good day, everyone. i'm chris jansing in new york. andrea mitchell is if wilming i wilmington, delaware, the center of the political universe today. we're waiting for the arrival of senator kamala harris, joe biden's pick for vice presidential candidate. senator harris detailed why she believes biden is the top man for the job in a new ad. >> he's a man of faith, decency and character. he raised his family that way. i saw it firsthand with my good friend beau. as joe says, we're in a battle

for the soul of this nation. but together it's a battle we can win. we just have to take action. >> first of all, is the answer yes? >> the answer is absolutely yes, joe, and i am ready to work. >> andrea mitchell is your host here every day during this hour, and she joins me from wilmington. andrea, set the scene for us. do we know what we should expect to see today? what does the biden team expect from their newest member today? >> reporter: we expect their debut, other than that video we have not seen them together since we saw them together, actually, interestingly, at his last campaign rally march 9 in detroit, a key battleground state. that was the last time they were able to campaign, the biden campaign. and then it was lockdown because of the pandemic. of course no one could have predicted that kamala harris would have been at his side for the last time they were out in public but that was personal

prescient because she really from the beginning seemed the most logical choice for him. they expect her to energize the base and particularly black voters, black women voters. the black voters in places like philadelphia, detroit, milwaukee, just to name three big cities in three key states that hillary clinton lost, that despite everything else that was out there and all the james comey stuff, it's a little windy here, excuse me, things are blowing, but despite all the other things, of course, those three states, pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin, had been won, she would be the president of the united states. so that's clearly a baseline strategy. and also a lot of other people across the country, diverse people, she has brought appeal to immigrants, coming from an immigrant family. indian-americans, that is her heritage as well, although she defines herself as black and has deep roots in the black community, was very active, went to howard university, is a

member of a key -- the first black sorority, aka, going across the country for the alpha kappa people. we're seeing the broad appeal she has as well as being a great campaigner. i know people will say it is a virtual campaign but she has great appeal in that sphere as well. we saw her in that video, we saw him inviting her to be his running mate. it was about 90 minutes before the announcement, so they did keep this secret pretty well. she's also someone who can bring in progressives, even though she's not in the most progressive wing of the party. and partly because that is the attack that's coming from the republicans. the president saying that she's a leftist. that's not her record, but that actually could helper swayed

some of the leftist progressive supporters, bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, to be excited about kamala harris in a way they have not been before. >> andrea, stay with me, we've got a great panel to join us now. nbc's mike memoli who is covering the biden campaign. nbc white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host kristen welker. "washington post" opinion writer jonathan capehart. and msnbc political analyst claire mccaskill, a former senator who served with joe biden and kamala harris. you know them both, you served with both. talk about how their personalities, how their strengths will mesh in this unique historic presidential campaign. >> in many ways they remind me of each other in that they are the kind of people that don't look past you when you meet them. these are people who enjoy interacting with other people,

and see them. you know, trump has a tendency to use people as props at his rallies and other ways. these are not candidates that would ever see people as props, but rather see them as folks who are asking for help, that need help, that have all kinds of issues that need to be addressed. so i see them both as very empathetic and people oriented. frankly that's what's needed in the white house right now. >> mike memoli, a lot of this is about this rollout. these are the pictures we're going to see, this is the video we're going to see, but it's obviously happening during a pandemic. they were very close-mouthed about this selection. do we know anything about what to expect when the two of them get together, or how closely together we don't even know,

when she arrives and they begin this program? what do we know about what to expect for this first appearance between the two of them? >> even the details, chris, of this first joint appearance are being held a close secret, something that was really the case for the entire vice presidential selection process. the last time we saw these two onstage together, it was at a big, boisterous, crowded rally in detroit, michigan, that was really the last rally joe biden was able to do in this campaign. obviously now a small setting, a small, limited footprint for the press corps. we'll see both the candidates and their spouses together. unclear how socially distant everyone will be. we always expect that moment of the arms in the air together of these two running mates but unclear if we'll see that. but we will see a lot of them together over the next few weeks. we have a virtual fund rairaise. we're learning a lot more, chris, about how this process went down.

i'm told by people close to the process that this was a very difficult choice for joe biden, not because of the issues we talked about with kamala harris throughout that debate clash, whether there were questions of trust here, but because biden really did want a very thorough, deliberative process. he wanted to use this process to elevate some of the names in the party. and he became very impressed with a lot of the democratic women he came to read about and interview during the course of this process. even two years before this selection, biden made hey comment to a long time aide as he was campaigning, that if he were to run, he would choose a woman for his ticket if he had the chance to do so. we'll see that pledge come to realization today in a few hours, chris. >> kristen, this is no big surprise to anyone. kamala harris was the frontrunner for a long time, it

shouldn't come as any surprise to team trump. we've heard from them, they're obviously trying to redefine kamala harris, phony, power behind the throne, those are the kind of things we're hearing. are you getting a sense that there is a cohesive plan they have against kamala harris, a cohesive message? what can you tell us? >> there are concerns inside the president's orbit, chris, that there is not a coherent message yet. in fact some allies have pointed to the fact that they feel he has struggled to land a punch on joe biden, and now he seems to be struggling with his messaging as it relates to kamala harris. as you point out, he referred to her as phony yesterday, also tried to paint her as horrible for some of her tough questioning against brett kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. and look, earlier today we heard from kellyanne conway who tried to argue that she was too far left and then also that some of her policies when she was attorney general in california were too stringent. and so the question becomes

where is the middle ground and what is the actual messaging that they've landed on. here is what we heard from president trump in the briefing room just yesterday. >> she was my number one pick, i mean, she was -- as they would say, because hopefully they'll start college football, she was my number one draft pick and we'll see how she works out. i was a little surprised, s kavanaugh, she was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing. >> now, notable that president trump called her his first draft pick. president trump donated to harris' campaign in 2011 and 2013. when asked about that, a top campaign aide said, look, he donated to candidates on both sides of the aisle and then made the argument that, quote, i will note that kamala harris is a black woman and he donated to her campaign so i hope we can squash this racism argument now. bottom line, you have a number of allies saying the president

should be less focused on personal attacks, more focused on really trying to drill down on the parts of her record where he finds key differences, chris. >> yeah, andrea, and to the point of the messaging, the president was already tweeting this morning, raised some eyebrows when he used the term "suburban housewives" will be voting for him, and then claiming cory booker would move low income housing into suburban communities. talk about that aspect of the messaging, andrea. >> it's not subtle. it's racial. it's racist. and he's talking, first of all, to those suburban women who are becoming disenchanted with him, trying to get them exercised as well. but this low income housing issue, there's no question that it's racist on both accounts. to speak to housewives, again, has been called out.

it's not the way many women, even those who work at home, define themselves. they have multiple roles including right now many of them are the teachers for their children. so it seems to be very patronizing, very 1950s, if i might say so. and it's not the way that many women, women who are wives, mothers, other women working in the house, would think of themselves or define themselves. >> for sure. and jonathan, look, no secret, prominent members of the black community from politics to entertainment were pushing hard for a woman of color to be the running mate. there were two very high profile letters that came out and were signed by prominent blacks. now that harris is the pick, how do they maximize her ability to energize all voters, frankly? i was thinking about when she decided to run and show had 20,000 people. she is a great retail campaigner

yet she probably won't have that opportunity in a time of coronavirus. how do you see her playing a role in this campaign, what can she do? >> well, we're seeing it right now, and the focus of your question was on senator harris. i think the energy that you saw on television, on social media, of people being so excited about a biden/harris ticket i think is because she was always the common sense choice. and i think people have been -- have become so used to politicians, especially, not making common sense choices, that when a politician actually does it, there is a sigh of relief. there is a feeling like, oh, my god, they actually did what i thought they should do. and so right now, the fact that he chose her, just kamala harris

being kamala harris, is part of taking advantage of the energy and excitement that is out there. in this age of covid, it's going to change the way campaigns are done. but i think once she gets out on the campaign trail, i think senator harris will lean into those skills that had people put her on their radar to begin with. they love her because of the way she makes the case against bill barr, against the president. she's going to now have the opportunity to do that as an aspirant to be the next vice president of the united states. >> and uni, you know, andrea, of the things that frankly popped into my head when this was announced, and i know you and jonathan have had multiple conversations going back to probably last year, about the most important prognosticator, a woman that much of america has come to know and love, aunt loriah.

>> i'm wondering too, along with chris, chris and i were talking earlier, what does aunt gloria think? we have our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. aunt gloria is our focus group, along with your mom. >> so my mom wanted former ambassador susan rice. aunt gloria wanted massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. once the choice was made, i sent an email to aunt gloria and she wrote me back, "excellent choice but we've got to work hard to beat trump, that means making sure young people and everyone vote. this election has got to be about winning and not just color. throws me off, now i have to find someone else for ag." then in a separate email, this is my favorite part, she wrote, "you were right," smiley faces, exclamation point, because i had

written that senator harris should be the pick. not only was chris interested in what aunt gloria had to say, and andrea, what twitter wanted to know, so i emailed and she gave her answer. >> let me see the gold star you were going to put in your book. mike memoli, kristen welker, jonathan capehart, claire mccaskill, and of course andrea mitchell, thanks to you all. andrea will be back in a little bit, she's got some big interviews coming up in this hour, so you won't want to go away. how will kamala harris play with voters in those critical suburbs in battleground michigan? we'll hear from congresswoman debbie dingell next, here on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. orts" only on msnbc where did you learn that? the internet... yeah? mmm! with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, it's all for the love of hot dogs.

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it's totally not the same without you. we miss your "let's do this" look. the sound of your laugh cry screams. and how you make every day here the best day ever. we can't wait to get you back so we've added temp checks, face coverings, social distancing and extra sanitizing to get the good times going again. we're finally back, and can't wait until you are too. buy now and get two days free at the parks. restrictions apply. welcome back to our special coverage of joe biden's vice presidential announcement. michigan is a critical state for

the campaign in november, hillary clinton lot of it by a fraction of a percent in 20126. let's get back to andrea mitchell, hey, andrea. >> reporter: hey, chris, thank you. of course michigan congresswoman debbie dingell, thanks very much. i wanted your immediate reaction to the choice of kamala harris. >> you know, i'm going to tell you that i think that she and joe are going to be the combination that america needs. you know that i know both of them very well, they've been good friends. they're smart, skilled, strategic legislators who know what to do to bring the country together. but what was really important to me was that joe biden had to have somebody who he was going to be comfortable with. i think one of the problems four years ago was the lack of

ability to be empathetic, to connect with people. and you have a team of people here in joe biden, kamala harris, of people that are empathetic, compassionate, love people, and that's going to come through, and they are going to heal the heart and soul of america, which is what this country needs right now. >> reporter: now, of course you know all of the contenders. you're in congress with several of them in your house caucus. and principally, your governor, gretchen whitmer, was one of the finalists. is there disappointment in michigan? how do you think this key state will react to kamala harris? >> so i want to say this very strongly, i'm as excited as a woman who has been through many periods of what it's like to be a woman, andrea, as you have too, to see so many strong women that were in that list that joe biden was considering. governor whitmer happened to be

in that final smaller group of people. but they are all, they all come out of this as winners. my governor is a national co-chair of this campaign. she has done a fabulous job and the rest of the country has seen how strong she is in managing covid. and one of the things that people didn't know, they didn't know who karen bass was, tammy bu duckworth. these are all women who are my friends, that i have worked with and who are personal friends. i think all women come out as winners here. and the thing that always bothers me is that there's some women who feel threatened if one woman succeeds, what will it do to everybody else. you know what? all women succeed with this selection and the fact that there were so many women that he got to consider. >> reporter: how much do you

think her ability to play prosecutor, if you will, the way she interrogated william barr and questioned brett kavanaugh certainly could be a prelude to a debate and to her response to all the attacks that have already been coming from the president? >> i think she brings a ton of talent. she ran the largest ag office in the country, so she's got experience. she knows how to ask tough questions. you know what else will be very important, we're at a crossroads in this country where we are talking about systematic racial injustice. and that means we have to bring everybody together. it's not black against white. it's a vision of one america. how do we bring everybody together? i'm hoping that some dday we'll have a presidential election

where we don't talk about gender, religion, color of skin, nationality. we'll talk about what abilities each candidate has. kamala harris has many different perspectives she'll bring to this. it will be very important in having an administration that will be dealing with the issues of racial justice in this country but making everybody feel part of that discussion. and how do we heal a nation that needs healing, quite frankly. >> reporter: congresswoman debbie dingell from michigan, thank you very much for being with us. we'll have a lot more from wilmington, delaware coming up, and of course the appearance of the two together in a couple of hours. for now let me send it back to my colleague chris jansing in new york. >> thanks, andrea. we have so much more to talk about in terms of the vp pick.

we'll come back to delaware soon. we also want to talk about the other ongoing major story. hundreds of students in georgia are in quarantine right now after being exposed to coronavirus, adding to the concerns about the return to in-person classes all around the country. the latest, next here on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. . ♪ get your glow back. start running again with a boost of b vitamins and energy from green tea. new dunkin' refreshers. order ahead via the dunkin' app for a contactless way to order and pay. america runs on dunkin'.

the total number of americans with covid-19 continues to climb. with over 1.5 million cases in the united states, more than 165,000 people have died. here are the facts this hour. in just one georgia school district, more than 900 students and staff have been ordered to quarantine for two weeks after 59 students and staff tested positive for covid-19. the future of college football is up in the air with both the big 10 and pac-12 conferences deciding to postpone their seasons until spring 2021. and in the rush to find a vaccine, the white house has announced a $1.5 billion deal with drug maker moderna for 100 million doses of its experimental vaccine when it's ready for market. meanwhile, there are 25 vaccines

now in human trials around the world. nbc's sam brock is in florida. sam, kids are going back to school this week. does it look like things are getting any better there? >> reporter: chris, good afternoon. for a period of time it certainly looked like things were getting on track. but now the latest covid numbers are pointing in the wrong direction. today, chris, the positivity rate climbing back up to nearly 12%. it was at 8 or 9% as recently as a couple of days ago. yesterday, florida reporting its record for fatalities, 274 related to covid-19, following that up with another 212 today, and 8,000 brand-new cases of covid-19, chris. that's the level of community-wide transmission that we're looking at right now as we bring our kids back into schools. so far there's 65 school districts in the state of florida. about 20 of them either have or will be opening up their doors this week. i'm in miami-dade county right now. it is completely online here for months. that is also the case in broward

county and palm beach county, the three largest school districts postponing any sort of brick and mortar situation because they're concerned about safety. but that's not the case across the state. hillsboro county, where tampa is, is an interesting story. they had voted originally to do a hybrid plan, chris, then tried to pivot and go completely online. the governor of the state, ron desantis, balked at that and threatened to take money away from the school district, $20 million if they did that. so that's at the core right now of a lawsuit that's being fought by the florida education association, the largest teachers, educators association in the southeast here, against the state of florida. where it stands right now is just a status hearing, but there's obviously a matter of urgency involved, chris, as it affects so many students in florida. chris? >> sam brock, thank you so much for that update. dr. vin gupta is a pulmonologist and global health policy expert at the university of washington medical center, he joins us now.

let's start with these schools. you have a situation in florida where the governor is saying you have to let them go back to the classroom even as the numbers are going up. we also talked about the fact that in georgia, that one school, they've got 900 staff and students who are now in quarantine because they have 59 students and staff who have tested positive. what's the message out of all of this? what do you think, doctor? >> good morning, chris. the message here is that this shouldn't be this hard. in georgia, you're seeing -- for all your viewers out there, go covid- to covidactnow.org. [ inaudible ]. >> we're hoping to get dr. go up -- dr. gupta.

we're going to take a quick break and hope to have dr. gupta resumed after this quick break. k [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. here's your iced coffee! ♪ america runs on dunkin'

we believe we have banished our technical gremlins and we are back with dr. vin gupta. you were talking about the website, we have so. confusion. what can you tell us? >> sorry about that, chris. go to covidactnow.org. you'll find georgia or florida having high daily cases per 100,000 individuals, having icu bed capacity issues, 80% in georgia of icu beds are filled. in florida it's 100% filled according to this website, which is a source of truth that i and my colleagues lean on. that's what we talk about when we talk about safe reopening of schools. you can't have high transmission rates of covid-19. you can't have hospitals working and operating at capacity and

then think you can open up schools. this isn't difficult. if you're governor desantis, you should not be pushing for reopening of schools. it puts children at harm, it puts parents and teachers at harm. high community transmission rates, low hospital surge capacities, school cannot reopen, period. >> and with the numbers going up in so many places, dr. gupta, there is a lot of excitement around this announcement from russia that it's developed its own vaccine, although it has not begun critical phase iii human trials. dr. fauci said, not so fast, he's concerned that it's not definitively proven to be safe and effective. what should people know about this russia vaccine? >> what they should know is that this vaccine is probably one of the biggest obstacles to a way to control covid-19. it's not a panacea, it's not a

magic bullet. it will cause people to doubt the vaccine safety and quality process. there's no accountability in russia. putting a vaccine on market without a phase iii trial is public health malpractice. we need that data. the whole point of a phase iii trial is to make sure these vaccines are safe and effective across tens of thousands of individuals. right now they have data on maybe a hundred individuals. it's not proper, it's not scientific, and it's not moral. no one's going to take that vaccine. i know nobody here stateside that wants to take that vaccine because they're concerned about it. all this is doing is giving fodder to antievacuati-vaxxers. >> dr. vin gupta, thanks for hanging in there for us, we appreciate it. now to continuing coverage of joe biden's vice presidential announcement, we of course know kamala harris is in the pick. other women were vetted, and andrea mitchell has one of those

contenders to be joe biden's running mate with us. >> thanks so much, chris. joining us, new mexico governor michelle lujan grisham. thank you for being with us. you were of course one of the people on the list. first tell us how you feel about kamala harris being the choice. >> all the accolades that we've heard over the last 24 hours are still incredibly appropriate and exciting. historic, monumental, iconic, effective, winning ticket. but biden promised he would build a bridge for democratic leaders and we get a glimpse now of what's on the other side of that bridge. i'm incredibly excited, and i'm very proud. >> now, you were the only latina in the group. is there disappointment, do you think, among latinx, that there has not been one of them chosen to break a different barrier?

>> i hope not. i hope this is a signal that vice president biden had an incredible slate of leaders. women from -- with all different backgrounds and experiences, leaders in their own right, in any number of ways, including a series of both statewide and national elections. i think this is a signal that this is what america looks like, that the bench is full, we're ready to play, and we are going to focus now on the incredible policies that frankly women leaders have been bringing to the united states in any number of ways. and frankly, senator harris is a champion for things i'm working on in new mexico, from making sure that gun violence is a public health crisis, and we treat it as such, that we do the same thing about creating a national plan for attacking and addressing covid, that we're

clear that we can do the kind of work in climate change that will bring us to a whole new set and series of energy policies, and that we're going to invest in working families, that we're going to do universal childcare. these are the kinds of efforts in this ticket that's going to make a real difference for hispanic communities and communities of color all across america. and i believe that's how every hispanic voter is going to feel. >> and she is the daughter of immigrants, she's made that point, trying to elevate the whole issue of the anti-immigration stance of the administration of the president. how do you think that can impact this campaign? >> look, i think personal stories really do make a difference. we're dealing with a white house that's engaged in vicious racist rhetoric. now we can talk about the american story. this country was built by immigrants and immigrant families. and we have -- and looking at

just investing in the economy, we know that immigration reform brings well more than a trillion dollars into an economy that's really going to need that. these stories are valuable, they create the kind of respect and dignity that we all want. and they invite us all to build our communities, not divide them. and i think it's going to be very powerful on the campaign trail. and i think it's going to lend itself to finally getting effective immigration reform over the finish line in congress. >> do you think the biden campaign up until now, according to some critics in the community, have not done enough outreach? >> you know, i think those aspects of the campaign are common, particularly now. i want the biden campaign to be incentivized to reach out to every single minority voter and don't take any voter for granted. i think we've spent way too much

time in this country in a number of political climates doing that. i don't think it's fair to suggest that this campaign hasn't been doing effective outreach. i'm proof positive that they've been doing effective outreach and that they're not taking for granted any states, including a very democratic state, new mexico. so i would argue that's not been the case at all. we can always do more. we don't want to create any kind of situation where people don't feel like they're included and invited to participate in this historic campaign. >> how intensive was the vetting process that you had to go through? >> incredible. so people should feel really confident that you are -- that this ticket is an incredible ticket with a woman who has accomplished so much in her public service career. just being in the group makes me

and my family incredibly proud. but it is exhausting and intensive. it's every decision, every effort, everything you've ever done. and it gives you great pause about maybe the things you have yet to get addressed. so i'm motivated to do more and still very honored that i had this incredible opportunity with the, i hope, future president of the united states. >> it was great talking to you today, and we'll be watching you at the convention, the virtual convention when you have a big speech next week. thank you very much. >> thank you very much, andrea, you have a great day. >> you too. we'll have a lot more here from wilmington, delaware, a hot day in delaware, i should point out. let's send it back to my colleague for now, chris jansing in new york. >> such an interesting interview, the intensity of that process. andrea, thank you. we're going to get back you to in just a moment.

like each presidential election, so much hinges on the youth vote. can kamala harris use her brand of retail politics to be the bridge to the next generation, not just to democratic voters but potential candidates? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill... ...can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some... rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections,

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in just hours, the official kickoff of the biden/harris ticket in delaware. her selection delaware. her selection more than just giving her a chance to be the first woman vice president, it sets her up as the future leader of her party. to talk about that, back with us in wilmington is andrea mitchell, michael steele and jason johnson. michael and jason are msnbc contributors. andrea, one word we keep hearing over and over again about kamala harris is energy. the energy she brought to the campaign trail, the energy she brings to an interview. now we know already the energy she is bringing to fund-raising. she just tweeted saying she's honored to be joe biden's running mate, but also saying hey, we've got a virtual fund-raiser tonight, pitch in. how do you see her energy being

channeled? >> oh, that is a big factor. remember when jim clyburn said that joe biden has passion for the issues, but he lacks energy, that he has empathy but lacks passion. he wanted somebody with energy and charisma. that she has, and she's a great campaigner. you saw that kickoff in oakland with 20,000 people. yes, the organization faltered along the way in her own campaign, but the fact is, she complements joe biden in bringing that kind of energy, and she's also a prosecutor, and with that she can really go after president trump and the administration's men, the attorney general as we have seen, as she debuted when she was on the judiciary committee during the kavanaugh hearings and since. >> and you could tell that has gotten under the president's skip because he brought it up

multiple times last night. jason, there's already been a lot of talk over the last 12 hours or so about what she's going to mean in terms of black turnout, what she's going to mean in terms of energizing women to turn out. but i also thought about some of those down ballot races. we've got a record number of black women running. they have all told me when i have spoken to them the challenge of fund raising. they don't necessarily have that roladex. they sometimes say look, i have trouble being taken seriously as viable. does this change the equation for black women running up and down the ballot? >> in the short term, not really. in the long-term, yes. and here's why. we're in the middle of a pandemic. so harris can't go to locations and raise money the same way as she would if we were free to travel. but the other thing is, look, above and beyond sexism and racism, the main reason that

african-american women have trouble raising money, the donors are like, i have to see you win before i give you money. and the candidate is like, i can't win if you don't give me money. if senator harris becomes vice president harris, that breaks that narrative. that breaks the hollywood narrative that a black movie can't make millions. it shows a black woman can be a successful presidential campaign and a lot of that money from the dnc, the big-name donor also trickle down to other people. so i think she will be an important part of that process, but we may not see that change in a substantive way until after she's in office, if she can get into office with joe biden. >> michael steele, let's talk about what we are going to see in a couple of hours. we just got word that she has arrived in wilmington, delaware. we saw her a few hours ago leaving from washington, d.c. in that suv. what are you going to be watching for when they have this first event together? >> i think a lot of it is just

going to focus on the chemistry between the two. a lot of folks still want to write the narrative or write about the narrative of their first contentious debate when she went after him along the racial lines. joe has said he put that behind him, and he's clearly done that because he selected her to be his running mate. so it will be interesting to see how that chemistry is formed and how it develops. i think, you know, it helps that she and bo biden had a relationship so there's that familiarity with her. so i think in the short term, we're going to be seeing how they handle each other on the stage, what level of vice presidential deference there is to joe as the presidential candidate. does her star peak a little bit more than his? i think folks are going to be looking for that. all these dynamics are going to

play out over the next, you know, few days leading up to the convention. but in the main, this is a race that boils down between two people. it's not harris and pence. it's biden and president trump. and that's what america is going to make its judgment on. and everything else will fall from that as the race unfolds. >> so andrea, what do you think harris' portfolio looks like, both in terms of this candidacy and if biden were to win the presidency? >> well, i think certainly criminal justice. he's an expert in that also, but she can handle a lot of it. the pandemic, she's the daughter of two scientists and has a lot to say about the pandemic and what she would do in contrast to president trump. so those are two main issues. not so much foreign policy but on domestic policy as we try to fight our way out of the pandemic and the recession.

>> and andrea mitchell will be back here in this hour. tomorrow, yes, andrea? >> yes, all things being equal, i will be back. >> yeah. so much can change in a heart beat, as we all know. but andrea mitchell on location for us, waiting for that moment. michael steele, always great to see you. jason johnson, thanks to you, as well. that's going to do it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." i'm chris jansing. chuck todd will have much, much more after this quick break. l h more after this quick break. what happens when a wireless carrier

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and a good afternoon. i'm chuck todd. we are following an historic day in america. senator kamala harris has just arrived in wilmington, delaware, where she and former vice president joe biden will make their first appearance together as the 2020 democratic ticket. they are expected to discuss working families and their plan to move the country forward. the historic nature of this moment cannot be understated. yes, it may have seemed like a do no harm obvious pick. but senator harris is the first black woman and first indian-american to be on a major party presidential ticket. we have just 83 days to go. that's fewer than 12 weeks, if you can believe it, to election day. monumental race comes amid a time of great uncertainty right here in the united states. with now more than 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases, 166,000 deaths, and still, no