♪ and hello, everyone i'm richard lui here at msnbc headquarters in new york city. we'll start the hour with president trump who is in bed minister, new jersey, today, where he's expected to give a press conference just one hour from now. the president is currently locked in the battle over the u.s. postal service as many put it, he said the quiet part

outloud. he opposes additional funding because it could be used for mail-in voting. but it's this letter. it was sent to several states yesterday by the postal service. some say it hits voter suppression in november. letter warns the agency cannot guarantee all ballots can arrive in time to be counted. the changes that led to a slow down were implemented by president trump's louis dejoy. he has also been a major donor and ally to the president. then there's these photos. this photo this week mailboxes being removed across the country. this is oregon. a truckload of them being hauled away. protesters arrived at the postmaster dejoy's house today.

meanwhile, president trump is seeking to undermine the legitimacy of his 2020 election rival pick for running mate kamala harris giving a voice to false claims about her right to even be on the democratic ticket. we're going to cover all that. but for more let's bring in josh ledderman, who is at the white house today for us. dee pa shiv ron, the biden campaign. josh, let's start with you on this. as the back and forth goes on and we see the protests today in front of the postmaster's very house and the headlines across the country, what is the latest in terms of the president and what he's doing with usps? >> reporter: well, richard, this issue about the postal service has been bubbling to the surface in the last few weeks amid the broader fight over mail-in voting ahead of the election. but now it's really been thrust into crisis mode by several of these developments that have converged all at once. you have the president's open comments about not wanting more funding to the postal service, specifically because of mail-in

voting. you have those letters you were just mentioning from the postal service warning states, ballots might not be processed in time. and now you have the inspector general of the usps saying they are also going to take a close look at these cutbacks that the postmaster general, this long-time republican donor has been putting in place that's leading to a lot of these delays. but richard, as the white house and democrats try to come to some type of a compromise that could potentially include some funding for the post office, the president has been moving the goal posts as far as what he would actually be willing to support. we heard his staunch opposition to providing more funding for the postal service, but then only a day later in a news conference he seemed to change his tune. take a listen. >> would you be willing to accept the $25 billion for the postal service including the $3.5 billion -- >> sure. if they give us what we want. it's not what i want, it's what the american people wants.

>> reporter: now the president suggesting it might be a bargaining chip in negotiations if democrats get what they want if the president gets what he wants. as far as those negotiations, which we should point out are not just about these critical election and post office funding issues, they're also covid relief, a lot of which expired and needs to be extended. we had a glimmer of sign of activity today in those talks when we learned that the white house chief of staff mark meadows has been meeting with the group of bipartisan lawmakers, members of a group known as the problem solvers caucus. they had a meeting yesterday to see if they could try to make some progress in the absence of any progress in those meetings at the top level between democratic leaders in the white house. we don't know how much they yielded from that, but it's really the first sign of movement we've seen toward any kind of a compromise in quite some time. >> josh at the white house for us. let's go over to you deepa. this is also today in terms of what we're talking about the issue of the president this week

bringing up the idea of birtherism again. and this has not sat well with most on the right and some on the -- excuse me most on the left and some on the right. >> reporter: >> that's right, richard. we saw within 48 hours this conversation around birtherism coming up again. i want to be really clear, whatever president trump is saying about kamala harris not being viable about is racist and xenophobic. she was born in oakland, california, which makes her eligible to be vice president and president of the united states. we have seen the biden campaign respond to his remarks, calling them grotesque and racist. we haven't heard kamala harris herself speak on this. she was asked yesterday when they were doing their signing by a reporter whether she would respond and what her response was to those attacks. she kind of pivoted her answer in talking about supporting joe biden. this is not something that she has spoken on specifically. i will point out, though, kamala harris has been running for

office since 2003. and she's been the first in many of her roles as d.a., as attorney general, and obviously now as this historic barrier breaking moment as biden's vice presidential pick some of these remarks are things she talked about as experiencing in her career and in her life. so, as we kind of move forward on the conversation in context it is important to keep in mind that this is not the first time that kamala harris is experiencing racism in a political sphere. richard? >> josh, while we got you, we're expecting a news conference on the president. what are we hearing in terms of what he might be saying? >> reporter: the white house made a concerted effort, richard, to put the president out front in public on a daily basis on coronavirus. they see the poll numbers suggesting that his biggest liability heading into this re-election is the fact that americans don't frankly think he's doing a good job responding to the pandemic. so they've been doing these briefings. they're supposed to focus on coronavirus. usually the president comes out and gives some statistics about either the virus or the economy or both that he feels are

positive. but as we know it's an opportunity to ask questions. nbc's kelly o'donnell and other journalists will be there and he's likely have to talk about mail-in voting and other issues potentially even senator kamala harris. >> that will happen at 5:00 p.m. we'll get to it on msnbc when it happens. i want to bring in our panel, jonathan allen, digital senior political analyst, susan page. jonathan, when we look at what congress might do regarding the united states postal service, what are some of the options here? they're not in town right now. should they be back? >> well, the options are waiting because, as you point out, they're not back. looks like nothing is going to happen until after labor day unless they were to rush back. the other issue here, richard, is that there's not a lot of incentive. if you look at the various incentives of the players the senate republicans are divided. there's not anything that anyone put on the table that looks like

it could pass the united states senate with majority of senator republican votes. house democrats believe that they have political advantage here. they believe that the republicans look, you know, basically like they lack compassion on some of these issues on employment benefits and some of the rest. and the president of the united states looks like -- feels like he looks like he can be decisive with the executive orders and that's why we saw this entire process fall apart around the larger coronavirus relief package. as far as the postal service goes, there's options. more money or not more money. and for the president, you know, he's sort of in this position now where he can play both sides of it. we've seen him play both sides of it. i think the big question for congress right now is even if they were to appropriate more money for the postal service, whether the president would spend that money? we have seen him hold back money before. >> susan, we were showing some of the pictures coming out of oregon, you see mailboxes being removed.

we now have the issue of funding. are we going to have to wait here until the end of september when congress does have to make a decision about keeping the government open before they somehow forge the deal here? >> well, it's possible that that's the moment where things come together because, as you know, we'll face a government shutdown on top of everything else if they can't agree on appropriation measures by the end of september. but i do think there's a deal that could be made. the question is whether the two sides see -- nancy pelosi said the democrats would come off their $3 trillion figure from the measure they passed and may come down a trillion dollars if the administration and republicans would come up a trillion dollars. republicans have been not interested in doing that. it's hard for me to see why democrats would agree to a stand alone post office bill when this gives them leverage on a series of other things that they also think are important including aid to state and local governments, one of the real

sticking points. >> susan, when you hear the president make the comments he has about the united states postal service and confidence in mail-in voting, and we see these pictures, one has to say putting it in context historically here, where are we? >> and he's on this issue at odds with the american public. we know from a poll this year, nine out of ten americans have faith in the u.s. postal service. this is at a time when americans have very little faith in most other institutions, governmental and private. the post office is the fundamental government service that is delivering prescriptions to veterans. it's the lifeline for a lot of small businesses. and we are hearing increasing complaints from americans that their mail service already is encountering real problems and delays. they haven't seen before. and this could have huge repercussions in an election being held during a pandemic. >> and the american people are watching here, jonathan, as we

were listening to the president. he said, well, this is what americans want, right? and i was just reading through politico today and they gathered all the headlines from papers across the country. and the headlines are all about the postal service. this one from the san diego union tribune, postal service warns states it may not meet mail-in ballots deadline. not assured by november 3rd elections. the list goes on and on and on and on. what do americans want? >> richard, i mean, let's start with what the president wants. what the president is doing here is calculating that more democrats will be voting by mail-in in pure numbers than republicans. at least it seems that he's making that calculation. and so there's short-term political benefit for him in trying to deny that on cutting down on the postal service. on a substantive level and susan makes an excellent point there about 90% of people having faith in the postal service and all the needs, prescription drugs

for all sorts of people, small businesses, but even more to that point, the people who need the postal service the most are people in rural areas. right? >> yeah. >> the postal service is that last mile, the one that amazon isn't going, the one that various other carriers aren't necessarily going. and so, the president is actually hurting his own base if he cuts down on the postal service. as far as what the american people want, what they want is for their packages to arrive. and they count on the postal service and believe in the postal service, it was written into the constitution it's been reliable for the entirety of -- we all know the saying about snow and sleet and freezing rain. >> yeah. >> it's been reliable for the entirety of our nation's history. and that is unlikely to change because the president is knocking it on a regular basis. at least in the short-term. >> also in the week that we get to reflect on here, susan, is the president's comments about kamala harris and as deepa was

very clear to say, this is very racially charged. it is prejudiced. it is all the things that we don't want to hear again in his intu nation about kamala harris. >> you know, one thing that struck me about that issue erupting again is the change i've seen by the news media since the birtherism issue was first raised against barack obama. and at that time there was a debate in news rooms including my own about whether you should cover that or did you just give oxygen to something that was not true. what we discovered is it got kfr covered it. now you see much more aggressive news coverage saying this is not true, this is false. pointing out the racial overtones in raising it. that is one of the real differences i think you've seen in the space of about a decade. >> we heard some voices here, jonathan, from the right that are against what is happening with the united states postal service. any voices from the right about

the comment that he made regarding kamala harris. >> absolutely. doug hyde, republican strategist who worked with michael steel and eric canter and richard bur in the senate, he wrote a piece on cnn just yesterday, i believe, on their website. sorry to mention the competitor there, but he wrote a piece for them saying that republicans need to drop this stuff. look, the idea that kamala harris wouldn't be eligible is absurd. and you know, reeks of insanity. i mean, it's like a grandfather clause or something. reverse grandfather clause. you've got donald trump's -- one of his parents immigrated to the united states and the other one on the other side it was his grandfather that immigrated to the united states. we're a nation of immigrants. and, you know, as far as the

constitution goes, kamala harris is born in the united states. there are some who would argue that it's a much more expansive interpretation when you talk about a natural-born citizen. but certainly you really have to dig deep to find anybody who would van interpretation that if you're born in this country you wouldn't be eligible and really absurd that anybody would have to address that, much less a president of the united states. >> flabbergasting, is it not. thank you so much. still ahead for you, she's energized the base. we were just talking about her, kamala harris. will she drive turn-out in key swing states. but first, judy chu joins me on senator harris's ground-breaking bid as the first southeastern woman on a major party ticket. southeastern woman on a major party ticket what getting fueled with three energy packed proteins feels like. meat! cheese! and nuts! p3. because 3 is better than 1

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she is not only the first african-american woman to be nominated on a major party ticket, she is also the first asian american woman on such a ticket and the biden/harris campaign is stepping up engagement with asian american voters in the lead up to november. joining us now judy chu of california chair of the congressional asian pacific american caucus. great to see you here, representative. what's your first response here. you also being asian american, but she is the first asian american to be included in a major party's presidential ticket. >> i was so excited when i heard about the choice of kamala harris to the presidential ticket. to think of how history has been made by this choice, she is the first black woman to be ever on a presidential ticket. but the very first asian american and the signal that sends to voters all across this country is just enormous. and especially to asian american

voters. >> let's talk about asian american voters. what does this mean in terms of activating them, energizing them and of course you're the campaign manager for joe biden, you're thinking about swing states here. >> that is right. actually the power and potential of the aapi vote is tremendous. asian americans are the fastest growing racial ethnic group in the u.s. electorate. the number of aapi registered votes have doubled in the last two decades. and a recent report came out that said that more than 11 million aapi's will be able to vote this year making up nearly 5% of the nation's eligible voters. and we can be the swing vote in the swing states indeed. aapis were the swing vote for hillary clinton in 2016. in nevada aapis were 9% of the population but 69% voted for

clinton. in virginia aapis were 5% but 81% voted for clinton. and so if those votes are concentrated and activated, they can truly make a difference in the outcome of this race. >> when you talk about a swing vote, traditionally, and i mean traditionally meaning the last ten, 15 years maybe and you've watched it too, here, representative. and that is that the asian american pacific islander vote has largely been called the one that is very up for grabs. but recently it's been going democratic and just like the african-american vote it's not necessarily joe biden's to have. he's got to earn it as it has been said. is that also true for the asian-american vote? >> that is such a good question. you're right aapis have been voting democrat for the last few elections. in fact, in 2018 77% aapis voted democratic. one significant thing about the

electorate is they have a higher proportion of those who don't identify with any party. yes, there are more of us that are democrat than republican, but there are those aapis just really haven't affiliated. and as a result, that vote is up for grabs. in fact, there are so many that haven't been contacted by either party. so they need to have that contact. they need to have it especially in their own language because one third of aapis are limited english proficient. that contact will pay off. >> that's something she knows well having run in california, which has the largest number of asian-american pacific islanders and that one group comprising of 50 plus different origin countries, 100 plus languages in kind, in language is so important. speaking of which they just came out the biden/harris ticket with an ad that was also bilingual including spanish. that was the other language that just came out.

that's an important question because for your state here, representative, should kamala harris become the next vice president, that means the governor from your state gets to select a senator to sit in her spot and that could be the first latino american senator from the great state of california. >> that is right. we have all kinds of opportunity to make our government look like america. and that means having greater diversity at all levels, not only as vice president but also in our u.s. senate. and there are so many needs. we are proud of the fact that we hardly had any asian-americans that were in congress. now we have 20 asian-americans that are members of congress. we're very proud of that. >> you certainly done well from that seat there at the asian-american caucus k pac. so thank you so much representative for your

perspective on kamala harris. have a good one. >> thank you so much. >> you bet you. still ahead from socially distanced desks to sanitizer stations details how officials at one school welcomed students back to class safely. joe biden's selection of senator kamala harris excited the democratic base, as you just heard, but can she help him capture voters in the battleground states. in the battleground states. like screening for colon cancer. because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. cologuard is noninvasive and detects altered dna in your stool... ...to find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. so, don't wait to screen. ask your prescriber or an online prescriber if cologuard is right for you.

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now in just about one hour president trump will hold a press conference at his private golf club in bed minister, new jersey. we'll bring that to you live when that does happen. stick with us right here on msnbc for that. now, while joe biden continues to have a significant lead in most national polling, it still remains to be seen how kamala harris's addition to the democratic ticket will impact the race. biden campaign is banking on her ability to help them in swing states as they plan to deploy the u.s. senator from the california to the battleground territories to connect with

young activists, suburban women and black voters. groups who support for biden is solid but far from guaranteed as have been said. now, states like florida, harris is reportedly electrifying west indian voters giving biden a new edge in a battleground state where elections have often decided by less than 1 percentage point. while in texas, which has been red since 1976 state democrats see harris as someone who can excite key voting groups without alienating more moderate voters. we spoke to voters in crucial states to see what they make of harris as biden's vp pick. >> having somebody who is from the west who understands a day to day issues of immigrants, of latino, of people of color, is so, so important. >> for me it makes sense to bring people together, is really what should be happening right now. we should have a more diverse lineup of politicians doing the work for us. we're not all old white men. >> we're telling the world that

it's more about capability than it is about skin color. it's more about your ability to get things done than it is about skin color or being a woman. >> now tomorrow you can expect that release of new nbc news polling. we'll bring you the latest figures from that regarding how the harris announcement has been received by voters so far. so, don't miss that. meanwhile, president trump has waste nod time launching attacks on kamala harris, looking to her role in the confirmation hearings of now supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. >> and now you have a sort of a mad woman, i call her, because she was so angry and so -- such hatred with justice kavanaugh. she was the angriest of the group and they were all angry. they were all radical left angry people. >> well, didn't stop there. trump encouraging a racist conspiracy theory over harris's

eligibility to be vice president. harris, for the record, was born in california. and does meet all necessary requirements to become the vice president of the united states. but harris has come out with her own jabs against the president. wednesday during her first press conference since being named biden's running mate, harris slammed trump's track record in the oval office. >> the case against donald trump and mike pence is open and shut. just look where they've gotten us. >> well, joining us now elena beverly, lani chen. elena, you listen to the words being used, angry woman and then then that she's not eligible to

become the vice president of the united states. we're hearing very similar racist tropes coming out of a position that we don't expect to hear it from. >> that's right, richard. i would suggest that we do expect to hear it from donald trump. we expect that he is going to try to attack senator kamala harris with both sexist and racist tropes. that he has a long history of his own misogamy and he hasn't been able to land a blow on joe biden. so he's going to try now to attack kamala harris. but look, usually people say that the vice presidential pick does not affect the presidential ticket. well, there's nothing typical about 2020 and there's nothing typical about senator kamala harris. she is electrifying the ticket. she is bringing not only the historic nature of her selection but also a sense of unity that the nation is so hungry for right now.

she has flexed joe biden's value which is are values in the 250i7s of leadership that are consistent, that are compassionate and that are really reflecting the needs of people in this moment. she prosecuted the case against donald trump so well in her roll-out speech explaining all the ways he failed this country in handling of the covid crisis. she herself has rolled out, introduced bills to address the economic impacts and harms of the covid crisis and trying to put people in their homes to prevent evictions. so i think that you're seeing that people across the country nationwide are really enthusiastic about this ticket. not just across the country, but specifically in those battleground states that you mentioned, states like pennsylvania and wisconsin and michigan. >> and we'll get to that shortly. reflect on what alaina is saying here. because if you're thinking that this is a calculated move, as one option, or this is a

desperate move the president is not sure how to handle kamala harris, let's for a moment think that it is calculated. what does he get out of going after somebody like this? >> well, i think the goal, richard, is to put kamala harris and to put the democratic ticket into this box of being owned and operated by the far left. and i think you have seen this attack coming from donald trump and from republican surrogates for some time. the notion being that biden is giving into the sharper left wing instincts of the democratic party by picking someone whose record is arguably more progressive than his. the question will be to what extent that will land. it is obvious that is the attack that republicans have settled on in thinking about how to attack this ticket. that and the fact that this election really is about donald trump versus kamala harris. in other words, they are trying to frame joe biden essentially

as a shell into which this sort of far progressive left is going to live. again, the question is whether that will be effective or not. >> put on your campaign hats now. you both were a part of presidential campaigns on the opposite side. but you're friends today, at least at 4:35 p.m. eastern. alaina, for you, what do you think the choice of kamala harris gets biden? is he looking at the sun belt here as was said earlier because of the black vote as well as the latino vote? or is he really looking at the moderate mid western fire wall? >> he's leaving no voter on the table. i think -- so i think what's interesting and exciting about this ticket is that, yes, kamala harris helps to crystallize some important demographics for the democratic party. yes, women. yes, african-american voters. yes, as you mentioned in the previous segment the aapi vote

and my friends down in south florida. you don't win florida unless you win south florida. i'm thinking of the jamaican american, the haitian american. she galvanizes all that plus she also speaks to all of the pains that individuals are facing right now when it comes to covid, and that is a nationwide challenge. so, that's battleground states up north as well as those folks down south. so i think that she captures the imagination of the shifting demographic democratic party, yes, more people of color, also focussing in on legislating and also governing for the folks all across the country in the swing states like michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania. >> lanhee what does the choice tell you in terms of that sun belt versus midwest fire wall? >> i think it will be a divide and conquer strategy, richard. what you'll see is the vice president continuing at the top of the ticket to speak to swing voters, particularly in

michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, the former rust belt. and then it's going to allow kamala harris to focus on some of these developing states, arizona, florida, georgia and texas on the map. and it's going to allow them essentially to say on the one hand we're appealing to moderate voters who may have voted for donald trump even in 2016 but maybe disaffected. and at the same time having a message that is going to energize and mobilize progressive base voters because while i'm pretty sure most democrats are going to vote for joe biden any way, what kamala harris's selection allows for is a direct mobilization of that part of the electorate. joe biden absolutely needs if he is going to win and that will mobilize that base turnout which he is going to get with kamala harris. >> thank you so much for your expertise. a little peek into potentially why the biden campaign is moving this way. have a good saturday. what new data from the american academy of pediatrics tells us about the impact of

covid-19 on our kids. and inside one school districts effort to reopen safely, what other schools might learn from the measures they're taking. om the measures they're taking. alike and customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the story of black america is the story of america. it's the story of a people who have pushed this country to live up to its stated ideals. but black people have always believed in the promise of a better america. so, at this moment we're in now- we must choose to fight for that better america. and just like our ancestors who stood up to the violent racists of a generation ago, we will stand up to this president - and say 'no more'. because america is better than him.

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that learning will be fully online this fall. this past week, we talked to families, teachers and experts to find out whether this district and others like it are prepared for a future without in-person education. download now. ♪ ♪ well, right now parents and teachers across the country are preparing for the start of a very different school year. while many will be taking classes completely online this fall, school districts with in-person learning are using

these final days to figure out how to safely teach in a pandemic. nbc vicki nguyen has more on this for us. >> reporter: i'm here in front of pleasantville high school just outside of new york city. this district serves about 1,700 students kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. i got a chance to go inside to show you what they're doing to protects and teachers. it could be a preview of what's going to a school near you. >> what do you say to dad? >> bye. >> dropoff is different. >> good. 96.4. >> temperature checks and parents filling out a health questionnaire each morning. >> thank you so much. >> is your child exhibiting any symptoms of covid related. >> reporter: added safety measures to get back to school. >> good morning. >> reporter: important to karen and her daughter. >> the risk of her not having access to education outweighed the other risks.

>> reporter: the kids in this extended summer program are special needs students. >> let's pick another color. >> reporter: and as we saw, the face to face contact creates valuable learning moments. >> sometimes i speak spanish. >> you speak spanish. >> yeah, i do. >> hola. >> that's fantastic. >> i love math. math is my favorite subject. i don't like history. >> hi. welcome. we're entering into what is our k, 1 and 2 space at your high school. >> mary fox ator is the superintendent of the pleasantville school district. our cameras were allowed inside only after students left for the day. >> one of the big concerns is indoor air quality. what are you doing to address that? >> we installed state of the art ahu, air handling unit. so we have this wonderful system to bring in as much fresh air as possible and to remove the air

in the classroom. >> reporter: from socially distanced desks in each classroom to sanitizer stations the school also ordered portable sinks to help with hand washing. and after five months custodians finally received these 360 cleaning machines that disinfect classrooms. fox alter says the district prepare fod reopen under three scenarios. all students back in person. a hybrid schedule with some at-home learning and remote learning for all students. >> reporter: how did you plan for all the scenarios you could face in the fall. >> i have a district committee. we asked for volunteers from the medical community, teachers, parents. feedback is critically important to the work that we're doing right now. >> reporter: i sat down with a group of teachers for a candid conversation about returning to school. were any of you anxious about coming back to school. >> i wouldn't say anxious. we all kind of put our heads together with all of the information that was out there and came up with a plan. >> really that's the most important thing is making sure

everyone is safe and healthy. >> reporter: what were some of the biggest challenges in making sure your classroom was ready and lesson plans would be ready? >> i think it was is lesson plans we were able to do but it was more executing it was the challenge because we're very one on one, hands on. we do a lot of physical prompting with kids to redirect them. we often are very close with them. so we had to change our approach. >> i see you're wearing a shield, michelle. >> we're teaching kids letter sounds and how to read and start blending sounds together. my mouth and facial expressions are really important. >> what should kids and parents expect if they are lucky enough to come back in the fall. >> wearing their masks, washing their hands, developing a strong awareness of the their body and where they are in the proximity of other people. >> this is all uncharted water. just being ready for that. always kind of knowing at any moment it could change. >> as for the cost of all these changes, the district is dipping into savings created when all the schools closed early last

year. plus, they've set aside 20% of each department's budget for a covid-19 fund. >> all right. we wanted to show you vicki's story there because of the children. the number of covid-19 cases among children has increased by 90% in the past month. what those stunning figures might tell us about the danger posed to kids by the virus. k. if you look close... k. jamie, are there any interesting photos from your trip? ouch, okay. huh, boring, boring, you don't need to see that. oh, here we go. can you believe my client steig had never heard of a home and auto bundle or that renters could bundle? wait, you're a lawyer? only licensed in stockholm. what is happening? jamie: anyway, game show, kumite, cinderella story. you know karate? no, alan, i practice muay thai, completely different skillset. ♪ ♪ we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪

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and welcome back. across the nation children are heading back into the classrooms. in georgia, however, one of the last states to shut down and among the first to reopen, in-person learning is being scaled back after this photo of students in a packed hallway without masks went viral. 35 teachers and students later tested positive for coronavirus.

in research by the children's hop association and the american academy of pediatrics, new york city, alabama, texas, illinois have a growing number of children with the virus. here to cause this more, dr. irwin redliner, founding director for the national center of disaster preparedness. the big number that kale out of the report was the number of cases per 100,000 children. they said 446 cases for 100,000 children. as you know so well in the state of new yorks are for instance, those who are quarantined are those who come from states with a rate above 10 in 100,000. so help me understand this. this number seems huge. >> it is huge, richard. and the other thing to remember is that this was emphasized by redfield, dr. redfield, the head of the cdc, but that these are

cases that are actually confirmed by tests. the actual fact is that it may be ten times higher than that number, as high as it is. so we're dealing already with a wellspring of covid-19 infections that's enormous. i am very concerned that once school start opening across the country, allowing 55 to 56 million children in some form or another back in classrooms that we may be in for a very serious exacerbation of this crisis in america, not just among children but among communities in general, including those that look like they're in pretty good shape right now. we have a lot to be concerned about. i am worried about even the so-called precautions that schools are taking. i don't think they're quite sufficient, richard. >> we showed some of the numbers here, dr. redliner, of the fatalities so far, children as well as hospitalizations. one other question for you, the

cumulative percent of children of total cases is 8.8% of all cases. what do you make of that number coming from this research? >> i think the number is probably legitimate. i think, richard, the problem that all bets are off once kids go back to school. >> and that those numbers can increase over time. what are some of the states that you're watching right now when we're looking at where the states are in terms of where we're seeing more cases of children, it tends to be when i'm looking at the chart here in the sun belt, that's not unlike what we've been seeing, right, in the recent jump of cases, as well as the northwest. >> right. >> so i think the thing to remember, richard, is that these are snapshot and that could change dramatically in the coming weeks and months as schools begin to reopen. one of the things that people don't talk about enough with respect to this is the fact that

many of the classrooms are in fact situations where the ventilation systems are antiquated, not working and we need the ventilation, the recirculation of air to be really optimal. otherwise it's going to increase the chances we have big problems once kids are back in classrooms, even if it's only a couple days a week, richard. >> doctor, 30 seconds here. you're talking to a lot of different parents right now. what would you suggest they do? >> my preference would be, first of all, and i'm a grandparent of four children in the new york city public school system. this is a wrenching problem and challenge and i think that this is going to be the most controversial situation we've faced since the outbreak began, and i think we're dealing with a situation where we need kids back in school for their education and also to make sure our parents are able to go to work that need to go to work. and we're dealing with that against the probability that we'll have big outbreaks as a result of getting kids back to

school. so my recommendation is right now let's think about how we can optimize remote learning for children and i think it's a little premature to talk about putting children back in the classrooms, even if it's a randomized and limited schedule. >> difficult for all these parents out there, including grandparents like yourself. thank you so much, doctor. great to see you. that wraps it up for me. i'm richard lui. stick around for "politics nati nation." politics nati nation."

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there is still and rightfully a shared celebration by many black women and girls over the first nomination of a black woman, a woman of any color to the second highest office in the land. now comes the