we want to begin with the headlines and the facts as we know them at 3:00 p.m. more than 3.5 millions have been sickened by the coronavirus with florida reporting nearly 14,000 new cases, a record 156 deaths just yesterday. the nationwide death toll is approaching the 139,000. the nbc news medical unit tells us 41 states have seen an increase in infections in just two weeks. president trump and dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, spoke yesterday for the first time in several weeks. their discussion comes as white house officials try to discredit dr. fauci. information on hospital bed availability in the u.s. has disappeared from the cdc website one day after control of that data was shifted to the health and human services department. a spokesperson for hhs says the

cdc was directed to make it available again. hhs says it shifted control of the information to streamline the reporting of data, but some public health experts say it could lead to less transparency. american, british and canadian intelligence officials say russian intelligence services are trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research. officials say the attacks have been carried out by the hacking group known as cozy bear. target and cvs are joining a growing list of companies requires customers to wear masks. their announcement follows similar announcements by walmart and kroger yesterday. we are hearing more dire warnings of what could happen if the pandemic stays on its current course. the latest comes from our friend

and contributor dr. irwin redliner at columbia university in new york. he wrote this and we quote it's distinctly possible five months from now half of all americans could have been infected with coronavirus and more than 800,000 americans may die in this extraordinary outbreak. despite predictions like those the trump administration doesn't have a plan to deal with the crisis that seems to be spinning further and further out of its control by the day. "the washington post" puts it this way -- there is no cohesive national strategy apart from unenforced federal health guidelines. the mijs is offering patch work solutions. trump and his team declare sweeping directives like re-opening schools and they have

largely shirked responsibility to achieve them, putting the onus on states and local authorities. with that as the back drop, i'm join by friend and colleague nicolle wallace. nicolle, i would give anything to talk about good news prior to your entrance into this hour each day, but that is the world as we know it. >> you know what, i was thinking as you were bringing everyone up to speed on the headlines that we've come on the air often and described our news menu as a split screen story. it's not that anymore. there's the story, the crisis, the tragedy for so many families, the economic devastation, the pandemic. then there's the cover up. there's no other way to look at the effort to seize data from the cdc, to smear and diminish anthony fauci. let me tell you something, this

isn't a white house with an approval process. there's what donald trump wants and there's what his press secretary and advisers say and do. that's all there is. there's no way who spends all his days and who is an idealogical soul mate to president trump published an article without the president knowing that. we're looking at something that explains why the president is not just so far behind joe biden, but not a part of the conversation in so many parts of this country about re-opening schools, about mask mandates, about opening businesses. he has dealt himself out of the conversation about the way forward in this country. >> and injected politics, as you mention frequently, into

subjects like public health. for example, we hope by now people understand that regardless of political affiliation or the color of your preferred baseball cap, wearing a mask can prevent the spread of the coronavirus. university of washington, the folks who run the models that were once touted as the white house as the gold standard, they say universal mask wearing could save over 40,000 lives. it's always been true. while 25 states and d.c. have implemented mandates for people to wear masks some states are moving in the opposite direction. the governor of georgia has taken a novel approach. in what folks just assumed was a misprint, governor brian kemp, has banned cities and counties

in georgia from implementing such a mandate. he has banned georgia localities from mandating masks for public health. blaine alexander is with us in atlanta where the mayor who has the coronavirus ordered people to wear masks in public. blaine, i wish you luck explaining this disconnect. >> reporter: well, that is exactly what it is, a disconnect. this intensifies this kind of ongoing battle we've seen between governor kemp and local leaders here in georgia that we've seen for the better party of the pandemic. we heard from atlanta mayor, i spoke with her office today, they made it clear the local order enforcing masks is remaining in place. she said she's not at all concerned about the state possibly suing the city over this. she said i will put our policies up against any other policies any day of the week. what you're seeing here, brian,

from those who have put this in place is defiance. it bears mentioning this stands in line with what governor kemp has said all along. he said local leaders can't put in place restrictions that are tougher than his. he's put this in writing for the first time. here's what the mayor of savannah had to say. >> i've been flaggbbergasted by what has occurred here. alabama has mandate masks and our governor would roll it back and then try to forbid cities to being able to carry out the mask mandates as we've declared them. we're fighting covid and we're fighting our governor.

our hands should be working to fight this virus. >> reporter: you're seeing that strong response from leaders in augusta, from athens. it bears mentioning governor kemp has been encouraging mask wearing. it was part of his executive order. when he greeted president trump, he greeted him wearing a mask on the tarmac. he's embarked upon this statewide tour wearing masks. when it comes to enforcing it or requiring it, he says that goes a step too far and says it's not enforceable. nicolle? >> thank you, blaine alexander. joining our conversation are two of our very good friends. white house correspondent emish

alender. i have ten sh10,000 questions. does the white house remoan their policies? >> i have ten sh10,000 question the white house. they're understanding that the president and the white house in the whole are not the experts that people are turning to when they're looking for information on how the coronavirus pandemic will impact their lives. just a few moments ago the white house press secretary said science shouldn't get in the way of schools re-opening. she said schools should be full and packed with children. the white house is yet again focusing on the idea that they want everything to go back to normal when we're in a country where parents are terrified to send their kids to school for

all sorts of reasons, not only because kids might get sick, but they might bring it home. i keep thinking about the governor of maryland, a republican governor, called the president out, not in some way that's anonymous, but in the "washington post" to say this president isn't doing enough to help states. the white house right now as the president continues to spread misinformation they're trying to circle the wagons and defend the president. the president has settled on this strategy of saying things that are not true and hoping this all goes away. >> dr. roy, this idea of saying things that are not true seems to have caught up with him. behind every number, every projection is a family destroyed by the loss of a loved one. i cannot see those projections without feeling abject horror at the number of families that

stand to lose loved ones if we're really heading in that projection as predicted by dr. redliner and dr. fauci. >> nicolle, i share that horror. i've had to pronounce the death of patients. i've had to call family members, speak to them in person and share this really horrifying bad news. that's now happening nationwide in all of these states. as you know, nicolle, in new york we went through a hellish period. at peak we had 799 deaths in a 24-hour span. thankfully we're down to zero deaths for the first time. that's after we had leadership at the local and state level just mandating stay at home, wearing masks. i don't leave my home without this mask. like you, nicolle, i have 10,000 questions. for me it boils down to really

one. what on earth is wrong with the administration? right now the public health and medical professionals we could not be more clear in terms of what needs to be done. not as a recommendation or a good idea, but mandate. you got to cover your mouth and nose and maintain physical distancing. it's as simple as that. we're not asking people to go to a hospital and donate an organ. it's as noninvasive as covering your face and maintaining distance. >> just in the time since the top of the hour, the governor of colorado has become the latest governor to require face coverings in that state in all indoor public spaces. stores and the like. another state going to require masks.

emesh, to your and our disbelief you have covered and talked about the war against science, the diminution of science in the public conversation. indeed, dr. hotez in a conversation with nicolle yesterday says he has seen disinformatidi disinformation campaigns around the world in his time and that's what we're in the middle of, a disinformation campaign. >> that's right. it seems as though the president as decided this is the only strategy that works to get him to re-election. we've seen the president do over and over -- say things we know are false. he said the virus is 99% harmless. he said it's going to disappear. when we look at how the white house is handling it, it's a critical risk for republicans following suit.

you see someone like the republican governor of georgia he's saying people shouldn't be able to mandate masks. you see in the state of florida, my home state where my family lives, the florida governor said everyone thought i was going to be in the middle of an epidemic. all of you were work. fast forward and my family is terrified that florida is going to be worse than new york. we see cases hitting daily new records. that's another governor who stuck his neck out and said i'll follow the president's lead. now it's not only a question in november for the president, but also the down ballot races. republicans in the senate and house will pay the price if president trump isn't able to benefit from this strategy of misinformation when it comes to this virus. >> doctor, to your point, you brought up hospital procedures.

if any of us went for a hospital procedure and were surrounded by unmasked medical professionals, we would cry outrage correctly. to your last point, we have now reached an age where in some places and among some people the wearing of a mask labels you politically, party affiliation, favored candidate for president, when it really does put the public role in your business, which is public health. >> brian, i think what me and fellow medical professionals find most flabbergasting and infuriating is the simple measures are quite literally life saving. it's the only reason you're seeing this escalation in infections and deaths nationwide. it's because these measures that public health officials are clearly stating and have been stating for months now are just

not being heeded. to your earlier point at the start of the hour when you were talking about how the administration is undermining dr. fauci, let me be clear to your viewers. dr. fauci is a globally respected physician, scientist and researcher who has devoted his career to the public health and safety. dr. fauci and i and all my fellow physicians took the same oath. [speaking foreign language] first do no harm. not only is he not being supported, he's being actively undermined and discredited and do not fall for that. listen to what he says and the public health minuadministrator >> such an important part to end our conversation on. thank you both for starting off our live coverage and our conversation on a thursday afternoon. a break for us. when we continue the president

shaking up his campaign in the wake of a string of new polls showing him trailing joe biden nationally by double digits. steve schmidt will join us. plus the former marine pilot who wants to make mitch mcconnell a previous senator. is mitch mcconnell really beatable in the state of kentucky? we'll ask the candidate, among other topics when we continue. . uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. t- mobile has a plan built just for you. n-n-n-no-no we want you to get the value and service you need to stay connected. saving 50% vs. other carriers

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up and climbing, the president's numbers are down and falling. another poll this one from nbc news and "the wall street journal" shows the president losing to joe biden nationally here by double digits. biden leads trump by 11 points, 51-40. that's outside the margin of

error plus or minus 3.3. the results of the poll alo dem campaign manager last night. the president replaced brad parscale with a more seasoned veteran former chris christie manager bill stepien. "the washington post" reports the biggest blow he suffered in trump's eyes was over tulsa where trump grew angry over the empty seats after parscale hyped the demand for tickets. >> we welcome back our good friend, steve schmidt former republican strategist. steve is among the founders of

the lincoln project, a group formed to defeat donald trump. steve, we worked for folks that didn't -- there were shake-ups. shake-ups are usually meant to address the symptom, not the cause of a problem. let's dispense with the idea that a campaign shake-up can solve any of the problems donald trump sees for himself in the polls. >> for sure. the job of campaign manager for donald trump is a joke job just like white house chief of staff is. they have no power, no authority. jared kushner runs the campaign and does so at the whim of donald trump. whether it's bill stepien and brad parscale or 150 other names, the issue is trump. the secondary issue is trump. trump, trump and trump always. he's presided over a catastrophe

in this country and really the unleashing of a type of national insanity. if you live in another country, for example canada or new zealand your kids will be going to school safely, but not in the united states. all the dreams that are shattered, all the lives lost it's because of one reason. it's because we have the grave misfortune to have someone mentally, intellectual deficient as a leader. he's the most ill-suited person to be in the middle of a life and death crisis in american history. it will take us years and years to dig out of this. he's behind joe biden because the american people are waking up to the folly that has ensued

by putting this unworthy man into the highest office in the land. >> steve schmidt, i caught an article yesterday the gist of which is that american passports are useless right now. let's ignore for the moment that the pandemic has made travel unreachable, impossible and unpalatable for most people. if you wanted to, if you had the means or perhaps the urgency, a mission to travel the world, we are allowed as americans into turkey, tanzania and mexico. europe is cut off for us. we can't drive north into the canadian side of niagara falls. we have become pariahs because of our spike. >> all of those countries share something in common, the ones that want to keep americans out.

they're governed by responsible leaders by and large. you can't allow americans into the country right now because of the coronavirus threat. there's a sign that has taken off in london apparently that's all over the sidewalks. it says americans must be accompanied by an adult. we're a national laughing stock. the president is a stock. when you ponder that the richest and most powerful country in the world, the country with the world's leading research universities, the most advanced math and science country in the world, we've brought low by conspira conspiracy theorists, by talk radio hosts, by internet trolls, by a president who refuses to read and do his homework, refuses to listen to medical experts, only cares about himself, not the american people, cares only about his

re-election. the american people have been gas lighted, lied to. we have 35% of the country that's decided to join a cult of personality. when you look at that tulsa rally and you see those people there -- i wish these people no ill. i want them to be successful and happy and for their families to be safe. i don't want to be ruled under them. the foolishness of the mindless cheering for someone as they described their walk down the narrow and shallow west point ramp or their talent at drinking water with two hands, it's just madness. 111 days from now the american people are the last line of defense for the country. as george will pointed out in an important column in the "washington post," this is what national decline looks like. this is what a spin to the ground looks like. we are out of control as a

country. there was a real lack of imagination on the part of the american people four years ago about the capacity for someone like donald trump to cause real tragedy. we should all be woken up now. we should be paying attention. this man must be defeated if there's to be any chance to come out of this. otherwise, the country will be in an irreversible decline. the america that was will be no more. we'll be a rich country. we'll be a powerful country, but we won't be the pre imminent country in the world anymore. that's the result of donald trump being the 45th president of the united states. >> wow. well, because nicolle and i know a closing quote when we hear one, our thanks on that note after giving us a whole lot to think about. thank you to steve schmidt for

joining us. when we come back, with the president stumbling in the polls there's new hope among some democrats that control of the united states senate could actually be within their reach. a segment about that when we come back.