may god protect you. may god protect our troops. thank you. >> good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. former vice president joe biden, the presumptive democratic nominee, just speaking about the economy in response to president bush's remarks earlier today. nbc news correspondent mike memoli joining us now. mike, the vice president saying this is good news but it's not good enough, that the easy jobs where the ones that came back, the furloughed, not the 15 million people still without jobs. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. and this really gets to the heart of what the campaign dilemma is right now for the biden campaign. you see another poll out today from monmouth university that shows him with an expanding double digit national lead. but what is the one issue on which president trump still continues to outperform biden? it's the economy, to get back to

a campaign you remember well, in 1992, the white house still wants to run on the economy. the former vice president you see repeatedly trying to return the conversation to the pandemic, saying that because of the president's bungled response to the pandemic, the economy is in a much worse situation than it might have been. and andrea, this is a real concern, especially if some of the outside groups that are supporting biden, they do feel there has not been enough of an effort to define what his economic vision for the country would be. and you see one of the super pacs supporting him is one of the only ones running purely positive messages on this score. the biden campaign says you should expect to hear a much more robust jobs plans from him in the coming weeks. we're still waiting for that, andrea. but for now you see biden attempting to quickly try to counter the narrative that the president was very eager to get to quickly this morning about this new jobs report. >> and what he said, in your point about the pandemic, is there are 128,000 people dead,

that that didn't have to be, if there had been a better response early on. this follows of course on his speech earlier in the week on the pandemic, largely on the pandemic, but also talking about the russia response and other leadership issues. they're trying to be more agile, because the criticism has been that they have not been responding in real time, quickly enough, and not showing him often enough. as you point out, the economy is still the president's strength. >> reporter: that's right. and this is why i think coming forward with a plan in the coming weeks will be so important for them, because what was the number one criticism from the trump campaign for a while? it was, we haven't seen the former vice president enough, he hasn't taken questions. he's done that. so we should expect to hear more from him on the economy. the other point, andrea, biden has no shortage of resources to come and get his message out. we just saw it last night, the campaign announcing that they have outraised the trump campaign for the second

executi consecutive month and for the entire quarter. this is a campaign that's clicking otherwise on all cylinders. that's why the focus on the economy is one they're going to have to address to drive the message home. >> let me read one quote from his speech just now, about a ten-minute speech, mike, saying, "does this feel like mission accomplished? people are hurting, president trump has spiked the ball and made this about him. he doesn't seem to realize we're only on the 50-yard line." so a lot of signals and important messaging in there for him, talking about "mission accomplished," obviously a reference back to george w. bush and iraq. thanks, mike memoli, we appreciate it. this, as we've been pointing out, as coronavirus outbreaks across the country are hitting a new record high, more than 50,000 new infections reported on wednesday alone, with the u.s. death toll now accounting for a quarter of all covid deaths around the world. president trump still insists

the virus will just disappear. the government's top infectious disease expert, dr. anthony fauci, says the worst spikes across the country are the worst we've seen. >> what we've seen over the last several days is a spike in cases that are well beyond the worst spikes that we've seen. that is not good news. we've got to get that under control or we risk an even greater outbreak in the united states. >> as hospitals are bracing for a new wave of possible infections in coming weeks, because of large gatherings over the july 4th weekend, here are the facts at this hour. 14 states have seen new highs in infections in the last week. governors from coast-to-coast are walking back their reopening plans. in texas, single-day case totals doubled in just two weeks. more than 8,000 new cases reported wednesday. and houston, which is the largest medical system in the world, they are running out of hospital beds. in florida, where the president will be traveling for a

fundraiser next week and the vice president is visiting later today, long lines continue to get tested for covid-19. and more than 6,000 new cases have been tabulated on wednesday. florida governor ron desantis vows the state will not reverse its reopening plans. as the vice president just referenced as well, recent reopenings contributed to better than expected news in today's monthly jobs report. 4.8 million job gains in june and unemployment dropping to 11%. still, economists now warn that the impact of renewed restrictions on businesses because of covid-19 spikes could turn this into a temporary improvement. all the latest on covid-19 as we continue this hour. plus we have breaking news on ghislaine maxwell, long-time confidant of accused sex trafficker jeffrey epstein, has been arrested for conspiring with epstein to sexually abuse minors. we'll have the latest on that as

well as president trump today calling the russia bounty intel a hoax. but first, to coronavirus news. msnbc's david gura is an in a big hotspot, houston medical center. dasha burns is in florida. david, to you first, hospital beds are running out and they're calling for help with personnel. what is the governor's plan and what is the state doing to contain the virus? >> reporter: andrea, i'm at the texas medical center, the largest medical facility in the world. on a given day it has the capacity to treat 330 icu patients. there are now 1,150 icu patients on campus. the administration will tell you not all those patients are here for covid-19 symptoms, just about 500 of them are, and they have the capacity to move things around, put some of those patients in different wards so

she can treat more patients here. but it is serious, and people appreciate the alarm here. health officials are worried about what's going to happen here over the coming days and weeks. i spoke with the incident commander at methodist hospital behind me, she's looking at the data and wondering when they'll have to erect the treatment tents that were built in new york city. lieutenant governor patrick here said he's not interested in listening to the nation's top infectious disease expert, dr. fauci. i said to sylvester turner, what do you think of dr. fauci's advice? he said to me, i like dr. fauci, he respects the fact that he stayed on principle and expressed his point of view, his scientific expertise

forthrightly throughout all this. i asked the mayor, how did we get to this point? let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> what we did in texas is we just opened up, irrespective of the data, not connected to the science, not in a measured way. people were fooled by the success of what took place in the city in april and may and drew the conclusion that we could open up much quicker because our numbers were so low. and the virus is saying, no. >> reporter: the virus is saying no, the mayor says. and he's working with his aides here to make sure that things are as little strained as they can be. the president this morning, andrea, as i'm sure you heard, referred to the fact that the government is going to be putting out these fires around the country. well, there is a conflagration here in texas. yes, things are bad here in houston, in harris county, where i am. 33,000 cases, almost, of covid-19. but it's playing out similarly in other cities and counties across this state. you mentioned the governor, greg

abbott, you asked what he intends to do. he's saying right now people should be wearing masks but he's declined to put a mask order in place. a lot of people are critical of that, adamant that there needs to be more leadership from the state level for people here in the state of texas to take this as seriously as it is. >> david, thank you so much. dasha burns, you're in jacksonville, florida, at a testing site. long lines there the last couple of days. >> reporter: andrea, there is a testing site here today. this massive complex also will be the place for the republican national convention in august. but today, instead of long lines of spectators, we've seen long lines of people waiting to get tested for covid-19. today, florida reported a record for daily cases, reporting more than 10,000 cases today. and the city of jacksonville just this week imposed a new order requiring masks in indoor public places, and anywhere

where social distancing isn't possible. vice president mike pence is in the state today. he's meeting with governor ron desantis about florida's response to covid-19. he was here back in may, having the same conversation. but the tone was quite different. take a listen to what the governor said back in may when he met with the vice president. >> you've got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how florida was going to be just like new york. wait two weeks, florida's going to be next, just like italy, wait two weeks. hell, we're eight weeks away from that and it hasn't happened. >> reporter: of course now it's about six weeks from when he made that statement and things look very different today. in fact cases began surging just shortly after the announcement that the rnc was moving from charlotte, north carolina to jacksonville, florida, in part because they were hoping to avoid some of these restrictions. but andrea, if the trend continues, the event is going to

look quite different than what the president envisioned. >> thanks so much, dasha. joining us is dr. vin gupta from the university of washington. good to see you, dr. gupta. let me play for you what the president said about the virus last night. >> i think we're going to be very good with the coronavirus. i think that at some point that's going to sort of just disappear, i hope. >> you still believe so, disappear? >> i do. >> okay. and dr. gupta, how is that for a message to the country right now? >> good morning, andrea, it's good to see you. you know, it's comments like that coupled with governor did he desantis back in may, these are the wrong leaders for the moment. governor desantis yelling at a reporter for asking a reasonable

question. in fact he's seeing one of the worst outbreaks we're seeing in the country. he and the president aren't doing things they need to do. they're messaging in the wrong way. they're enabling people who distrust science, who don't want to wear a mask, to not do those things. they're things we're begging people to do. that's the big problem here. governor desantis is just acting irresponsibly and he's trying to double down on things that he shouldn't double down on because it's going to cost the lives of floridians. they're not even reporting what icu beds are open and closed. we've talked about this, andrea, it's not even just about beds. do you have enough dialysis nurses, dialysis machines? that was the issue in new york. what about human capital, the actual informrastructure to car

for a patient? covid-19 patients are sick and require a lot of attention. we need to keep an eye out on that. that's one. two, when are we going to get a nationwide mandate on masks with an enforcement with fines? i see this every single day. desantis is harming his citizens by not doing that and he should be ashamed of himself. he needs to enact that now. finally, indoor dining in florida and texas have to stop entirely now. otherwise a full shutdown is all but inevitable. >> i wanted to just -- not to set your hair on fire, i don't know if you've seen the students in tuscaloosa, alabama, holding covid parties to compete as to who can get it quickest, and there's a pot of money. take a look at a tuscaloosa city councilmember complaining about this outrage. >> they're putting money in a pot and purposely trying to get covid from the person who has covid, and apparently whoever gets covid first gets the pot.

>> so what do you say to that? have these young people, and i don't mean to disparage young people, we love young people, that's why we want them to be healthy. we've seen young people not only get covid but get very circumstance, very seriously. >> it's like driving under the influence of a substance, engaging in some type of covid party is so irresponsible, i don't even know where to begin. it brings up an important point, andrea. how do we get colleges back online safely? how do we get school districts back online safely? i've seen things in the last 24 hours in seattle, we're going to do thermal scans for children going back to school. it turns out most children are asymptomatic. the only way we can get schools coming back is by testing with results on site. we don't even have that capacity and we can't let schools and colleges come back safely until

we have it. >> vin gupta, thank you so much, dr. gupta, we appreciate your straight talk. coming up next, breaking news. ghislaine maxwell, long-time confidant of accused sex trafficker jeffrey epstein, has been arrested by the fbi in new hampshire. she's charged, and facing charges in new york. we'll have that coming up next. stay with us on msnbc. life isn't a straight line.

and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. a partner who makes sure every step is clear, every time you touch a surface, bacteria is left behind. now, consider how many times your family touches the surfaces in your home in 24 hours. try new microban 24. spray on hard surfaces to kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria initially. once dry, it forms a bacteria shield that keeps killing bacteria for 24 hours, even after multiple touches. try new microban 24. available in multi-purpose, sanitizing, and bathroom sprays. this has been medifacts for microban 24.

save without even leaving your house. just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. you can get it by ordering a free sim card online. once you activate, you only have to pay for the data you need, starting at just $15 a month. there are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. get a $50 prepaid card when you switch. 5g is now included with all new data options. switch and save hundreds. xfinity mobile.

we breaking news now from

u.s. attorney. the u.s. attorney is speaking at this hour, detailing the charges brought this morning against ghislaine maxwell, long-time confidant of accused sex trafficker jeffrey epstein. she was arrested in new hampshire and is now facing federal charges in new york city. >> today we announce charges against ghislaine maxwell for helping jeffrey epstein sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls from the period of 1994 through 1997. maxwell has been taken into custody early this morning in new hampshire and will be presented this afternoon before a magistrate judge in the district of new hampshire. >> nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk joins us now from new york city. stephanie, what more do we know about the charges maxwell is facing? she's been such a fascinating

character. she's been on the lam for quite some time. >> reporter: she is a fascinating character. probably more than a few eyebrows raised with the news that she was arrested in bedford, new hampshire. she's heiress to a publishing fortune but now stands charged with enticing minors in a conspiracy to engage them in sex acts. in english, they're accusing her of being the recruiter for jeffrey epstein, who as you know, a year ago almost to the day was charged with sex trafficking of minor girls. epstein's charges related to acts between 2002 and 2005. these are about acts between 1994 and 1997. they involve three minor girls who are unnamed, as is typical

in an indictment like this for minors, one of them as young as 14. it accuses maxwell of going up to these girls, enticing them with shopping, food, then encouraging them to take gifts like money for travel, money for school from epstein, and essentially enticing them into their web to engage in sex acts with epstein in his many homes including new mexico, palm beach, florida, here in new york city, on the upper east side, and in london as well. and all of this is interesting as well because you have the u.s. attorney, former u.s. attorney just recently, geoffrey berman, leaving. as he left he said i will make sure that the cases that are ongoing in this office will continue. this was one of the biggest ones and certainly a victory i'm sure for them today in announcing these charges, andrea. >> and we should just remind, of course, that jeffrey epstein died in custody.

what's the status of that? did they ever determine whether any of his jailers were involved? not to throw a curve at you. but i know you've been all over this story. >> reporter: no, there were some criminal charges against some of the prison guards for basically just not doing their duty on the job. there were question marks about the suicide by hanging, that was the determination by the coroner here in the city, a lot of people questioning whether that actually took place. but the coroner very definitive that he took his own life in that shocking death. following his suicide, there was a lot of pressure put on this office to go after epstein's accomplices, and certainly ghislaine maxwell is at the top of that list. there have been questions also swirling around prince andrew, and u.s. attorney berman just a few months ago publicly saying that prince andrew was not engaging in any of the questioning with the fbi, putting pressure on him to do

so. prince andrew and ghislaine maxwell have denied any of these allegations of wrongdoing and their connection to epstein, andrea. >> stephanie gosk, as always, on top of it all, thank you so much on that breaking news. meanwhile, top congressional leaders at this hour are getting briefed today by intelligence officials from cia and other agencies about the reports that issue paid the taliban to kill american troops in afghanistan. but president trump, who had apparently not read his written briefing on this last february 27, is now calling it a hoax. >> this didn't rise to the occasion. and from what i hear, and i hear pretty good, the intelligence people didn't even -- many of them didn't believe it happened at all. i think it's a hoax. i think it's a hoax by the newspapers and the democrats. >> national security adviser robert o'brien has told reporters that the administration did alert allies

to protect their troops and also said that a cia briefer decided not to verbally tell the president about that briefing back in february 27 that was written, he hadn't read it. and of course the briefer is the person who is in the oval office with the president. and the president is known to resent any negative information about vladimir putin. putin, meanwhile, today has been granted the chance to serve two more terms, which would make him the longest-serving russian leader since peter the great. voters in russia deciding to change the limits in the russian constitution, a surprising outcome given putin's negative polling swf la polling as of late. nbc's correspondent carol lee, i know you talked to robert

o'brien yesterday. what about the president describing this as a hoax, given the intelligence assessment that was put in his daily brief, whether he read it or not, and it was brefd to tiefed to the h is being briefed to the allies, and he's calling it a hoax. doesn't that send the absolute wrong signal to vladimir putin? >> reporter: not everybody in the white house thinks the president should be calling this a hoax. that's obviously what the president called the russia investigation. this is a different dynamic and not something he should apply the "hoax" name to. however, there are other people who are around the president who think he really should be calling it a hoax. rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, was here yesterday. he told us that's exactly how the president should be talking about this. he thinks that this is a hoax and the president should be pushing back on this in that way. but as you mentioned, when you have the national security adviser come out and say that

the president -- this was in the president's daily brief, although he didn't read it, and also say that the national security council was preparing options, if the u.s. decided that they needed to respond to russia on this, that suggests there was a seriousness that this was being taken with and perhaps the president should have been informed of this, because it wasn't just the u.s. government. the national security council, the cia, the state department, the british government, lawmakers on capitol hill, everybody else seemed to know that this was -- that this intelligence was out there except the president in the last week. that's what the white house has said. he has since been briefed, so he can't say he didn't know about this. the question that's hanging over him is what if anything the president is going to do about it if the administration decides this intelligence is accurate. >> and to jeffrey smith, i wanted to share with everybody

what nancy pelosi had to say on msnbc, because the gang of eight, the top democratic and republican officials, are at this hour being briefed by intelligence leaders. this is what she had to say about the president using the term "hoax." >> let's hope that the gang of eight shows up open to hear the truth, the facts, the intelligence, and that moscow mitch doesn't show up, but the chairman, the leader of the republicans in the senate, comes with an open mind. >> she was actually condemned -- also she said the important thing is that he should not be calling this a hoax. jeremy bash joins us now, jeffrey, what signal does this send to vladimir putin when the president calls this a hoax? how can there be deterrence

against russia doing more? >> it's shameful on the president's part. it makes my blood boil, frankly. there was enough credibility behind these reports for the cia and the intelligence community to put it in the president's daily brief. it's regrettable he wasn't told in person. we don't entirely know the reason for that. but there should have been a response much sooner than this directly to the russians, tell them to knock it off, and touchdown to it has to be at the highest level that such messages are sent. this undermines any messages that we subsequently send asking this be knocked off. imagine a young army officer getting ready to go on patrol in afghanistan knowing, because he was told, it came down to his command, that we had these reports. but now he knows the president said they're not true, but what happens if it is true, which i suspect it is? what does he tell his troops and what does the country say to him

or his troops if they are killed and targeted by the taliban? it's disgraceful. >> jeff, as a former general counsel of cia, how much latitude does the briefer have in deciding not to share critical information about the president about vladimir putin who the president was then on the phone with six times in subsequent weeks, obviously without having said knock it off? does she on her own, his regular briefer, just say, this is in the written brief, i know he doesn't read that, i'm not going to tell him about that, or some higher-up, or is there some understanding in the intel world that they shouldn't tell him things he doesn't want to hear? >> that's a difficult question, jeremy is probably better equipped to answer than i am about the process of what's briefed and what's presented in writing. regardless, i think it's unseemly to blame the briefer for not telling the president. if it was a decision not to tell

the president, there were probably a lot of people involved, especially when at the senior level they were taking this very seriously and sending it out to the troops and our allies, and giving them the warning to be on the alert and protect themselves. but a warning to the troops isn't the same as a demarche from the president of the united states, who can take tough actions like not pulling our troops out of afghanistan. putin has crossed a red line. >> jeremy, the process in the intelligence world seems so muddled now in this administration. what's your reaction to the way this has been handled by the national security adviser? >> i think it's despicable that the president is blaming the cia, blaming the briefer. first he blamed the cia and the briefer that they didn't tell him about the coronavirus. i mean, give me a break. all the president's health advisers, everybody was warning about the coronavirus and the president said, i didn't know anything about it because my cia

briefer didn't tell me about it, when it was in the pdb at least four times. here again it's the same sorry excuse, andrea. it's that they didn't mention it to me orally. the president was notified. carol mentioned, was the president told. yes, he was. the written briefing for the president, it's the president's daily brief, it's for him, it's designed for him by his team. he got the information. and look, i think there's also an issue here that some of his staff on the national security council, maybe it's some of the president's senior advisers, don't want to bring the president any news that casts putin in a negative light because every time they do that they get their head bitten off, they get marginize e izalized o even fired. the president has so warped and distorted american policy against russia. here we have three scandals come together. number one, the president doesn't listen to intelligence, number two, the president is obsequious to putin, and number three, the president is endangering the lives of our troops in afghanistan.

>> and courtesy of the daily beast, which was flagged by rachel maddow last night, on february 27, the day that that presidential daily brief was presented to him which he clearly did not read, he acknowledges, he says, that he didn't know about it, it wasn't verbally briefed to him, he found time to spend 45 minutes with some very conservative so-called filmmaker who had done a film or a play based on the peter strzok/lisa page emails called "deep state" and visited with him for 45 minutes in the oval office. and there's other things on his schedule that day that would sort of curl your hair. jeff smith, i want to ask you about the process by which the white house seems to be pushing back that this was not verified, it was not corroborated. tell us about intelligence and how assessments always have competing analyses by different

agencies. >> they can have competing conclusions or analysis by different agencies. but what this administration has done in terms of explaining why they didn't tell the president or why they didn't ask, they're treating it as if it was evidence to be presented in a criminal trial for which you need proof beyond a reasonable doubt. but you never get that with intelligence. intelligence is by its nature more an art than a science, especially when the adversaries are trying to hide what they're doing. we can often make very accurate predictions, projections and analysis based on intelligence, because we're really very good at it. but you almost never get a second smoking gun. so i think it is very wrong for the president and his defenders to be hiding behind the idea that it couldn't be proven or it couldn't be validated. that's not what intelligence is. it's just impossible. and if that's what you're going to say, then you're going to always be hiding under the resolute desk, not doing anything.

>> jeff smith and of course jeremy bash and carol lee at the white house, thank you all so much. next, president trump is taking credit for a booming economy as thousands of businesses are still shut down, shutting down for a second time now with rising covid-19 cases. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. $9.95? $9.95. what's with all the $9.95 notes? i thought you'd never ask. it's about a life insurance plan with options starting at $9.95 a month. been seeing it on tv. we talked about getting more life insurance. remember how much your brother's funeral cost? yeah, his funeral expenses were a real eye-opener. -north of $8,500. -exactly. (man) what do you like about this insurance? the $9.95 price, and best of all, it'll never go up. (man) but we could get it at our age with my medical history?

i feel 25 here and here, but the mirror says otherwise. don't worry. we can't be turned down for any health reason. i think we should call to see for ourselves, don't you? makes sense to me, let's call. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about colonial penn's number one most popular whole life insurance plan. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. you cannot be turned down because of your health. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. calling now. hi, i'd like some free information. (host) so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. (male announcer) and when you call now, you'll also get this free prescription savings card that can help you save up to 80% on prescription drugs.

but a resilient business you cacan be ready for it.re. a digital foundation from vmware helps you redefine what's possible... now. from the hospital shifting to remote patient care in just 48 hours... to the university moving hundreds of apps quickly to the cloud... or the city government going digital to keep critical services running. you are creating the future-- on the fly. and we are helping you do it. vmware. realize what's possible. this morning president trump touted the better than expected

job numbers that were released today and the spread of covid-19 across the country but here are the facts across the hour. the jobs report shows the u.s. added nearly 5 million jobs with the unemployment rate falling over 11%. amid the political firestorm over mask wearing, goldman sachs released a report that masks could have saved the u.s. from taking a 5% hit in the gdp, costing the economy $5 trillion. plus covid-19 cases are surging across 14 states. but this morning president trump expressed confidence that the country is well on its way toward recovery. >> but all of this suggested workers are confident about finding a new job. the stock market is soaring with the best gains in over 20 years. >> nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin is in l.a. where

businesses that just reopened are now shutting down again and rising covid cases are causing concerns. erin, what's going on out there? >> reporter: hey, andrea. officials here in california are really struggling to get this situation under control. covid cases have spiked some 45% in the last two weeks. and so governor gavin newsom is taking drastic action, ordering businesses closed that are deemed to be high risk, including indoor restaurant dining. and that is bad news for antonio's. this restaurant is a hollywood institution here on melrose. i was speaking to irma rodriguez. she has worked here since she was 12 years old. she says they are determined to survive despite the second shutdown. take a listen. >> this is the livelihood of my father who started with nothing, came into this country with nothing. and i cannot -- it's too hard to

let it go. we have to figure something out. we'll change this, we'll change that, we'll cut down on expenses here and there, and we'll tough it out and we'll make it. >> reporter: a big factor in antonio's success, the fact that they own this restaurant space. other restaurants across l.a. not as lucky. rodriguez was telling me she's aware of one restaurant that's been in business 75 years, now out of business, andrea. >> thanks so much, erin. and paul romer joins us, a nobel prize winning economist and advocate for widespread coronavirus testing. thanks for joining us. what's your interpretation of this jobs report? is this all positive news? do you think the numbers are accurate? or some have suggested that the real unemployment rate is actually higher. >> the real unemployment rate is actually higher. the bls is being as transparent

as it can. i think the right number is about 14%, because unemployment doesn't capture the people who have given up working. so there are a bunch of people who are classified now as not in the labor force as opposed to in the labor force and unemployed. but they were in the labor force a year ago and they've all left obviously because of the pandemic. so unemployment was about 4% a year ago. it's about 14% now, about 10% higher once you measure it correctly. >> and dr. romer, is there a way we can avoid stop-start to the economy, with now reopenings being rolled back? are we going to see another dip or is there some way to capture this recovery and do the things we need to do on the pandemic? >> the basic logic here is that if you do some things that are going to make the pandemic start

growing like sending people back to work, having them interact with each other, you should also do something which shrinks the growth, that limits the growth of the pandemic. you do those two things together. you can keep things stable. if you do enough of the things that are shrinking the pandemic, you can actually have the infections, the number of infections going down as we open. the problem is, we've been doing things that just increase the rate of growth of the virus, the rate of spread. we haven't done any of those offsetting measures. so it's no surprise that, you do those things, you get rapid growth. the least disruptive thing to do to limit the growth of the virus is to test a lot of people and isolate the ones who are infectious. we don't have to isolate everybody. we don't have to interfere with everybody. we just have to find out who are the -- what's the small percentage who are infectious and then get them to isolate.

>> how much testing do we need to do, do you agree with the harvard analysis, we're doing maybe 500,000 a day, that we need to do a million a day? >> i think we need to do a lot more than that. but the answer is fundamentally, we should just do as much as we can. and a lot of people have been saying, oh, we can't do enough so let's not even bother. we should do everything we can. there's a very simple way to radically speed up or expand the number of tests we can do, this idea of pooling the samples. if you've got ten people, you combine their samples in one tube, you run it through the machine. if most of the time you find out there was no virus in that tube, you know that all ten are fine. if you get a positive in that tube, you go back and test the ten people to find out who was the one who was infectious. with low levels of prevalence like in schools, for example, most of the times you can combine 10, 20 samples, and get

a 10, 20-fold increase in throughput in our testing capacity. fauci has been talking about this. there's an announcement that the government will start recommending or encouraging pool testing. we should be doing this as quickly as we can. >> we really appreciate your advice today, and dr. fauci has been saying that, as you point out. thank you very much, it's very good to hear from you, dr. paul romer. tonight, tune in for a special report, "economic in crisis: economic turning point." msnbc's stephanie ruhle will host the event with jose diaz-balart, tonight on 8:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc, nbc news now, and telemundo. up next, senator amy klobuchar.

if you have moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression

or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you.

as covid-19 continues to spread across the country, utah

is now seeing its first real spike in cases. the state is being forced to close testing sites due to supply shortages. doctors are warning hospitals could exceed capacity if rates keep increasing. now utah's republican governor is urging president trump and the vice president to recommend that americans do wear masks to stop the spread. joining me now is nbc's moira barrett in salt lake city. moira, this is a switch for utah leaders. >> reporter: absolutely. and actually the rate of increase in utah is extremely concerning for state officials. the republican governor says he has no plans to shut the state down again but is urging everybody to wear masks any time they go out in public short of a statewide mandate. he approved two counties of the 29 here in utah to have that mandate. but otherwise, before just a week ago, it was really left up to local business owners. i spoke with bob harmon, he owns a chain of grocery stores across

utah. he actually made it requirement before there was any local leadership advice that customers had to wear a mask to come to his store, to protect both his customers and the staff, because he has an essential business. he told me it was a no-brainer for him because even though mask wearing has become political, it's the smart thing to do. take a listen to what he told me. >> it's obvious that we need to regroup, we need to actually go back to those guidelines that are really simple. i mean, it's not taking much to have a mask, it really isn't asking much of people. i think it's our responsibility individually, to each other, to put one on. >> reporter: adding to that, i also spoke with the leading physician here at university of utah. he couldn't emphasize it enough, regardless of any mandate put into place, everyone needs to be wearing a mask, andrea. >> maura, thank you so much. as cases continue to spike across the country, president trump is doubling down on his

claims that the virus will just disappear one day. and after ridiculing reporters for wearing them not long ago, now it sounds like he's softening his personal objection to wearing a mask. >> i'm all for masks, i had the looked. i thought it was okay. it was a dark black mask, and i thought it looked okay. looked like the lone ranger, but, no, i have no problem about it. if people feel good about it, they should do it. >> joining me is amy klobuchar of minnesota who serves on the judiciary committee. great to see you. the lone ranger. >> yeah, there we go. >> there's a throwback. >> at least he is now after all the scientists have told us that we should be wearing masks, at least he is acknowledging that it's okay to wear a mask instead of mocking people for doing it. but at the same time, he should be telling people to follow the rules. and you know, i wore this mask over here. see, you can have great political masks that say vote.

i like this one. my favorite one. and that's what he should be doing. he should be telling people to wear a mask instead of acting like, oh, i look cool in a mask. you know, he is what he is. >> your family went through a lot because of this covid-19. your husband and now i read your father also had suffered it. >> he has it. he's 92. >> you know up close -- he has it now? >> uh-huh. >> i really hope he's doing well because you know what that isolation is like and what happened when your husband had it. >> yes. >> this is nothing to mess around with. >> it's a really serious matter. and the president has put disinformation out there all the time telling people to swallow bleach. making jokes about it. doing rallies and events where people are standing right next to each other. he just keeps it up. and every single person in america now, andrea, knows someone that's had it. in my case, my husband was in

the hospital. my dad is in assisted living. i got to see him, what i thought might have been the last time, but he's still hanging in there through some glass with a speaker phone in his room in the assisted living. that's what so many americans are going through right now standing outside of a window maybe saying good-bye for the last time like that. that's the right thing to do. it's the safe thing to do. but for the president to be belittling the science and belittling it, people are seeing through it. that's why you see joe biden doing so much better as he's talking about beating the president by large margins in so many states in the polls. why is that? people are starting to see through this finally. they don't want someone that's just a -- someone who is just making jokes up there all the time or someone who is spreading lies or someone they can't trust. they don't want to be entertained anymore because their jobs are on the line. they don't want to hear lies

anymore. more and more people are saying we've got to replace this guy and that's what you're seeing where the public is on this. >> i want to ask you also about russia and the president's leadership there where he's now calling the reports, the intelligence reports that are being briefed as we speak to the gang of eight there on capitol hill in a secure room. he's calling it a hoax. what signal does that send to vladimir putin? >> i first think about the signal it sends to our troops. and the signal that it sends to the parents who have recently spoken out who have lost their kids in afghanistan. the signal that it sends to the world and to our soldiers is that he doesn't have their back. and instead he has the back of vladimir putin. after this had been in his intelligence briefing that we now know is in there in late february, early march, after that was in there, he still was out there publicly saying that vladimir putin should be invited to the g7. that is not a strong response of

a strong leader. this is about our troops. this is about our foreign policy that the rest of the world is watching. and as nancy pelosi once said with this guy all roads lead to russia. all roads lead to vladimir putin. and we're seeing it once again. and we need a president who is going to have the back of the people of america and have the back of our troops. we're heading into fourth of july weekend. and this is where we celebrate our country and our independence and those serving us on the front line. and the way you do that is to protect them. and that's including protecting them from foreign powers putting bounties on their lives. >> we're also heading into a potential veto threat by the president against the defense authorization bill because of an amendment, i believe sponsored in part by elizabeth warren to change the names of some of those bases, the confederate figures who were named, ft. benning, ft. bragg and the rest. he'd veto the entire defense

spending bill because of this monument or base naming issue? >> this is, again -- >> would the republican senator goes along with this? >> well, they have agreed to this. senator warren did a great job and the armed services committee in getting this amendment as part of the defense bill. and instead of looking out for what we should be doing and telling the world and our country about the names of our bases, he's, in fact, appealing to his own base. that's what he always does. and what's so interesting about this, andrea, we haven't really heard any major effort from the republican senators to reject this bill, to change this bill because that provision to rename those bases is in the bill. and so he will be standing alone. yes, there are murmurs from representatives here or there but nor maj major movement to c this bill. i believe it will pass with that provision in it and he's going to have to decide, once again, is he going to put our nation's

defense and the troops first or put his base politics first? >> senator amy klobuchar, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> wishing a speedy recovery to your dad who is 92 and wishing you a good holiday weekend. >> you, too. thank you. and that does it for "andrea mitchell reports." don't go far. we will be here tomorrow. it may be a holiday for some. we'll have a holiday program tomorrow. remember, follow the show online, on facebook and on twitter @mitchellreports. ayman mohyeldin picks our coverage just after this break. (man) $9.95? hm. $9.95? $9.95. what's with all the $9.95 notes? i thought you'd never ask.

it's about a life insurance plan with options starting at $9.95 a month. been seeing it on tv. we talked about getting more life insurance. remember how much your brother's funeral cost? yeah, his funeral expenses were a real eye-opener. -north of $8,500. -exactly. (man) what do you like about this insurance? the $9.95 price, and best of all, it'll never go up. (man) but we could get it at our age with my medical history? i feel 25 here and here, but the mirror says otherwise. don't worry. we can't be turned down for any health reason. i think we should call to see for ourselves, don't you? makes sense to me, let's call. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about colonial penn's number one most popular whole life insurance plan. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. you cannot be turned down because of your health. no medical exam, no health questions.

your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. calling now. hi, i'd like some free information. (host) so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. (male announcer) and when you call now, you'll also get this free prescription savings card that can help you save up to 80% on prescription drugs. fine, no one leaves the tablefine, we'll sleep here. ♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win.

good thursday afternoon. i'm ayman mohyeldin. we are tracking a lot of breaking news. in the u.s., more than 2.7 million people have contracted the coronavirus with over 129,000 deaths so far. today the labor department announcing that the u.s. added a record 4.8 million jobs in june, bringing unemployment to 11.1%. although it is the largest single month gain in u.s. history, as cases surge and some states shut down businesses, it is unclear whether americans are headed towards a recovery or reversal. and a news conference with federal prosecutors was held last hour after longtime jeffrey epstein associate ghislaine maxwell was arrested today by the fbi. she's being charged in connection with an ongoing sex abuse investigation involving