nbc news world headquarters in new york. it is enough people to repopulate dallas, houston, and san antonio. more than enough. more than 5 million people in the u.s. are confirmed to have had covid-19. 5 million. more than 162,000 people are known to have died. those millions of americans are counting on a few hundred americans in washington to bring them more financial relief. in his book "the art of the deal" donald trump described deal making as his art form. that is how i get my kicks, he wrote. today the fight over unemployment benefits brought us not a kick but a punt. it came in the form of four executive orders. the president signed them at his private club in bedminster, new jersey about an hour outside new york. the orders establish a payroll tax holiday through the end of the year for americans with salaries under a hundred thousand dollars. payroll taxes fund social security and medicare. the other orders defer federal student loan payments through

the end of the year, continue federal eviction moratoriums, and extend enhanced unemployment benefits that expired last week. the previous benefit was $600. this measure pays out $400. president trump did speak about those executive orders this afternoon. he also spent much of his time attacking mail-in voting and democrats especially joe biden, nancy pelosi, and chuck schumer. >> many of the far left policies they're pushing have nothing to do again with what we have been working on so hard namely the corona, you can call it so many names. this is a bill supported by biden and biden is totally controlled now by the bernie sanders left wing of the party. in fact, he has gone further left than bernie sanders ever dreamt of. they want measures designed to increase voter fraud which is banning voter i.d. in all states. who would want a bill banning

signature verification? what is that all about? this is what nancy pelosi and crying chuck schumer are asking for. okay? it's ridiculous. i could sign it. you could sign it. anybody in this room could sign it. and that is going to count as a vote. they want to steal an election. that's all this is all about. they want to steal the election. >> meanwhile officials in washington will punt their negotiations over new benefits to next week. again. house speaker nancy pelosi held a conference call with democratic house members before the president spoke today. according to members on that call, she did not say that negotiations with the administration are over. she also called the executive rental moratorium in her words meaningless without rental assistance. people will still have to get their rent payments up to date. plenty for us to discuss with our panel. let's dive in. we have a white house reporter for "the wall street journal," a

senior fellow at the university of virginia's miller center, and former deputy secretary of labor during the obama administration and professor barbara mcquaid of the university of michigan law school, a former u.s. attorney in michigan and msnbc contributor. good to see all of you. if i may begin with you, after that call that we heard about with democratic house members where does it leave us in terms of the negotiations especially in light of what the president said during his press event today? >> certainly the president was very critical of democrats today and they fear he was trying to move forward on some of these things unilaterally. you mentioned earlier he ran as the ultimate deal maker and today seemed to be admitting that for now anyway he can't come to a deal so he is doing these things on his own. it is important to note, though, the scope of what he is doing today is very different than what either side was talking about in these negotiations. these are narrowly focused

actions trying to deal with some of these issues. they don't come close to a big package that deals with assistance to states, more direct payments to americans, some of the things they had been talking about. i did the -- i think the question now is how they move forward. does this motivate action? does it slow it down further? the talks had pretty much if not fully broken down really stalled. they had a hard time finding agreement. democrats had been seeking a much bigger bill. they were looking initially at $3.4 trillion. republicans coming in at $1 trillion. there was some effort to move to the middle that was not successful. the president's rhetoric and his efforts today reflect that he knows he needs to do something. under all of this is his re-election bid. he is looking to november. he knows that he needs to run on efforts to boost the economy.

hills advisers know he feels like he is taking action. part of this is it shows he is taking action and perhaps motivates more conversations. >> is this action that the president can take? of the four items extending this payroll tax holiday, deferring student loan payments through the end of the year, continuing eviction moratoriums and extending enhanced unemployment benefits at a reduced level $400 instead of $600 does the president have the legal authority through the executive branch to do all four of those things? >> let's be clear these are not just bad policies but they also fundamentally violate the constitution, which gives the power of tax and spending to congress. in fact, there is the federal statute that says appropriated funds can only be used for appropriated purposes. when you look at the two big items, the payroll tax and the unemployment, not only will they not do much but they are actually bad policy. the payroll tax holiday is so bad that even republicans dislike it. and the money that is being used

for payroll taxes funds security and medicare. so nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, and others are right to say when you do that you're destabilizing social security and medicare, which are already financially stressed right now. and it opens the possibility of cuts for retirees down the road. then when you look at the unemployment benefits, democrats have come to the table saying we need $600 more. we have 31 million people on unemployment right now. so what the president is doing is functionally cutting that by $200 a week at least. it is likely it'll be cut to $300 a week. he is assuming states have the money to chip in and that is going to create a significant financial hardship for the people that are on unemployment trying to afford rent and groceries right now. >> let me get your reaction to something the president said during the news conference today. he was asked about the potential for legal battles that would ensue in response to the executive orders. here's what he said.

>> people can do whatever they want. i guess maybe they'll bring legal actions. maybe they won't. >> this is expected to be tied up in the courts. delayed or blocked indefinitely -- >> this will go very rapidly through the courts. if we get sued. maybe we won't get sued. if we get sued it is somebody that doesn't want people to get money. okay? that is not going to be a very popular thing. >> professor, what would you expect if and perhaps when this goes to the courts? >> well, president trump is telegraphing there even he expects this could be the basis for a lawsuit because he is usurping congressional power as the president. but i think a couple things could happen. one is if the house or -- were to file a lawsuit if they could show a likelihood of success on the merits which is likely they could block this from going forward. as the president said that might be politically unpopular.

what trump might very well want here is to win by losing. even if this program doesn't go forward he can use it as a talking point to say i want to put money in your pocket and the democrats filed a lawsuit to stop it. >> the sound we played at the beginning of the show we heard a lot of the president's complaints about what democrats supposedly want to do to voting, voting access, to the process of dealing in mail-in ballots. truth squad that for us. a lot of what the president said at the beginning is not true is it? >> the president, certainly, while putting on a press conference used it as he has on other occasions to talk more broadly about his complaints about democrats. we've seen this before where these events start as official events and veer into the political. yes he has long been complaining about raising concerns about mail-in ballots, suggesting that this is somehow going to affect

the election, the election results. really trying to suggest, create concern or panic around that. so that is one of the things we've heard from him a lot. he is very critical of biden, of speaker pelosi. of democratic policies across the board. an important thing to note, doing this from his private club in new jersey, on a weekend this is only going to continue. now we are 90 days out, election day, mail-in voting starts in key states in a matter of weeks and you'll see this kind of rhetoric escalate as he moves forward. >> what are the consequences of using an executive order to do this kind of thing versus trying to get a bill signed? whoever the president may be to look at the way congress and the white house have been completely

unable to consistently move toward getting anything done, if i was president i'd try to look for what i could do myself as well. it is like nothing is getting done on capitol hill. people need help. so i got to do something, right? >> yeah. even if this move halted up in court, all he is doing is shifting pots of money around and it is not clear how much money is really there. a lot has been allocated to states for other purposes. a huge part comes from disaster relief funds allocated for hurricane season. all you are doing is shifting money. by some estimates maybe this buys you a couple weeks and that assumes that states can actually pony up some amount of money. this isn't a solution. as speaker pelosi said today even the eviction moratorium doesn't help you because renters can't come up with money to pay for this. all you've done as you said at the outset is punting the

problems down the road. >> with regards to that, let me stick with you for one second, the president claims that cutting this unemployment relief to $400 to $600 will incentivize people to get back to work. he mentioned that during the press conference today also. listen. >> why did you decide on $400 when previously families were receiving $600? that will be a hardship for many. what do you say to that? >> no it is not a hardship. this is the money they need. this is the money they want. this gives them a great incentive to go back to work. >> that was nbc's kelly o'donnell asking him that there. there has been an argument made and to be fair i'm not just hearing it from the president. i have heard some business people saying it is harder to incentivize people to come back to their regular jobs when they feel much more financially secure with the benefits they're getting precisely because it does provide extra income that lets them meet all of their financial needs.

>> let's remember that every study that has looked at this, a bunch of academic studies have shown the $600 payment is no deterrent to people going back to work. in fact you have the white house talking about how many people went back to work in the jobs numbers, the retail sector, leisure and hospitality which are low wage industries. people clearly are going back to work. to the extent they are concerned it is because they're concerned about the health and safety impacts of going back into the unsafe environment. one of the big sticking points in all of the negotiations was the liability immunity that mitch mcconnell kept pushing for employers. >> very nice to have had you all with us tonight. thanks very much. coming up, we knew that russia would interfere in this year's election and so it is. but who else is interfering? and why? the former chief of staff of the cia and one of our nbc investigative reporters joins us with what has been uncovered when we come back. we see you....looking out for all of us.

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sweeping and systematic. that is how the mueller report described russia's online interference in the 2016 presidential election. the detailed description of the interference is one of the report's most heavily redacted sections. the reason according to the notes? harm to ongoing matter. meaning we don't want to give away what we know about an ongoing threat. this week a top u.s. intelligence official confirmed this threat is ramping up. again and not just from russia. the director of the national counterintelligence and security center in a statement last night wrote that russia is working to denigrate joe biden and prevent him from unseating president trump. in contrast he wrote that china wants mr. trump defeated. to our knowledge, however, they are not actively working to help joe biden's candidacy.

both countries pose significant threats to the u.s. but in different ways. one official told the "new york times" that russia is more of an immediate problem and china presents a long term danger. it's kind of like the difference between a tornado and climate change. and then there is iran. the report indicates iran wants to undermine president trump and divide the u.s. intelligence officials believe iran like china is not as grave a threat. joining us now to discuss it is nbc national security and intelligence correspondent ken delainian and jeremy bash former chief of staff to the cia and the department of defense and also an nbc news national security analyst. good to have you two with us tonight. jeremy, let me start with you. the statement alleged that china and iran want biden to win. russia wants trump to win. what do you make of the scope of this especially since last time around in 2016 we were just talking about russia?

>> hi, joshua. hey, ken. the key thing here is that russia got a phenomenal return on their investment for supporting donald trump in 2016. after all he slow rolled sanctions against russia, undermined nato which is a key trans atlantic alliance that binds the united states and europe, an alliance that russia absolutely despises. when russia paid bounties reportedly to the taliban to attack american forces russia paid no price. russia has gotten everything they wanted from the donald trump administration so it should shock nobody that now they've come forward and have said we want to denigrate joe biden and support donald trump. i think this requires vigilance on the part of the voter as well as election officials who are responsible for ensuring the integrity of our election process. >> jeremy, elaborate. when you say vigilance on the part of the electorate what do you mean?

how are we supposed to keep an ute or for something designed to be subliminal basically? >> we have to be highly suspicious of any propaganda that appears to be denigrating joe biden that looks like it is part of an orchestrated campaign. there is no substitute for being up on the issues and following the facts but when other voices and other media outlets amplify those themes as fiona hill who was the national security council official under trump warned congress about those media outlets and some of those members of congress are actually amplifying russian propaganda. that is a huge problem and an attack on our democracy. >> ken delainian what do you make of the timing of this report? there was a story that came out from the "new york times" this morning from robert draper about how the intelligence community has been politicized under president trump. and the report referred to the extent of how the president's

suspicion of the community has reshaped the intelligence community and the personal and professional calculations of its members. basically that they've had to kind of tiptoe around the president's personal views in the way they present intelligence and this story from the times precipitated the report. do we have any evidence to back that up or back up any connection between the two? >> i don't believe the story in the "new york times" led to the report. what led to the more detailed report yesterday was a less detailed one he put out two weeks ago. it was heavily criticized particularly by house democrats nancy pelosi and adam schiff. they said he didn't level with the american public about the threat from russia. this was a detailed rendition of the various threats. more detailed than any crump appointee has ever been about

russia's preference for trump, and russia's efforts to denigrate trump's opponents. so this career fbi agent and now the top counter intelligence official in the u.s. government was widely criticized but the criticism from house democrats especially and people briefed on this intelligence is it is not accurate to equate china and iran with russia. really russia is the only power that is actively seeking to intervene in the 2020 election my sources tell me. china may have a preference for donald trump. iran wants to undermine trump. but russia wants to help trump get elected and wants to defeat joe biden. they are the ones active on social media. they have propaganda. they've been doing this for some months now. there's been videos about joe biden's activities in ukraine picked up by right wing media and hasn't broken through though thankfully because we are in the middle of a pandemic and there is so much going on. they are working very hard to try to discredit biden.

my sources say keep your eye on the ball. russia is the issue. what the "new york times" article showed is officials have been reticent to bring this up with donald trump because he has never come to grips with the idea russia helped him in 2016 and is trying to help him again. >> china and iran are two different kinds of threats. i understand what they're saying about russia kind of opportunistically going after donald trump or after joe biden right now. china geopolitically is in such a different boat than russia. more influential around the world, more allies, more business partners. iran is mad over the nuclear deal and sanctions with a whole set of other issues. i am partly surprised by this report, ken, partly i figure thissat this point there is no way someone would not be trying to interfere in our electoral

process just because of how interconnected we are with so many other nations that want to kind of play on america's level. >> i think that is a fair point. but i think the way these countries go about it is fundamentally different. china has huge influence operations online and elsewhere but they are mainly sort of in favor of chinese propaganda and trying to curry favor and promote chinese interests rather than disinformation online designed to embarrass one particular candidate and boost another. this russian interference operation in 2016 was a covert intelligence operation by the military intelligence agency of russia. very sophisticated. they sent operatives over to the united states allayed out in the mueller indictments. they played on social media. hacked documents and released them through wikileaks. china has not done anything like that. my intelligence sources would tell you china is much more of a

long term strategic threat to the united states and the rivalry heating up the sort of cold war 2.0 with china and the united states is alarming and an important development and trump has in many ways steered the country in a different direction regarding china. it is not surprising china would want to end the trump presidency but they are not acting in the same way our sources tell us that russia is. >> earlier this week "the post" reported one of the president's top supporters in the senate is pushing ahead with an investigation into joe biden and ukraine. basically the concern is that this member of the senate might be taking some russian disinformation and using it policy wise in the senate in an official which will be playing into russia's hand. we're worried about china over things like huawei, tiktok, and other things like that. mobile apps. we're worried about russia in terms of actually driving senate

investigative hearings. what is the next thing to keep our eye out for? >> we are 80 days from an election in which donald trump is trailing badly. it does surprise me they'd be amplifying russian propaganda. the key thing here is that russia is active. they are working this. i'll make a prediction. the next lines of propaganda attacks out of the russian federation will go to the issue of mail-in balloting. trump is trying to use the coronavirus to say we shouldn't have votes counted from people who mail them in. i think trump believes this is a weakness on his part if there is a wave of mail-in ballots against him. and i predict that russia will try to curry favor with donald trump. after all, he is still the commander-in-chief. try to curry favor with him by going after these issues of mail-in ballots. when you see that on social media everybody's antenna should

go straight up. >> we will be talking about mail-in ballots later in the program. the senator i was referring to was ron johnson and the senate homeland security committee. appreciate you both being with us, gentlemen. thanks very much. just ahead the wait continues. the evolving strategy behind joe biden's pick for vice president and when we might learn who she is. hey, can i... hold on one second... sure. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!!

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joe biden is closing in on a final decision for his running mate. he says so himself. we have the video. and time is running out. the democratic national convention starts a week from monday. four sources familiar with the matter tell us that we could see an announcement by the middle of next week if not sooner. this week the speculation on who that running mate could be shifted. conventional wisdom is that a woman of color will probably be chosen but last weekend michigan governor gretchen whitmer who is white met privately with mr.

biden in delaware. we may be just a little bit too jacked up with anticipation over who is going to get that slot. that video i mentioned, here it is. joe biden created quite a stir today when a fox news reporter asked him about that selection. >> have you picked a running mate yet? >> yeah i have. >> you have? who is it? >> you. >> clearly the vice president was joking. it will not be the guy from fox news. but for democrats, the possibility of four more years of donald trump is no laughing matter. let's dig into this with democratic strategist pole payne. first of all we do not know who on the list or when the answer is going to come. we're all kind of spit balling at this point, right? >> joshua, we are all guessing. this is the season for guessing. here is what i think we do know. joe biden has spent a lot of time, you know, huddling with

his inner circle of advisers and i think what the decision point here is, does he want somebody that is well known that you don't have to spend a lot of time building narrative around, telling the story around. or do you want someone to introduce to the country who can be a new face and maybe kind of spur some excitement? i think that will tell you so much about what the biden campaign thinks about their chances in terms of who he is going to choose. is he going to choose a newer voice that might kind of inject some energy into the campaign? or is he going to choose a more conservative, small c choice that is lower risk? i think that is what the decision hinges on. >> what do you think is his best bet? >> i think the most joe biden thing to do for this cycle would be to pick somebody like a kamala harris or susan rice with a high name i.d. who doesn't make quite as many waves and who you know you can sell to democrats and you really don't interrupt the momentum that the biden campaign has been experiencing over the summer. that is the most joe biden thing to do this cycle.

i say that because biden has run the most low risk, do no harm rope-a-dope campaign we've seen in a long time. it is a throw back campaign in that regard and i think if the vice president and his team stay on brand i think that is probably what they'll do. >> what did you make of the news about gretchen whitmer? should we assume that joe biden has conducted face-to-face meetings with other candidates that we don't know about or is this just a one that we know about? >> well, look. i think that is a pretty high bar in a pandemic. with the candidate who won't even go to milwaukee to accept the party nomination that he is doing a face-to-face meeting with, you know, governor whitmer. i think she's been in contention for a long time. what is interesting about this, too, is i think the biden campaign will look at other ways of telling the story. gretchen whitmer's lieutenant governor in michigan is an african-american male. they could also say well we might not choose an african-american as our running mate but we are using the opportunity to elevate a high level african-american around the country. that is some of the chatter you

hear around democratic circles. >> how big a deal, how big a necessity rather do you think it is that joe biden's running mate is a woman of color? for the life of me i can't think of one black voter who would say, oh, he picked a white woman to be his running mate instead of a black woman. i'm going for donald trump four more years. like not never in ever could i see that happening. >> yeah, joshua. this is a good point. you had jason johnson msnbc contributor on my podcast this week. here comes the pain. what jason said to me which i think is so true is joe biden owes so much of his political success to african-americans not just the fact african-americans saved his hide in south carolina and through the south to help carry him to the nomination but barack obama the nation's first african-american president essentially picked him to be his partner on that very impactful journey and to elevate him nationally. so you would certainly think that joe biden might feel like

he has a debt of gratitude to repay to the african-american community because of that. also, does joe biden want to spend the next 90 days or however long we have until election day explaining why elizabeth warren or gretchen whitmer is more qualified or a better vice president than susan rice, kamala harris, karen bass? you could win, you know, under that scenario but is that the best use of your time? that is the ultimate question you have to ask. >> it is so weird because it feels like there are other issues around the candidacy and the vp pick besides just picking an african-american woman or woman of color. you look at the polls. what do you think of this person for vp? last i saw top of the poll was elizabeth warren at the top of the list. beyond that i am not sure the concern is so much who is the right person for joe biden as much as it is how do we deal with the candidate that we may or may not be really pumped up about? like joe biden was just on npr

on "weekend edition" talking about a gaffe he made in an interview with errol barnett of cbs news like these things keep coming up. so it sounds like the biden campaign's problem in some ways is joe biden. >> yeah, joshua. there is a lot to unpack there. joe biden is uniquely qualified or has a unique perspective on this because he was obviously chosen as a vice president and what he said publicly on several occasions is he is looking for somebody to be a partner in government. that is not necessarily somebody who is going to build the party for the next decade. this is such a consequential vice president choice because we know this person, whether it is 2024 if joe biden were to win or 2028 there is a very good chance they could be on the ballot at the top of the ticket next time. he is really establishing the trend for the democratic party for the next decade. for someone like elizabeth warren for instance this might be her last chance to be president. you have to -- she is 70 years

old. you figure if there is a vice president that is in her way or joe biden that is in her way she might not have a chance to run again until she is 78 or 79 years old and so it is consequential and impacts the future of the democratic party. >> it is interesting you mention that. donald trump is 74. elizabeth warren is 71. so next time she runs she'd be about as old as donald trump would be at the end of this term. so we shall see. joel payne appreciate your time, man. thanks very much. coming up a conflict between sports and politics. specifically a sports team owned by a politician at odds with her players. three-time wnba champion sue bird joins us next. ta-da!

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pro basketball is leaning into the national push for social justice. the nba is building a $300 million fund for black economic empowerment. this season the wnba announced it would dedicate this year to social justice and the black lives matter movement. players have paid tribute to breonna taylor the young woman killed in a no knock raid this year. the warmup jerseys read, say her name, and black lives matter. these efforts have gained support from coaches, fans, and many others. one wnba team owner said she was not happy about them. republican senator kelly laughler of georgia coowns the atlanta dream.

she has criticized the black lives matter movement and the wnba players who support it. that includes players on her team. that led some athletes to push back by supporting the man running against loeffler this november the reverend rafael warknock pastor of ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. on tuesday players from the seattle storm and other wnba teams wore vote warnock t-shirts on the way to games. the shirts were the brain child of sue bird 11-time all star, three-time champion, and four-time olympic gold medalist and joins us now. sue, good evening. >> hi. how are you? >> i'm good. i wonder what was the last straw for you in terms of what made you decide this kind of statement was necessary and warranted? >> you know, truthfully a combination of things. i think as a league we started to realize we are potentially being used for someone's

political gain and it kind of came down to, you know, her being an owner is not really up to us whether she is or not. we can only control what we can control. i think the final straw was actually listening to, lucky for us, stacey abrams, listening to michelle obama, them talking about the importance of voting not just for president but on the local level and especially for midterm elections. what we fought for in the last month using our voices, we just wanted to continue to do that with voting so this was a natural segue for us. >> senator loeffler gave an interview to the atlanta constitution in which she said we needless politics in sports and not more, referred to polarizing politics as being as divisive as ever and said that sports has the power to be a unifying antidote and said that removing politics from sports is a goal that we should be united behind. what do you make of that? >> you know, it is interesting i

think as a female athlete and obviously a basketball player so i can speak more to that our lives are political. i think when it comes to the wnba especially her specifically all people talk about is that, you know, we're gay or we look too manly. and a lot of times we've had to defend ourselves in ways that had nothing to do with basketball. and again, i think all of this kind of speaks to where we stand politically but it is not even about that. it is more of a moral issue. there is some irony there because we're used to being political. i feel she brought that to us. here we are standing up for something that is a moral issue because a lot of the players in our league are black. #l 80% black women. that is a group that is marginalized and now we have a chance to stand up and continue to say her name. >> this feels like it is a step beyond say what colin kaepernick did on the sidelines when he was a starter for the 49ers.

you wrote recently we are wnba players but like the late great john lewis said we are also ordinary people with extraordinary vision. he has spent his life fighting for the people and we need him in washington, unquote. if this campaign continues the black lives matter advocacy continues but reverend warnock loses in november, what then? >> you know, i think what that caption really was, was to say, yes. we're athletes and we have this platform and microphone. we are also citizens of the country. truth is i don't live in georgia but i know that reverend warnock took the time to get on zoom with us to talk to us about different issues. and he represents the things that are true to us. pro criminal justice reform. he is for lgbtq rights. pro choice. reproductive rights. these are things we feel very strongly about. so we want to fight for those

candidates as citizens that are going to represent our values. period point blank. we understand this is election time. anything can happen. sadly, you know, we would love for him to be in office. we'll find out in november. >> are you empathetic to sports fans of various sports who say, yes, i hear you. i agree. black lives matter. not black lives matter but all lives matter kind of way that -- set that aside. yes, black lives matter period full stop. but i just want to watch the game. i just want to turn on the tv. watch the game. block out the nonstop cycle of news for which i am partly at fault. and just watch a basketball game just for an hour. are you empathetic to that? >> i've had many conversations with, i mean, you name it. mostly friends. you know, i do hear that side of it. but i think what a lot of people need to understand is for a lot of the athletes again the wnba is compromised largely with

black women. when they step off the court and we've heard them talk, right? also on our executive committee with the union, she says it best. i take my uniform off i'm still a black woman in this world. so, you know, for a lot of people in this league myself included there is no difference. i understand that we as athletes are there to in some way entertain. but i think nowadays that's an old way of thinking. that's kind of what people have been used to and now you do have athletes speaking out more. and i think it is going to continue. >> sue bird point guard of the seattle storm the subject of the new espn documentary the evolution of sue bird that premise tomorrow evening at 5:00 eastern. i know you're hosting atlanta this week. try not to take your frustrations out on the dream too much when you host them wednesday night. we appreciate you making the time. thanks very much >> i appreciate it. thank you. just ahead, what are $600 worth to you? and though you may have lost sight of your own well-being,

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it's amazing how we can stretch a dollar to make ends meet. it's even more amazing what we've done with $600. according to the credit bureau equifax we're not wasting that money, the nation's total credit card debt dropped by $100 billion. you are, by in large, being highly responsible with this aid, and it is you, not the politicians in washington who are at the heart of this story. the saga to hopefully strike a deal on the next round. couldn't come soon enough for this woman who lost her house keeping job at a marriott hotel in town. >> i don't have no unemployment soon and i don't have a job and i don't know when i'm going back to work so it really stresses me out, how can i provide for them. because being a single mom is

really hard. >> for those who need unemployment assistance so many things can get in the way. this one found her patients sorely tests as she applied for help. turns out little errors can become a big road block. >> i made one mistake when i applied, one click of a button, my mistake and it made me wait all these weeks and it took him two seconds to redo that one click and out the door i was. patience. patience is the virtual of it. because, you know, if i didn't have the patience i've had for the left 12, 14 weeks i wouldn't have been able to make it. >> there are clear disagreements on both sides of the aisle over how much aid to approve for the american people and in what forms. each side blames the other. neither side seems poised to be the hero of this story, to do whatever it takes to solve this problem. that solution might require

making the ultimate sacrifice, giving up blame. we wish we could report tonight that a solution is on the way, earlier it did seem like both sides were get closer and now they're further apart. is that leaves them pretty much where they started week. where does that leave the rest of us? we'd love to hear from you. how are you getting by with fewer benefits? say you relied on that $600 for the last few months, what's your plan now to fill the gap. e-mail us. talk@msnbc.com, please do include your name and where you live. talk@msnbc.com. we'll share some of your stories tomorrow night. what will be done to help us pay our bills and send our kids to school and cast our ballots this fall. we speak to democratic congressman in california in just a few minutes and we'll talk with the doctor to explore

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hey there, i'm joshua johnson, good to be with you from nbc news world headquarters in new york. there's now more than 5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the u.s.. we added 2 million cases just since last month. so far more than 162,000

americans have died. when it comes to new cases per week, just take a look at this graph. the u.s. is in green at the top. that's how we've stacked up against europe in blue since the beginning of this pandemic. in terms of deaths, maybe this chart will give you a sense how the u.s. compares to several other countries across the globe. congress has failed to reach a compromise on economic relief. president trump signed four executive orders to address unemployment, efictivictionevict don't loans and payroll taxes. one play be sticking for folks, $400 a week in unemployment benefits. >> why did you decide on $400, previously $600, that will be a hardship. >> well no it's not a hardship this is the money they need and want, it gives them a great incentive to go back to work. >> democratic leaders