good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington as the nation struggles to get control of the coronavirus pandemic which has now caused the death of more than 160,000 americans. here are the facts at this hour. a big red flag today from the university of washington which is now predicting nearly 300,000 total american deaths by december. but their model says if 95% of citizens would wear masks, that number would plummet by 66,000. there is some better news on the jobs front today. the july jobs report beating

expectations with 1.8 million jobs added and the unemployment rate falling to 10.2%. moments ago, new york governor andrew cuomo announcing that the covid infection rates statewide in new york are now low enough to allow all school districts to open including new york city, the nation's largest school system. and the gridlock on capitol hill continues. democratic and white house negotiators will be meeting again this afternoon after being unable to close a wide gap all week as senate majority leader mitch mcconnell stays on the sidelines and president trump starts the weekend early. he's at his bedminster golf resort where he's also holding fundraisers over the next few days. i'll speak to a member of the house democratic leadership, south carolina's jim clyburn, and get his take on joe biden's recent controversial comments on black americans. we begin today with the pandemic's impact. atlanta mayor keisha lance

bottoms joining me right now, madam mayor, thank you for being with us. a new report from the center for public integrity where dr. deborah birx is mentioning increasing rates in georgia as well as other states. tell me about the situation in atlanta. it's among a handful of cities where there are still major concerns. how are you dealing with the disease in atlanta? >> it's unfortunate, andrea, as i saw you mention that new york is opening up schools, because they've been able to get on the other side of covid-19. unfortunately in atlanta and across the state of georgia we are headed in the wrong direction. our numbers are continuing to rise, and our icu beds are at and beyond capacity at many of our hospitals. and we are continuing to face this challenge of reopening the state while not taking the precautions necessary to put us in a place like new york and so

many other states who have been able to get to the other side of this virus. >> as you talk about the schools there, there is some footage, really disturbing footage of a school north of atlanta, where we see -- i think it had to shut down, we saw pictures that went viral, taken in a hallway, a corridor packed, crowded with students. it's less than an hour from your city. >> it's very concerning, andrea. i have four kids. i took two of my kids out yesterday to attend a taping that i had to do. and just watching my two kids fiddle with their masks. they're kids. they were taking their masks on and off. it's very difficult to expect our children to be able to abide by all of the rules that are necessary for us to combat covid-19. and that's my concern, as schools are reopening across this state. many school districts, including

the school district in the city of atlanta, have opted to go with virtual learning for the first few weeks of school. as i've said repeatedly, it's not just about our kids. it's about our kids often being asymptomatic and infecting teachers and custodians and cafeteria workers. but unfortunately, in georgia, just yesterday, a 7-year-old with no underlying health conditions died from complications related to covid-19. >> so much for the president's declaring that they are almost definitely immune from it, the children. we know that there are these tragic cases. they may be outliers, but this is the tragedy and this is the risk to the schoolchildren, while you as a mom of four children know how important it is to get them back in the classrooms. how is atlanta responding to your urging them to wear masks, mandating it, the governor disagreeing, the lawsuit, how widespread is the wearing of masks from your observation?

>> as i've been out, i've been very encouraged by the number of people that i see with masks on. and it's very hot in atlanta, as you can imagine, right now. it's 90 degrees plus every day. but as i've gone into the grocery store and other places, people are wearing masks. and i actually was pleasantly surprised, because i didn't see many people wearing masks but people are certainly heeding the warning and very prefectuapprec that we're pushing forward with a mask mandate in the city. we've gotten notes from business owners who also express their appreciation. >> we're rapidly approaching joe biden's decision on a running mate. can you at least clarify whether or not you have had an interview? i assume not an in-person interview, i don't think you've been traveling. >> andrea, i'll continue to refer you to the biden campaign

for questions about that. but as i've said repeatedly, this is the most important election of our lifetime. john lewis reminded us of that with his parting words. if we don't exercise our right to vote, we will lose it. so i know there's a lot of speculation and excitement about who joe biden will name. but the most important person's name on that ballot will be joe biden. >> the former vice president did try today to clarify a statement. he got a lot of backlash yesterday when he was saying that the latino community is diverse, quote, unlike the african-american community. he tried to say that he did not mean to suggest that the african-american community is a monolith. but is this a problem, the way he was articulating this? >> well, i believe what he was trying to articulate was just in terms of voting patterns. but i know he doesn't believe we are monolith, because i've had

these conversations with the vice president directly, and we've talked about the growing importance and voice of the progressive wing of the party, fueled in large part by younger african-americans. so i know that he does not believe that. and i though that as his policies have come forth, his policies reflect his appreciation of diversity within the african-american community. i do think obviously that it perhaps could have been expressed better. but i know his heart, and i know the conversations that i have had with him directly, and what he's expressed to me about his appreciation about diversity within the african-american community. >> and i know how busy you are, but i was really struck when i had a chance to listen to michelle obama's podcast yesterday where she talked about what she called a low level depression that she's experienced during the pandemic,

largely because of the experience of george floyd's death, reliving a lot of the racism that she and president obama encountered on their campaign and when they were first in the white house. and it struck me that that is -- that experience, with all of these police cases, you've experienced them in georgia, as you know, that's something that a lot, millions of african-americans, african-american women, are feeling. >> absolutely, andrea. i appreciate the obamas for so many reasons, but i especially appreciated that she had articulated that, because just a couple of days before, i articulated something very similar to my husband. i said, i'm waking up feeling really down, and i almost used the exact words, low key depression. and it is something that clearly is felt by so many

african-americans. and seeing it in our kids, the level of anxiety and fear and frustration. and it's difficult as african-american parents because we are supposed to reassure our children that everything will be okay. and it will be okay. we know we'll get to the other side of this. but it's very difficult when adults and children are struggling to make sense of where we are in america, which again, is why i can't stress enough the importance of this election. this term of donald trump needs to be a comma in our history, not a period. >> i appreciate your answering that question so personally, i think it's an important message. thank you very much, mayor bottoms. >> thank you. dr. ashish jha is the director of the harvard global health institute and he joins me now. thanks for being with us, dr.

jha. let's talk about this decision that governor cuomo just announced to open all districts. they've met the guidelines in terms of the infection rate, transmission rate. is it safe? >> andrea, thank you for having me on, and that is the big question, right? we all want our kids back in but the question is can we do it in way that's safe. and there are two parts to that. part one is having community transmission at a very low level. and i do think much of new york, most of morninnew york, maybe a new york, meets that. but the second part is making sure buildings are ready, that there's ventilation, that you can have classes outdoors if you don't have all that, so really spacing kids out. that's going to be a district by district, school by school decision. i guess what i would implore school officials to do is to emphasize grades k-5. i think we can go back to

in-person learning in new york if we get it right. >> we have a big story breaking, mayor mike dewine of ohio tested positive for coronavirus, then hours later tested again and was negative. then i saw dr. gupta on brian williams' show last night who said, wait a minute, guys, the kind of test he was given has very few false positives but the second test has a lot of false negatives. can you weigh in on that? >> so we're in the middle, as a nation, of transitioning to a new group of tests. these are rapid tests that i think a lot of us have actually been calling for more of them. and they don't have a problem with false negatives, but a lot of us argue it's not a big deal if we test people often. you can actually still pick up

most of the disease because the test is particularly good when you have the virus. what happened with governor dewine say bit confusing. it seems like he had a positive, then he had a negative with a pcr which can miss tests. at this moment if you asked me is he infected or is he not, i would say i don't know. he should probably have a repeat test in the next 24 to 48 hours. the jury is still out. the test he had last night can miss some cases, also has false negatives. this is one of those situations where we have to wait one more day, get a repeat and get a sense of where he really is. >> thank you very much, thanks for that explanation, it's always good to see you, appreciate it. >> thank you. more than 16 million americans now are out of work and white house negotiators are heading back to the table with congressional democrats today to try to come up with a deal. house majority whip jim clyburn joins us with the latest. plus who does congressman clyburn think has the passion he says is needed to be joe biden's running mate? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. nly on m,

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after two weeks of on and off talks, they're supposed to be back on. the white house and democratic leaders are stalemated, though, on a new economic relief bill which is leaving millions of americans struggling to pay their bills and faced with possible eviction as well. white house negotiators will meet with speaker pelosi and senate democratic leader chuck schumer in a few hours, scrambling to work out a deal but the gap is pretty wide. speaker pelosi made clear to my colleague kristen welker that the two sides are far apart. >> this is life and death, life in terms of economic success and the life of our democracy. we have serious differences. this isn't about bickering. this is very major differences as to science, the role of governance in all of this.

>> joining me now is the house majority whip, congressman james clyburn of south carolina. congressman, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> it's always good to see you, sir. i'm wondering whether you think there's any way to narrow this gap. people are hurting. i know you sent your bill over in may and there should have been negotiations since may to narrow these differences. but we are where we are, and for two weeks they have made very little progress. >> yes. and i think a lot of that has to do with the attitude that senator mcconnell has taken on it. when we first sent the bill over to him several weeks ago, a couple of months now, he made mockery of our efforts. $3 trillion effort to try to keep state and local governments open, to try to get online

learning effected, telehealth, the kind of things we know we need to do in this pandemic. and he laughed at it and he's now walked away from it. and he's saying he's going to leave it up to the house and the white house. if that's what we've got to work with, that's what we've got to work with. but as you know, when you're dealing with a legislative body, and whatever we do has got to pass the senate, it would be a much better effort if the leader of the senate were involved in this process and let the two legislative bodies get together. to sit back and have people who don't run for stuff, never been involved in how to reach common ground, and to have the attitude being taken that the idea of a compromise is when you see things my way, and that seems to be the republican attitude on so many things.

they want common ground as long as it's their ground and you come over to occupy it. that's not the way you do business. we ought to really have more serious discussions than we seem to be having. >> and speaker pelosi is at this hour right now at a briefing, she was just talking to my colleague kristen welker in the last hour. on "meet the press," you told chuck todd that joe biden needs a running mate with a lot of passion, that he has the gre greatest heart but not a rah-rah guy that will motivate people. looking at that list, a lot of people are saying that the kind of passion and energy, the best campaigner on that list might well are kamala harris. >> it could be. she has a lot of passion, no question about that. but there are several others. val demings is as passion as you

want to be. i think she would fill the bill as well. and karen bass, karen is a very passionate person, and she has background and experience running. so i think that those women that are being talked about are all real good people. now, susan rice, a lot of passion, in fact a lot of people hold her passion against her. she gets -- her language gets salty sometimes and people say that's too much passion. so she's not short on passion. >> there is also, we're trying to clarify what he's said about the latino community, saying it's more diverse than the african-american community. how do you react to that? >> the word "diverse," you know me real well, you know i'm sort of a stickler for the word being what it is.

and what he was talking about is whether or not, what continent. when you start talking to latino-americans, you're talking about not just various communities and countries, you're talking about various continent. theeth th eth ninicity, the div the ethnicity. most african-americans come from the caribbean or africa, our roots are basically in africa. all he was talking about was the diversity of not just the communities but also of the continents. and you bring those backgrounds and those experiences into the discussion and you don't have the same set of experiences that you would have if you didn't have this kind of diversity in your background. so the diversity could be within a community, within a state, but there is a broader diversity in his discussion and it's more

worldwide. but you don't get a chance to explain all that have in a sound bite world. >> understood. that's the perils of the campaign as well. i want to ask you about kanye west. i never thought i would be saying that to you, mr. leader. but there we are. he's now on the ballot in colorado and oklahoma and we're told that a republican operative from the trump campaign delivered his petitions in wisconsin. now, i know his family has said he suffers from bipolar and that this is not serious. but let's face it, what happened in three states in 2016 by, you know, 80,000 votes, decided an election, decided a presidency. jill stein on the green party ticket. could this be a trump campaign effort to try to siphon off votes from joe biden in battleground states? >> i don't think there's any question about that. we all saw what was going on there in wisconsin, where he was getting help getting on the ballot. but, you know,

african-americans, most especially, know what this campaign is all about. they've seen these kind of tactics before. we saw that here in south carolina. i have been saying for years now that this whole wrestling influence, i think their trial run was in the united states senate race right here in south carolina. so we've seen this before. we fell victim to it when we didn't know where it was coming from or what was going on. we now know, and we're not going to make that mistake again. if you fool me once, that shame is on you. you fool me twice, that shame would be on me. we ain't going to be shamed in this election. >> well, the whip, the democratic house whip, james clyburn, congressman, thank you very much. good to talk to you. and risk and rewards. a deeper dive into vice

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it is indeed an unprecedented campaign, with

almost no traditional campaigning and virtual conventions coming up because of the coronavirus. joe biden is close to making his most consequential decision so far, choosing a running mate without being able to meet with them in person, as far as we know. joe biden will be 78 years old when he takes office, meaning his vice president must be a governing partner, possibly a future president herself. it's a decision that carries both risk and reward, something biden knows well having gone through the same process with barack obama. >> reporter: after months of speculation, joe biden is poised to make his high stakes pick. >> every one of the women i've interviewed is qualified. i've narrowed it down. you'll find out shortly. >> reporter: biden's short list, according to sources familiar with the search, his former rival, senator kamala harris. his one-time colleague former national security adviser susan rice. and michigan governor gretchen

wilmer. the campaign examining women of different backgrounds. history shows running mates can be political assets, a role biden has played before. in 2008, barack obama, a washington newcomer, chose the veteran senator to ease concerns about his own inexperience. >> he's an expert on foreign policy whose heart and values are firmly rooted in the middle class. >> reporter: in 1960, another rising star, john f. kennedy, put senate majority leader lyndon johnson on the ticket, the texan helping jfk win southern voters. >> he can play a role as vice president, greater, more influential than any vice president in recent times. >> reporter: in 1980, ronald reagan chose his rival george h.w. bush, uniting the party. >> i'm recommending george bush. >> reporter: in 1992, bill clinton picked a fellow baby boomer and son of the south, al gore, both reinforcing the case

for generational change. >> the man standing beside me today has what it takes to lead this nation from the day we take office. >> reporter: still, some vice presidential candidates famously backfired. george mcgovern chose thomas eagleton without vetting him. eagleton was forced to drop out after only 18 days amid revelations he had been hospitalized for depression and treated with electroshock therapy. in 1984, walter mondale tried to jump-start his campaign with the historic choice of a woman for vice president, congresswoman geraldine ferrarferraro. >> i looked for the best vice president and found her in geri ferraro. >> reporter: but ferraro was forced to defend her finances and her husband's business practices. >> at no time did i betray trust placed in me by my constituents.

>> reporter: john mccain picked an untested governor he barely knew for the ticket. >> governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. >> reporter: sarah palin had a successful rollout, firing up conservatives. but she stumbled in interviews, raising questions about her knowledge and experience. when asked by katy couric what newspapers she read. >> i read most of them. >> reporter: what specifically, i'm curious. >> all of them, any of them. >> joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, co-anchor of "weekend today," and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today," welcome, both. susan, that's a trip down memory lane. hits, run, errors. what is your take on who is the right, perfect candidate, given his age and everything else that is at stake for joe biden? >> you know, there's never a

perfect candidate. you're always engaged in tradeoffs and calculations. and actually, what is more important i think is what this pick will tell us about joe biden, what it will tell us about what he really values, who he listens to, how he makes decisions, because at the end of the day, as you were pointing out in your piece, traditionally presidential candidates, win or lose, on their own. their running mates usually only make a difference on the margins. >> kristen, you've been doing so much reporting on all of this. there are a lot of other players to consider, barack obama, nancy pelosi. who he is listening to? >> well, i think that he is bouncing ideas off of both barack obama, nancy pelosi. his closest advisers, andrea. and i do think there is a lot of pressure on him to choose, as he has promised, not only a woman but more pressure for him to choose a woman of color. the question is, is he going to

do that. of course this pick comes against the backdrop of these national protests calling for racial change. we had that gaffe that you just talked about. i spoke to a former obama adviser who said those types of moments only add to the urgency to pick a woman of color. so you think of a kamala harris, susan rice, but also tamcontamt duckworth as you've been reporting overnight. michigan's governor gretchen wilmer could help him win a battleground state. if you look at the latest polling out of michigan, her approval ratings are at 57%, quite high. her lieutenant governor, african-american. the biden campaign and vice president biden himself weighing all of those different factors as he makes this critical decision, but andrea, i think a key takeaway from your piece which applies to the biden campaign right now is, do no harm. they want to pick someone who is

going to be sympatico with him, bring passion, but not come with too much baggage, andrea. >> exactly. and susan, to that light, they have to find someone who is going to govern with him long term. he really does care about that. i think he's listening a lot to jill, to dr. jill biden. >> i think that's right. he would really like joe biden. he would really like to have someone who has the same kind of vice president that he was to barack obama. now, that doesn't necessarily mean someone who doesn't have ambitions of her own. that's been one of the things that have been argued about, like should he choose a woman who has national ambitions. it's hard for me to remember a vice presidential candidate who did not have presidential ambitions, and that includes joe biden. >> exactly, he wants someone who will be loyal, can govern in an

emergency, but won't be out for herself. that's the difference. and we've seen a lot of lobbying this time on all sides, opposition research being dumped on people. it's been a pretty fierce thing behind the scenes as well. thank you both so very much. susan page, maybe by the end of the weekend we'll know, kristen welker, you'll break it, one of us will break it. >> let's hope. >> do you have a better sense of the time frame, kristen? >> i don't have a sense, the campaign's not ruling out monday, andrea. but it could slide. so i think you and i are going to have a busy weekend, hopefully we'll break it together. >> we'll certainly be watching "saturday today" tomorrow morning, which you co-anchor. a great weekend to both of you. new jobless numbers are out today. as another week goes by, the government failing to reach a deal to extend key benefits to

those out of work because of the pandemic. we'll drill down on that, stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. here's your iced coffee! ♪ america runs on dunkin' little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be.

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despite slight job gains this month, more than 54 million people have applied for unemployment benefits in the last four months. business owners are also struggling, including a restaurant owner in arizona who has had enough of the lack of action from congress. she spoke to nbc's vaughn hillyard this week. >> i've given up my health insurance. i've given up my paycheck. pretty soon i'll be selling my house to try to keep this restaurant alive. at what point do i say this is all i got? my message to washington, d.c. is stop bickering with each other. many while, peepiople are starv. people did not get that money on friday. they just got $240 from arizona. what's that going to do for anybody? >> and joining me now, nbc news

business and tech correspondent jo ling kent and former deputy labor secretary for president obama, chris lu. chris, when you talk to people in the field, especially people struggling in terms of the demographics? >> andrea, the recovery is very slow right now. that's what the numbers say, and that's what we're hearing from people at food banks and unemployed individuals all across the country. so you see the good news, the unemployment rate has dropped to 10.2%. and that's better than expectations. the number has gone down for three months in a row. but yesterday, at a food bank, i was talking to people who were collecting 220,000 pounds of food, 2,500 families seeking aid. the overwhelming response was, look, we need washington to step in and do something. if you looked at unemployment benefits for people after the $600 a week expired, we're talking about on average,

nationally, 340-some dollars a week for a family. so these are numbers that are very difficult to get by when it comes to getting food and making sure that you have a roof over your head. now, andrea, as we've often been reporting here, members of minority communities, asian-americans, black americans, are being hit disproportionately hard by that. in today's labor report, you see the hard numbers behind it. you have african-american unemployment, 14.6%. that's 4.5 points higher than the national average. you have asian-american unemployment at 12%, hispanics and latinos, 13%. the pain in these communities continues to be very sharp. this is exactly what jerome powell, federal reserve chairman, has been saying, saying this will be especially severe for these communities.

so the recovery is going in the right direction, it's going very slowly, and it hasn't provided enough relief for communities here who are looking just to make it 'til tomorrow and be able to buy those groceries this weekend. >> and chris lu, from your perspective in washington, you've watched a lot of these budget talks. these talks seem particularly difficult to resolve, especially because it's a three-legged stool. you don't have mitch mcconnell in there and you don't really know what the white house is going to do. >> that's exactly right. there are some encouraging things in today's job numbers but the exact wrong message that the white house and congress should take from this is that now is the time to take the foot of the accelerate. as jo ling just said, you have states like arizona where the maximum benefit is $240. in florida, it's $275 a week. that's less than the federal minimum wage. at the same time that people are struggling to buy groceries, to

pay their rent. and so what's important here is that the house democrats have come to the table 2 1/2 months ago with a heroes act that would provide relief to the unemployed and businesses and state governments. we've now spent 2 1/2 months dithering around, and senate republicans have left town. people are trying to figure out how to deal with this economic crisis right now. in washington, at least in the form of the white house and the senate, they're not stepping up. understand that notwithstanding where these numbers are today, we have 13 million fewer jobs now than in february. we have 5 million people that have left the workforce completely. and we have a total of 31 million people collecting some kind of unemployment. and they need the president to step up. >> it is obviously a big problem when these talks, they're going to get together this afternoon, as you point out, they've left town and it's not that easy to

pull this kind of deal together, and people's benefits ended last week. thank you so much, jo ling kent, thank you, chris lu, as always, to both of you. a growing concern at the heart of the u.s. food supply is that essential immigrant workers have to choose, often, between getting tested and getting a paycheck. we'll take an in-depth look as past a collaboration between nbc news and telemundo. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. reports" on msnbc. ♪ ♪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

and aren't necessarily great for your teeth. the acid can actually wear away at the enamel which over time can cause sensitivity and a lot of people start to see their teeth turn yellow. i like to recommend pronamel to my patients to help them protect their teeth and keep the enamel strong.

nbc news and telemundo have launched an exciting collaboration on issues impacting the hispanic community in america. they're going to appear on all of our news platforms. gadi gad vin gass examine the covid test challenges for essential farm workers in this report. we begin with gadi in california where latinos account for nearly half the state's covid deaths. in california's central valley a quarter of our nation's food supply is in the hands of an essential workforce with a lot of fear and a lot to lose. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> she says she's hoemg they don't get evicted. >> reporter: this woman and her daughter usually work picking grapes. but haven't been able to since they learned 5-year-old angel may have been exposed to covid at his daycare. >> you might not be able to work for those two weeks? >> yes. >> what's that going to do for paying the rent?

>> exactly. it's going to be a stress. >> we've tried to be as proactive as we can. >> reporter: the ceo of california grapery is trying to make sure workers get paid for missed hours and hopes other farms do the same. >> we're going to take care of you if you think you're sick. we're going to do the right thing. >> reporter: but for many undocumented workers there's a fear and reluctance to self-report. even to doctors promising confidentiality. >> are you guys asking for documents? are you checking immigration status? >> absolutely not. and that is not the intent at all. we are here to help. >> reporter: the governor of california has pledged $52 million to the central valley to help with testing and contact tracing, and as our colleague guar vin gass at telemundo has found the pressure to keep working is forcing some to ignore the povlt exposure to covid-19. >> that's right. the farm workers union says up to 70% of farm workers out here are undocumented and they don't have access to unemployment benefits, so they just can't risk losing their livelihoods. that's what salvador, a father

of four who works in the fields, is afraid of. so three weeks ago he was exposed to coronavirus, somebody came over to his house, tested positive right after. he decided not to get tested because he's scared of testing positive and not being able to go to work and make money for his family. the $500 he and his wife bring home every week barely cover the bills, so he kept working, saying since he wasn't showing symptoms he didn't tell his boss. instead he and other workers who thought they may be infected quietly warned each other to keep their distance. ernestina works alongside hundreds of others at a pistachio packing plant. and even though they knew they were sick they would go to work. she got coronavirus and stayed at home for a month, missing out on two weeks of pay. but before she got sick she saw others hiding symptoms, holding in coughing fits for as long as they could.

>> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: so she says at work she would go inside the restroom and she would hear her co-workers coughing because they were most likely sick with covid. for many a forced decision with dangerous consequences, health or livelihood, with the potential for disaster either way. >> joining me now is our colleague guad vinegas from telemundo. that was an extraordinary report and so impactful on these workers having to make this choice between getting a test, their health, and their livelihood. >> that's correct. they have to make this choice. and for many of them it is more important to make the money that they need than to go get checked and take care of their health. you look at guys like salvador who decided to keep it to himself. i asked him what if you had the virus and you were asymptomatic? he said, well, if that was the

case i still kept my distance from people. but if i do get the virus i think i can beat it and keep working. but if i stop working there's nothing i can do if i can't make the money i need for my family. these are the stories. and this is what we found out when we spoke to them. >> and salvador's experience is reflected by what ernestina, who works in the pistachio packing plant experienced when she said she could hear her co-workers coughing in the bathroom, trying to disguise their symptoms, and that explains why they feel they have to go to work. >> yes. again, i repeat, a lot of them think they can beat coronavirus but they don't think they can overcome not making the money that they need. now, i should mention that in california the governor did set aside $75 million for undocumented workers. but this wasn't enough for the 2 million workers in all the state of california, as we mentioned, up to 70% of the ones working in the farm industry could be undocumented. and a lot of these workers

including salvador tried getting that aid that the governor set aside but the phone lines were too busy, there wasn't enough money and he couldn't get that help. so there's a lot of help that's necessary. gadi mentions how they're doing more contact tracing, more testing, but now california needs to set aside more money for a lot of these workers who need the funds in case they lose their job or they have to stay at home and they're not able to work because either they might have the virus, they're waiting for a test to get done or for whatever reason because as an undocumented worker there's no other resource. >> guad, you thank you. and please bring us more of your collaborations. this was wonderful. we really appreciate it. and on a personal note before we go, we remember a man unique in american history. retired general brent scowcroft has died of natural causes at his home in falls church, virginia. general scowcroft is the only person to have served as national security adviser to two american presidents, gerald ford and president bush 41.

he's widely viewed as having been the model in that job, and the way he led the national security council. advising, bringing diverse points of view together to the president, helping find consensus, and as a result enjoying unlimited rare access to the presidents whom he served. work first under henry kissinger, he was instrumental as a deputy in the opening to china. later with bush 41 the shaping of post-cold war europe. and in 1991 he was the guiding hand behind "operation desert storm," urging president bush 41 to limit military operations to evicting iraq from kuwait but not going to baghdad and trying to oust saddam hussein. later general scowcroft had a difficult frosty relationship with bush's son, 43, after he wrote a column arguing against the iraq war back in august of 1991. it was prophetic. scowcroft was wise. he was thoughtful. i will always remember him for the kindness, for the twinkle in his eye, the warmth of his

smile. he told brian williams in 1991 president bush was a superb leader. perhaps, he said, the best grounded for the job of any president we've had. we could say the same of general brent scowcroft. the best grounded for his job of any national security adviser since the job was created. that's it for this hour. this week chris jansing picks up our coverage after a short break. rt break. to severe psoriasis,

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good afternoon. i'm chris jansing. happy friday to everyone. and at this hour a potentially critical meeting in the office of house speaker nancy pelosi. she's hosting the other three key negotiators of the coronavirus relief package after last night's three-hour session left no clear path forward. the speaker telling my colleague kristen welker this morning that democrats and republicans remain divided on the core issues of the bill. >> we