now, there is no known fda approved treatment for covid-19. yes, high droxcalydroxychloroqu

approved for lupus and rheumatoid. a and malaria and this is the largest study of its kind with 96,000 people from hospitals from around the world, and the data is pretty clear, the conclusion is that hydroxychloroquine has no known benefit in treating people with covid-19, and in fact, has increased levels of in hospital mortality, and ventricular cardiac arrhythmia. this is not a medication to be taking willy-nilly. it can only be prescribed by a doctor for known conditions. so when you have political leaders, like our president, taking this medication, and then added to that, saying oh, there's no harm in taking it, that's absolutely untrue. acetaminophen, over-the-counter tylenol, baby aspirin, they're fairly benign and safe, and yet at the same time, tylenol is also a leading cause of acute

liver failure in this country. there is nothing that we do in the field of medicine that is completely 100% safe. so we need really good strong leadership that believes in science and data and believes in the words of their public health leaders and authorities. >> i won't even play the sound bite, donald trump attacked the columbia university study that found 36,000 people could have been saved had he taken action one week earlier, and 54,000 had he taken action two weeks earlier, he said columbia university is a disgrace and calls it a liberal disgraceful institution, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, what do you make of that reality? because whatever he says, that's the reality, people could have been saved. >> well, look, this is a credible study. it's still not peer-reviewed. but it is consistent with the evidence we see from past

epidemics, in 1918 influenza epidemic and germany and other countries that early intervention in the course of the pandemic to institute social distancing or lockdowns makes a difference. it saves lichkves. and the fact that this model that columbia university researchers are using, shows that two weeks earlier, a lockdown could have been effective, it could have reduced by half the current death rate essentially, or more, in the u.s., just by instituting the policies earlier, is a necessary way that science can enrich our understanding of how to hold our leaders accountable for the actions they take or don't take. these models are not perfect, but the data provides a picture of when our leaders should act. and acting on those early warning signs are so critical in public health cases, it is critical in pandemics, because these epidemics spread ex exponentially. and as we reach the arc of

100,000 people, i think it is important to keep this in mind. >> indeed. and containing the number of people who have gotten it, very interested in doing. dr. lipi roy. thank you both very much. please stay safe. up next, about half of the country, still, still has not contained the coronavirus, according to a new study. we will take a look at alabama. where there's been a big increase in cases, and a growing shortage of icu beds. stay with us. ortage of icu beds stay with us i just love hitting the open road and telling people that liberty mutual customizes your insurance, so you only pay for what you need! [squawks] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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we are add, at a very critical point in our health care system's capacity to manage this crisis. the added capacity is not sustainable and that puts everyone, our neighbors, our family, our friends, our church members, colleagues, and co-workers, in harm's way. the circumstances are certainly

dire. and i think that we have to make sure that we don't get into a hole that we cannot get ourselves out of. >> welcome back. that was the mayor of montgomery, alabama, steven reed, warning last week of a critical shortage of icu beds in montgomery. new coronavirus cases in the state are continuing to arrive with 540 new cases yesterday alone. the mayor joins me now. mr. mayor, good evening. an imperial college of london study shows that alabama is one of 24 states with an uncontrolled virus spread. i will read a little bit of this story from the "washington post." the coronavirus may still be spreading at epidemic rates in 24 states particularly in the south and west according to new research that highlights the second wave of infections in places that reopened too quickly, and without sufficient precautions. and i want to show you now video of crowds at alabama beaches

this weekend. and ask whether you are concerned that the state of alabama is not doing enough to contain the pandemic. >> absolutely, this is concerning to me, it has to be concerning to many of my colleagues around the state of alabama, because we know that this may lead to further implications down the road, in terms of seeing our numbers increase. we've had a 240% increasement over month in covid-19 cases. we've had 80% of our deaths have taken place just in this month alone. so when you see scenes like that down at the gulf coast, certainly it gives us pause and it certainly is not only concerning me for what may happen in the city, but also what it may do to our health

care system, and that is a big issue for us right now, and it will be going forward, as we continue the battle versus covid-19. we cannot celebrate this. this is not finished. it's not a battle that has been won yet. and i think when we see crowds like that, there's a lot more that not only we can do at the local level but certainly at the state level as well. >> and what is the status of your hospital capacity? i know alabama is one of those states that did not expand the affordable care act. so there are probably more uninsured by percentage in the state of alabama than there would be in the state that expanded. what's the capacity level if in fact there is a pretty harsh breakout, a harsh viral breakout? >> well, our rural health care system has been decimated. much like that around the country, when we have not expanded medicaid, unfortunately, and so that has

put a tremendous strain on montgomery, which serves as the regional health care center for central alabama. with that means an overtaxed hospital staff, and medical professionals, both those who are physically and emotionally spent, but also people who are still putting their lives on the line, to try to help those who are infected with the covid-19 virus. and where we are right now, in my place, is that it stands to me that this can happen in any community. and we're approaching a cliff, and it's one of those things that i was trying to share last week, that we don't want to get too close to it, and fall off. before we let people know exactly what the crisis is, and what they can do to help us. we have to get people to stay at home more. we have to get people to wear their masks when they do go out in public. and they have to practice the social distancing guidelines. but it can't just be kind of piecemeal with one mayor saying

over here and one mayor saying over there, we need a much more aggressive approach that encompasses the entire state, and i understand the interest, and the reasoning for getting the economy back going, but we have to be cautious about this, and we have to be precise, because if not, i think we risk bringing about that second wave, which is going to cost us a lot more in the wrong run than what we've already lost over these last few months. >> well, to that point, there were graduation soichl, an in person graduation ceremony, a couple of headlines about that, i'm not sure that is doing what you talked about. just to close out here, are the numbers disproportionately impacting communities of color, black and brown communities as they are in so many states in alabama? >> well, certainly, we're seeing an overwhelming number, relative to our population in the state of alabama. however, this virus knows no zip code.

it knows no boundaries. it does not care really what you look like or where you live. the only thing that is impacted are people who are vulnerable and those that are spreading it. i believe that because so many people of color are in front line positions, it is impacting them, but it's impacting people all across the board, and that's my biggest concern, is all of the residents of, not only the city of montgomery, but people who come and work in the city, and people throughout this region, and this state, and we have to make sure that we're doing our part to sound the alarm, and we have to make sure that we are letting the data guide us on our decisions, and not the dollars. >> and that is excellent advice. mayor steven reed, of montgomery, alabama, thank you very much. really appreciate it. stay safe. up next, i want to tell you about a special that i'm working on, on the toll of covid-19, that it is taking on the working poor in america. stay with us. he working poor in america. stay with us r insurance,

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here's what we want everyone to do. count all the hugs you haven't given.

all the hands you haven't held. all the dinners you didn't share with friends. the trips you haven't taken. keep track of them. each one means one less person vulnerable, one less person exposed, and one step closer to a healthier community. so for now, keep your distance. but don't lose count. we'll have some catching up to do. we face a number of challenges, including poverty, long-term survival, and those are due to the low prices we've received for our products. >> that is just one of the many voices that you'll hear in our upcoming special on the devastating economic toll of the covid-19 crisis that has taken on the country, this sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern, bishop william barber and i will host a special, american crisis, poverty and the pandemic, where

you will get to meet working class americans all trying to survive one of the biggest challenges this country has faced in nearly a century and that is our show for today. a special edition of the last word with lawrence o'donnell is up next. the last word with lawrence o'donnell is up next. good evening. i'm lawrence o'donnell. on this memorial day, we are likely to have 100,000 deaths in the united states from coronavirus, by midnight tonight. at this hour, the united states has 1,671,980 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 99,044 confirmed deaths from coronavirus. and so as we approach 100,000 deaths at this hour, donald trump began the day by