president with his clearest explanation on why he does not want more funding for the post office in these months leading up to the november election. >> they want $3.5 trillion -- billion votes. they want $25 billion, billion, for the post office. now, they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all these millions and millions of ballots. in they don't get those two items that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it. >> and today joe biden and kamala harris are putting the pandemic front and center on the first full day of campaigning after their big kickoff yesterday with a briefing from public health experts and remarks by the candidates on the president's handling of the coronavirus. this hour, i'll speak with admiral brett giroir in charge of testing for the white house, a new testing initiative six

months into the pandemic. and breaking news from the white house, an historic break through agreement between the united arab emirates and israel, made possible by israel for now giving up its plan to annex large areas of the palestinian west bank. >> israel and the united arab emirates will fully normalize their diplomatic relations. they will exchange embassies and ambassadors and begin cooperation on a broad range of areas. this is a truly historic moment. not since the israel-jordan peace treaty was signed more than 25 years ago has so much progress been made towards peace in the middle east. >> and we begin today with nbc white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host kristen welker, nbc's mike memoli covering the biden campaign,

"washington post" columnist eugene robinson. kristen, the president is hitting senator harris hard and fighting any if ynew funding foe post office. bring us up to date. >> that's right, a lot of people woke up this morning to those comments by president trump really escalating his attacks against senator kamala harris, as you point out, andrea, calling her both a madwoman and angry. now, that was a reference to the justice brett kavanaugh hearing, during his confirmation process. but a lot of people have already said that what they heard was a racially charged attack. of course black women have historically speaking been disparaged as being, quote unquote, angry. you referenced the former first lady michelle obama who has spoken quite openly about how she felt she was labeled that way during the 2008 campaign. she said, for a minute there i

was an angry black woman who was emasculating my husband. i had to work harder than any first lady in history. still awaiting reaction from the biden campaign but undoubtedly people will hear that as having racial undertones. this is a strategy, racial politics, that he used, arguably, effectively in 2016 to win the white house. the president in his most explicit terms yet is explaining why he is refusing democrats' demands to give billions of dollars to the postal service. president trump essentially saying if he does that, if he agrees to that, vote by mail would be able to move forward and would be able to move forward in a more broad form. now, democrats are saying that, look, the bottom line here, this is critical to our democracy, the biden campaign did weigh in on this, saying the president of the united states is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of

millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicine because he wants to deprive americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during this pandemic. expect a lot of heat offed questio heatheat ed questions on the this throughout the day, andrea. >> and mike memoli with the biden campaign in wilmington, they're going to have a roundtable with public health experts and talk afterwards. it was clear from their remarks yesterday that they are making the president's handling of the pandemic a key factor in the campaign. and kamala harris really went after him on it, she's prosecuting on that. >> that's right, andrea. we reported yesterday there were two questions that biden's vice presidential search committee asked each of the potential running mates for him. the first was what would be your agenda as vice president. and number two was, what do you think president trump's nickname

for you would be in the campaign. that's a pretty good encapsulation of the challenge before the campaign now as kamala harris is fully embedded within the campaign as joe biden's running mate. in terms of what we'll see today, behind me, the hotel dupont, the last time joe biden held a public event of any sort before he really did shut down the campaign, it was also here. he released his own plan for dealing with the pandemic. and what we've seen from that moment on, really, obviously without the ability to hold public campaigns and rallies, is joe biden doing everything he can do model what he believes is presidential behavior, showing what he believes the president in the white house should be doing right now, obviously embracing that contrast with what president trump has been doing. it's really an interesting insight into the campaign that their first day, as you say, the first full day of campaigning, we'll see them surrounded by a team of public health experts. they're probably be doing some questions and answers, taking

that insight from that team, and then delivering some brief remarks. the biden team has always believed that the pandemic is issue number one in this campaign. as it relates to the trump campaign and the response we're seeing from the president himself and his attacks on kamala harris, you were in the room, i thought one of the most interesting moments yesterday in both of the speeches was hearing joe biden talk about the need to have kamala harris's back in this campaign. think about what we usually see on a presidential ticket. it's the role of the vice presidential running mate to support and defend the attacks coming at the principal, at the presidential candidate. but joe biden, somebody who served loyally and faithly to the faithfully to the nation's first black president, he made clear he is going to be first and foremost to rebut attacks on kamala harris. >> and a signal around the country that they want leaders

to push back against the racial taunts we've been hearing from the president, certainly accelerated since she was unveiled. to that, eugene robinson, the blatant racism in these appeals to suburban housewives, to say nothing of the misogyny, the suburban housewives who should not want low income housing in their lily white neighborhood that are of course no longer lily white thanks to the fair housing act and a lot of the reforms under lbj, in fact, after dr. king was killed, i mean, you can't even put all of this together, but this is the messaging. and as kristen was pointing out, the angry black woman trope. >> yeah, first of all, on the suburban housewives, our friend claire mccaskill said last night that it was as if he's speaking to june cleaver. he thinks that there's this sort of world of white apron-wearing

suburban housewives. and those are the voters he's in trouble with. so this is going to appeal to them by making them afraid of i guess cory booker and the 1968 fair housing act. it's absurd. and then the angry black woman attack on kamala harris, i mean, it's a twofer. you get both your racism and your misogyny all in one. and so he's going all in on this. and i frankly don't see how this helps him at all with the groups of voters that he's in trouble with. and i do see how it potentially motivates the core democratic party voters, including african-american women, to vote in large numbers, in obama-era numbers, and get out the vote in

their communities. and if that happens, that's very bad for president trump, and that's also very bad for some endangered gop senators like thom tillis in north carolina and even lindsey graham in south carolina, if you get a big sort of obama-era african-american vote. that seems to be what trump is on the verge of provoking. >> he seems to be trying to spark a very different kind of vote. i'm not sure that that's still gettable for him, for people -- people angry about what they see as the threats in the streets, those protests certainly have backfired, the ones that became violent, but i'm not sure that the president is in tune with america, in any of this kind of messaging.

i want to get ayman mohyeldin, this is not only the first diplomatic relations, they've been in formal contacts, absolute you know better than anyone, but the uae, the first petition treaty with israel since the one signed in aqaba with jordan back in 1998. this is very different because it also puts a halt to the threat by israel to immediately annex palestinian areas of the west bank. >> yes, it's quite fascinating, andrea, to listen to the conversation about all the other news happening in this country with the elections and politics and coronavirus and all of a sudden to hear that the united states is announcing there is now going to be diplomatic relations, full diplomatic normalization of relations between the united arab emirates and israel. it's against the context of what's happening in the world that makes this so surprising.

you're talking about two embattled leaders, israel's benjamin netanyahu and the united states' president trump. this agreement says there will be a peace treaty between the united arab emirates and israel in exchange for israel stopping from declaring sovereignty over the west bank. they think this will prevent israel closing the door on a two-state solution and protects palestinians' claims on the west bank for a future state. from an israeli perspective, this is something they've sought many years, recognition by one of the most important arab countries. there have been overtures in the past from the league of arab states if israel ended their occupation. this obviously falls very short of that agreement, this is not a call for an end of occupation,

it just simply gets israel to stop promising to declare sovereignty over the west bank and annexing these parts. from a united states perspective, they get to claim they have been able to push forward the president's peace plan between israel and another arab country, something that he has sought to do ever since his vision for middle east peace fell on deaf ears in the region. no one has taken that plan very seriously. at least now he does have this victory to chalk up on the diplomatic side, andrea. >> it bolsters their case against iran as well. >> of course. >> because the uae joins the u.s. in being fiercely opposed to iran. ayman, thank you so much for jumping in and helping to sort that breaking news. and of course thanks you to, eugene robinson, kristen welker, and mike memoli in wilmington. and here in d.c., washington, d.c. mayor muriel bowser joins us.

thank you for waiting during all that breaking news. of course the covid news, the pandemic, which you've been on top of, in trying to keep everyone safe and protect the region as well, working with maryland and virginia, and also of course the election. i want to ask you first about kamala harris and the angry black woman description, the way the president has been describing her as nasty and mean and horrible. what is your take on that? >> well, andrea, we know that women -- and we've seen it, we saw it in the last election and we see it now with senator harris, that are frequently attacked, unfairly attacked, and often not defended. i'm very sad to see the president of the united states attack this very accomplished woman and calling her angry because she's tough, or calling her mean because she wants to hold him accountable for four

years of bringing our economy down. so i think as women and all of our allies, we have to stand up and speak up against that type of racist trope that so many black women have endured. >> there has been a lot of excitement among the black women whom i've interviewed and my friends and colleagues just about what she represents. howard university alumna, a.k.a., the whole sisterhood, seeing a woman of color on the ticket with her fascinating immigrant background and heritage from india and jamaica, but identifying herself from childhood on as a black woman, and being part of the civil rights struggle here in the district as well. >> well, absolutely. and i agree with so many people who i've heard to say that black women have been the backbone of

our party at every level, from volunteering to organizing, getting out the vote. and increasingly being candidates ourselves. and i think there was a real fear that we could be overlooked this go-round. and i'm so proud that joe biden made the right choice. he picked a very accomplished woman from a major state who has run a major agency in her state. and is a united states senator, and comes to this campaign, having run her campaign and traveled this country, and having focused on issues that are important to americans. i know that senator harris in california was very focused on the foreclosure crisis when it hit california so hard. we need that experience in the

white house, because we know recovering from this pandemic, we're going to have huge impacts on housing in america. and we know that she will be a great partner to joe biden in bringing america back from this pandemic, and especially bringing our economy back for everybody. we know that this pandemic and the economic crisis it has created has been unevenly impacting americans. black americans are dying more than other americans. black businesses are being horrendously affected by this near-depression. and we know black women are disproportionately out of work because of covid shutdowns. so now more than ever, we need diverse voices at the table to speak up for all americans. >> and regarding the pandemic, one of the big sticking points

of course in the negotiations between the democrats and the white house is state and local government funding to be part of this package. how important is that to you? >> we completely support the speaker's position and senator schumer's position that you can't have this -- you can't consider this recovery funding if you're not supporting states and cities, because by not providing that funding, you're actually eliminating critical local services that the federal government doesn't provide but local and state governments provide. and by no fault of our own, we are seeing deficits across the country because of covid shutdowns. only the federal government can fill those gaps. so we completely support speaker pelosi's position and senator

schumer's position in making sure that this deal includes funding for state and local governments. >> and right now, it looks as though there won't be a deal. and this may get caught up in the continuing resolution at the end of september, the normal budget process. what impact would that have on your community? >> we don't think that americans can wait. and we know that we need the state and local funding. we also need to make sure that there's unemployment assistance for americans. and we support what the democrats have on the table, because people are going to increasingly, since that pandemic unemployment has run out at the end of july, they won't know how they're going to make rent or pay for food and take care of the normal activities of life. and that is not a democratic or republican issue.

that's affecting people in every state, in washington, d.c., all across america. and so we need the senate to step up and not leave americans high and dry. >> mayor muriel bowser of the district of columbia. some day the state of columbia. thank you very much, thanks, mayor bowser. >> thank you. schools nationwide are struggling through covid. in georgia, more than a thousand students and staff are quarantined in one school district alone as the head of the cdc delivers a dire warning about the coming fall. we'll talk to coronavirus task force member admiral brett giroir, coming up. ...and new adventures. you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past... they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. let's help protect them together.

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coronavirus cases are climbing with more than 105,000 cases in the past two days. and the number of deaths are spiking, 1,400 americans died yesterday. here are the facts at this hour. the head of the cdc is warning that we risk having the worst fall of the coronavirus outbreak and is urging all americans to wear masks and keep social distancing. one of the nfl's most popular franchises, dallas cowboys, are announcing they plan to have fans in the stands this season. and a georgia school district that does not require masks has ordered more than 1,300 students and staff to quarantine because of covid concerns. nbc's ellison barber is live in

woodstock, georgia, which shut down on wednesday. ellison, what's going on there? >> reporter: hey, andrea, so there have actually been two high schools here who have been forced to suspend in-person learning. schools went back on august 3. yesterday was the last day of in-person instruction at least for now here at woodstock high school. they say they're going to be moving students to online learning likely until the end of the month. why are they doing this? we can look at the numbers here together. woodstock high school, their administrators say they have 14 confirmed cases of covid-19. tests for another 15 students are still pending. and close to 300 people, students and staff, are now in quarantine. but if those 15 other students test positive, administrators have said that the numbers here will rise. all of that, again, just for this one high school. this is not an issue at just one or two schools in cherokee county.

the cherokee county school district has actually reported 78 confirmed cases of covid-19 at 21 different schools in the county as of this morning. they have over 40,000 students at their schools, at their public schools here. and as you said, right now they have over 1,300 staff and students at home quarantining since school started on august 3, andrea. >> thanks very much, ellison barber. not great news there. president trump, though, is continuing to push to get children back into the classroom, saying wednesday that all schools should be making plans to resume in-person learning as soon as possible. joining me now is dr. libby roy, an internal medicine physician and one of our great medical consults. thank you very much, dr. roy, for being with us. what is happening in georgia and anecdotally from other places, hotspots, and the white house

saying all schools should have in-person learning? >> it's disturbing, as a doctor charged with the health and safety of the public, it's concerning to me that officials are not taking this infectious outbreak that we've known about for several months, they're not taking it seriously. i wonder if part of the confusion might be that early on in the pandemic, andrea, children were relatively isolated. they weren't included in a lot of the data, the testing was reserved for adults who were symptomatic and people with chronic conditions. and schools shut down early, children are isolated at home, so they weren't really mixing with the overall community and they were not part of the testing. now, as you know, summer is opening up, children are out there, they're interacting. and now with schools opening up, that real time data combined with the other real time data, andrea, remember that georgia

campers, 75% of them came up positive. that combined with scientific data showing that older children age 10 to 19 can transmit the virus as effectively as adults, as well as data from chicago showing that undyoung children under the age of 5 have high rates of the virus in their pharynx, all indicating that children are clearly drivers of covid-19 infection in the general population, and can get infected and transmit the virus to each other. so it's all kind of concerning, andrea. >> how difficult do you think it is for -- to have children, especially younger children, keep masks on all day in school? >> yeah, that's a really great question. as you know, i obviously don't leave my home without it. but i'm a grown-up now, it's a bit easier for me, but even us

grown-ups complain about wearing the mask. it depends on the age of the children. it will be a little more difficult for the younger children. but, you know, we still need to do the best we can. and i do firmly believe, however, that the mask mandate needs to exist for all schools, particularly at least middle school, elementary, high school. for the younger children, i think we need to practice more other preventive measures such as physical distancing, larger classrooms, fewer kids. there's a lot of other public health measures that the cdc has outlined on their website to really keep children and the teachers, other adult staff, cafeteria staff, janitorial staff, keep them safe, and school bus drivers. >> of course there are old facilities in a lot of cities in particular. you can't really safely distance. the ventilation systems are old. and the air flow is a major problem in spreading the virus. >> 100%.

in fact one of the guidances that the cdc has been recommending for quite some time now is that it's safer to be outdoors than indoors. but as you know, schools are pretty much indoors. so these are all very nuanced, detailed issues that we need to come up with. again, a national plan, a strategy is really indicated. and we've been asking for this for a long time in order to keep our children safe. i don't know how long we're going to keep playing russian roulette with our children, andrea. it's not safe to do. >> not safe at all. thank you so much, dr. lipi roy, thanks for that. the covid pandemic of course has turned campaigning on its head. no caucus rallies from president trump as he uses white house briefings to launch attacks. and no balloon drop at next week's virtual democratic convention. in fact, no in-person convention. but as "the washington post's" dan balz points out, the

pandemic has focused voters on the president's job performance unlike ever before. joining us, "washington post" chief correspondent dan balz. thank you for joining us. this changes the focus for the voters, maybe that's a good thing. >> it does change the focus of the voters. as i talk to the people involved in the campaign and those tracking the campaign, one of the things they say is that covid has overwhelmed everything in the way people are thinking about their lives and politics. somebody said to me yesterday, they do focus groups and the moderator tries to get people to talk about something else and it always comes back to the pandemic and the way they are trying to deal with it and all of the problems that a lot of people are having with that, not just in the health and safety but obviously economically. and this question now that we're facing about education, what happens with schoolchildren and

what happens with college students. but i think that the other thing that has happened as a result of that is that it has focused, as you suggested, even more attention on the performance of president trump. all reelection campaigns, as you know, are referendums on the president, on the time he was in office. but because of the pandemic, there's even more acute focus on that. and his handling of the pandemic is going to be the primary way that people judge him in terms of thinking about whether he should get a second term. >> how challenging is it, he has the -- he has the white house, he has incumbency, he can produce a diplomatic agreement, the first big one of his presidency. but he can take the south lawn on july 4, he's got these venues, perhaps inappropriate, it may be illegal, but he's using them and is threatening to

do that at the republican convention for his acceptance speech. how challenging is that for joe biden and kamala harris? >> well, it is a challenge. the president has, you know, the biggest stage in the world and the biggest microphone in the world. and if you had a disciplined incumbent, that would be even a greater challenge for vice president biden and senator harris. but you have a president who is totally undisciplined. the campaign puts out messaging in one direction and the president goes in a different direction. and when he focuses on something, his focus often lasts only for a few minutes and then he veers off onto something else. this happened the other night when he was on with sean hannity. and so normally you would say, yes, particularly in a time like this, he has, you know, tremendous advantages. but he's not using them to his advantage, and unless he is able to do that, it will be a much

more challenging campaign ahead for him to get reelected. >> and we saw today for the first time a really explicit connection in his attack on the post office, that it really does relate to suppressing the vote because of the need to have mail-in ballots. it doesn't look like there will be any decision or any compromise coming out of the congressional negotiations that restores those post office funds. and he's also hitting the post office in really profound ways. one of the things they're doing is making election mailing bulk mailing rather than first class mailing which means it not only doesn't get recorded for the record in also can be weeks and weeks behind the election. >> this is a very worrisome situation. the integrity of the ballot and the integrity of the way people vote is so vital and fundamental to a democracy. and anything that raises doubt about that is terribly

concerning. i guess i would say that one thing we know about voters this year is that they are very, very motivated to cast their ballot and to make sure their ballot gets counted. now, some of that is out of their hands. but my guess is that people will find ways to do what they think they need to do in order to get those votes cast and counted despite the obstacles. i think we're in for a very messy time ahead of the election. we're obviously going to be in for a very messy time on election day and election night and in the days afterwards. but i think that the motivation is so powerful on both sides, frankly, that people are going to find a way to cast their ballots. >> we certainly hope so. it could not be a more important civic responsibility, especially these days. thank you so much, dan balz, good to see you.

and all next week, join msnbc for special coverage of the democratic national convention, including insight and analysis of the unprecedented event each night. but first -- >> this is the greatest public health crisis to hit this nation in a century. >> the head of the cdc warning that this coming fall could bring the worst of the coronavirus outbreak. more from the trump administration's testing czar, admiral brett giroir, coming up next. miral brett giroir, coming next alright, everyone, we made it.

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stop the spread. >> i'm not asking some of america to do it. we've all got to do it. this is one of those interventions that's got to be 95, 96, 97, 98%. >> joining me now, admiral brett giroir, testing coordinating for the white house coronavirus task force. you just heard your colleague, dr. redfield, saying it could be the worst fall from a public health perspective if people don't wear their masks and social distance. we have not flattened the curve in a lot of the country, in fact there are coronavirus surges in hotspots around the country. >> so thank you for having me on. so let me just talk with the premise, the number of cases are decreasing around the country, and we have 80% of our jurisdictions in a downward trajectory. the hospitalizations are going down, the deaths are going down,

we are flattening the curve across the country overall. but as you point out, there are some hotspot jurisdictions that we're implementing our strategy around. to dr. redfield's point, we're concerned about every flu season and we're particularly concerned about this flu season because it will coincide with covid. as he said, we know we have effective measures. it's reversed outbreaks across the sun belt. wear a mask, watch your distance indoor crowded areas, and watch your hygiene. this is combined with strategic testing, not shotgun testing, but strategic testing, that's reversed the outbreaks in the sun belt. >> the fact that florida is still seeing increases and you've got increased death rates, i mean, the concern that people have is where they live, in many places around the country, not perhaps the national totals, but there are places around this country,

we've seen what's happened in schools in georgia where kids have gone back without wearing masks and without distancing. you saw the visuals. we know that the public health guidance is not being followed in many places. >> so, uh, you know, a lot of questions in there, that's why i love being on, you hit all the good issues. mortality, um, is very concerning to all of us. but as i've said, i said on your show a couple of weeks ago, is that that's what we call a lagging indicator. now, that's no solace to the people who are losing relatives. but it means the mortality we're seeing today is a result of cases that were four to eight weeks ago. so we expect mortality to go down over the next couple of weeks to follow the hospitalizations and case numbers. now, the things that could interfere with that is, number one, if we don't do the three w's, wear a mask, watch your distance, and wash your hands. or if we can't keep it out of nursing homes, and we're very focused on nursing home strategy, because we know those

individuals are uniquely susceptible to the ill effects of covid. and in terms of schools, which is your second part, look, the guidance is out there. we really need to do, number one, the most important thing we need to do is decrease the amount of virus in the community, but secondly, do the same things we're adapting in the country to what we do in schools. and physical distancing and wearing a mask are absolutely essential. whether children can pass it to each other as well as adults i think under 10, probably less, over 10, probably similarly, we can all prevent that by doing the simple measures we talk about. >> i want to ask you about a new i guess you could call it member of the task force or perhaps not, he's an adviser to the white house, scott atlas, seen at the last two briefings when there were no doctors there, none of your colleagues, you or your colleagues from the task force, present in the briefing room. he had said on fox news things that contradict what you and others have been advising,

saying that children can't transmit, that children can't die, among other things. what role does scott atlas play and are you comfortable with someone with his views being a close adviser now and part of the team? >> so i've met dr. atlas. i've spent a couple of hours with him. he is a physician and also a health policy person that wasn't brought -- that was brought in by the house. i don't think he's on the task force. he's certainly working with all of us, dr. fauci, dr. birx, and so -- and we continue to get his diverse input when possible. i don't think he said children can't die from the virus. i think we're all pretty clear medically speaking that the rates of severe illness in children are very, very low, and most children who do have the severe illness have an underlying condition. none of us would say, and i'm a pediatrician, i'm in icu, that children can't have an ill effect. but the chances are much lower,

much, much lower than adults and certainly much lower than the elderly. so we have to do that risk in context. every year, umm, we have tragic losses of children with influenza. i'm not trying to say this is the same thing. but we know children have a better outcome with the disease than adults. i think that's the appropriate characterization. i don't think he's said to me that children can't die or children can't transcripmit. >> he said it to the american people on fox news, he wrongly claimed there is essentially no risk of dying for children. >> so i don't want to get back to whatever happened on fox or not. i'm just telling the american people that the risks are very low in children but it's not zero. as a parent, a grandparent, and a pediatrician, i want to make that clear, the risks are very low but they are not zero, and tragically some children do die, particularly those with underlying conditions.

>> i know you're about to announce some major new investments in testing. how rapidly can this be geared up? >> so we're continuing to increase the capacity for testing. and i just want to make it clear that we're increasing the capacity for all contingencies. so we will have over capacity to what's really needed to control the outbreak. what we're announcing today is we're utilizing some existing technology, the thermofisher platforms i've talked about multiple times with everyone, that we do have excess capacity in this, and supporting the matching up of them ormofisher h smaller labs. we'll be increasing the testing in the country starting in early september. this is one of many things. by september, and i'll just tell you, in the month of september, we expect to have well over 85 million tests available to

capacity. that's not our goal, but available to support the american people and our strategies and we'll start seeing that shift to point of care testing over laboratory based testing in the september frame and october will even be more dramatic. >> so you'll have faster results? >> yes. point of care, point of care is within a few minutes. and as we talked about, there's no such thing as a free lunch. there are -- we want to get the right tests to the right person at the right time. and point of care makes sense in a number of situations. in others, laboratory tests make more sense. so we really -- we now have developed the system that we can ideally match the kind of test, the type of test to the situation we need. and for our nursing homes, for example -- >> and bring down the delay in the lab results? >> yeah, the -- >> i'm just saying, speed up the -- speed up the -- >> absolutely. >> -- delays in lab results which have made many of the tests useless when they come

back five to 14 days later. >> and again, both quest and labcorp now have turnaround times within three days, labcorp is one owithin one to two days. we're doing 90% of our tests within five days over the past two weeks. so the turnaround time has really been reduced by the technological inputs we've had about also the expansion of point of care testing. i don't want the american people to believe they're going to wait seven or 14 days for a test in general. there will be outliers in local places. but in general, if you fall in the categories of needing a test, even for public health tracing, you'll get that result within 48 to 36 hours. that's really where we are right now so don't be dissuaded by that fact, or by that nonfact, that you're going to be waiting two weeks. thank you. >> thanks very much.

coming up, a report unmasking inequalities in america, next. equalities in america, next. attention veteran homeowners

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thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+/her2- metastatic breast cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell

and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. be in your moment. ask your doctor about ibrance. inequality in america, a continuing series of reports on our networks. and today, graphically illustrated in the national urban league's annual state of black america report. this year's report out today revealing how severely communities of color are now more vulnerable because of the pandemic. joining me now is mark morreal, former mayor of new orleans.

thanks very much for being with me. let's talk about your latest findings showing -- well, you know, again, we talk every year, and you zero in on the major problems and this year, so much worse. the african-americans are lacking about 26% of the pie when it comes to their economic standing, as well as education and health care and hispanics at 21%. tell us more because this obviously intersects with the pandemic. >> thank you for having me once again. those numbers reflect numbers before the pandemic. and the pandemic has hit black america like a double earthquake because it's affected our health. it's affected our standing in the economy and certainly the racial justice issues that have been unmasked affect us greatly. the positive in 2020 has been the rising of consciousness in the wake of george floyd's death towards social and economic

justice. and it is my hope that that's going to sustain itself and that the protest movement will find its way into the ballot box on november the 3rd because it is only that way that true and meaningful public policy changes can come. but here's what's so critical about this. the black community never fully recovered from the recession. the wealth losses were palpable. the income inequality was measurable. and now with this economic downturn, this depression level unemployment that we're facing with the prospect of some 40% of black businesses going out of business, it cries out, it calls out for there to be an aggressive, consistent national response. so this report is always diagnostic. it tells us where we are, but the true conversation is how to address -- how to address

these -- these triple pandemics. the pandemic of covid. the pandemic of the economy, and the pandemic of racial justice that has hit the nation, but has especially hit black america and brown america and indigenous communities like a shattering earthquake. >> and one of the things you found is that black businesses are twice as likely to be shut down during the pandemic. >> you know, the ppp program was inartfully designed. and it was also clumsily executed. so those benefits bypass, if you will, many small businesses, particularly many small black businesses. if congress -- congress must do another covid bill. must do relief for states and cities. and must go back in and do more for small businesses.

but this time, it is essential that there be a carve out, there be a specific set of provisions, specific capital, for very small businesses, mom or pop businesses and for african-american, hispanic and other minority ownered enterprises who have been dramatically impacted. and with that, the families of those who own it. so the response, the next response, has to recognize that the ppp program did not work well at all when it comes to small businesses. >> and we're going to have to leave it there and have you back because that is a whole big conversation. >> nul.org is where the report is available to everyone. thank you so much for having me. >> i know it's on the website. we'll put it up as well. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." chuck todd continues our coverage after a short break.

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a good afternoon. i'm chuck todd. right now we are waiting on two events to begin. the 2020 democratic ticket of joe biden and california senator kamala harris will be appearing shortly in wilmington, delaware. and white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany is expected to take the podium for the daily press briefing. we'll monitor those and bring you any developments, especially president trump's comments about blocking mail-in