good day, everyone. i'm alex witt here. high noon in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. breaking news. the president about to hold a news conference as relief talks collapse. what he plans to do with the stroke of a pen that could immediately face a legal challenge. about last night. why and how trump is defending his supporters' lack of masks at his new jersey golf club. >> new york is it schools getting the green light to reopen classrooms, but is it safe enough? big biker bash. thousands, maybe 200,000 plus gather for a motorcycle rally crowding streets in the face of the looming coronavirus crisis. details on why a south dakota city could not stop this

potential nightmare. and we begin with the breaking news. as we mentioned, the president is set to hold a press conference this afternoon, set to sign an executive order on the coronavirus relief bill after stimulus talks collapsed on friday. josh lederman is following the story for us from washington, d.c. josh, a very good day to you on this saturday. i know the president alluded to this yesterday. here is the question, did we think it would happen so soon, like overnight? >> not overnight. in fact, the president had said he was planning on signing something by the end of the week. he didn't clarify exactly if he was talking about this week as opposed to next week, but based on the president's comments last night, alex, what we took to believe from him is that he was essentially using this to create more pressure, right? he was creating a sort of hanging over the heads of negotiators trying to create the pressure to say look, if you're not willing to act, i will. take a listen to a little bit of

what president trump had to say last night. >> if democrats continue to hold this critical relief hostage, i will act under my authority as president to get americans the relief they need. and what we're talking about is deferring the payroll tax for a period of months, till the end of the year, to enhance unemployment benefits through the end of the year. extend the eviction moratorium. we will be extending that so people will be evicted. not their fault. >> so, alex, in the last 24 hours or so, there have been a lot of questions about how much of that the president actually can do effectively through executive order. we'll have to see what exactly he's going to sign, if anything, when he holds this news conference in a few hours. is that going to be part of what he has described, trying to move forward with all of it at the same time? we know it's coming with these

negotiations on capitol hill hitting an impasse. take a listen to chuck schumer. >> it was a disappointing meeting. we reiterated in very strong terms our offer. we come down a trillion from our top number, which was 3.4. they go up a trillion from their top number, which was 1, and that way we could begin to meet in the middle. unfortunately, they rejected it. they said they couldn't go much above their existing $1 trillion, and that was disappointing. >> so that's where we're at right now, alex. no signs of real progress taking place on capitol hill. the president, meanwhile, taking back to the podium in a couple of hours, trying to show that he's controlled in this, that he's involved and he's going to take steps ahead of the election to try to make things better economically for americans even

if congress can't actually work anything out. >> josh lederman, thank you very much. you set us up nicely for our next conversation. democrat from pennsylvania, vice chair of the judicial committee. welcome to you, congresswoman. thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> as we are expecting, the president will sign this executive order this afternoon potentially on the coronavirus relief. first of all, does he have the legal authority to do that? >> well, we certainly haven't seen the order yet, so it's difficult to know whether he has legal authority. it seems likely that he doesn't if he's talking about spending taxpayer dollars. that's congress' job. >> okay. so right there, that would suggest if he's going to -- he's not putting it out of his own pocket, right? that would suggest right there it's doa. >> yeah. i mean, you know, congress, the house of representatives came forward almost three months ago now with a proposal as to, you

know, how we get more dollars in, in taxpayers' pockets or families' pockets and need to support our state and local governments the president had absolved himself of responsibility with covid-19 and has pushed it on to our state and local governments and need to provide them with. it's important we move forward with the hero's package and the multifaceted relief the country needs right now. >> there's got to be a lot of frustration. by my count, senator schumer and speaker pelosi meeting with officials ten times trying to work out a deal. what are the sticking points? is it the amount of money, as senator schumer suggested? are you confident at all that there will be some sort of deal between congress and the white house, particularly if this executive order ends up being illegal and they have to go back to congress to get this done?

>> i think there's presidential malpractice not for there to be a new package. the president, although he portrays himself as the master of the art of the deal, he hasn't been very involved here. we're hearing reporting that he's interested in being able to make some kind of show that he's in charge and that certainly supports the executive order narrative. we've had proposals on the table now for months. the senate and the administration said they thought it was time to take a pause, that the country didn't need more relief. meanwhile our constituents, their rent hasn't taken a pause. student loans haven't taken a pause. their need to put food on the table hasn't taken a pause. we're just waiting for them to come forward with a realistic proposal. >> yeah. let me double-check a couple of things that the president himself said and make sure that these are not things that are exclusively his ideology as opposed to democrats as well. first, enhancing unemployment benefits through the end of the year. democrats want that, too, correct? >> yeah. that's in the hero's act.

>> okay. second one is the eviction moratorium so if people are ejikted it's not their fault. that's something that democrats want, too, correct? >> correct. >> okay. just want to clear that up. let's switch gears here and move to the intelligence official who released a statement saying kremlin linked operatives are trying to boost the candidacy and china wants him to be defeated. here is what the president said when asked about it last night. >> i think that the last person russia wants to see in office is donald trump, because nobody has been tougher on russia than i have ever. >> that's not what -- >> i don't care what anybody says. >> hang on. i believe the question we weren't able to hear was being asked of him but suggested that russia wants you to stay in office. so his comment didn't really make a lot of sense. what's your reaction? >> well, we've seen reporting from our intelligence services

and our law enforcement services since 2016 that russia is actively interfering in american politics to try to put trump in office and now we see intel that russia is actively interfering in our politics to disparage vice president biden. so that's not open to question. all of our government officials, except the president, agree with that. >> here is the big question. what is being done to prevent interference in this november election? >> well, that's the rub. i mean, nothing. we've sent bill after bill to the senate to try to protect our elections and those bills are sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk. the intell services are telling congress and the administration that basically the lights are blinking, that russia is trying again to interfere in our election, and this doesn't seem

to bother the president. presumably because they're on his side. >> here is something that is quite troubling, and i know that you are calling for this new coronavirus relief package, congresswoman, to include moref funding for the postal service, because it comes after reports of major mail delays, particularly in the philadelphia region, with some people waiting several weeks to receive their mail. what is going on with the postal service in your district, and how does it concern you as we are just, you know, months away from this election? >> well, it's a huge problem. we're receiving hundreds of calls and emails and, yes, letters and postcards about the fact that people's service is being delayed. it's not happening at all. and this hurts our small businesses that rely upon the postal service. it hurts our families and individuals who rely upon it to get their social security checks, unemployment insurance checks. i've got multiple messages from seniors and other folks who rely upon the postal service to get

their medication, prescription drugs. one woman wrote us that she had to ration her drugs because she didn't get a prescription on time. another person said that they were going without necessary medication because prescriptions hadn't come on time, and they were concerned that in a couple of days they were going to be in a major medical issue. you know, it's absolutely irresponsible to be messing with the postal service this way. and it's been an ongoing thing for this president. he has appointed a post master general who for the first time in decades we have a post master general who is a political, partisan appointee. and, worst yet, one who has tens of millions of dollars invested in private competitors to the u.s. postal service. we saw just last night he has upended the hierarchy at the postal service, gotten rid of or reassigned all kinds of people

who have deep knowledge of how to make the postal service work. in recent weeks we've seen as a result of new policies that he has put in place that people aren't getting their mail delivered. they've cut over it time. they're not allowing postal workers to go out and do that last mile run when they need to get postal service out on time. and now we're hearing reporting that the postal service is telling the states that they're going to have to pay full first class 55 cent rates on mail-in ballots. the president pays a third of that when he says his campaign. >> absolutely stunning. congressman mary gay scanlon, thank you very much. no signs of slowing down. the u.s. getting closer to yet another milestone. 5 million confirmed cases. that's a number we're expected to reach some time this weekend. california becoming the third state in the country to

surpass covid related deaths. the total number of fatalities to 162,000. meantime, hundreds of thousands of people are asce ascending on sturgis, south dakota, today. why? for one of the largest motorcycle rallies. this, in the middle of a pandemic and, by the way, masks are not required. kathy park is following this rally. i used the word stunning a moment ago. it applies here as well. this may be the largest public gathering since the pandemic began. i'm glad you're wearing your mask is all i can say. >> reporter: hey, alex. yeah. so, good afternoon to you. meantime, the day is just getting started and you'll notice the riders just starting to come through main street right now. give it a couple of hours and this street will be packed with

motorcycles as well as people. this rally, it's a ten-day rally that stretches all the way back to 1938. as you mentioned, it's considered one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world. because of the coronavirus, they've had to make some adjustments. the city has canceled most of the city sponsored events. a lot of hand sanitizers up and down main street. as far as social distancing and requiring people to wear a mask, it is encouraged but not mandated. you'll notice a lot of people aren't wearing their masks and are coming from all over the country. keep in mind, south dakota never issued a stay-at-home order and there was also never a mask mandate. compared to other states around the country, infection rates have been relatively low. we had a chance to talk to one of the vendors right here, next to us, who told us, you know, things are actually picking up, and gave us a comparison as to how this year's rally compares

to last year's. take a listen. >> the crowd, it is kind of thinner, but a lot of people were coming before the rally also, i think, just to get away from the crowd and stuff like that, to try to, you know, save themselves. but it's still getting pretty good. like there's still a lot of business, a lot of bikes, if you look at the streets and stuff. so that means there's a lot of people. >> reporter: alex, something else to note, there was a survey that was issued among residents here, and 60% of the community members said they wanted the event canceled because of covid concerns. one person we spoke with yesterday thought it was selfish for the city to move forward. however, the city, as i mentioned, have put some safety protocols in place. they are encouraging attendees to avoid residential areas and they will be offering free testing to residents one week after the rally, whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic. and they can, based on their

diagnosis, quarantine if needed. alex? >> thank you for the update. nbc's kathy park. new jersey was once a model for how to handle the pandemic. now there are concerns it could become a hot spot. governor murphy says house parties and people refusing to wear masks are what's to blame. seaside heights, new jersey, for us. big welcome to you on this sunday. what is the state trying to do there to get back on track and go in a positive direction? >> reporter: the state is trying to ramp up its awareness campaign, especially shore communities like this one here. of course, you've got a lot of people out for the summer. you can see how busy it is. you see about half the people out on the board walk wearing masks, lots of social distancing. they have compliance officers walking the boardwalk to make sure people stay six feet apart and offer masks if they're going inside to different areas. i did get a chance to speak to one business owner about compliance. here is what he told me.

>> we've had to stress how fortunate we are to be open and also they should be a little more concerned about getting this virus themselves. so, compliance with our employees has been more of an issue than compliance with the public. >> reporter: and that's obviously a big issue for businesses, because they want to make sure they can stay open through september. they say through their busy season. of course, a much-needed income right now with covid happening. and when it comes to these indoor parties, we've learned that's the main culprit. outdoor activities, like out here, folks on the beach, that's less so being traced back to outbreaks. one issue coming to light from the governor, alex, tracing compliance. only 45% of the state is willing to offer up information when it comes to tracing their covid cases. >> wow, okay. we hope they can stay open, certainly, because they need to for nngs reasons but do it

safely. a viral photo is creating concerns of whether schools should reopen. this is a photo of a crowded hallway. it was taken by a student on her first day back in school. this is from dallas, georgia. 90% of classmates, she says, did not wear masks. you don't see a lot of ears with mask coverings there. shaquille brewster joins us. shaq, good morning to you. how are people reacting to schools reopening? >> alex, you know, school officials are learning how best to reopen schools in real time amid this pandemic. here in cherokee county, over 260 students and teachers are under quarantine orders as there have been -- i'll let that pass. as there have been 21 students and staff who have tested positive for this virus. when you talk to parents and students, you hear a mixed message. on one end you hear parents who say, hey, the quarantine showed

that the system is working. they're making sure they're keeping our students safe. on the other hand you hear parents who are more concerned. you see those letters going out from the principal to families each and every day since school opened this first week and they're growing more concerned. listen to the sample of my conversations. >> i think it screams out kind of a warning red flag, because, yes, these kids probably weren't exposed to it at school yet, but now those kids at school have been exposed due to the others who have brought it into the school. and it's just a matter of time before it's out of control. >> of course i'm concerned. i just feel like there's not really anything we can do. it's the inevitable. someone is going to get sick at some point. unfortunately, the kids are approximate back in school now and so it's going to happen a lot faster. >> reporter: and you see that second parent i spoke to on facetime as she was talking with her son. her son was excited to go back to school.

he was heading up to football practice. you know, one thing i want to include in here -- i don't want to make this overly political. we're in a pretty conservative area and that first mother, hillary, at the end of our interview i asked her, what your daughter is going through, fearing going to school at this point, is what your daughter going through changing how you view this 2020 election? she said yes. she voted for president trump, but she said she's not supporting the president any longer. she doesn't support the leaders in office right now. she said everyone from the president down to people on the school board, she feels as a parent she's not being listened to. alex? >> very interesting. we're listening to you, though, shaq. thank you so much, my friend. defending the maskless. why the president is defending his supporters' lack of masks at his new jersey golf club. f maskt his new jersey golf club ♪

we see you. looking out...for all of us. and though you may have lost 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.

where we've got the best deals on refrigerators, microwaves, gas ranges and grills. and if you're looking for...

a surprise event with at least a dozen guests. there was no social distancing. few people had facial coverings, seemingly violating new jersey restrictions meant to slow the virus. here is what the president said when confronted about it. >> you said the pandemic is disappearing. but we lost 60,000 americans this week and in this room you have dozens of people not following the guidelines in new jersey, who say they -- >> no. it's a political event. you're wrong at that, because it's a political activity. they have exceptions. political activity. and it's also a peaceful protest. so when you have -- and, as you know -- [ applause ] >> one of those on the receiving end of those boos is jonathan lemier, white house reporter for the associated press. awfully good to see you. you're also an nbc news political analyst and good friend to us.

it's good to see you in a peek at the shop there. what was it like in that room? when those boos started happening, what was your reaction and why was this briefing called at the last minute? >> well, alex, after covering the president's campaign and now the white house beat, you kind of get used to the boos. basically walking through how yesterday happened, you're right. that news conference was not on the schedule. in fact, early in the day the traveling press, who was with the president, having a three-day weekend at the golf course, were given a lift, saying that the president will not have any events, you're not going to see him. that lid was lifted early evening, uncommon occurrence. when we arrived, we took in the scene and we saw dozens upon dozens of country club members hustling downstairs from an upstairs room, dodging the rain drops. many of them with drinks in hand, becoming the audience for this news conference.

we walked in, very few of them were in masks. and only after reporters started tweeting that did a staffer then hand out masks to the crowd, but not everyone put them on. the president was talking yesterday about how he was going to potentially use some executive orders to help americans after congressional talks had broken down. he didn't sign orders yesterday, just suggested they may happen. he seemed more interested in delivering broadsides against his opponents and the media and the crowd was happy to play along. >> the president again reiterated, i do not think he believes in wearing masks. he just said that the act of wearing a mask say political act when the vast majority of people in the know, shall we say, medically speaking, know it's a health matter. he seems to think it's a political one, as do his supporters there. how long was it by the time people were handed out masks in

that room that they were -- how long were they in there before they got the masks? this picture you tweeted out, we're look at it right now, country club member as waiting the president. i can count one, two, three -- three, maybe four masks total. >> very few, alex. they were in the room for north of half an hour before the president emerged and those masks were handed out. at that point, most did put them on, but not everyone. we should note that the president mentioned the guidelines that the state new jersey instituted. the governor has tightened restrictions because of rising cases here in new jersey. and for most gatherings, the numbers are supposed to be capped at 25 people. the president is right for political events it can go up to 100. although it's interesting he called that a political protest since it was a news conference. i can only assume he meant those in the room were opposing reporters, which is an

interesting construct. even with the cap of 100, if you count the audience members, the reporters and a couple of dozen secret service agents and, beyond that, there certainly wasn't the recommended social distancing. people were not six feet apart. >> this is probably a rhetorical question. why, if the president thinks it's a political statement that he does not support to wear a mask, why were all those people there to support him being asked to wear a mask? i mean, it just doesn't really add up. here is another question i want to ask that you may have had an answer to. that would be this news kvens. was it a news conference or was it, you know, more of a campaign rally? in terms of the substance of this, what was newsy, newsworthy? >> reporter: other than the threat to enact these executive orders, which he has not followed through yet, although white house officials have signaled he very may well in the coming days, there wasn't a lot

of news. in fact, it felt more like a campaign event or political rally. it was a week in review, the president recapped what he had done that week. white house aides and campaign officials like these news conferences. what he has done the last three weeks or so, usually at the white house. yesterday at bedminster, he has kept them shorter, being less combative with the press. they feel like he has been more on message. and they see a corresponding rise, slight rise in his poll numbers because they feel like this election everyone has come to grips with this, it's likely to be simply a referendum on his handling of the pandemic and they're trying to convey the idea that he's handling it better. certainly yesterday, the way it happened with the crowd of people who were heckling and hollering at the press, some with drinks, certainly caused attention. but it seemed that the president didn't mind the optics of the backdrop. another news conference from

bedminster today at 3:30. we don't know if club members will be invited to this one, too. >> what struck you most about last night in the briefing? >> reporter: obviously, the biggest headline was the idea that the virus is disappearing when it certainly is not. we've seen over 160,000 americans have died. we've seen a real rise in cases throughout the sun belt. and a disturbing surge, the white house is very alarmed by this, in place like the midwest. states like ohio, where the president was on thursday, and we traveled with him. indiana, wisconsin and others. we're seeing rises in cases there, too. by no means has the pandemic gone away. has there been improvements with therapeutics? certainly. have there been progress with regards to the vaccine? yes. the president hopes it will be before the election. and they'll say that the president has been better on the mask message lately.

we know he avoided wearing one for months. he has started to in recent days. including in ohio, while touring the whirlpool factory there. still sending mixed messages and his critics believe it's not enough to occasionally done them, occasionally say yes, americans should wear masks when yesterday he was clearly in support of an event that even when people eventually doned masks still did not adhere to state guidelines and were not keeping the recommended six feet apart. >> no boos. nothing but appreciation for you, jonathan lemier. thank you very much. a move at the postal service that happened suddenly, in a memo and on an august summer friday. it is raising alarms today. it is raising alarms today atcha. (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 ♪

they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/now and never go to the post office again! breaking news. clashes between demonstrators and security forces as fresh protests break out in beirut, the capital of lebanon. thousands of protesters were on the streets, accusing the government of corruption and negligence, leading up to that

explosion that killed 154 people earlier this week, injuring thousands. nbc's rebecca colorett is joining us from beirut. >> reporter: we're staying this far back because of covid concerns but because we heard what we think is live fire ring out from downtown. about an hour and a half ago, most of these people were heading toward downtown. after this gunfire, we're seeing a lot of people actually leave. we don't know right now, alex, what that gunfire was. we're assuming it was security forces firing into the air, trying to disperse these protesters after they had found rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets but we don't know for sure where this fire came from. i can also tell you that some of the people that are leaving are saying some counterprotesters did show up. we don't know who they are and

exactly what the situation is. we'll keep our eyes on it. alex, the anger here is so palatable. people are so, so angry about what happened here on tuesday, and they absolutely blame the government. >> yeah. you know, it's not dissimilar from protests we've seen here in the united states. maybe not as a result of that explosion that you saw there in beir beirut, but the reaction. can you quickly gfb me a sense of how things are there in the harbor front? is it sheer devastation? >> reporter: yeah. i mean, not just on the harbor front, alex. one of the reasons this has been so traumatic and this search and rescue effort is ongoing is because the radius, the area, alex, that this bomb destroyed or this blast, i should say, destroyed, is so massive. i'm very close to my own home actually and it's about 1 1/2 miles from the port. even here i don't know if you can see this here but all the way up, the glass is smashed out of these buildings.

>> yes. >> reporter: because of that, it's just a massive reconstruction effort, a massive clean-up effort. search and rescue crews still hoping to find people that might be trapped under the rubble. and i'll also say, alex, that a lot of people here that we're seeing protesting today are people that came to beirut to help with the clean-up effort. over the last few days, i've been talking to people who were sweeping up glass and trying to provide some basic assistance to the people affected, food, water, basic medical supplies. every time i talk to them, they told me that as soon as the streets of beirut were clean, they would be heading back to protest against the government. alex, the streets of beirut are not clean. this clean-up effort is not anywhere near finished, but they have -- oh, another ambulance. sorry. one second. sorry. over the last hour and a half, we've been seeing ambulances

going in and out of downtown beirut, we think to pick up protesters. the streets are not clean, but they're angry, alex, and they're back on the street. >> rebecca collard, thank you for the report. do stay safe. new today, sweeping overhaul of the u.s. postal service. it was announced in a memo late friday from post master general. the move displaced two top executives overseeing day-to-day operations. this comes as the democrats are calling for an investigation into dejoy and his operator measures that some say have mail delivery service, have affected that. joining me now, ken vogle, writer for "the new york times." big welcome to you. let's get into this. in the latest co-authored article you wrote, delays fuel concern trump is undercutting postal system ahead of voting. this late friday move, how does that play into that? >> well, the concern here, alex,

is that the structural chalg changes to the postal service implemented in these moves by the new postmaster general, republican donor, trump supporter, we should note, will centralize power around him as he is seeking to make these changes to that effect mail delivery, raising concerns that it could slow the sending out and the receipt of mail-in ballots ahead of the november 3rd general election in a manner that, combined with president trump's attacks on the postal service and attacks on mail-in voting, could really sow distrust about the election. >> board of directors, ken, appointed by the president, they selected louis dejoy, mega donor to the trump campaign, now the post master general. he has banned over time from mail carriers and clerks to, quote, improve efficiency.

how does this measure up to trump's attack on the postal service? is this a level of chaos that's been created? >> well, we have had government reports that it has slowed mail delivery. that's not the only change, by the way. over time changes that have affected mail delivery also under dejoy, there's been a move to ban second trips. this is after your mail carrier comes out and delivers the mail, does his rounds, his or her rounds for the day, would come back to the post office and if there are additional mail, is additional mail waiting to be delivered, would be able to go back out and do that again. that is being discouraged and slow delivery of mail and packages at a time, obviously, when many people are relying on the postal service, even more so, as they have self quarantining or are self isolating and ordering things through the mail. >> yeah. >> and it's increased, you know, method of communication that the backdrop to all of this, of

course, is how the postal service will be able to perform in delivering, receiving and delivering ballots related to the november election. so, yes, chaos certainly is one effect. and escalating concerns among those who see this -- potential huge increase in mail-in voting that many states are not necessarily squiped and experienced at handling in the confusion they're being exacerbated by the changes to the postal service at a rather inopportune time. >> the mail-in voting, delays and sheer bulk with so many potentially using mail-in voting, do you think that could make the actual election results last a couple of months till we were to get them? is that possible? >> there are definitely concerns about confusion not having a result, not just on election night but for potentially several days and maybe even weeks thereafter.

however, there is an even greater concerns about votes not being counted. 34 states require ballots to have been received by election day in order for them to be considered valid. well, you can see how if there were problems with the postal service being able to process these ballots and return them to the state election administrators that that would sow even further concern and maybe distrust in the election results if there were substantial votes received by mail and the count is slow and there are people who are concerned whether their ballots are counted. all that, you could see being a recipe for distrust around these elections. >> from "the new york times," ken vogel. thank you so much for the heads up on all of this. michelle obama hitting the airwaves on a new weekly podcast. what to make her latest revelations next. o make her lat revelations next

america runs on dunkin' (dad vo) life doesn't give you many secobut a subaru can. (dad) you guys ok? (vo) eyesight with pre-collision braking. standard on the subaru ascent. the three-row subaru ascent. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. get 0% apr financing for 63 months on select models during the subaru a lot to love event. ♪ ♪ [ engines revving ] ♪ ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh.

for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. ♪ ♪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 for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub? grubhub's gonna reward you for that with a $5 off perk. (doorbell rings) - [crowd] grubhub! (fireworks exploding) with herbal ashwagandas help turn the stress life into your best life

live like a stress baller with stressballs instead of using aloe, or baby wipes, or powders. try the cooling, soothing relief of preparation h. because your derriere deserves expert care. try new soothing relief.

former first lady michelle obama is breaking new ground with the weekly podcast. part of the latest episode that got the headlines. >> i've gone through those emotional highs and lows that i think everybody feels, where you just don't feel yourself. so, i know that i am 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,

day in and day out, is disspiriting. >> joining me now, assistant professor at howard university. good to see you, my friend. this response, do you think it resonated because michelle obama is really echoing what a lot of us have been feeling. does that speak to her ability to connect well with people? >> yeah, i think it does. i think it speaks to her empathy and that she has the ability to feel what we feel and has the platform where she can talk about those things. i think many of us find ourselves not feeling exactly well but not necessarily having the language to talk about why we don't feel well or necessarily the time to say, to sit down, as she talks about in the podcast and reflect on those feelings. what she's doing is reflecting on those feelings, thinking about them and talking about them in ways that most of us know but don't have the language for. >> yeah. she's really playing a unique role in a very unique timing. this podcast format was never available to previous first

ladies, right? she's not using this soap box to discuss knitting. she's adding her voice as an activist. let's listen to this part of it. >> the fact that we have prisons full of black men. the fact that a kid with a small possession of drugs can be sent to prison for most of his life. we see it in the continued economic disparity. we saw it in the fight for the affordable care act. we saw it in just how adamant mitch mcconnell was, and how he treated the first black president. you know, the reaction to it on all sides, the vast discomfort with the notion that a black man could be sitting in the highest level of office. we saw that. >> how do you think this is going to go over, listening to all of this? >> i don't know is the short answer.

the longer answer is that i have high hopes. i think what michelle obama is doing here, and that conversation was absolutely fabulous. first she's reminding us that she is a very highly intelligent, highly degreed woman but also reminding us she a black woman. later on in that conversation she goes on to talk about a bit of weariness about people not acknowledging our humanity. and so i think that folks open to learning can learn from this, can learn about her journey and learn about many of black women's journey. i think if we are not open to it, you might hear this as her bashing the nation and not liking the nation but i think she's actually trying to do something else, which is expose different parts of who we are and expose different parts of ourselves to make us all better. >> keneisha grant, i think we both have new podcasts to listen to. >> yes, we do. >> the legality of this move with jeffrey toobin, next. what if i sleep hot? ...or cold?

introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed... now temperature balancing, so you can sleep better together. can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring. exactly. no problem ...and done. will it help me keep up with mom? you got this. so you can really promise better sleep? not promise... prove. it's our weekend special with 0% interest for 48 months on all smart beds. ends monday. ♪ ♪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 here's your iced coffee! ♪ america runs on dunkin'

if democrats continue to hold this critical relief host ang i will act under my authority as president to get americans the relief they need. >> are you concerned about the legality of these executive orders? >> not at all. somebody -- you always get sued. everything you do, you get sued. >> the president, speaking to the press from his golf resort friday about how he plans to intervene if lawmakers cannot agree. his sentiments raising questions about whether or not he has the authority to do so. joining me now, jeffrey toobin, author of the new book "true crimes and misdemeanors clgs the investigation of donald trump."

can he actually do that? >> only congress can order the expenditure of fupds. so the real issues in this bill are the expansion of unemployment compensation, support for states and localities of schools. i don't think he can do that unilaterally. >> look, we'll give viewers a look at your new book and the cover of that right now, but the question is, with your examination in this book of how the president managed to come out unscathed after being impeached, of being accused of a number of crimes, why do you think, jeffrey, that none of the allegations against this president have stuck? >> well, i'm not sure i would agree with your premise. you know, he is the third president in american history to be impeached. he is deeply unpopular. he is behind in the polls. his reputation did take a very serious hit by the mueller

investigation and by impeachment. but, you know, he did survive. he is running for re-election. he may win. a lot of it has to do with the evolution of the republican party. the republican party used to have a moderate wing. it used to have a concern about ethics. the big moment in the nixon impeachment was when seven republicans on the house judiciary committee looked at the facts and said we can't support this man anymore. i think the answer why the president survived is because of the republican party remains united behind him. >> okay but the question i asked, if he's re-elected, then is it a premise you would agree with, the fact that the allegations didn't stick, at least enough to prevent him from being re-elected? >> oh, absolutely. i think one of the lessons of my book and of the story is unless you stop a bully right away,

they will continue to engage in the same activity. you need only look at the famous events of july 24th and july 25th of last year when mueller testifies poorly and the president responds to that encouraging news by coercing the president of ukraine, zelensky, to investigate joe biden. one of the things i learned this this book is that the russia story and the ukraine story are not separate stories. it's just one story about using the power that the president has solely for his personal benefit and lying about it, obstructing justice about it. if he is re-elected, will he continue to do that again and again. and who can blame him? because the public will have said it's all okay. >> you do quite a deep dive in this report to the mueller report and the investigation there. in the end i want to read the quote what you said. it's all laid out in the mueller report but mueller pulled this

punch ultimately, and it gave the president a free pass ultimately on the fact that he repeatedly committed obstruction of justice. what do you think is the biggest mistake, jeffrey, that was made during the russia probe? who made it? was it bob mueller? >> two mistakes by mueller. the first was failing to issue a grand jury subpoena for the president's testimony. the mueller report is an extraordinary document. and this was, in many respects, a very successful investigation. but there's a huge hole in it where donald trump's voice should be. so, that was one mistake. the other mistake was in the final report, not saying what the facts that mueller assembled proved, which was the president committed the crime of obstruction of justice and not just once. when he fired comey, when he told comey to lay off the investigation of michael flynn, when he told his white house counsel, don mcgahn, to fire mueller. when he told mcgahn to lie about

that interaction. all of those were crimes worse than richard nixon, worse than bill clinton. and mueller's failure to state that clearly opened the door for william barr, a political totie of the president, to distort mueller's findings, but mueller left the door open. >> if trump, hypothetically, were to lose the election in november, jeffrey, do you expect him to face more charges as a private citizen? >> i don't expect the federal government, the biden justice department, to revisit these issues. i just think this will not be something biden wants to spend his political capital on, even though there are potential charges there. the story in the manhattan district attorney's office is very different. i don't know what they will find. but that is an active criminal investigation based on the supreme court decision, they will eventually get his tax

returns, his financial records. you know, i don't know what they show. i think a lot of trump's political adversaries make too easy assumptions that there's some wide array of crimes to find. but if there are crimes, cyrus vance's office, the manhattan district attorney, will prosecute him. i don't have any doubt about that. >> and the new york ag will do what she can as well. she's already made that very clear. jeffrey toobin, "true crimes and misdemeanors: the investigation of donald trump." thank you. >> thank you, alex. >> appreciate it. the president is at his new jersey golf resort. what he's expected to say. the stimulus still at an impasse. that's next. still at an impasse. that's next.

the story of black america is the story of america. it's the story of a people who have pushed this country to live up to its stated ideals. but black people have always believed in the promise of a better america. so, at this moment we're in now- we must choose to fight for that better america. and just like our ancestors who stood up to the violent racists of a generation ago, we will stand up to this president - and say 'no more'. because america is better than him. so we choose to be bigger, we choose to be bolder, we choose to bring back justice, respect and dignity to this country.

we choose joe biden... to lead us towards that american promise, together. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. here's your iced coffee! ♪ america runs on dunkin' but what if you could startdo better than that? like adapt. discover. deliver. in new ways. to new customers. what if you could come back stronger? faster. better. at comcast business, we want to help you not just bounce back.

but bounce forward. and now, we're committed to helping you do just that with a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution at a great price. call or go online today. welcome, everyone, to weekends with alex witt. thank you so much for join