tonight. i will see you again tomorrow night. "first look" is up next. "first look" is up next. another milestone. the number could climb to 300,000 by december. also the president voices optimism about a possible coronavirus vaccine becoming available before the november election, but that is not what his own health experts have said. >> and new york's attorney general file as lawsuit to shut down the national rifle association, accusing the nra of an array of illegal conduct.

good morning, everybody. it is friday, august 7th, and i'm yasmin vossoughian. we're going to begin with grim new coronavirus numbers. with the united states now exceeding 160,000 deaths. since the virus began, america has reported 4.8 million cases. texas has reported at least 300 new deaths for a third day in a row. meanwhile california continuing grapple with a technical glitch in its tracking system. an official says it's impacting its response efforts across the state. meanwhile there's a new prediction from the university of washington's health metric and evaluation. the key coding model suggests the number of deaths in america is expected to climb to nearly 300,000 by december 1st, but researchers claim that if

starting today 95% of americans wore masks when leaving their house, that number of projected deaths would drop by more than 66,000. the report also predicts that states might lockdown measures once the chart reaches 8 million. schools will offer online instruction for this upcoming school year. also governor dewine tested negative just hours after his initial test showdown positive, raising doubt. dewine tested positive yesterday morning using a rapid antigen test, which has been shown to be less accurate. he was greeted on a tarmac at an airport in cleveland.

then he took an additional standard test known as prc, and the results came back negative that evening. that test that looks for a genetic material is known to be more sensitive and more accurate but is more time-sensitive as it requires samples to be processed in a lab. dewine's sample was ran twice and came back negative both times. so later this morning we can expect to see another glimpse of how the economy is doing amid the release of the july jobs reports. economists are expecting nearly 1.5 million jobs added last month, which is down from june by about 3.3 million. some analysts are expecting the unemployment rate to reach 10.1%, which would be down a full percentage point from june. this report is coming one day after the jobless claims report showed 1.2 million claims added last week. the lowest the weekly report has been since march. and joe biden now clarifying

remarks that he has made after suggesting the latino community is more diverse than the black community. the president quickly seizened on these comments on twitter saying, joe biden just lost half of the americans, what a dumb thing to say. biden first made the distinction during a commentary. it was taped wednesday and aired yesterday. >> are you going to re-engage with cuba though? i'm specifically wondering about, you know, the florida communities. >> yes, yes. >> they're incredibly interested in the cuba issue. >> yes, yes. >> you see status given to venezuelans while cuba is being deported. >> the answer is yes. yes, i'm engaged. yes. and by the way, what you all

know but most people don't know, unlike the african-american community with notable exceptions, the latino community is an incredibly diverse community with an incredibly diverse attitude about different things. you go to florida and you find different things than you do in arizona. it's a very diverse community. >> all right. so then while addressing a group of latino elected and appointed officials yesterday, the former vice president continued to make the same argument. >> we can build a new administration. it reflects the full diversity of our nation and the full diversity of the latino community. now when i mean full diversity, unlike the african-american communities and other communities, they're from everywhere, from europe, from the tip of south america, all the way from our border in mexico and in the kcaribbean, ad

different backgrounds, different ethnicities, but all latinos. we're going to get a chance to do that if we win in november. >> so then last night biden sought to clarify his remarks. he tweeted this. in no way did i mean to suggest the african-american community is a monolith, not by identity, not on issues, not at all. throughout my career, i've witnessed the diversity of thought, background, and sentiment within the african-american community. it is this diversity that makes our workplaces, communities, and country a better place. i will always listen. i will never stop fighting for a more equitable future. joining me now for the "washington examiner," david mark. so obviously biden catching it

for some comments he made. let's talk about that because we do know how this -- how biden rates amongst the african-american community, how he's been polling amongst the african-american community, especially in comparison to the current president. do you think this will at all impact biden in the upcoming election? >> well, there's some good and bad news about this presidential campaigning being so unusual, the fact that biden is basically stuck in his house in delaware. it means he's a little bit off guard. he eels not used to giving these interviews every day, maybe not as sharp as he would have been. the thing is, though, it just blows over. it's happened before. the trump campaign tries to make an issue out of it when biden says something dumb like this. it lasts for a few hours and then the news cycle moves on. as a whole, i doubt this changes much. biden has a decades-long history with the african-american

community. that's basically what made him the nominee in the first place, and i just don't think it's going to be that big of a deal in the end. >> let's talk about a possible running mate as well. we have been anticipating an announcement from the bind camp this entire week for the possibility that he will let us know who, in fact, he is choosing as his vice presidential pick. what are you hearing on and then? >> well, bind himself said kamala harris, the california senator and former rival for the nomination is still very much in the mix. interestingly former national security adviser susan rice still seems to be mentioned quite often. she, of course, got entwined with the benghazi situation and other matters. i would assume the campaign is polled on this, done focus

groups, and has an idea how people will react, that if they do choose her, has some reason to think it would hurt them that much. it's something none of us are discussing right now. the campaign does not mention it, that things are going on behind the scenes. >> interesting. so you still feel like there could be a surprise. we'll be watching that, of course. david mark, stay close. i'm going to talk to you in just a little bit. still ahead, we have the new legal batter between the new york lawyers and the nra. and later look where the coronavirus bill negotiations stand right now. those stories and a check on your weather when we come back. n your weather when we come back we miss you. it's totally not the same without you. we miss your let's do this look, the sound of your laugh cry screams,

and how you make every day here the best day ever. we can't wait to get you back so we've added temp checks, face coverings, social distancing and extra sanitizing to get the good times going again. it's time to roll out the red carpet and kick open the universal gates. we're finally back... and can't wait until you are too. among my patisensitivity as well tas gum issues. does it worry me? absolutely. new sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend.

for these years of broad misconduct we're seeking to dissolve the nra in its entirety. given the depth and breadth of the corruption and illegality and the brazen attempts to basically evade the law. >> welcome back. that was attorney general for the state of new york, la tieti james announcing the dissolving of the nra. it's chartered in new york, non-profit almost 150 years ago. it engaged in fraud for decades. he took frequent trips to the bahamas on the nra's time, often going on a 100-foot yacht named "illusions" owned by the

contractors. he struck back against the office of attorney general leticia james, and also the nra violated its first amendment rights. it was filed by the attorney general of washington, d.c. joining us now, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. danny, good morning to you. >> good morning. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean?

what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can! downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry

for up to 12-weeks. this towel has already been used and it still smells fresh. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. ...to soccer practices... ...and new adventures. you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past... they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. let's help protect them together. because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. welcome back. i'm danny cevallos. we lost yasmin there for a second, but just before the unanticipated break, she asked

me to break down the letitia james lawsuit against the nra, the national rifle association. while it's over 100 years, they used the non-profit and members dues and millions of dollars that the nra has to line their own pockets and engage in self-dealing. yasmin talked about some of the allegations like plane trips to the bahamas and vendors, giving 108-foot yachts for use by senior leadership, and the new york attorney general has the statutory authority to enforce charitable organization law. it can do a lot of things. it can sue to get rid of the leaders of the membership, get rid of bad management by self-dealing and disruption and an extreme remedy, it can dissolve the corporation

completely, take the assets about, and redistribute them. that's what the attorney general is seeking to do in this case. the nra has fought back with its own lawsuit alleging this is a violation of the nra's first amendment rights, but they're going to have an uphill climb. the reason for that is that even though the nra has a first amendment right to be an organization and put out its message, at the same time, if there is unlawst activity going on, the new york attorney general has a right to sue and enforce the law, and that attorney general leticia james, will be our guest today on "morning joe," so stick around for that. and now we're going to go to bill karins with the forecast. bill? >> hey, thanks. danny. just to let everyone know. we have been in contact with yasmin. she's fine, but she has a glitch in her home studio.

we get a break in the middle of our tropical season. we're heading toward a peak. no areas of development are expected. so where are we? we actually got a new update from our government, the national hurricane center and noaa forecasters. they're saying the rest of the season is going to be very active, maybe almost record-breaking active. this is the time we see the storms and monsoons coming off of africa. those are the tropical waves that eventually go across the atlantic. now we think the systems are very favorable to develop into tropical systems. we have low wind shears. if that's low, the storms can develop more rapidly, and then, of course, with the theme of the warming planet and warming oceans -- that's the fuel -- we have almost record-breaking water temperatures. if the storms do come our way, there's nothing to stop them from intensifying if the wind shear is low. so far we have nine named

storms. typically by this point we have two or three. this year we think we can get to the greek alphabet. this is the new forecast for the hurricane sin. 30% of chance of normal and a 60% chance above normal, and the biggest thing is if any of these could develop into major hurricanes, they still think we could get three or six of those as we go through the rest of the year. we're not even close. we'll give you more details and more news. stay tuned for more on "first look" on msnbc. rst look" on msnbc for 45 days.

we live with at&t and we are well past the honeocupado tom. at&t, what's this i hear about you advertising a 100% fiber network? only like a fraction of my customers can get that. that's it?!? you have such a glass half-empty attitude. the glass is more than half-empty! you need to relax tom. oh! tom, you need a little tom time. a little tt. stop living with at&t. xfinity delivers gig speeds to more homes than anyone.

there are people searching - headed in your direction. for every detail you adjust, there are potential customers digging deeper. for every photo you position, there are others watching and wondering. so, since people are still looking for what you do online, godaddy is making it possible for you to create a website for free. [teacher teaching online] start now at godaddy.com

as yasmin tries to reconnect. michelle obama speaks on depression. >> former first lady michelle obama opening up about a very personal struggle. >> i know that i'm dealing with some form of low-grade depression not just because of the quarantine but because of the racial strife and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it. >> in the second episode of her new podcast she talks about how the deepening of the george floyd death. >> waking up to yet another story of a black man or black person somehow being dehumanized or hurt or killed or falsely accused of something, it is exhausting. >> it brings back the racism she and her husband experienced when he became the nation's first

black president. >> the vast discomfort with the notion that black man could be sitting in the highest level of office, we saw that. we saw the signs. we saw the nooses. >> as she recounted when she gave her commencement address at tuskegee. >> we both felt the sting of those daily strives throughout our entire life, the folks who cross the street in fear of their safety, the people at formal events who assumed we were the help. and those who have questioned our intelligence, our honesty, even our love of this country. >> our thanks to andrea mitchell for that report. let's talk about the nfl season. the national football league, 6 players have officially opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. among the players were 20 offensive linemen, 11 defensive players opted out before the leaguewide deadline. now, players with a medical opt-out, they still receive

$350,000 study pend while those voluntarily opting out receive $150,000 as an advance against future salaries. 56 players have tested positive for the virus since they began reporting to training camps last week. well, still ahead, president trump says it's possible the u.s. could have a coronavirus vaccine before the election like early november election. but dr. anthony fauci, he doesn't sound so sure. plus, top democrats in the white house fail once again to reach an agreement on relief measures. we'll talk about what the next steps could be. we'll be back in a moment. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪

(announcer) once-weekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like emily lower their blood sugar. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! (announcer) and you may lose weight. adults who took ozempic® lost on average up to 12 pounds. i lost almost 12 pounds! oh! (announcer) for those also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. it lowers the risk. oh! and i only have to take it once a week. oh! ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) ozempic® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away

if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. once-weekly ozempic® is helping me reach my blood sugar goal. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ you may pay as little as $25 for a 1-month or 3-month prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. shingles doesn't care. i logged 10,000 steps today. shingles doesn't care. i get as much fresh air as possible. good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age, increasing your risk for getting shingles. so what can protect you?

shingrix protects. for the first time ever, you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about protecting yourself with shingrix. shingles doesn't care. shingrix protects. welcome back. i'm bill karins. we begin with this qaa from the white house task force coordinator deborah birx and state local officials in which,

by warned of an uptick across nine u.s. cities and nine central valleys. listen up. [ indiscernible ] >> many of the sunbelt states have made substantial progress with their mitigation efforts. nebraska will move to the red state category as well as california. we are concerned that both baltimore and atlanta remain at a very high level. kansas city, portland, omaha, of course, what we talked about in the central valley. and i wanted to hydraulic your attention to the thakt that with are seeing a slow uptech in tests. >> while she may be taking heat from president and nancy pelosi this week, she's pressing on speak against covid-19. according to the "times" debate

is raging over how much blame, by should take for the virus's spread. some say he's responsible. health experts have expressed disgust at her accommodations to trump. but many defenders say she's in a difficult spot serving for a mercurial president who shows little signs toward science. republican tate reeves says she prodded him for weeks to into stus a statewide mask order. until this week he finally relented. according to the times, inside white house aides refer to dr. birx as dr. doom for her efforts to temper a positive spin. by and anthony fauci are not in the same situation. while fauci is at the end of his career and a civil vaernlt free

to speak his mind, by is an employee and serves at the pleasure of the president. difficult situation you can imagine. while directly contradicting the advice of his team of health experts, president trump is forecasting that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready before the election. here's what he had to say yesterday following dr. anthony fauci's medical prediction. >> we have a lot of vaccines under study, by the way. we look like we're going to be really good on vaccines and therapeutics also. >> what's the earthest we could see a vaccine? >> sooner than the end of the year. it could be much sooner. >> sooner than november 3rd? >> i think in some cases, yes. possibly before, but right around that time. >> you know, i don't think we're putting any emphasis on a vaccine. we don't have it yet. let me make it clear about emphasis. what i'm saying is we're trying very hard to ultimately get a vaccine that might be available by the end of the year or the

beginning of 2021. but that's many months away. >> well, twice yesterday president trump seemed to double down on his suggestion that children are almost immune from the coronavirus. once when he was pressed by reporters outside the white house and a second time during an event in ohio. >> what evidence have you seen about children being immune from the virus? >> all you have to co'do is read the newspapers or read the medical report. >> very young children are incredibly powerful. they're very strong and know what to do. >> a new poll shows parents favoring a mix of online and in-person classes for their children. in the "washington post" scholar

school poll, 44% of parents of children in kindergarten to seniors in high school think schools should teach a mix of online and in-person lessons. 39% of parents prefer all online and 16% prefer all-in classes. coronavirus talks continue on with no deadline. both sides show little hope of an upcoming agreement. >> the republicans and the president do not understand the gravity of the situation, an every time we meet with them, it is reinforced. we're very far apart. it's most unfortunate. >> i think there is a lot of issues. we are close to a compromised position on, but there's a handful of very big issues that we're still very far apart.

>> now, the issues include state and local funding, unemployment insurance, how school funds are spent, as well as food and rental assistance. democrats claim they asked republicans to meet halfway and they said no. as emotions ran high, house speaker nancy pelosi says she and mark meadows slammed the table during a lenty discussion which he denies. as of now, the two sides do not plan on meeting today to continue the stalled stimulus talks. meanwhile president trump is still considering issuing an executive order to address evictions, unemployment benefits arc payroll tax. joining us once again, political editor for the "washington examiner," david mark. david, where should the relief bill go from here and how do we go from here? >> they're really stuck as was just noted there. both sides are dug in. house democrats and senate democrats feel like they have the upper hand here, like public opinion is on their side.

they're pushing to continue the $600 a week unemployment checks that have gone out that just recently finished up and now are stalled, and republicans feel like they want to get liability insurance for companies, basically every organization, so they don't get sued when people go back to work. it seems like democrats do have the upper hand here. they may have to push it for a while, take a week or to. for whatever reason, they're holding out. you've got to think they've done polling, focus groups on this. for whatever reason, they feel like they're in the driver's seat here, and they're not giving up. >> yeah. it's frustrating for everyone sitting at home watching the process trying to work itself out in public. let's go on to president trump toning down on the impact of the coronavirus, saying kids are immune, meanwhile dr. fauci saying there could be an uptick

in cities. what are the indications from the mixed messaging? >> it's just that, more mixed messaging. you have the president and higgs key supporters giving this really optimistic outlook, talking about kids going back to school. of course, they don't address what role teachers would play because teachers are all adults. they're very much not immune. many teachers we all know are in the age range that would be most susceptible to covid-19. so there's a lot of unanswered questions there, and there's not much scientific evidence backing that up that kids are immune. they may be more asymptomatic. they may be spreaders. the president shouldn't make that claim. >> we look forward to that once we get the scientific facts in, knowing all the facts. the science has to be done first, and that's the point of all of this. "washington examiner's" david

mark, thank you so much. i'm happy to report back, yasmin, we have you. besides butchering dr. birx's last name repeatedly, i tried to hold my own. >> bill, you did an incredible job. by the way, you do have me, but now i have earbuds in so i look like i'm listening to people but i'm talking to folks in the control room. had some technical difficulties as you guys know happens on friday thons show around 5:30 per ush. i'll be taking a happy hour right after this. thanks, bill. yesterday president trump accused joe biden of being against god. watch this. >> he's following the radical left agenda. take away your guns, destroy your second amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the bible, hurt god. he's against god, he's against

guns, he's against energy. >> all right. let's be clear here. biden is a devout catholic. he responds by releasing a statement that says in part this. like so many people, my faith has been the bedrock foundation of my life. it's provided me comfort in moments of loss and tragedy, it's kept me grounded and humbled in times of triumph and joy. for president trump to attack my faith is shameful. also members of the commission on presidential debate have rejected the change for changes to the schedule. tru trump's campaign arguing that the three debates called for in september and october will be useful because many americans will have voted by mail prior to the debates. he tweeted this. how can votes voters be sending

ballots starting in some cases one month before the first presidential debate. move the first debate up. a debate to me is a public service. in its response the commission said that people planning to vote by mail could wait until after viewing the debates to send in their ballots if they so choose. still ahead, everybody, we're going to go live to cnbc for the latest on the jobs report due out this morning. the stories driving your business day coming up next. bus. (neighbor) whatcha working on...

(burke) oh, just puttering, tinkering... commemorating bizarre mishaps that farmers has seen and covered. had a little extra time on my hands lately. (neighbor) and that? (burke) oh, this? just an app i've been working on. it's called signal from farmers, and it could save you up to fifteen percent on your auto insurance. simply sign up, drive and save. but i'm sure whatever you've been working on is equally impressive. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

we get closer to the november election. in kentucky, the president holds the lead of nine points over joe biden, 50% to 41%. south carolina, the president is

also up 47% to bide en's 42%. but in maine, biden leads by a 50-point margin, 52% to 37%. the quinnipiac polling showing some extremely close senate races for seats in those key states currently held by republicans. in kentucky, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell leading a five-point lead over challenger amy mcgrath. in south carolina lindsey graham is in a dead heat with jaime harrison. coming up next, everybody, a look at axios's one big thing. and coming up on morning joe, one day after filing a lute seeking to dissolve the nra, new york attorney general leticia james will be our guest. also we'll speak with the national guard officer on our

scene in lafayette square on june 1st when peaceful protesters will forcibly remove president trump's photo op in front of st. john's church. "morning joe" minutes away. s chh "morning joe" minutes away call 1-800-t-mobile or go to t-mobile.com/55. sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. is a friendly neighbor. they'll be coming by to ask simple questions that inform how billions in federal funds are spent on local services every year for the next decade. time is running out. shape your future. start here at 2020census.gov. shape your future. ♪ ♪all strength ♪we ain't stoppin' believe me♪

♪go straight till the morning look like we♪ ♪won't wait♪ ♪we're taking everything we wanted♪ ♪we can do it ♪all strength, no sweat i felt gross. people were afraid i was contagious. i was covered from head to toe. i was afraid to show my skin. after i started cosentyx i wasn't covered anymore. four years clear. five years now. i just look and feel better. see me. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. five years is just crazy. see me. learn more at cosentyx.com.

walk to end alzheimer's alzheis everywhere.tion on every sidewalk, track, and trail across this country. all of us are raising funds for one goal: a world without alzheimer's and all other dementia. because this disease isn't waiting, neither are you. take the first step on your walk right now. go to alz dot org slash walk. here's your iced coffee! ♪ america runs on dunkin'

welcome back. later this morning we're going to get a look on the economy. cnbc's julianna tatelbaum is joining us live from london on. this good to see you this morning. talk us through what we can expect from this jobs report. a lot of folks anticipating what we may or may not see. >> that's right. the main event for the market today is no doubt the farm payroll report. 1.7 million jobs were added in july, but this month's report is proving very difficult to predict. the range of estimates is huge. some economists are projecting a decline. some are expecting an increase of up to 4 million jobs. part of the reason it's so difficult to forecast this time around is economists are unsure how the spike in cases last

month in coronavirus has caused companies to lay off workers or delayed plans to bring them back. most, though, believe the recent gains are going to taper off. evidence suggests the labor market has stalled in july. we july. we got an update, initial jobless claims to 1.2 million in the latest week. lafs remain elevated across the united states as the covid-19 pandemic remains widespread. the decline in the initial joblejo jobless claims came as the extra $600 a weeke ended. >> can we talk about the executive order by trump that the government buy american drugs. >> yes. this is an executive order aimed

at bringing pharmaceuticals back to the united states. it'll direct the federal government to buy certain drugs from american factories. it's unclear how the order will be implemented and what drugs it covers. instead it ordered the fda to decide which medicines will be subject to the requirement and exempt certain drugs, ones that are too expensive to produce in the u.s. or ones they're already producing. but this could bring changes to the supply chain. >> yes, major changes. julianna tatelbaum live from london. thank you. good to see you this morning. let's talk axios now. joining me with axios a.m. -- joining me now with a look at axios a.m. cofounder and ceo of

axios jim vanhigh. great to see you. it's a bumpy road this hour. i appreciate you joining us. give us axios' 1 big thing today. >> i think we're looking at what we know it's not going to be an election night it's probably going to be an election week or weeks in terms of the vote counting. one of the components, it's going to be the most litigated election ever. you have both sides hiring lawyers as many as they can, as fast as they can because they assume there's going to be glitch glitches, whether there will be people at the polls to take care of voting, and then the mail-in voting, whether the postal service is getting you your ability to vote in time and get it back to the state or city to get counted. when you're doing that, there's a lot of chances for human

error. then you layer on top of that the fact that the president of the united states is trying to train the bulk of the republican party to say the election is illegitimate because of the mail-in voting even though it's been around forever and been fine and not ripe for mischief. but we know the president has this mesmerizing power to get republicans to believe often what he believes. it's just going to be a hot mess on the election. and people have to realize unlike past elections where you sit there and assume you have the results, that includes the votes being tallied and gives you certainly about who won or lost certain states, that's probably not the case on election night. i think it's many, many days before we have a clear portrait of what results looks like. >> do you think we're ready to deal with mail-in voting on this

scale? it seems like a much more streamed line way of voting. the way our system was built was to do mail-in voting. but when you look at states like georgia and how that blew up in their faces when it came to voting. >> in different areas it can be a hot mess, and we have congressional races where it's taken weeks to figure out the vote tally and once you've taken in the mail-in voting you realize the outcome is different than what you thought on election day. so there are going to be some issues with it. the problem is, i don't know what else you're going to do. we're sitting in the middle of a virus, having a presidential election, we have to figure out a way for everyone to exercise their right to vote, and do so in a way they feel it's healthy, they're not going to get sick. think about the people who

vote -- young people don't tend to vote in presidential elections or off year elections. it's old people who vote in high percentages, who's at risk of getting the coronavirus, dying from the coronavirus, it's old people that want to get out and vote. so you have to figure out a mechanism. that's why the misinformation that moves through social media, moves through different shows is so problematic because we need people to trust the system, understand that we have to take extraordinary measures to pull off an election in the middle of a virus, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience but one we're all living through. we have to get through it, it's not going to get delayed wha like president trump talked about. there's no appetite for that. and i seems in some areas we're counting votes like it's 1900 and it hasn't been modernized

the way it needs to be. >> i want i to weigh in on the comments from former vice president joe biden. he spent last night clarifying comments, responding to attacks as well. he made comments on the latino community versus the african-american community. this is something we haven't seen biden necessarily spend much time doing. how worried should his supporters be? >> i don't know if they should be more worried today than a week ago. obviously he has a track recordrecord of saying things he then needs to clean up. i'd like to see more joe biden, i'd like to see him do more tough interview. we had an interview with donald trump earlier in the week, tough and persistent questioning. i think joe biden needs to sit down for tough and persistent questioning. i follow him and i'm not sure

where he stands on issues dividing the democratic party today. people should want that. and i think people are saying let's make it safe, let donald trump make it an election against donald trump. i don't know if that's right. >> stand by, we are lucky to have eugene robinson standing by z as well. we want to read from his latest opinion piece. trump doesn't seem to understand that opening schools would make a bad situation worse. in it you write, is it possible the president could do a worse job handling the covid-19 pandemic causing more needless illness and death. i fear we're about to find out. open the schools he tweeted again this week for the umteenth

time. that is the equivalent of chugging down the river approaching the falls and giving the order full speed ahead. as we know some things go away, some don't. rainbows go away, highly infectious viruses do. according to his experts he's foolish enough to dismiss, i'm afraid the virus won't go away until trump does. gene, weigh in on this for me. it is so true. the president is continuously saying now that he wants schools to reopen, he continuously says that this virus is going to magically disappear and we well know, having listened to our trusted scientists and doctors across this country, that is not going to happen. in fact, schools are starting to shutdown that have reopened because there have been viruses sprouting up in the schools,

clusters of children getting sick. >> who could have predicted it like every expert predicted it. look, we have to get the schools open as quickly and as safely as we can. but the problem is that we never did a proper shutdown in this country. there never was a national strategy. it was willy nilly across the country and different areas took different approaches and as a result the virus is, as dr. birx said, widespread. and there's hot spots popping up all the time and the general level of infection is too high. much higher than in other developed countries when they started to cautiously open their schools. until we drive the infection rate down close to low levels, as close to zero as we get them,

it's going to be difficult to keep schools open. it's one thing to open them up, but you open them up, there's so much virus around it's inevitab inevitable it gets into the schools and the schools have to shutdown and it makes people sick and some people will die. we're not prepared. >> and it doesn't help mitigate the spread of the virus, especially when you have predictions that we could reach 300,000 deaths in this country by the month of december. thank you both. appreciate it. that does it for me on this friday morning, i'm yasmin vossoughian. "morning joe" starts right now. when they gaze upon yosemits, towering sacyoyas. your competitors moved their