in the primaries 5% of people voting by mail in the past federal elections to 60% of people voting by mail. so the reason there is such an emphasis to do this right now and why i am taking it on as the highest ranking democrat on the rules committee in the senate is that we have got democrats and republicans. 67% of trump voters in swing states have said in polling they want congress to do something about safe elections. senator blount of missouri and i are working together and he pledged to work with me to get welcome to kasie dc. funding in the bill. tonight from under mining the you just heard from hakeem there postal service to floating is a lot of work that needs to questions of delaying the be done on the bill, but i am november election. a dark week for democracy. hopeful. coming up at 8:00, a special i always think of the split screen, the voters in milwaukee, hour as a vice president chooses many of them african-american his vice president. i will talk to stacey abrams standing in line in homemade masks and garbage bags in the with joe biden expected to make rain, 70 got coronavirus.

his pick as soon as this week. on the other split screen, the but first, as coronavirus president of the united states continues to spread and the voting in the luxury of 1600 economic crisis deepens those in power are giving americans pennsylvania avenue with his little reason to trust they can mail-in ballot from palm beach, make things better. florida in his slippers. during a week in which the death that is literally what is going toll from the virus surpassed on in the country right now. >> to follow up on that in terms of the president. >> i think you were taken aback 150,000 president trump retweeted a video of a doctor by the slippers. >> i was. that said falsely you did trip me up a little bit hydroxchloroquine is a cure for covid-19. he again claimed, falsely, that by the image. >> i made that up. that was a guess. if we tested less there would be a guess. >> well, you shared that image fewer cases. a recent poll found nearly half with all of our viewers now. of the country does not trust thank you for that. now the president and the things what the president says about he is saying in public as well the pandemic at all. as republicans, you know, many of them your colleagues in the gee, i cannot imagine why that senate who have been put on the might be. spot about his claim to delay all of this as tens of millions the election over the course of of americans are waiting on the last week and who would congress to act after their potentially be in the position extra unemployment benefits ran after if we do have a close out on friday. election or if there is a both sides continued negotiating this weekend but mark meadows

said we shouldn't expect a deal problem counting ballots or we are talking about margins of any time soon. victory and all of these things. >> yesterday was a step in the are you confident? what do you hear behind the right direction. our staffs are actually working scenes from your republican colleagues whether they would do today and they will be meeting the right thing if joe biden won again tomorrow. the election and the president i am upnot optimistic that ther was trying to take another action? >> i think they will do the will be a solution in the very right thing. near term. i look at the democracy issue >> this week showed us we can't and the fact that you have republican governors and trust president trump to tell the truth about the virus. republican secretary of states, millions of americans are up at some of which just penned, four night worried about how to make of them an op-ed saying we are ends meet waiting on congress and the president is asking the republican election officials country not to trust the very and we are worried. we need help because of the bedrock of our democracy. >> they think they are going to changes. the fact that some of them are send hundreds of millions all coming to the plate right now over the united states and it is saying that they want to make going to come out. sure that these elections work, you won't know the election results for months, weeks, regardless of what party there is gives me hope. years. that is what i am concerned and in the end the way we beat with. it will be fixed. donald trump is by winning big. it will be rigged. by winning big it makes all of >> joining me now kimberly this not as questionable. atkins, senior opinion writer at and your answer to your question

"the boston globe" and michael about are we going to have to steele, former press secretary wait to count some of the for john boehner and former ballots, given a lot of these senior advisor to jeb bush. are mail-in ballots, it is going to take a while. michael, let me start with you we know that. because we ended on that clip of it is not going to the same as the republican president essentially questioning mail-in we are used to and that is only balloting and the tweet from him if we have a fully-funded post suggesting that the election be delayed. office. if you listen to mitt romney who one of the few instances that i has defended vote by mail. can recall where there was broad if you look at the fact from and quick widespread oregon, .00001% fraud in decades condemnation among republicans of doing this vote by mail. of that idea. what was the reaction behind the you realize that what the president is saying is not scenes among republicans who are fighting to re-elect other consistent with anything that everyone from tom ridge to mitt senators and members of the house and not just the president romney to republican governors are saying right now. of the united states? >> look, one the broad picture >> romney in particular talked which is important. about vote by mail. two, i was proud and happy to see how quickly across the board >> right. pretty overwhelming.

republican officials said no let's turn to the vice president way, not going to happen. third, this is not the sign of a confident president. this is not the sign of a man expected to pick someone as soon as the coming week. fighting to win the re-election. there has been a lot of back and this is a sign of a man who is forth in the press by kamala harris and question whether the fighting to make it close enough to claim he was cheated and biden team views her as not escape the judgment of history if he loses badly to the former sufficiently contrite for vice president. attacking him on the debate stage. there have been questions about >> to that point, kimberly stacey abrams who was saying i would like the job. atkins, i want to briefly play some critiqued her as too what the attorney general had to say about the question in ambitious. what is your view on how the response to a question that process is playing out and what hakeem jeffries asked the in your view should be the number one priority. attorney general. is there anyone you think would take a look and we will talk about it. be in the best position to help >> mr. attorney general, what biden win in november? will you do if donald trump loses the election on november >> dori 3rd but refuses to leave office >> i am not going to weigh in on on january 20th? the individual candidates. >> if the results are clear i i think every single one of them would be good. would leave office. it has to be someone you would trust and someone to bring >> if the results are clear?

compassion and competence to the that is pretty loaded, kimberly. job of vice president. i know a little about vice >> yes. that was a caveat attached to presidents coming from the states of humphrey and mondale, the statement. listen, while i often agree with we once said new moms bounce their babies on their knees michael, i do not agree the message coming from republicans saying one day you can grow up to be vice president. was a stern rebuke. it is something that joe biden what most republicans said is knows exactly what he will need. that the president cannot delay i think you just give him time. an election, which is factually accurate. do i like attacks on the various what we didn't hear from republicans the implication of what donald trump was doing is candidates, no. i do think every one of the women has ambition? an attack on democracy. yes. you wouldn't want one that didn't have ambition. this is how it works where we need more women with ambition leaders try to change elections or wield their power in a way to hold on to power longer than the running for office. there is nothing wrong with laws allow. and that is essentially what the that. president was signaling. >> all right. senator amy klobuchar, always and we did hear a lot of folks, great to have you on the show. >> it was great to be on. including the head of the i look forward to coming on federal society, one of the again. >> thanks. founders of the federalist society ringing the alarm bells thanks. (neighbor) whatcha working on... and saying that alone could be

(burke) just an app. grounds for impeachment. it's called signal from farmers, and it could save you up to this was something more than fifteen percent on your auto insurance. just a tweet that can be simply sign up, drive and save. shrugged off. this is something more than saying if the results are clear ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ i may do something about it. this is a president really signaling something dangerous and republicans and democrats from capitol hill to state house and local election committees should do all they can to ensure to the american people that they will work to make sure that this election, even if the results are not available immediately, that it is fair and that it can be carried out and that the transition of power if that is what the results call for will happen. >> michael steele, i offered if you wanted to respond to that. i mean do you see that overtone. >> it is a real matter for concern. republican elected officials, members of the administration are a slightly different matter but those in cycle are walking a

very narrow tight rope saying this will not happen. this is not appropriate. this is an inappropriate suggestion. at the same time they need trump voters and the core that continues to support the president. and so a rebuke would be politically dangerous if not suicidal. >> to pick up or kind of draw it out a little bit, i think the one question that i have, and i do acknowledge michael's point that there are many republicans and especially in swing states that are cautious about this and trying to do the right thing. but at the same time we have documented examples in places like georgia of officials who have gone forward even though there was major questions about how voting was to be conducted and sometimes over the objections of local republican officials gone ahead with it anyways at the state wide level. >> yes.

look, republicans have to make a decision for themselves. do they stand up for democracy or do they fudge it in an attempt to avoid the political wrath from those that support donald trump. that is a decision they have to make and history will judge that and it will judge them on that. but what people in power can do right now, republicans can make sure that there is funding for local and state officials to be able to secure and shore up their elections. they can provide funding from the postal service to make sure that when absentee ballots are mailed out they make it to the people in time and that people can return them. there are things they can do. it is not just about messaging and action, and i just do not think that in this moment if you think the difference as a public official is to stand up for democracy or to hide behind the president, i don't think that is

a hard decision. >> michael steele, let me pick up on her point about the negotiations broadly. i know you have been in a lot of the rooms and you spent a lot of late nights at the capitol. right now reading what leaders have come out and said about the negotiations, i struggle to see how they get to a deal this week because they are so far apart. what is your read on the treasure secretary and mark meadows have been doing to try to get a deal? >> i don't think they have been handling it well. this is, by the standards of these things, this is not a welcome back to kasie dc. complicated deal. joining me now is pramil nothing senate republicans can get through nancy pelosi's house. we are probably looking at the pramila jayapal. always great to have you on the end of the day a package that show. >> great to be with you kasie, passes the senate largely with as always. >> let's start with the democratic votes. negotiations over the some republicans in swing races coronavirus legislation that is and it will look more like a ongoing this week. democratic collection of we spoke earlier with your priorities than a republican collection of priorities. colleague, hakeem jeffries.

it is clear one of the key secretary mnuchin can negotiate sticking point is un. the deal. the wild cards are the president the insurance which millions are himself, as always and chief of relying on. there is no real end in sight staff mark meadows who is for people. you are part of the progressive playing his first game at the nfl level and seems to be caucus. what do you want your leaders to fumbling a little bit. demand in terms of making going to the white house press adjustments there. briefing room and saying we have it sounds like the heroes act is made four offers to the the marker there is potentially democrats with no count offer, room for negotiation. where do you think the red line you are negotiating against should be? >> i think the red line is that yourself. that is a very basic error. we have to get absolutely a lot it is an unforced error. of relief to people across the i am a little uncertain and country. i mean it has been over two months since the heroes act unimpressed with the president's team thus far. passed. republicans have been sitting on their hands. the only reason they are now >> certainly interesting to know what your former boss, john debating this is because their boehner thinks of the job mark states are suffering. the cruelty that i see from the meadows is doing. republicans in refusing to thank you both very much for joining us tonight. extend unemployment benefits now the chair of the house allowing them to expire is democratic caucus hakeem stunning. remember, they never have a problem if we have money available when they passed a $2 jeffries from new york. always great to have you on the program. trillion tax cut, but here we

i think michael steele teed it are talking about $600 a week up really well. democrats have dug in and said for people when that is all the you are not going to do a relief they are getting. temporary extension of we need an extension on the unemployment benefits. is that because you think you eviction moratorium. have the leverage to make the rent is coming due. package a reflection of what the people don't have money in their democratic house wants more than pockets. people are really worried that it currently is? they are going to be home unless >> no. it is because the coronavirus a week or two. pandemic is an extraordinary they don't have money for health care as the case are spiking and crisis both economic and public they see republicans refusing to health crisis. more than 150,000 americans have even acknowledge that wearing a mask matters when whether or not died. more than 4 million americans he have 151,000 americans that infected by the coronavirus. have died. more than 5 million americans i think people are really in shock right now. have lost their employer based we need to quickly get the health care. relief to people. 100,000 small businesses have extend the unemployment benefits permanently closed and more than and get money to small 50 million americans are businesses. i would like to push for some version of my paycheck recovery unemployed. extraordinary crisis requires an extraordinary intervention. act which would have helped to two and a half months ago we stabilize businesses and passed the heroes act and month workers. whatever it is we need to get after month the republicans have help to people immediately. done nothing. all we are saying is to get >> are you confident that if the

president and administration serious about doing something sign off on a deal that it will meaningful to help the safety actually pass the congress and and well-being and the health of that mitch mcconnell would push the american people and we are it forward over the objection of ready to find common ground as republican senators? >> mitch mcconnell is irrelevant we have done on four separate occasions this year. to the process. >> you know, i absolutely acknowledged that and you are it should be a negotiation right about the magnitude of the crisis. between the senate and the house it is unlike anything we have but that is never the way things seen. at the same time there are work on any of the packages. millions of americans who are mitch mcconnell has thrown his hands up saying whatever donald frankly getting up this week and struggling to pay the rent on trump wants. their small business which is still closed because of it is really sad. he has taken away what should be coronavirus restrictions or an independent chamber and has worried about simply putting food on the table. given away all of the power. can you promise them you will the negotiations are between come to an agreement by the end of the week with republicans. mark meadows, steven mnuchin, what is the breaking point here? nancy pelosi. chuck schumer . >> certainly it is my hope we will come to an agreement by the end of the week. >> i am sure he would love that speaker pelosi and schumer both indicated publicly the description. negotiation session held yesterday was very productive i take your point.

>> i think this is the thing, and a step in the right direction. the staff will negotiate today kasie. it is supposed to be a separate in to tomorrow and there will be body. time and time again, even when we have bipartisan votes that another discussion. whatever we wind up doing has to pass the house and the senate, meaningfully address the pain and suffering the american mitch mcconnell does nothing to assure that he can get a people are experiencing and that majority in the senate that is is why we included approximately veto proof. if the president doesn't want it $1 trillion in assistance for mitch mcconnell abides by it. state and local governments. i am putting my money on nancy pelosi and the movement across the country, the american people who are showing over and over we also included $175 billion in again how desperate they are for relief. assistance for renters and >> so, speaking of the speaker homeowners because people are struggling paying the rent and of the house, there was paying the mortgage. we provided an additional round reporting about her conversations with the former of stimulus payments because vice president about the families are struggling. veepstakes that stuck out to me. funding for nutritional assistance because the american pelosi's aides said she did not people are increasingly going hungry and we extend emergency convey support for any one unemployment insurance benefits

into the next year. candidate and urged them to find and in the initial so-called someone to could ensure that the bill put forward by senate ticket is victorious. republicans, as you know kasie, this is pretty classic speaker it really did none of this and pelosi. do you agree with her on that or it included $2 billion for a new do you think that it is more j. edgar hoover building that important that the president choose someone with progressive even mitch mcconnell claimed he credentials and focus his energy knew nothing about. that way instead? so the senate republicans are >> well, those two things are not serious. it does appear the white house not mutually exclusive. in my view being victorious recognizes we must do something meaningful and that is why i means we have to be able to turn think we can be cautiously out the base. you think of swing states like optimistic we will arrive at an michigan which we lost on the last election by view votes and agreement sometimes soon. >> how much money do you think all of the people that stayed americans will end up with in only or went to the polls and their pocket. i follow it day in and out. they voted on every race except i think even for us the offers for the president of the united that are coming from senate states. you can see how we have to be republicans, 60%, $200 a week. able to turn out our base and we $400 a week. have to be able to get folks realistically what do you think excited about joe biden. house democrats are willing to accept in terms of the amount of i am upon nnot worried that peoe money americans will be seeing going to vote for donald trump every week if they still can't on the democratic side.

find work? we do know that there is voter >> well in my view we have to suppression. this president is doing hold the line at the moment at everything he can to convince the $600 per week emergency people that mail-in ballots will lead to fraud. bump-up in terms of unemployment i am from a state where we have insurance because the economy is not getting better. it is getting worse. been doing mail-in ballots for that is what the recent numbers quite some time. there was a study, 250 million have shown. ballots mailed in the last 20 the argument that has been made years and the fraud rate i by mitch mcconnell and others, is .0006%. the $600 per week increase is my belief is the vice president should choose someone that is progressive and energizes the base and gets folks of color and somehow keeping american people at home is insulting and has no younger people excited about basis in reality. coming out and turning out. there was a study done by yale when there is turn out, we win. university providing no evidence so, that is what i think is most for this claim. the heroes act i think important. we should be victorious and that appropriately extended the requires someone that will benefit into next year. really energize our base. >> all right. fair enough. thank you very much for your it also provides an additional round of direct stimulus

time tonight. great to you have you on the payments for a family of five. program. coming up, will congress bring >> sure. sure. rapid testing to the capitol. i get. that we know at the end of the day you are going to have to give on this to some degree. liberty mutual customizes cl your car insurance, republicans made that clear. i understand that your marker is the heroes act. so you only pay for what you need. but where are you willing to go i wish i could shake your hand. granted. to in the negotiations? >> nothing is agreed upon until only pay for what you need. everything is agreed upon. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ hard to comment on individual parts of any negotiation until we see what the entire package proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. looks like. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... four different occasions we found common ground with senate ...with humira. republicans in the twhous because we recognized that proof of less joint pain... during a moment of divided ...and clearer skin in psa. government we have to find humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation common ground with the other side and administration and we that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. have been willing to do that repeatedly but it has to come humira can lower your ability to fight infections. from a place of values and it serious and sometimes fatal infections, has to come from a place of a including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, transformative intervention. have happened, as have blood, liver, it is sad that it is taking two and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions,

and a half months for the white house to get serious and and new or worsening heart failure. hopefully now they recognize the tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common magnitude of the problem. you can't just wish the virus and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, away. i think over the next few days or have flu-like symptoms or sores. we will see a more serious level don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage. of negotiation. >> very quickly, michael steele at the end of the last want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira citrate-free. conversation positive this would would be a bill that would pass the senate with largely if you can't afford your medicine, democratic votes. abbvie may be able to help. do you think it is a possibility that mitch mcconnell would put a package on the floor and pass it and still going for my best. even though i live with a higher risk of stroke mostly with democrats? >> i do think that is a due to afib... ...not caused by a heart valve problem. possibility if the white house so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm reaching for that. eliquis. determines something needs to happen and mnuchin as well as eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk mark meadows do seem to be better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. increasingly of the view that a eliquis is fda-approved and has both. meaningful intervention must occur. i think mnuchin said something what's next? i'm on board. to that effect earlier today and don't stop taking eliquis i think mitch mcconnell's hand unless your doctor tells you to, will be forced to do something as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. based on what comes out of the eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding.

don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve negotiation between speaker pelosi and the white house. or abnormal bleeding. >> congressman hakeem jeffries, while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily- -and it may take longer than usual a very high stakes week on for any bleeding to stop. capitol hill coming up for many. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, we are just getting started here like unusual bruising. on kasie dc. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk still ahead, federal agents if you take certain medicines. pulled out of portland. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i talked about it with ask your doctor about eliquis. and if your ability to afford... congresswoman jayapal. ...your medication has changed, we want to help. but first amy klobuchar is leading to start early voting. is there time to change how many [ind(mom)ct radio chatter] come on, hurry up! ...your medication has changed, americans think about voting. she joins me up next. t voting she joins me up next y driver. all systems go? they're going to be paying for this for a long time. (mission control) 5 4 3 2... they will, but with accident forgiveness allstate won't raise your rates and liftoff. just because of an accident, even if it's your fault. cut! (vo) audi e-tron. the next frontier of electric. sonny. was that good? line! the desert never lies. get audi at your door remote services through participating dealers. isn't that what i said? no you were talking about allstate and insurance.

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what do we gain? what do our children gain when we have destroyed another nation? what do we gain when we have killed hundreds of thousands of their men, women and children and hundreds and thousands of our sons and daughters have died? what with our right will not bring peace to the middle east and it will not make the world a

safer, better, more loving place. tell not end the strive and hatred that bring terror. war does not end strife. war does not end hatred, it feeds it. war is it. war is bloody, it is vicious, it is evil,nd it is messy. >> that haunting 2002 speech by the late john lewis describes almost perfectly what played out in the iraq war. just five months later the u.s. would invade iraq and 17 months later the u.s. troops are still there and still laying down their lives. i'm joined by a man who has written about president bush and robert draper, "to start a war" how the bush administration took america into iraq. congratulations on the book and thank you so much for being here. it's a pleasure to have you on the show. i'd like to start with we took

people back in time. in the trump administration there seems to be a reevaluation of the bush administration and what they went through in iraq. i'm not sure if it's amnesia, comparisons that make him seem to different and to many people much better than he seemed at the time. i'm really interested in your rereflection's on where we are today and where we were then and how our politics have changed based on the personalities and decisions of these two men. >> kasie, you're certainly right there's been an appraisal of george w. bush, reappraisal, because of the contrast so sharp between him and the current president, we're reminded both now and contrasting back then that decency matters. but we're reminded as well that leadership matters, too. we're seeing yet again a colossal failure of leadership that has, i think in a lot of

ways its antecedents in iraq, gave way to patriotism. remarkable, john lewis there, gives you the chills. you think how in the world could a voice like that not have carried the day. but in fact, it was a popular decision that president bush committed and it was because he sold a narrative really unhinge from the truth. that narrative was that we were in grave danger from saddam hussein and his weapons of mass destruction that he might well turn over to al qaeda, none of which turned out to be the case. >> do you think, is there any distinction to be made, do you think, between someone who believes what they are saying and somebody who knows that it's wrong? do you think bush was confident in the information he had. president trump confident up front, it's the media, i cut you

down so nobody will believe you when you suggest i'm not telling the truth but he knows he's not telling the truth. >> you've drawn the precise distinction, kasie. president bush really did believe saddam was an evil doer who would be with another evil doer to do in america. he believed that. the problem is, that's not what the intelligence said. even though the intelligence was faulty, the president veered away from it and really relied -- it was said 9/11 was a failure of the imagination, iraq war was overexertion of imagination that's distinct from president trump who is not unhinged from the truth and creates as kellyanne conway memorably said alternative facts. that embracing of false hoods is not the thing that bush did and it's the thing that sets them apart. >> can i also ask you about the role of congress in all of this?

i think back to certainly the general authorization of military force against acts of terror. that was one -- it was in the wake of 9/11. it was clear why that happened the way that it did. in many ways it was beginning of abdication for these difficult decisions. i remember when president obama wanted to essentially bomb syria, congress decided they didn't want to make a decision about it. i feel like that's been a trend that has continued through the trump presidency in many ways. what do you see as how congress was shaped by this era? >> that's a great point to make, kasie, all the more so because today where it pains to hear those congressmen, those in the senate and house who voted for the war explain why they did so. some of them will say we thought the war will turn out better and bush botched it.

will say cia botched it. i think the abdication of responsibility was a real and dire one and no doubt reflected, i think, a couple of things first, a genuine sense of vulnerability that people in washington felt washington had been so impregnable, hadn't been attacked since the beginning of the 19th century and now the attack on the pentagon, possible attack on the capital. people were truly afraid. that was part of it. the other part were clearly political considerations. they were afraid they would be accused of a lack of patriotism. many of the key democrats in senate had presidential aspirations. they had seen how in the first gulf war sam nun voted against that and it has been widely said it destroyed any chance of him running in '92, so a lot of democrats did not wish to repeat that error. >> and then we had barack obama. we know who won that day.

the book is "to start a war." robert draper, thank you very much as always. when we return we're going to dedicate our 8:00 hour to the 2020 presidential race as joe biden is set to announce a decision on running mate any moment. i'm joined by atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms and stacey abrams talks about her concerns about long lines and mail-in voting as coronavirus spreads in georgia. and mail-in voting as coronavirus spreads in georgia. d though you may have lt sight of your own well-being, aetna never did. we're always here to help you focus on your health. because it's always, time for care. ♪

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welcome to a special hour of "kasie dc" dedicated to the 2020 election and countdown to presidential pick. if you're joe biden, the road ahead looks pretty smooth. you're polling well ahead of an incumbent president who despite getting out to an historic fundraising start is pausing ads as they rethink faltering strategy. despite attacking his age, mental acutkucuitacuity, his so have yet to land a serious blow on the president. now biden is adding a new target weighing how to way out the ticket without giving the trump campaign too much to work with. i'd like to bring in my panel, david plouffe, former campaign manager and robert gibbs former

white house press secretary for obama administration. they are all msnbc contributors or analysts. it's great to have you all on board tonight. david plouffe, let me start with you for the broad picture here because you were, of course, behind the scenes as president obama made this choice. at the time he said he wanted somebody with a little great in his ha -- gray in his hair, his perspective. i love the beuove it, how much k the selection for joe biden will affect the outcome and trajectory both of this race and also the next four years and potentially the next presidential election? >> well, kasie, it's going to be incredibly important in the white house, much less important in the campaign assuming you don't make a mistake. joe biden is going to have a pandemic to dig out from under,

an economic recession if not a depression, tattered global alliances, a climate change. he's going to need a vice president great counselor, great with congress, great around the globe, can really be value. veepstakes are always like who is going to help with the state, his demographic. at the end of the day, history suggests this is about the people at the top of the ticket. you want somebody who can handle that first debate and give a good speech at the convention and we hope excite the base and i think a lot of people on the short list will do that this is much more about helping you govern than it is about the campaign trail. >> robert gibbs, you were at that podium so many days through the obama administration. what do you remember, what stuck out to you in terms of who joe biden is and what that's going to mean for how he looks at this selection? >> i think joe biden is looking for his joe biden, right? somebody that can provide frank, honest advice. somebody who, as he did, saw the

president last before he made decisions. look, i think for a presidential candidate, this is the most presidential level decision they make. the only real task -- i agree with david, the folklore around this pick is way out of bounds. in reality this pick has to answer one fundamental question, can this person -- can this woman become and take over the job of president, if something happens to joe biden. that is it. right in we don't want to have -- nobody wants to have sarah palin in a katie couric a week into this pick, right? this is in the about who wins this state or does this subset of these targeted voters. as david said, this person is going to pick up and run big projects, right? joe biden ran the recovery act. joe biden was a big player on foreign policy and in iraq those first two years that i got to sit in the situation room with the two of them. so that's the type of person he's looking for. somebody he can give those big

governing projects to. this pick isn't just -- it doesn't just have to be good for august of 2020, it has to work for august of 2021, 2022 and 2023. i think it's really about the comfort level and getting this pick right. >> speaking of comfort level, vice president biden has said he's going to pick a woman. there are several women of color on his short list. as robert alluded to, this is about a personal relationship, a personal rapport not just with the vice president himself but with joe biden and others in the family. how do you think those calculations play into this decision. >> based on our reporting, those calculations play in a bit and play an oversized role thinking about who was loyal to joe biden, somebody he feels like he can trust, gel with. he and pror had a really good relationship. he's looking for someone who will be his joe biden. i also think, and i will say

here, that while joe biden does have critical bases already locked and he is looking good in the polls, i think who he picks can deal with voter turnout. if he picks someone who is exciting, picks someone who the base of the democratic party can look at and say this is the future of the party and not someone who can help out when it comes to leave their homes in the middle of pandemic or remember to mail in their ballots in the middle of a pandemic when people are dealing with so much. i'm not sure when i talk to voters, they aren't going to base their pick on whether or not they vote for joe biden or not on who his vice president is, based on my reporting. there are people who wonder whether or not all this is relative to their lives, having someone young, vibrant -- by young, over 35, but still feels like they are the future of the democratic party, that will get people excited in a way that i think is important for joe biden. i think it is very much about who does he actually gel with. my understanding he's meeting face-to-face with the last people on his short list in the

next few days. that will really determine in that room when he has those one-on-one conversations who he ends up going with. >> well, that is a perfect segue to talk to the person who has covered joe biden so closely for i think it's a decade. mike, you're going to have to correct me. you've reported you never have to wonder where joe biden's heart is on something. that's probably true for what he's looking for in a vice president. mike, it's great to see you on the program. mike memoli is here with us. you've put together kind of a look at -- joe biden has essentially already told us what he's looking for. what do you know tonight? >> that's exactly right, kasie. joe biden's search team has done the work and it's in his court. you've heard me say this before, you wonder what joe biden is thinking, you only need to listen to what he's saying.

joe biden served eight years as vice president. the way he's talked about his time in that office offer important signals about how he's approaching his own number two. it's the first rule of veepstakes, you don't talk about veepstakes. >> you know i'm not going to talk about that. >> i am not going to speak to the vice president job. >> any decision is up to vice president biden. i'm going to support whoever he chooses. >> that is unless you're joe biden. >> only thing i know a little bit about is vice presidency. >> town hall after town hall, even before he was nominee, it was one of the most common questions asked of biden. he always had a consistent answer. >> looking for someone to be a partner in progress who is simpatico. i'm going to pick someone simpatico with me. simpatico. totally simpatico with where i am. >> only two served as vice president an then faced the

choice of picking their own number two. biden's years as number two on barack obama's side is on his mind. >> the president asked me what it was i would want if i took the job as vice president. i said i want to make sure that you promise me i get to be the last person in the room. >> so how does his short list match up to the biden test. >> i need people who make up for one of my men weaknesses. >> a woman of color and one with criminal justice reform could reassure democrats unhappy with biden's record, especially 1994 crime balance. karen bass or val demings. >> no president has the capacity in the 21st century to handle everything. you've got to be able to not a joke, turn over presidential responsibility. you can't do it for a cabinet member because internationally it's not taken as seriously. >> point susan rice who worked closely with biden matt west wing as obama national security

adviser and could shoulder the foreign policy burden while biden works at home. >> you have to be able to be willing to have someone with you who will tell you the truth they think you're wrong and not be intimidated by the fact you're the vice president sitting behind that desk. >> an argument for elizabeth warren who has perhaps the biggest policy differences with biden, especially on health care. >> if i picked someone who had a view that they insisted we do medicare for all, that would be a real problem. >> then there's the question of trust. >> that little girl was me. >> and what that opening debate clash for kamala harris means for veepstakes favorite. >> barack obama and i used to argue like the devil but we always dit in private. >> no grudges biden wrote this week, at least for him. >> are there any hard feelings because she criticized you. >> i'm not good at keeping hard feelings. >> now, kasie, i should mention i chose those five individuals

in this package because that's basically the understanding of where this process is. people familiar with biden's thinking stressed that that final mix could change as he's now fully dug into this process. we ended it with kamala harris. one of the most underappreciated dynamics of this vice presidential search for a lot of democrats 2020 vice presidential nomination may well be the first primary of 2024 or 2028 presidential nominee and good reason to think that. since lbj every democratic vice president has gone on to be the democratic nominee for vice president, kasie. >> pretty remarkable statistics. mike memoli, thank you as always for your reporting on the former vice president. let's dig into what mike was concluding there. what does this short list look like, what are those calculations. david, i'll go back to you on this. kamala harris seemed to be the front of this process for so long but she did make that decision to go after former vice

president on the debate stage in an attack that was clearly viewed by the biden camp as clearly personal. he was taken aback. in make ways it seemed a violation of harris's longtime friendship of his son beau. what do you think are the pros and cons of his running mate. >> i can't imagine -- i think what vice president biden wrote on the notepad, he can't hold a grudge. maybe some on his campaign do. that moment, this is politics. at the end of the day beating everyone did is going to be hard. the problems, if joe biden wins are going to be harder to tackle. i doubt that's going to be an issue. it's really -- i'll tell you, i advised barack obama as did robert and some of our other colleagues, it's probably least interested in my opinion, robert would say the same. he had to live with his decision. how joe biden is going to take this, if i need to ask that person to rundown to congress or

get on the plane and go to the u.n. or to europe or oversee a vaccination distribution, can i trust that person? if he thinks kamala harris is the best person he's going to choose her. i don't think that's going to be a problem at all. it gets overblown because that primary on the whole was one of the more gentler primaries we've ever had. >> there weren't a lot of moments to seize on, i'll give you that. there was a lot of talking and not a ton of news made on those stages. speaking of debate stage, i want to show a little bit of vintage biden, if you will, debating paul ryan back in 2012 because this, of course, is something that you have to think about when you're making a vice presidential selection. how will they stand up on this stage in this case against vice president mike pence. let's watch. >> cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve important preferences for middle class taxpayers. >> not mathematically possible.

>> it is mathematically possible. it's been done before. it's precisely what we're proposing. >> it's never been done before. >> it's been done a couple of times. >> never. >> jack kennedy. >> now you're jack kennedy. >> ronald reagan. >> that's amazing. >> republicans, democrats. >> i have so many thoughts about that particular clip. robert gibbs, when you're thinking through who would stand up to vice president pence, let's think about some of the others on vice president's short list, karen bass is somebody that's come up in the last couple of days but there's also elizabeth warren still reportedly in the running. how do you think stacks up the best on this score? >> i think, look, there's a lot of them that have experience in the last little bit in these debates. i agree with david, it wasn't a sharp debate -- there wasn't a big sharp stage on these debates. i think, quite frankly, any of the candidates you're showing now, throw in a few governors,

governor whitmer, i think a lot of senator duckworth, some of the mayors, i think, could get some attention as well. so i think this is probably an eight-person race or so right now, if you're looking at it. i think you need somebody who understands the moment. you saw in that, biden knew when to interject and what to interject with. he knew the record and what the race was about. i feel very confident whoever the vice president -- whoever vice president biden selects to be his vice president will have that rig or and that tenor of how this race is going and what those issues are. the vice presidential debate may be one of the only times we see certainly -- it is the only time you see one-on-one with the current vice president. you've got to think a lot of campaign events are going to happen like they are right now in small rooms with reporters distanced over zoom. it's a fundamentally different time periods. each one of those candidates has

been through big races, tough races. i think that will help whoever is selected. >> yamiche, what's your reporting say on how important it is to pick a woman of color, and does that override these other considerations? is that something that's important enough to the vice president himself? mike's reporting is particularly interesting that, yes, they have been doing this search by committee. once the vice president himself is getting involved directly, this could all change. >> i think joe biden understands that the base of the democratic party and the most loyal part of the democratic party is black women and that he's going to have to answer over and over again. i certainly will be asking if he doesn't pick a woman of color why didn't you go with a woman of color. i think especially in the moment we're living in, this racial reckoning, the idea african-americans and people of color are clearing their throats on all they have done and all the ways they have face injustice in america.

i think it would be telling for him to pick a woman of color. i don't think it's a necessity. based on my reporting, it's not the they think that's going to be propelling someone to the top, say, between elizabeth warren and kamala harris. that being said, that is in some ways -- it's telling that if you're looking for someone who is going to really ignite the democratic base and someone to be excited about and someone, as people have said, is someone who might be the face of the democratic party and the next democratic nominee for president, there is a feeling that women of color for a long time have just not got an fair shake in leadership positions. so my understanding, it feels as though he's leaning in that direction. for all we know, he could turn up with someone else. based on my reporting, also talking to people who are de los joe biden, it feels like it's going to be a woman of color. >> all right. robert gibbs, david plouffe, thank you so much. yamiche, you're going to stick with us for a couple minutes. so much more on our special.

i speak to keisha lance bottoms. first conversation with stacey abrams. president trump tries to undermine the vote in the state of georgia. there are two tammys on the short list for vice president, a small indication of just how far things have come in american politics. >> i'm delighted there's no longer that big sign out the door of the office of vice president that says white male only need apply. it's our turn, folks. my name is christine payne, i'm an associate here at amazon. step onto the blue line, sir. this device is giving us an accurate temperature check. you're good to go. i have to take care of my coworkers. that's how i am. i have a son, and he said, "one day i'm gonna be like you, i'm gonna help people." you're good to go, ma'am. i hope so.

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whatever your business needs, comcast business has the solutions to help you not just bounce back, but bounce forward. call or go online to find out more. . with me now is former gubernatorial candidate stacey abrams. she's the founder of both fair fight which works to fight voter suppression and fair count, working to ensure an accurate count in the census.

she's also the author of "our time is now, power, purpose, and the fight for a fair america." thank you so much for being on the program today. it's great to have you. i want to start by asking you about those organizations we have seen already problems with voting in your home state of georgia, other places across the country. you have these organizations that are working to try to address these problems as we grapple with the coronavirus crisis. what are you able to do between now and election day, especially considering that the president has tweeted such suggestions such as delaying the election to make sure people have their chance to express themselves through their right to vote. >> wi started fair fight and fair count in the wake of the 2018 election. i've been at this for a while now. i started the organization in 2019 because i understood that there would be something catastrophic in 2020.

we didn't know it would be a pandemic but we knew a fight to create free and fair elections would be a national fight and it would require using the primaries as a way to learn. what we've learned in dprgeorgi and around the country there's an intentional effort in georgia and by the president through disinformation, flat-out lies and through using the systems against people. that's why we need to fight for free and fair elections through mail-in voting, in-person voting and through in-person voting on the day of the election without losing poll places. congress can make this happen passing h.e.r.o.e.s. act. congress is in session and our deep hope is they will do the right thing. our fear is they will leave cash strapped states without the ability to scale up for an unprecedented election. we can do this if we try. my mission is to call on congress to keep the work up and get it done but to work with local governments, allies and

advocates that no matter where you live you have the right to vote in november. >> we've also seen the president already preemptively casting doubt on the election, as polls show right new he's losing to joe biden. are you doing any work from whether it's a public relations perspective or other ways to try and address helping convince and show americans that the results of the election can be trusted? >> the best way to show americans that the results can be trusted is to, one, make sure no one believes we're going to have the answer by 11:00 p.m. on election night. not going to happen. whether you're in georgia, where we faced an unprecedented meltdown but also faced unprecedented turnout we know this is going to be true across the country. we need people to understand more people are going to try to vote. we can overwhelm the system with our participation but we have to have patience when it comes to the outcome. likewise we have to recognize he's trying to distract us with these cries of fraud and these lies about when the election can

be held, he's trying to distract us from the fact this is a failed presidency but it's also a failed leadership in that he's also trying to forfeit our right to be counted in the 2020 census. we can't allow ourselves to be distracted. that's why i'm talking to anyone who will listen about the fact we need a fair fight in our elections and a fair count in the census. >> speaking of the presidential election, we are expecting joe biden to name his vice presidential running mate possibly as soon as this week. have you had conversations with the former vice president's team about potentially being his running mate? >> i defer all questions about vetting to the biden campaign. what i can say is that i'm proud to be working with vice president biden's team on lifting up his plans for america, plans that we can only make come to fruition if people have the right to vote but also if we have an accurate count. what i'm deeply concerned about

now is the fact that donald trump has taken steps to artificially end the census early, knowing that that will leave millions of uncounted african-americans, latinos, native americans and api folks and that's just wrong. the census is a constitutionally mandated exercise and no one should be allowed to lie about what america looks like. that's what he's tempting to do. i hope everyone fills out their census and congress takes action to make sure the census account has to continue through october 31st. >> along those lines there are some powerful positions in the executive branch of government, the department of justice, attorney general potentially comes to mind that are tasked with these very things, ensuring that states are complying with what still exists of the voting rights act, for example. democrats are already talking boult a renewed voting rights act that would need to be implemented in part to honor john lewis. would you consider an executive branch job that allows you to

work on some of those things from that angle? >> my focus is on making certain that america understands that we deserve a fair fight and a fair count, but also that georgia is a battleground state where we have transformed the electorate over the last few years. we can pick up two senate seats, deliver 16 electoral college votes and do the work of building a better america. no matter what position i'm offered or what position i run for, my responsibility is to be a patriot who defends our country by protecting our democracy and understanding that the reason we do this work is not just for the act of voting or the act of being counted but develop and deploy the policies that make people able to live their best lives. my responsibility is to ensure opportunity for all and regardless of the position i might hold, my platform and my responsibility won't change. >> the former vice president has been very publicly lobbied to choose a woman of color. obviously we as a country have

been going through a real reckoning around issues of race. you are an african-american woman who has run a high-profile statewide campaign. you know what it's like to be in that spotlight. what kind of attacks do you think a running mate, who was a woman of color, would face that perhaps a white woman wouldn't have to face in that kind of a spotlight? >> we know the attacks based on gender or on race are always virulent, painful and always born of ignorance. as a woman of color, of course, you get a twofer, racism and sexism. the reality is a strong woman -- that's every woman considered -- strong women know how to fight back because this isn't the first rodeo. we've seen this before. if you've run for office before or served in the public spotlight, you've been attacked. you know people undermine you and underestimate you. that's why i've always been very assertive, not because i'm advocating to be something but

because i refuse to be discounted. i know, as every woman on the list knows, it is our responsibility to speak up not only for ourselves but for young girls, especially young girls of color who have to see to believe it's possible for them as well. >> do you feel like you've been punished for being so open about your ambitions politically? >> i think people have become disconcerted by the fact i've answered the exact same question for more than 18 months the exact same way, they just didn't start paying attention until march. i do think there was some unnecessarily critique but i don't think it's unexpected. when you do something different, when you meet the standards norm tiff for men with behavior they don't expect from you either as a woman or a person of color, then you're going to get critiqued. my responsibility is to rear it and not only hear what they are saying but understand what they mean. i know what i mean.

my ambition is to serve the people i care about in this country, part of a global society where we are doing better by our people. that's the work i've been doing. that's the work i'm going to continue to do. i've been consistent in my approach and it's worked so far. >> stacey abrams. thank you so much. still ahead, keisha lance bottoms. but first running while female. jennifer palmieri central in the campaign. she knows as much as anyone what female candidates can expect when campaigning against president trump. n expect when campaigning against president trump. 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.

being a woman in contention to be joe biden's running mate is not without its challenges, something that senator kamala harris has been finding out firsthand. politico reports that harris allies met with biden campaign staff after senator chris dodd, a member of biden's vetting team for vice president was quoted doubting whether she would be a loyal number two. he reportedly told a long time donor said she had no remorse after attacking biden during the first democratic debate of joining me now communications director for hillary clinton's 2016 campaign jennifer palmieri is out with a new book "she proclaims, our declaration of independence from a man's world." yamiche is back with us. let me start with you on what harris has been going through here. i know you've spent a lot of time reflecting and writing

about the experience hillary clinton had in terms of running while female, pretty significant tones and suggestions and ambition around her debate performance and selection as vp. what do you think she's going through right now. >> too much ambition and not enough remorse. i think it's going to be tough for this woman, whoever she is. even though we attach ambition to senator harris because she already ran for president, right? even though woman experience plenty of ambition in america, it's still an unusual thing for us to see so it stands out with her as something problematic in a way that doesn't for male candidates. joe biden also ran against barack obama, right? he was a rival of barack obama. he was a man who had presidential ambitions, he's

running today. he put aside his ambitions and served as a very loyal partner to barack obama for eight years. i'm quite sure kamala harris can do the same. we still do attach this notion as ambition as an unfavorable quality. you know, what i like about harris is she's been tested. she went through fire as a presidential candidate. we know what donald trump does to women candidates. no matter who it is, no matter what their record is, he will find a way to attack them and you want somebody that's been through fire. a woman who has run for president has certainly done that. >> what would you say, jen, to the assessment that harris's campaign was disappointing. she was out of the gate as somebody who potentially was a possible front-runner, had a lot of donor support. there are people who feel like she dropped out faster than many

expected. >> she did drop out a little faster than i expected but i think she made a savvy political decision about what was ultimately her chances were going to be and what was into the best interest of the party. that is a -- she did not win. she ran a good campaign. the vice president in 2008 didn't have a very great run in his presidential campaign either and was great nominee, served as great vice president. what i think is important is she was tested. she went through -- she was great on the debate stage, very effective. we've seen how effective she is at quizzing people. she went through a lot of attacks. she had up and downs with the press and she knew how to handle it. i don't think we've really wrapped our head around how different the race is going to be once she enters it.

onwoman is going to be among three men. she's likely to be a woman of color. i know the distortion feel that happens to women candidates. when you throw donald trump in the mix, it is an extraordinarily combustible situation, plus a possibility of it being a woman of color, and i think you really want someone who is battle tested. because no matter how -- imagine if it's tammy duckworth, trump will probably say she couldn't manage her own helicopter, how can we trust her to manage and lead the country. tammy duckworth is someone who has been through fire. she can hold up and she can defend herself. but literally, quite literally. but we have to think about what -- not what does a candidate look like on paper, what is trump going to do to this woman and how proven are each of them in standing up to that kind of scrutiny. if i were working for joe biden, what i would be looking for more so than anything else is the

ability to do that. >> you've sat in that white house briefing room, you've sat in the rose garden. you've questioned this president and experienced a version of this firsthand. what would you add to what jen is talking about here? >> i think there are two things going on. first, talking to people who are supportive of senator harris as a vice presidential pick just even the attorney for the family of michael brown, trayvon martin and george floyd. he's out with an op-ed supporting senator harris. what you see are people close to senator harris wanting to make it very vocally clear they are behind her because they feel like she's getting a public vetting they feel is unfair, the fact she's seen in a specific way. we're not hearing these leaks with other candidates. that being said, i think it's right that the person who ends up being the vp pick, of course they will be attacked by president trump. if you look at this list, the

president -- and i do mean president trump -- he's going to be someone who will attack either way. if it's senator harris, talking about her background as a prosecutor, susan rice, benghazi, tammy duckworth saying she's unpatriotic, even though she's served our country in this real patriotic and amazing ways. in some ways the president is going to be a combustible ingredient. all that being said, i think joe biden will lean on the fact he has to feel very comfortable with the person. i think this week when he's having his in-person one-on-one meeting, he's going to decide based on loyalty and who he feels like will have his back and possibly not going to overshadow him. polls show that people are more excited about voting against donald trump than they are about voting for joe biden. so as a result his vp might change that. someone might get excited about kamala harris or susan rice because at the end of the day they are looking at the future of the democratic party.

whoever the vp is, they are going to be part of the future of the democratic party. >> certainly, this particular pick does seem to carry a significant amount of weight in terms of what it sets the stage for as the democratic primary potentially shapes up into the future. but we'll stay focused on this moment. thank you both very much for your insights tonight. i really appreciate it. when we come back, i'll talk to atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms. mayor, mother, potential running mate all while raising four kids during a pandemic. she joins me next. s me next.ein, aetna never did. we're always here to help you focus on your health. because it's always, time for care. i wasn't sure... was another around the corner? or could things go a different way? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot.

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these last three months, i have been wondering about the future in many ways. i'm not the only one going through this. some of my dearest friends, their businesses are still closed. there's always peaks and valleys. even through this pandemic, we're all in a valley at this moment. but the one thing you can always know is that there's a peak on the way. ♪

in just a minute we're going to talk with atlanta mayor keisha bottoms but first we want to check in with steve kornacki on the big board with more on the calculus past presidents have used to think about their presidential picks and what it tells us about who joe biden might pick. >> all right, kasie. this is sort of the long list here. these are most, if not all of the names that have been mentioned as a potential vice president pick for joe biden. how is he thinking about this? what are some of the political imperatives? how did this play out in the past? we thought we would take recent vice presidential picks for both parties here and break them down into the basic different categories that candidates have been looking at. calculations when they make the veepstakes pick. let me give the example here. we're calling these the hail

qular marys. three from behind thought they had to do something dra account make, shake up the race. that was john mccain when he picked sarah palin in 2008. that was bob dole when he picked jack kemp. dole and kemp were enemies in the republican party. dole said a lot of nasty things about kemp, went with him in '96, thought it would shake things up. girld even ferraro, first woman ever picked for a national ticket. mondale running against reagan thought making a historic pick like that was the kind of thing he needed to do to change the dynamics of the race. all three defeated. hail mary passes aren't completed most of the time. another category, showing independence. by the way, hail mary, behind. biden is not behind. that doesn't apply to him. how about showing independence, clinton/gore. bill clinton was the nominee.

there was an sumplassumption '9 boomer, southern, moderate, needed an older liberal from the north, balance the ticket that way. instead he went with a fellow boomer from the south who was a political moderate. al gore. he was trying to show independence from the liberal wing of the party. gore they ran as different kind of democrats. that's what they said in '92 about the ticket. that was showing independence. gore/lieberman. gore picking yo lieberman, criticized bill clinton very, very poignantly over his affair with monica lewinsky. gore did not want to be drug down by the nation's win with clinton and lewinsky so he picked this one. reagan, bush. a lot wanted bush. kerry edwards, a lot wanted edwards, he did. trump, pence, trying to bring up

evangelicals. shoring up the party. then this, governing, bush and cheney, dick cheney 2000 he wasn't running for president. from the minute he got in there, he wanted to govern. cheney did. he didn't want to succeed bush. obama/biden. tim kaine with hillary clinton. the eye there of the nominee not so much can i win a state with this person, it's about what's it going to be like if i win president. this somebody i want to govern with. joe biden, you look at these past examples, including biden him, that might be the closest thing to what he's looking for right now. >> that is certainly my bet. my thanks to steve kornacki for that. when we return, atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms. e return, keisha lance bottoms do it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

as millions of kids across the country head back to school, at least one thing is clear,

first days are going to look different for everyone. in atlanta kids who attend public school will be learning online for at least the first nine weeks. the start date has been pushed back to august 24th to make sure that both families and teachers can try to get ready. in anbetter. an outbreak at a sleep-away camp in georgia is adding fuel to the debate. 250 students and staffers have the virus after a week together. and here's the mayer. madam mayor it's great to have you on the show. i got a good laugh about your daughter who said if she has to go to school virtually, she'd rather go to the moon than this. you've all struggled the disease. >> thank you for having me. this is really tough in my

household. i have one who should have been moving into a dorm in a couple of weeks for college. he will be completely virtual. then i have the other three who are between middle school and elementary school and they are facing not going back to school in just a couple of weeks, so this is really, really hard for them. very disappointing when they came home in the spring, we told them and assured them that they will be back in school in the fall. what's most disappointing, we had the screen, we had -- spring, we had part of the winter. the summer and here we are in worse condition than we were when they left school in march. >> what does what happened at this summer camp tell you about how parents should make decisions about what to do with their kids? ity these numbers are scary. >> when i looked at the numbers

and saw how rapidly it spread, it was reminiscent of my households. one of my kids was asymptomatic but positive. my husband and i got it. i was asymptomatic but my husband who is in perfectly good health is waking up every morning with very bad migraine hawks. he's a hundred percent better. he's still having lingering side effects. that's what concerns me about our kids going back to school. my household at the end o the school day, it's my mother at home waiting for my kids to come home. that's the case with many families across america. our bus drivers, cafeteria workers, our cuss today yoons, the schoolteachers, i'm most concerned about what impact this will have. i'm hearing so many teachers say they are opting to retire rather

than put themselves at risk this school year. >> remarkably difficult tile for them. let me ask you about the back with and forth you've had with the governor about the mask mandate, he was fighting back a against your mandate in the city of atlanta. do you feel as though you're going to be able to complement this policy the way you envis n envisioned it and is it helping your city? >> we're joined by cities across the state of georgia, the georgia municipal organization supported us. there was an article in the journal-constitution, over 2100 medical workers in the state of georgia, a month ago, they had 1400 sign on, asking, imploring the governor to allow the mask mandates to stand and just

speaking about the need for all of us to follow the science and the data and the numbers that they are seeing in the hospitals. right now, we are at capacity with our icus and hospitals in atlanta. we've got over a 17% positivity rate for covid in the state. we should be somewhere below 5%. things are getting worse, they aren't getting better. >> before i let you go here tonight, i have to ask you about vice president joe biden who's preparing to select his running made. are you still under consideration to be his running mate? >> i'll refer you to the biden campaign for any questions about that, but what i can say. this is the most important election in our lifetime and it was shared at john lewis's funeral that his parting words by mayor bill campbell was he's,

please, please remind people to vote. i'm so much more concerned about joe biden winning than i am about speculation of a vice president. this will matter for generations to come and we have to keep our eye on the prize and that's to elect joe biden. . >> all right. mayer keisha lance bottoms, thank you so much for being with us. we really appreciate it. our thoughts are with your husband as he continues to recover from covid-19. we hope that your family can stay safe and healthy. >> thank you. >> that's going to do it for us tonight on kasie d.c. in a moment joshua johnson continues our coverage. ohnson continues our coverage e 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!!

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hey in. i'm joshua johnson. it's good to be with you tonight from msnbc. today nasa gave us another reason to look up as astronauts splashed down. bob benken and doug hurley returned after two months in orbit. it was nasa's first water landing in 45 years. it was in a self driving spacecraft. tropical storm isaias did not

impede the splash down. the national hurricane center says isaias might strengthen as it heads up the east coast. its crisis is not unique, of course. new reporting from "vanity fare" indicates one reason why. they strapped a testing program because the pandemic hit blue states first. white house press second kayleigh mcenany said it was false. negotiations continue tomorrow on a relief plan for president trump. democrats and republicans far from agreement on a deal. we begin in florida, where the sun sent false editor didn't mince words. one was called "help