good evening and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, if you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em. four years in to his presidency and three months out from a re-election that may only occur in his mind, donald trump's campaign continues to slide against joe biden who may get yet another boost when he announces his pick for vice president as early as next week. and the president's trump card so to speak, the solid red state support that elected him, even that is in question as coronavirus continues to decimate the nation. cases totaling more than 4.5 million americans, deaths above 150,000, and the federal unemployment relief that has

been a lifeline for millions, if the republicans get their way, will be reduced by two-ird thises juthis thises thirds for the same time for the same to pay rent or not. but this week, the president was concerned with election security and not the foreign interference commonly agreed to be a threat to our democracy. no. on thursday, he signaled that he may as often joked about these last four years, actually attempt to delay the presidential election. ironically citing coronavirus just weeks after holding potential fatal campaign rallies. it will be less sinister if the president hadn't been rarmimpinp his attempts on mail-in voting for months, and cities like portland which the president continues to threaten with

federal intervention because they refuse to violence protesters. but the president issued no such threats when right wingers were brandishing assault weapons and no face masks in the statehouses this past spring. my next guest clashed with the top justice officials earlier this week over this very same hypocrisy. joining me now, congresswoman democrat from washington state. let me go right to that, you really got into it with the attorney general william barr. and for our audience who might have missed it, i want to play this exchange you had with

attorney general barr about who gets to protest and how. >> about there is a real discrepancy in how you react as the attorney general, the top cop in this country, when white men with swastikas swarm a government building with guns, there is no need for the president for, quote, activate you because they are getting the president's personaled ed agend done. but when black people protest and the president's very own lack of response to those critical issue, then you forcibly remove them with armed federal officers, pepper xwbomb but they are considered terrorists by the president. >> i don't even need to expound about it. because it is clear when we saw people with arm, i mean some displaying openly automatic weapons, some even going i think

so of state houses, we saw no federal interference or even the suggestion of some. you confronted the attorney general with that. >> i did because it is very clear to me that there is a complete discrepancy, this is not equal jaustice under the wht you. he is not the president's personal attorney. he is supposed to be the attorney for all americans. and he is not acting that way. so when there are protestors who are protesting the president, like the movement for black lives protestors, then they get, you know, a whole series of officers that come and push them out of the way just so that the president can get a photo-op, he uses horses, he uses pepper spray, tear gas, everything that he can find on those protestors. but when you have white wing

extreatmee extremis extremists, and i use michigan, they were going in with swasi ta swastikas, one even a doll with a noose around its neck to represent the governor of michigan, then somehow the attorney general is nowhere to be found. and i believe that he actually perjured himself because he said that he wasn't even aware of those protests. and that is impossible that as attorney general he wouldn't be a waiver those prote aware of those protests. so i felt that i needed to call out the racism and how he streestreetreats the protesters. >> and racism, the attorney general said that he doesn't believe that there is evidence much syst

of system iic racism. >> and that was a stunning exchange. he said that if it were there, then it should be confronted and she said that you are saying that there is racism withlawmak. and immediately back tracked and said no, i don't believe that law enforcement is racist. so he completely denied what we all know what to be true. and he did it all through the hearing. he has tried to paint himself as this very reasonable man. and he has not come to testify before the judiciary committee. the last attorney general that didn't testify before the judiciary committee was bill barr whens of attorney general for george bush. so he has a habit of completely just side pllining congress.

he is the president's personal attorney. that is what he was with robert mueller and that is what he continues to be now. >> and when you say the president's personal attorney, that is his behavior not as the attorney general for the united states government and therefore certain fr ser not serving the interests of the people, how are you concerned if the president does try to attempt against constitution al law to try to delay or postpone the election, which he, he being the president himself suggested this week? >> of course he can't postpone it. that is not something that he has the power to do. that is something only congress can do. that has not happened before and it won't happen this time. but there was a line of questioning around the mail-in

ballots of the attorney general and he again tried to repeat the president's talking points, lies, that there is so much fraud in mail-in voting. and reverend, i come from a state that is one that has had mail-in ballots for a long time, one of the oldest states to do so. and i submitted for the record during the hearing a study that had been done by m.i.t. that said that over 250 mill oion ballots, the fraud rate is 0.00006%. so this is an surd but t absurd. this is just an attempt to try to convince americans that we shouldn't do a mail-in ballot

when in fact what they want to do is suppress the vote. >> so it a problem looks for a soluti solution. and we are on a deadline with the $600 that was given to people in need with no making of their own because of a pandemic that was not caused by them may expire and we're told even now that they are in a deadlock situation between house gosh yatesers and the republicans and the senate and the white house. how will it affect people in your district? what does it mean about the fact that people may suffer as a result of meeting their basic needs in we're not talking

buildi about luxury items here. >> and they expired already. it expired yesterday. and in fact in some situations, many people across the country lost this benefit on the 25th of july. so this is devastation for everybody. my constituents are calling, people across the country are calling. and the issue is that people are waiting because their rent and mortgage is due now. that is what is happening. they have to pay their rent and they have to put food on the table. and if we don't extend the -- remember, the republicans passed a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest people in this country. we are talking about a time when 50 million americans have filed for unemployment, where people literally are -- you put the statistics up.

and we have 155,000 people who have died of covid-19. and the numbers are continuing to increase. and people are terrified. we need to keep them home, but we need to get them money so that they can stay in their homes so that they can continue to take care of their families and remember that money goes right back into the economy. so by the way, it is also a great economic stimulus because people are going to use that $600 immediately. so this is very much something that i know speaker pelosi has been deeply, you know, certain that we have to push for this and we've got to get additional assistance, state and local governments need assistance, we need money for contact tracing and we need to take care of small businesses. so many minority owned businesses have shuttered. 95% of them didn't have action says to the ppp program, that is why i proposed a paycheck recovery act that would really

take care of these small businesses directly from treasury to the small business. and so that we could keep the businesses open and not have to rely on banks to try to get them money because they are being left out. so that is all the money that we've got to appropriate very quickly. >> and we must deal with it. i think i even heard what sounded like a dog leading the protest behind you as we talked about it. congresswoman, thank you very much for being with me tonight. joining me now is alexander hefner and noelle, a republican strategist. let's start with where i left off with the congresswoman. the deadlock around the $600, the deadlock around relief for people at home, the impact of that devastating in many home

that the have to pay rent, pay mortgages, just continue to buy stap willing le mortgages, just continue to buy stap willing s is unthinkable b right now. what is the political fallout in this will even affect those in red states that have in the past at least in 2016 supported president trump. >> yeah, it is a massive impact that will be felt across the country and ultimately it is mitch mcconnell who is back in kentucky now and refused to negotiate with the speaker, refused to recognize the magnitude of the crisis. and we all know from the outset of the pandemic that common sense practical assistance was not provided to those frontline workers, the protective equipment, transportation sti pebds for all those who have been working in the guess

prattpratt ly positions who are leading the country, the zicitizens who depd on the hospitals to have the equipment. and so ultimately, the graveyard that mitch mcconnell has dug now has over 50,000 american lives and souls. and that will be accounted for on election day. >> and noel, you are a republican strategist though suddenly have taken issue with this president. if you were a edstrategist for e congress, how do you advise that they handle this kind of in-flexibility? >> well, first of all, they need to go ahead and do everything in their power to get this thing

passed. these are american lives, these are american people that can't pay their bills. you know, we've all -- we're all agreed on this one point. unfortunately reverend, there is a push/pull here. you have president trump and they ever you' then you've got the republican 34r59 form a platform and then you have the pandemic. and so trying to navigate it through it all is very hard deal for a senator or congress person or someone running for office. where do i align? and i say align -- for get trump. align with your constituents and the people that are hurting and do what it takes. the argument from what i'm hearing on the republican side

is 1234 ledgsome legislators wae for this but the democrats are attaching other pieces with this and they are giving examples of what they did for like the kennedy center and other thing, they say that they are attaching other things with it and that is why they are holding out. so i say do whatever you have to do, let things go and just vote this into keep these people's checks coming in so they can pay their rent. >> you mentioned the pandemic. let us not act like if the president had not acted in january when it he was warned, we may not be facing the numbers and devastation that we're facing because of the pandemic. as late as today, he is, arguing over twitter with dr. fauci and

saying that we should have done more testing. and he said wrong, we've have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country. 60 million. if we tested less, there had wo be less cases. how did italy, france and spain do? now europe sadly as flare-ups. we will come back strong. he is actually fighting when he says twronk wiwrong with his ow expe health experts. >> yeah, he's done it from the beginning. you were discussing the attorney general. if we had an actual attorney general in this country, he or she would be investigating and

prosecuting the homicide, the mass purchase -- murder -- it gotten to where it is not just inexcusable, it is genocidal. it is mania. and i think that the senatechas gotten to where it is not just inexcusable, it is genocidal. it is mania. and i think that the senate candidates will be campaigning for the health and well-being of their citizens. and life and death ought not be a partisan issue. but we've discovered it is now. >> and it is debatable, kn noel with the health experts saying do this or top stop doing this. if you are one to make a prediction, do you think there is any way that president trump can turn around qu45 seeound whe a sure defeat from him in

november short of his delaying the vote which he can't do by law or trying in some way to suppress the vote? >> i think one of the first things that i would advise a lot of republican donor, i deal with a lot republican donor, and a lot of people express frustration and that is stop the twitter. it works against him. i know he likes to get miss whie out, but the lgs rest of us aret to defend the tweets. so going forward, you know, if you want to get out the word and say what you are doing and say all the things you've done, that is great. but the tweeting and the debating, just leave it be. >> and the problem is not just the tweets, that is a problem.

the problem is who is doing the tweets and how he is thinking. he is only expressing what he thinks. that is the problem. alex athank you both for coming on. coming up, my shothoughts to sh on his law and order campaign. but first the top news stories. thanks. what was hurricane isaias is now a tropical storm. but it is expected to restrengthen as it makes a move toward florida's southeast coast. it is arriving at florida's treasure coast later this evening. the president has approved an emergency declaration ahead of the storm. and the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, there are now more than 4.6 million confirmed cases of the virus. and the number of fatalities has

reached more than 155,000. and major league baseball is taking a hard look at their season, 29 players and staff have tested positive for the virus. the league commissioner has warned that he will surehut dow the season if players don't follow protocols. and president trump to make a decision on tiktok. he is concerned how the chinese-owned company is using data from americans. this is my body of proof. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections.

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for this week's memo to trump, i want to talk about law and order. given ito your propensity to sitting and watching television,

i thought it was your way of letting us know that you were catching up on reruns of the famous crime drama. but, no, you are following the lead of your party's most infamous formernixon, who succe ran on law and order as a slogan. undoubtedly you are taking your cues from your friend roger stone, that he famously has a tattoo of the 37th president on his back. and who once told the new yorker that it is because of his resilience. that never -- he never quits. stone's characterization of nixon is almost as absurd as his tattoo. indeed nixon was literally the only president whoever did quilt.

but let's ba quit. but let's back up so i can describe to you why this will not work to you. in the years leading up to the 1968 selection, refrn refer and he reverend king, 63% of americans disapproved of him at that time. and itch richard nixon played that. but things are very different now. hundreds of thousand of americans took up the cause of nonviolence resistance in the after math of george floyd's killing.

this time two-thirds approve of the marches and demonstrations. but your bluster won't resonate because most didn't see them as out of on order but rather a needed movement in the ongoing fight for racial justice. but in 1968, richard nixon ran as an outsider against the sitting vice president when he promised to restore law and order. it was an implicit accusation that his opponent who was the one who allowed things to spiral out of control. but here in 2020, you are the in-dumt we i i incumbent. he tank ed a once booming econoy

and septembnt troops into ameri cities. and that is still happening on your watch. you cannot run on a platform of restoring law and order when you are the one who allowed this country to slide into chaos. and with your recent commutation of richard nixon's fan and who is now convicted roger stone, you have shown that the only law and order you believe this is the kind used by you to punish those who you see as political enemies. but you know something, mr. president? i too am a great believer in law and order. the american people will hold you accountable for your crimes. and come january 20th when you return to the civilian life and can't use the office of the presidency to shield yourself from the consequences of your

misdeeds, i look forward to seeing you get a taste of the american justice system. seeing you get a taste of the american justice system. they will, but with accident forgiveness allstate won't raise your rates just because of an accident, even if it's your fault. cut! sonny. was that good? line! the desert never lies. isn't that what i said? no you were talking about allstate and insurance. i just... when i... let's try again. everybody back to one. accident forgiveness from allstate. click or call for a quote today.

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if we want our children to grow up in a democracy, not just with elections but a true democracy, a representative democracy, a big toltolerant, inclusive america, then we'll have to be more like john. we don't have to do all the things he had to do because he did them for us. but we got to do something. as our country mourned one of his greatest advocates this

week, our last president encouraged us to get into good trouble while our current president keeps swings out there with the polls looking worse and worse for him, a clear message that he sees widespread voter suppression as his best chance to cling to power. and then he gehe goes even fart he had a tweet suggests that the november election be postponed. joini joining me now is debber wie wasserman schwartz. let me get to the first point, does the president have the mowho power to postpone the alexandria

in november that he suggested and if not, why is he throwing that out there in your opinion? >> good to be with you. he absolutely does not have the power to post poechb tpone the . the power rests with congress. and i was glad to see republicans and democrats dismiss it as ridiculous suggestion that it was. president trump's polling numbers are tanking. not that we can take anything for granted, but he has a coronavirus that is spreading like wildfire and the blame for that lies at his feet because he has not taken public health guidance certificate seriously,

reopenings too soon. and the biggest drop in the gdp. >> so if he doesn't have the power, why do you think that he is putting that out there? >> he is trying to sow seeding the doubt. not only is voter fraud minu miniscule, it is even less by. and at the same time that you have the michigan republican part ty encouraging them to vot by mail because they know in a time where you have a virus spreading and people concerned

about going to the polls in person, if people didn't vote by mail, there would be a problem. >> and you are former chair of the dnc, we're days away from finding out who will be joe biden's running mate. will this make a big difference in the 1r0vote something. >> you look at the leaders on the short list, it would be a remarkable achievement and opportunity to elect a duo like joe biden and any one of these in incredible women. and in con to the nigtrast to d and mike pence. we would go from the height of

incompetence and dto going with who is leading urination wiyou confidence and ensure that we can get things done, arrest the virus and make sure that people can become healthy again and also restore our economy. >> i won't ask you who you may support. i would say i would like to see a black vice president woman dir candidate, but it searches me on the attacks that we've seen, some you know, does it disturb you? because it seems to be an onslaught of the potential candidates. >> and you know, when you are strong woman who is leader who

uses their voice like all of these women on the short list do, inevitably what happens is that we get -- it undermines the sex civil thism that we've had generations. very often it is looked at in a negative light for us as opposed to a positive light for a man. and so it is not surprising. it is even acceptabunacceptable thankfully joe biden who dismisses all that and he knows the job better than anyone and and confident that he will choose somebody that will can

bring the nation back after this night marriemare nightmare. >> god forbid a politician being ambitious. thank you for being with us. coming up, an historic election, i'll describe next. plus be sure to john tomorrow on "a.m. joy" when nancy pelosi and eric holder will be special guests. ecial guests

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i open the app, find the store i lwant to use, start buying and it gets me tons of cash back. i just got paid to shop. my favorite thing about rakuten is just getting money back in the mail. i mean, who wouldn't want cash back. sign up today and rack it up with rakuten. black women played an out sized role in the so-called blue wave of the 2018 mid terms. when a record number of color ran for office and won. now as there is at least a strong chance that the next democratic nominee for vice president will be a black woman,

november's down ballot races are again seeing a record number of black women in states that have never had one in the governor's mansion or a congressional society. joining me now, joyce elliott, currently running to represent the state's second congressional district in the house. thank you for being with us congresswoman, hopefully you will be congresswoman. why are you running and what does it mean to see all the black women around the country running for office again this year as they did in 2018? >> refer and sharverend that wsu so many. i'm so honored to be a part of the 60 where i am still in the race for congress.

it is so important that we have the voices of everybody in congress and black women and women of color make up only about 4%. and for my own state to be a state where we have never elected a black person to represent us in congress, that is historic in itself. and i have lived a life in the south where i have seen what it means for everybody not to be represented. at an early achblg ge of 15, i part of integrating a school. so all voices must be heard and this is very important that we are represented in congress. >> and you are not just running to represents black women, but you are running showing that black women can represent the entire constituents regardless of race, again gender or

certainsex all orientati orientation. >> and i was a teacher, i had to lead classrooms. i taught and how important that it is that we have equity, that we respect people from all backgrounds. i am currently in the state legislature. i had to work across all lines and people know me in the state. they know that when joyce elliott shows up, i show up for everybody, not just some people. and that is a big departure from my current opponent. i've worked in arkansas, we were the first southern state to expand medicaid. we couldn't do that without working across all lines. i was a part of a group of bipartisan legislators who created a world class pre-k system that we had not had.

and when we move together, we can do these kind of things such as the expanded health care for 300,000 people and right now we have somebody this congress who is trying to take that away. black women have had to work and be multitaskers in ways that others have not even thought about. and this is a voice that needs to be in congress. suppose i were a person there making a decision about health care and not french hill. i confront this with a totally different perspective. so that voice is sorely needed in congress and i am willing to bring it. >> and we celebrated this week the life of john lewis who passed this week before last. and we dug up a picture of you that we unearthed, a clip of you with the congressman in 2005 at

the university of arkansas. as someone who integrated your own high school, now representing your southern state, what did john lewis mean to you? >> when i was intake greats that school, i was aware of john lewis and he was a northstar for me. and i learned not to hate. i am really privilege linled that i had him as a role model because i came out of that situation not a person who hated, although i had some experience that could have led me to be that kind of person. but when i became a teacher, i wanted to be a teacher for all students because in my experiences, and i had just -- through my life, it has been

about public service and about bringing people together. unity is something worth fighting for and that is what i have done this whole time. and when i'm in the legislature, it is not easy, but i believe deeply in collaboration. like john lewis said, you have work done. >> all right. joyce elliott, thank you for being with us tonight. up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. are you still at risk for a heart attack or stroke?

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we've seen all kinds of that stuff during protests, and we know the protests actually increased the spread of the virus. you said that. >> i said crowds. i didn't say specifically. i didn't say protest to anything. >> the protests don't increase the spread of the virus? >> i didn't say that. you're putting words in my mouth. >> do the protests increase the spread of the virus? >> i don't have any scientific evidence of anything. >> no matter how congressman

jordan tried, dr. fauci did not say what has not been established that the protests has done anything to increase the spread of coronavirus. we must be resistant but we must be responsible, which is why the march later this month in washington, d.c. that martin luther king iii and i and members of the floyd family, george floyd and others have called are taking all the precautions to be responsible as we also march to get the senate to pass the george floyd justice and policing act and the john lewis voting rights act. why? because we need police reform legislated. and we need voting rights protected. and demonstration must lead to legislation. but we're requiring everyone that comes if they bought a bus

sponsored, we're taking temperature there can only be one seat on a row, and there will be social distancing at the gathering because we are being responsible, unlike some of the activities we've seen by our president. even though it's outdoors and they say the risk is lower, we're putting all protocols in place. those that are coming from hot spots, we're not accepting their buses at our spots of parking. we're saying march in your state at your senator's office so that we can get the legislation done. we will be marching. we will be rallying. but we will be responsible. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. eastern. up next, my colleague alicia menendez picks up our news coverage. can bring up questions that make you feel like shutting down.

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good evening and thanks for being with me. i'm alicia menendez. in a presidency that has been defined by chaos since the very start, this past week stands out. we saw the president cast doubt on the viability of the national election system and suggest the date of the election be moved. we also learned that we just lived through the most devastating three-month financial collapse on record. and that chaos is having an impact on americans. on friday, federal unemployment benefits dried up for 30 million americans, and the eviction moratorium expired.

today on capitol hill chuck schumer and house speaker nancy pelosi held a three and a half hour mti