they're the hero. the one out there every day. not me. \ >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thanks for watching. first up on msnbc, postal service alarm, the new warning that if you cast a presidential ballot, it may not get counted. ready to run days before the party convention, here what the new delegate kamela harris is saying in her new interview. back to school or is it back to school? weighing potential life-and-death decisions. hear what teachers are facing in the days and weeks ahead. no word whether americans will get help as the virus threat remains out there.

it's saturday, august 15th. i'm kendis gibson live from ms. nbc headquarters in new york. my co-anchor, cori coffin is live in new jersey where there's some new developments. >> there's major news as new jersey's governor is changing course a little bit on his order requiring in-person learning clarifying that, saying he will offer virtual learning for certain districts that meet those requirements. so what are those requirements? what does that mean for parents, teachers, students? we're going to break all of this down, and we're going to give you the context in a state that's seeing a rise in covid, ken kendis. >> it's a concern. cori, thanks. several states scrambling right now to adjust to new rules. nbc's kristen welker takes a

look. >> reporter: the postal service writing out an urgent warning saying it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail will get counted. they're seeing ten times the mail because of the critical pandemic. in critical states, the secretary of state is working to ensure to send out ballots early. in new jersey, election officials are sending out ballots to every voter. and other states are working to just from florida, michigan, and minnesota. >> it's about applying for the ballot early and sending it back. >> it replies on the postmaster general, louis dejoy. long time trump ally and republican. in an internal memo thursday,

dejoy acknowledged there have been unintended consequences but insisted cuts were necessary to address a dire financial condition. president trump pressed on the matter by nbc news late thursday. >> you asked the postmaster general to reverse it in order to prevent delays. >> no, i wouldn't do it at all. i want the post office to run properly. >> for his part, president trump has railed against it for weeks arguing fraud despite little evidence of that. they have refused billions of dollars for relief measures. he signaled he may be willing to compromise. >> what i want is what the american people want. >> democrats outraged. former president obama accusing president trump of voter

suppression. >> what we've never seen before is a president say i'm going to try to actively kneecap the postal service to encourage voting and i'll be skplits about doing it. that's sort unheard of, right? >> voters across the country are watching closely, worried with concern. >> i'm worried it will never get there. >> i liked the old way with the machines and nothing connected to the internet. >> our thanks to kristen welker. let's bring in josh letterman who's at the white house. josh, good morning to you. of course, the president is traveling this weekend, but this postal service issue is traveling with him because he's not letting up on it, and it continues to be an issue out there. >> that's right. it sure does, ken december. it was a major sticking point and the congressional notes had been the focus on state and local funding the president

sought. now it's about funding for the postal service as well as election resources. as we get closer and closer to the election there are growing concerns whether the post office will be ready. now democrats want $25 billion for the postal service as well as another $3.5 billion to run the elections across the country. we had expected the president, based on his opposition as he's stated now several times to this additional funding, might threaten to veto a bill if it came to his desk that had the postal service funding in it. so we were a little surprised to see the president say he would not necessarily allow a veto, a little bit of wiggle room that would see more federal resources dedicated to the post office and to these election issues ahead of election day, but the ambiguity about what the president would sign, just the

latest hurdle for negotiators to try to get something together, some deal that has now been installed. and, of course, we know that the senate now has gone home. mitch mcconnell essentially adjourned the senate. amid all of this, kendis, fresh questions about the way the post office is being run with the inspector general for the post office now saying it's investigating some of the actions by the postal general. some of these cost-cutting measures being blamed for the delays we are seeing being imposed and triggering growing concerns whether the ballots will make it on time. kendis? >> josh letterman at the white house. thank you. now to decision 2020 and senator kamela harris applauding joe biden for his move in her

first sitdown. she talked about a number of things including being the first black woman to take up this role. >> joe biden had the audacity to choose a black woman to be his running mate. how incredible is that and what a statement about joe biden that he decided that he was going to do that thing that was about breaking one of the most substantial barriers that has existed in our country and that he made that decision with whatever risk that brings. >> all right. joining us right now, the former press secretary for the house, democratic policy and communications committee. rochelle, thank you for being there. you hear senator harris right there. of course, she's going to praise what she calls the audacity of joe biden for making that decision right there. put it in contact. we're what? five days in front of that decision having been announced.

how has it kind of made its way through the country since then? >> well, look. i think there certainly is a californ kamalla wave. now they're going to have to team up and present their plan especially when it comes to the coronavirus because it seems like we're going to be heading into 2021 with this pandemic still on our backs, so i'm really interested to see how they're going to come together and build a plan that really does reopen america safely, whether it's returning to school, whether it's people returning to work and being able to travel. that's very important to the american people right now, and i think that is something that whether you are a democrat, republican, independent, no party affiliation at all, i

think that's something everybody can get behind because we're all impacted by that. >> and president trump has been asked to give his response or reaction to it. here's a clip. >> do you have an issue with a strong woman of color being in this presidential race? >> none whatsoever. >> you don't see her as a threat. >> none whatsoever. nope, not at all. >> he says, as you know. do you know in. >> no, you don't know. no, we don't know. we know that he has had a number of issues with african-american women whether it was congresswoman maxine water, kamela harris, calling black women nasty, disrespectful, republicans making fun of maxine waters' hair. yeah, of course, that's what he's going to say there. but the thing about donald trump is he never really blatantly comes out and says black people are this, black people are that. hi has very indirect closet

racism rhetoric that we all hear. we all hear the bullhorn of it. i'm not too concerned and i don't trust anything that donald trump has to say about kamela harris at all. >> i do want you, though, to listen to barack obama talk a little bit more about the selection of senator harris. >> he is not afraid of or intimidated by strong people who have strong opinions. welcomes debate and he welcomes people who can bring something to the table that he may not have. >> you know, barack obama has been a fan of senator harris for several years now. they're both speaking on the same night at the dnc this week, this wednesday. what sort of tone do you get -- or message, rather, that he'll try to get across? >> well, look. he's going have her back. we've already seen that from her tweets.

president obama is absolutely right. kamela harris is a person who stands up for what she believes in. she actually stood up to barack obama, i believe it was in 2010, when he wanted her to settle a national lawsuit against mortgage lenders. he wanted her to settle it for $5 billion and she told president obama no and she went forward and ended up settling for $20 billion for california homeowners. i think kamala harris, people have come after her prosecutorial record, and i think this is very important to say. one thing she knows how to do, she knows how to get elected. she was elected as district attorney, attorney general, elected to the senate. and when she was elected torn general, she had a platform called open justice where she held police accountable for their behavior. it was a database where you could see injuries caused by police or death caused by police. when i worked for an attorney in

baltimore, they aimed to follow kamela harris. we know african-american men are more likely to be reincarcerated and this program kamela harris had was to address that and make sure their records could be sealed or expunged once they completed this program. so that allowed the opportunity for jobs, loans, the ability to vote, all of those things. so i think people really need to do their homework before they open their mouth. >> you certainly did. enjoy this rest of your saturday. msnbc will have special live coverage with rachel maddow, joy reid, nicolle wallace, and brian williams. back to school changes. why one state is shifting gears on whether students should start the year in the classroom. plus, the one kind of face

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coronavirus headlines this morni morning, a stark new forecast from the cdc predicting the u.s. death toll could reach 200,000 by labor day, just in a few weeks. as of this morning, nearly 170,000 americans have died. we learned the u.s. canadian border will remain closed for at least another month. canada extended the ban for non-essential travel until september 21st. well, talk about a big about-face on face masks. the "atlanta journal-constitution" reports that governor brian kemp is going to sign an executive order allowing some places to impose a mask mandate. this is the same governor who sued personally mayor keisha

lance bottoms to block her and her mask mandate. the new order will allow cities to impose a mandate if they meet health-related metric. to new jersey where governor murphy says the state has an express desire to open schools for in-person lesson, but -- and there is a but. we'll go to nbc's cori coffin for more on this. she's in elizabeth, new jersey. >> good morning. i'll talk about the overarching news and what it means. it is a pretty major development, i'll call it. not necessarily a role reversal but major development, the governor originally saying he wants all 2,500 schools to reopen with in-person classes after pushback from several districts and teachers unions. he has decided virtual learning for some districts will be

allowed. they can prove they don't have proper ppe and enough supplies. they don't have the adequate ventilation that's needed, that sort of thing. now, here in elizabeth, 375 teachers applied for that virtual learning. they themselves qualify because they might have somebody in the household who is at risk or they themselves are at risk, and so the entire district here in elizabeth is going to be going virtual because they don't have enough teachers to do in-person learning. i spoke with three teachers who are going to be part of the virtual learning this coming fall semester. they gave me their perspective not only on what they need here to properly and safely reopen schools but what has been happening nationally and watching the fight over schools reopening as covid cases rise nationally. take a listen on what they had to tell me. >> i felt like they were totally disregarding our roles as

educators and i felt like they were looking like we were exp d expendab expendable. >> we need the funding to put these things in place that we would happily come back to our schools and do it, but unfortunately the districts don't have the funding they need to ensure we can open school buildings. >> when we're ready to go to an indoor restaurant, ready to see a concert, then we can attend school in person. >> that's the thank that put it in sper speck active. the teachers told me if one person is infected, not only does the teach very to quarantine and all of the students but all of the people the teachers have come in contact with. you can see how it could be affected by one or two covid cases. all of this coming as the backdrop of florida, the judge there considering whether or not to allow schools to reopen in

the fall in person as governor ron desantis wants in that state. so this development here appears to be sort of a middleman giving the teachers some virtual learning that they have been requesting as well as offering in-person classes as soon as schools can make that happen versus that fight in florida that continues. of course, we'll follow all of these developments. of course, we'll send it back to you, kendis. >> we'll check back in a moment. joining me now is a senior scholar at johns hopkins center for health security. doctor, thanks for being here. you heard cori talking about what the school systems in new jersey are doing. of course, new york says they're fine with having in-person classes. what do you think is right? >> what's right is what's given in a kbhumt. where cases are rising and

percent positive is high, you have to look at the standpoint. you're going to get cases that come to your skoochlt you're going to have much disruption like we're seeing where the outbreak is out of control. but you may also, if you have the outbreak under control, do it safely. but it is a matter of fact you're going to get cases even where it's controlled. this is a virus we're going to contend with for some time. schools have to put resources into place to keep everyone safe and put into place a plan when there's an exposure at the school. >> meantime you have dr. fauci who believes normalcy will return by the end of 2021 when there's a vaccine. do you agree with this timeline? >> i do think it's going to take

some time for the normalcy to return. it's going to take a long time to get the vaccine from phase 3 chin carolina cal trials and priority groups. so it may take the span of other a year to get us back to normal, and i do think people are going to get used to the change, social distancing and masking. our new normal is going to be a lot different than it was in 2019. this something we're going to be contending with for some time. that's why it's important when it comes to schools and things that we have to consider this. >> there were guidelines issued earlier this month that a person who has recovered from covid is safe for likely three months. you've studied this for some

time. what do you make of this. >> i would say when people are infected, they develop an immunity that will last for a period of several months. based on what we know with others with coronavirus since 2019. we don't know how sterilizing it is. i think there's a period of time where you won't be infected, but you shouldn't let your guard down if you are infected. >> doctor, one more thing specifically about a mask. there was research showing that wearing a neck gator may be worse than no mask at all. why is that? >> not all masks are creating equal and you shouldn't just be

wearing a mask to check a box. certain types of gaiters take the droplets from your mouth and spread them. that's not a mask you should be wearing. the same goes for the one-way valve masks where your hair is exhaled. that's why i like face shields. it's really important to keep an eye on this data as we learn more about which masks are effective and which ones might have secondary consequences that are knellive. >> so you wrerecommend a face shield and mask? >> there's a lot of data coming out deciding whether you need to

wear a face mask with a face shield. some think a face shield is enough. it also gives you eye protection and they're easy to waefrm everybody wears them correctly. you don't touch your face. whether or not you need to wear a face mask remains an open question. >> dr. adalja, thank you. i appreciate. it what is holding up the covid bill? the exact sticking points next. l the exact sticking points next ♪ perfect. -you're welcome. i love it. how'd you do all this? told ya! wayfair. let's talk dining tables. yes! blow it up. ♪ wayfair you've got just what i need ♪

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some people in chicago, protesters plan to shut down a major express way. police are adding a thousand officers downtown. they're trying to prevent another weekend of looting and unrest in places like the magnificent mile. police say hundreds of windows were smashed and storrs robbed last sunday night and monday morning after a police-involved shooting, which led to some

demonstrations there downtown. chicago police are working with the fbi and have arrested more than 100 people. they're still searching for others. we'll have live coverage a little later on today on msnbc. now to capitol hill where coronavirus relief negotiations have hit a wall and democrats and republicans are blaming each other as talks show no signs of progress and now a new sign it will remain in place. the senate adjourned leaving washington through labor day. >> republicans have been waiting and trying to pass bipartisan relief literally for weeks. i would hope our democratic colleagues would let the senate act sometime soon. >> it's no wonder we have a vast difference because this administration and the republicans in congress have never understood the gravity of the situation. for months and even until now.

>> joining me right now is nicholas wu. he's a congressional reporter for "usa today." good morning. >> the price tag is different. the democrats' plan is over $3 billion. the republican's plan is over $1 billion. democrats want to throw funds and republicans call it a slush fund. thirdly and more of a flashpoint is funding for the postal service. president trump said he might actually oppose funding to boost the post office and also assist states with mail-in voting going into november. >> and how likely is it that these new negotiations could actually remain stalled through

the next month? they recess for an entire three weeks to a month. so could anything be done sooner at this point? >> all of the members are on short notice to come back to washington if they really need to, but the thing is the senate is out until after labor day, and so is the house. i was talking to a senator yesterday who said at the beginning of the week he was sort of optimistic about a deal, but after seeing all of the b bickering and partisanship made him completely pessimistic that there would be any kind of deal before labor day. >> also, do you feel the president is in line with the republican lawmakers right now when it comes to what their priorities are with the deal? >> that's a little bit unclear. republican lawmakers have literally said the sticking point for them is the state and local funding. president trump on the other hand has talked more about the post office funding lately as an

obstacle to a deal. so that, of course, is divergence between the white house and congress will make it a little bit harder. even republicans within their own caucus to make a deal. >> the president made a big deal about all the executive actions he was going to take. he held a press event on friday to announce he would be doing executive action and then on saturday he held the signing ceremony. so it's been a week, and are we getting any sense yet if those executive orders will have any impact on many americans who are hoping for extra boosts to their bank account? >> probably not any time soon unfortunately. you know, the order for unemployment insurance, for example, was something that experts said could take months to implement because you would have to start a whole new

system. not to mention that some states might not -- [ indiscernible ] would not be contributing any money under the executive order. this comes as unemployment claims remain high. a little bit under a million people filed for unemployment claims this past week, not to mention the sheer scale of the layoffs that we've seen over the past several months that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the united states. >> nicholas wu with "usa today." thank you. a break through for the middle east, and why is it so controversial. and why is it so controversial. second chances. but a subaru can. (dad) you guys ok? (vo) eyesight with pre-collision braking. standard on the subaru ascent. the three-row subaru ascent. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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the chinese owners of the app tiktok have 90 days to remove themselves. bytedance denies claims and says that it's spent nearly a year to try to address concerns. tiktok which allows users to create and impose short form videos has more than 100 million users in this country. microsoft is in talks to by parts of that app. mixed reaction in the deal between israel and the united emirates. israel has agreed to suspend its

plans to annex the west bank. why is th matt bradley is in london with more. >> everybody is happy with this 35 feet up when it comes to european leaders, american leaders, even other middle eastern leaders for the most part have praised this and said it's a major advancement toward peace. we can't diminish the impact here. this is a very important arrangement and accomplishment for president trump heading into the election. the deal is very controversial for some countries and groups. the palestinians, first of all, they're the ones who have really been largely left out of this deal. if you read the united arab emirates about this, they didn't mention the palestinians about this until the very end. they have repeat lid said they weren't even consult on.

this let's think about what this deal actually does for the palestinians. the answer is nothing. all it does is avert the threat to annex as much as 30% of the west bank. so all this deal does really for the palestinians is avert a disaster. that's why for many people in the palestinian camp, they see this as something like blackmail. israel created the threat of possibly annexing the west bank and sus spejd it and in doing so, awarded themselves a new friend in the region which is, of course, one of the main things israel has been trying to do in the past several generations this. is a warmup to its neighbors and create a peaceful situation around itself. this would be the first time where they have diplomatic relations with israel and that could open up an entirely new channel of diplomacy for israel.

they can now start to warm up to other gulf states, and, again, it's not that these countries have ever been at war with israel. there's never been a war between israel and any of the other gulf states but it goes to show these small but influential countries can change things for the entire region. turkey was very much upset with this that. ire considering suspending diplomatic relations. that seems more like bluster. it's very unlikely because, of course, turkey has had diplomatic relations with israel since 1949. it would be very hippocratic. now, the other is iran. iran has come out today. they're firmly rejecting the deal. their president and the islamic republican national guard, they said that this deal is basically selling out.

it's a betrayal by the united arab emirates. but let's look at the sub text here as well, kendis. this deal is in part due to iran's expanding alliance in the region. they're creating security arrangements with israel in order to confront iran. of course, iran is going to be upset with this. that's why the other countries may fall in line with the uae and create their own diplomatic relations with israel. it's a complicated issue, but it will result in peace. >> you broke it down smoothly, matt. >> completely iced out. >> and it involved security and their own land. nbc's matt bradley. thank you, appreciate it. hard lessons, dilemmas facing families if their children cannot return to the classroom this fall. en cannot r classroom this fall.

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it's like a dream to go to division 1 school. you can't do it. you have to find a plan b. >> i'm feel like we're the political pawns in this game of chess to put it lightly. >> those are players and coaches there in beaver falls, pennsylvania, in the western part of the state. and the big question there, will football return under the friday night lights this fall. governor tom wolf called to postpone all school sports for this year, but there are some fighting back. back to my co-anchor cori coffin who's in new jersey with more of the challenges that schools are facing. and, cori, because so many schools are facing virtual this fall, some parents are working to pay the bills while keeping their kids' education on track. >> yeah. it's a huge burden. how do you continue to do that if you're an essential worker but you have kids at home.

nbc's stephanie ruhle takes a look at what families are facing coast to coast and what it means. >> reporter: the mull lynn family started 2020 on shaky ground. >> we were thinking literally where are we going to live if we cannot continue to pay our bills. >> reporter: but things began looking up this spring when chris, an air force combat veteran who served in iraq and afghanistan finally secured a job with an irrigation company. they were finally out of debt. >> we cannot necessarily make the choice that one of us is going to have to leave our jobs to bible to help with our son during the day. >> reporter: their 6-year-old briton must start school at home in texas. >> i feel like i'm spread so thin. >> reporter: the mullins says 85% of their income goes to bills.

they fear the cost of child care. they say if he has to stay at home, they won't survive. >> we've honestly strived to cut what we can, cable internet, our insurance, our groceries, even our health insurance. >> reporter: now millions of parents nationwide areboat. in an nbc news survey, 45% of families had to reevaluate budgets for at-home learning. they or a spouse had to change work hours. financial stability has been affected. natasha, a mom of a 6, 7 and 11-year-old. >> what is the number one thick on your mind right now? >> finances. my children. >> reporter: kendra said she overcame years of hardship. if her kids have to learn at home, it will destroy all her progress. >> i'll quit. >> you won't be able to collect unemployment. how scary is this? >> very scary. they will need a roof over their

head and food on the table. >> when you hear there are jobs out there. >> i don't want to stay home. if i have to for the sake of my kids? i will. >> that was stephanie ruhle reporting. on the attack. how opponents are slinging conspiracy theories at kamala harris and what she's doing in response. later this morning on "am joy" tiffany cross is in the chair for cross talk. she will talk with erin haines on the interview with kamala harris and somebody neighborhood joy reid. she will be back on "a.m. joy." . so when they got a little surprise... two!? ...they didn't panic. they got a bigger car for their soon-to-be-bigger family. after shopping around for insurance, they called usaa - who helped find the right coverage for them

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concerns over covid-19 will darken this year's tribute at ground zero. officials cancelling the display for the concern of the 40 people close together to set up the lights. instead, buildings across the city will light up in blue to honor the victims of 9/11. controversy in central florida after a sheriff banned the deputies from wearing masks. we have chris pollone with the details. good morning, chris. >> reporter: kendis, good morning. we covered instances across the country where sheriffs or police

chiefs would not enforce mask mandates. this is a first time that the sheriff says employees are banned from wearing masks. that is what happened in marion county, florida. the county see is ocala. earlier this week, sheriff billy woods said none of his 900 employees is allowed to wear masks on duty. except for the jail or courthouse or school or hospital or nursing home. the sheriff was insistent that the deputies were not allowed to wear masks. we asked for an interview. he is not speaking. he said he would not interview with msnbc. he ghave insight with the email to employees saying for as many experts who say mask wearing should take place, he can find just as many experts who say

that they shouldn't. health experts we talked to would debate that mask wearing is effective in stopping coronavirus. the sheriff was insistent that anytime his deputies are out on patrol, they are not to be wearing masks. if anybody tries to argue with deputies or berate them, they are to say they are not allowed to wear a mask by the sheriff and will not do so and instructed to walk away and let the sheriff deal with it. also, another controversial move originally. the sheriff said anybody who came into the sheriff's office to sit in the lobby and have business taken care of had to remove their masks once they entered the lobby. the local newspaper here is reporting that it has softened a little bit. people have to take off the mask so a security camera can see their face and they can put it back on. kendis, it is certainly a different situation here after the city of ocala passed a mask

ordinance requiring all businesses enforce mask wearing inside the city limits of ocala. the sheriff will not go along with that. >> this is a county, chris, still dealing with a number of rising covid-19 cases there. >> reporter: sure. the state of florida this week has set new records for the number of deaths here in marion county. they had about 111 deaths. several not the highest or not a hot spot compared to other parts of florida. they have more than 700 cases. earlier this week, the state reported the highest number of cases in the jail alone with 40 employees contract coronavirus. 200 inmates. local media reported that a nurse who worked in the jail passed away from covid-19. it still is a problem here as this controversial rages on. >> we can only hope that sheriff starts taking it a little more seriously. chris pollone live in north

central, florida. thank you, chris. i appreciate it. all right. here are the top of the hour. first up on msnbc, an urgent warning from the u.s. postal service. the november vote is potentially at risk. >> i'm just concerned if i mail it that it will get lost in the system and never get there. >> i like the old way with the machines. nothing connected to the internet. it is happening. biden and harris sign on the dotted line with two days to go before the start of the democratic national convention. the state was late to shutdown and first to reopen. now there's a big shift in the works about wearing masks in georgia. you won't believe who is now saying you are allowed to wear a mask in georgia. good morning, everyone. it is saturday, august 15th. i'm kendis gibson live from

msnbc headquarters in new york city. if you look hard enough, there's a new tropical storm formed far off the atlantic there. it will not impact the u.s. at all. just a fish storm. the democratic national convention, as you know, is two days away and historic one will be because as a zoom meeting. joe biden and kamala harris are riding high in the wave of their new ticket. the pair signing the paper work to receive the democratic nomination for president and vice president next week. >> we're going to be signing our request to get on the ballot in each of the states. we will start off by signing in delaware and the senator will sign in california. then you guys will get to the work and get all the states and territories. >> senator harris praising joe biden for choosing her in the first