hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. joe biden delivering a speech last night in which he promised to be an american president, representing all americans. even the ones who don't vote for him. that came as donald trump continued his campaign to deprive access to mail-in ballots out of fear that some might cast votes for his opponent. today, the fallout continues from donald trump's sustained public assault on mail-in voting. louis dejoy faced questions before the senate, forced to confirm that he won't bow to pressure from trump to sabotage the election. it's still very much in question with democrats investigating him, some who are expected to grill dejoy in a second meeting. those democrats may have found new and additional cause for concern in the rhetoric from the president in the hours leading

up to dejoy's testimony. donald trump escalating his routine attacks on the mail-in vote, and now adding a fresh line of attack on in-person voting, alleging that there's rampant fraud at polling places too, and vowing to send in a heavy law enforcement presence on election day. it's difficult to look at all of that from the president as anything other than his fear of losing and resorting to cheating to undermine the november contest. it may be at this point his best and only chance at squeaking out a victory in november. donald trump's fears may have been emboldened by joe biden's performance last night. biden delivering a surgical dissection of donald trump's record and legacy so far. and making his case for an alternative vision of what this country can be. it amounted to a full dismantling of donald trump's lines of attack against biden's fitness. not a gaffe or stumble in sight.

>> the current president has cloaked american darkness for much too long. too much anger. too much fear. too much division. here and now, i give you my word. if you entrust me with the presidency, i will draw on the best of us, not the worst. i'll be an ally of the light, not the darkness. this is our moment to make hope and history rhyme. with passion and purpose, let us begin, you and i together, one nation under god. united in our love for america and for each other. for love is more powerful than hate, hope is more powerful is fear. light is more powerful than dark. this is our moment. this is our mission. history may be able to say that the end of this chapter of american darkness began here, tonight. as love and hope and light join

in the battle for the soul of the nation. and this is a battle we will win and we'll do it together. i promise you. >> what joe biden's convention mo is where we start today. "washington post" bureau chief phil rucker is back. heather mcghee from the color of change and reverend al sharpton, the president of the national action network. rev, what did you think? >> i thought that joe biden not only rose above expectations, i thought he really energized this party, because he went right to the core of the problem and that is the lack of real love for the people of the country that this president has. and his air of darkness. i mean, we are in the middle of a pandemic. we're in the middle of all kind of racial division. we're in the middle of the president not only questioning

the election, but questioning the post office. i mean, it is unthinkable before now that anyone would question the post office. you can't get more of an array of dark seeds planted all over the social landscape of this country. and i think biden was very correct and strategic to address it and put that in front of the american people because people in the dark can look and say, yeah, he is right. i'm feeling the darkness, i need light. and i thought it was a compelling way for him to challenge where people are and where people want to go. >> heather mcghee, former vice president biden invoked some of the darkest moments of the trump presidency. charlottesville and everything that sort of revealed out in the

light of day. let's watch that. >> just a week ago yesterday, it was the third anniversary of the events in charlottesville. close your eyes, remember what you saw on television. remember seeing those neo-nazis and white supremacists coming out of fields with lighted torches. veins bulging, spewing the same anti-semantic bile heard across germany in the '30s. remember those with the courage to stand against it. and remember what the president said when asked? he said there were quote, very fine people on both sides. it was a wake-up call for us as a country and for me a call to action. at that moment i knew i'd have to run because my father taught us that silence was complicity. and i can never remain silent or

complicit. at the time, i said we're in the battle for the soul of this nation and we are. >> heather? >> joe biden in that moment was speaking directly to and i think in many ways echoing the thoughts and feelings of millions of white americans whom i should note have not as a majority voted for a democrat in a presidential election since lyndon johnson signed the civil rights act. but white voters are now according to current polling moving towards the democrats in record numbers and the reason why is being led by white women. but the reason why has been exactly that. they have seen the ugliness and the explicit hatred and white supremist beliefs coming from the white house and they're rejecting it. they are supporting black lives matter. the suburbs, you know, that trump thinks are going to save

him, are actually dotted with black lives matter lawn signs and so i think in that moment joe biden was sort of summoning up something that a lot of white families felt around the kitchen tables across this country, which is we have to face a choice. this is our civil rights moment. whose side are we going to be on and i think that's very powerful for the democrats to be able to put together a multiracial coalition to be enduring governing party against a republican party that simply can not be trusted on the most vital issues of our time. >> you know, phil rucker, heather hit on something that i actually heard from a trump ally and adviser this week, that if this race remains as it is right now, as a referendum on trump's presidency, he loses. what on earth do they think they can compel trump to do -- that would mean that trump would have to make every single day between

now and election day not about him. i have never seen -- he can't go 45 minutes without making it all about him. >> and nicolle, i don't think there's any way to keep him from making it all about him but there are a couple of things that trump and the republican party are going to be doing starting next week at their convention. one is to make this race more about the economy, to try to focus on the economic gains that predated the pandemic. to try to give trump universal credit for that even though democrats of course point out that the recovery began in the obama/biden administration. but really press the argument that the economic policies that trump put into place helped some businesses grow and helped grow jobs and that he's the one to rebuild this economy after the pandemic and really bank on that being the winning message for them, while at the same time trying to completely destroy joe biden's character. but the problem for republicans

the convention created a sheen for joe biden, it was about what a decent human being he was, and he helped that 13-year-old boy in new hampshire get over his stutter. it will be hard for them to make the case that he's a doddering old fool. >> i'm glad you brought us there. president trump memorized the five words because he wanted to launch an offensive against joe biden's mental acuity. joe biden was on display, he read a teleprompter last night, but he had plenty of live moments. he did interviews with voters on health care. he did conversations about the economy. he was seen by i think record numbers of viewers -- and this

isn't just we love our cable viewers don't get me wrong, but a convention week garners attention from a broader american television viewing audience. are they really wed to the idea that after millions of people saw four nights of joe biden sharp as a tack that they're going to go back to camera, camel, pickle cucumber or whatever it was? >> they'll try because it's one of the only plays they have at this point in this race and keep in mind, by the way, as well as biden presented last night in delivering his speech he still has probably three debates ahead in the fall and october with trump and there is a belief among trump's advisers that i have spoken to in the last few weeks that the debates are going to be treacherous for biden and trump's going to try to trap biden. going to try to make biden stumble and get hot, create moments that they -- that the trump campaign can turn into viral moments on social media and facebook and pushing it out

there into the ecosystem that would somehow reveal biden to be unfit for the job. there were no such up moments like that last night, but there's -- they're still two months and little bit longer left in the campaign so the moments can emerge at some point theoretically. >> i mean, rev, biden should say game on, i'll debate you, once a week if you want. but donald trump is the one whose poll numbers plunged from the low 40s to the low 30s when he started talking every day. when he went to the podium and started doing, you know, open mic session in the briefing room as americans were dying, 1,000, 2,000 a day from a global pandemic that trump made worse at every turn and still does, there's when donald trump's numbers went from -- you know, kind of the low to mid 40s to the low 30s and some days into the 20s. >> you're absolutely right. what joe biden ought to do is exactly what you said.

say game on. let's have more debates. and if i were joe biden, i would watch all of those press conferences. i was in the democratic primary debates in 2004 and one of the things you do -- you learn this in athletics especially boxing, study the opponent. if he would watch those press conferences, how this president if you hit him with a hard question he would just unravel in front of the whole country. he is the one that can't take a punch, not joe biden. he is the one that can not take someone coming straight at him. he is good at bullying. he is not good when somebody swings back, but swings back not in a way that is like trump where it's all bluster, but surgical and right there and right down the middle. here's a man that some of his closest associates have all been indicted, many convicted. if he wants to throw mud, all

you have to do is surgically raise the questions about the own associates that he brought in the white house and then go back to policy and go back to dealing with how you want to heal the nation. i wouldn't concentrate on just beating him down. i'd give him a little whipping and then go back to the main people. >> i mean, heather, you could watch the interview that donald trump agreed to do with jonathan swan or the one he agreed to do with chris wallace where he looked like a fool. >> yeah. i mean, the thing is that donald trump's numbers can't get much lower. and so what was important about the democratic convention was that it walked a fine line up until the convention we were i think a little bit worried that it was going to all be about donald trump. and telling us more of what we know, which is that he's not a great guy, he doesn't have great character. he's incompetent, all of these

things. that was the 2016 playbook, so what really needed to happen during this convention this week was the character of joe biden needed to be defined as well as the proactive vision of the democratic party for the country. because people are clear, you know, across independent, swing voters, et cetera, what's happening right now isn't right. it doesn't mean they love the democrats or the democrats pick but i expect the numbers to go way up, because of how relentlessly the team's focus was on joe biden. when he said the grandkids call him every day, i thought i need to call my grandma more. he's already someone who is an exceptional human being. and then even though it was late and i would have liked to have seen more of it, there was a fair amount of policy. he did name climate change as one of the crises, not only the depression and the pandemic.

he did name, you know, a whole agenda from infrastructure to child care that was going to be important. so i do think we need to remember that americans have to vote for something, to organize, to stand out in the rain, to overcome voter suppression. >> phil rucker, let me show you some of what the president is turning to in addition to making it harder for people to vote by mail sending law enforcement to polling places. this is from hannity last night. >> my question to you then is are you going to have poll watchers? are you going to have an ability to monitor, to avoid fraud and cross check whether or not these are registered voters, whether or not there's been identification, to know it's a real vote from a real american? >> we'll have everything. we'll have sheriffs and law

enforcement and we'll have hopefully u.s. attorneys and we're going to have everybody. attorneys general. but it's very hard. >> it's actually not hard after the 2000 election, jim baker and jimmy carter looked at this, in-person voting fraud is pretty rare. where is the president getting his facts on this? >> well, nicolle, this is a president who lost the popular vote in 2016 to hillary clinton and convinced himself and was encouraged by allies who planted this idea in the president's mind that the only reason he lost was because of rampant and widespread voting fraud. so much so he set up a white house commission to investigate this fraud. the commission found nothing. there is no evidence of widespread voting fraud from 2016. he lost if popular vote because more americans -- 3 million more americans voted for hillary clinton than voted for donald trump, but nonetheless, the president is fix ated on the

idea of voter fraud and himself as a victim. it seems to be and according to the reporting, sowing doubt among the american people about the legitimacy of the election and for him to contest the results after the election. >> rev, i have and talked to you since this week began on this show, but just tell me your evaluation of the whole week from michelle obama's emotional and soaring speech to jill biden's sort of throwing open the most painful moments that the biden family has been through to senator kamala harris making history to president obama's really stark, really frightening warnings and then joe biden capping off last night. what did you make of the week as a whole? a week of storytelling? >> i thought that it was a week a that many of us were concerned about because it's the first

time we saw virtual convention. how do you deal with the fact that the speakers are not going to feed off the energy of the audience? there will be no real energy out there. how do they deal with that, will the technology work? and you ended the week saying it was almost flawless. and the diversity that was shown where you had everyone from every aspect of american life on and many of them engaged in ear conversation with the presidential candidate. i think the challenge by president obama who went to philadelphia to the museum, the constitution behind him, to really bring the point home even with the optics that our democracy is at stake. the appeal by michelle obama that it couldn't have been better. every speaker right on it. he brought the floyd family, victims of police misconduct and police brutality and killings and he had people in the military. people who had suffered from

covid-19. and i really think you want to appreciate how good it is until you see the republicans next week with no diversity and no magic. it will be all bully. the best way to appreciate a clean glass of water is to have a muddy glass of water next to it. stay tuned next week and compare your videos and you will see who can run an efficient government when you will see who can run an efficient convention. >> you're right. heather, let me give you the last word. history was made, kamala harris becoming the first black woman to be named the vice presidential nominee in either party. was that moment elevated to the right level? do you feel like we got to focus on that adequately? >> i think so. i think that, you know, it was couched in an evening that was really focused on the power of women, democrats know that they're right now enjoying the

biggest gender gap in reported polling history. i think kamala harris again just like joe biden was someone who not all americans knew who she was. and they really focused on her story. >> yeah. >> like barack obama before her, it's an only in america story. one of the beautiful stories of people coming together who have ties to many countries across the globe and making the american dream real. i think she hit that out of the park. i think that, you know, there's the reaction online and the reaction among, you know, grass roots activists has been very, very strong. i think when you see her debate vice president pence, that is going to be a serious moment. this is someone who is, you know, wants to turn back the clock on women's rights in america and it's going to be -- you know, someone facing career prosecutor who is going to prosecute the case for men and women in the future and women of

color into the future and that's an electrifying moment. >> i have been wanting to talk to all three of you about all of the events. thank you so much for spending today with us. when we come back, the postmaster general in the hot seat defending those slowdowns that have resulted in photos of dead animals, rotting food and overflowing mail bins and fielding questions about whether ballots will get in on time. and another setback for trump's legal campaign to block the release of his taxes to prosecutors in new york. plus, families, kids and teachers all stuck between a rock and a hard place, struggling to make the best decisions about heading back to school. we'll bring you the latest information about coronavirus coming up. virus coming up.

another bundle in the books. got to hand it to you, jamie. your knowledge of victorian architecture really paid off this time. nah, just got lucky. so did the thompsons. that faulty wiring could've cost them a lot more than the mudroom. thankfully they bundled their motorcycle with their home and auto. they're protected 24/7. mm. what do you say? one more game of backgammon? [ chuckles ] not on your life. [ laughs ] ♪ when the lights go down

[ laughs ] we live with at&t and we are well past the honeocupado tom. at&t, what's this i hear about you advertising a 100% fiber network? only like a fraction of my customers can get that. that's it?!? you have such a glass half-empty attitude. the glass is more than half-empty! you need to relax tom. oh! tom, you need a little tom time. a little tt. stop living with at&t. xfinity delivers gig speeds to more homes than anyone.

woi felt completely helpless.hed online. my entire career and business were in jeopardy. i called reputation defender. vo: take control of your online reputation. get your free reputation report card at reputationdefender.com. find out your online reputation today and let the experts help you repair it. woman: they were able to restore my good name. vo: visit reputationdefender.com or call 1-877-866-8555.

you have undermined one of the nation's most trusted institutions and we wreaked havoc on families, on veterans, seniors, rural communities and on people all across our country. the operational changes you implemented without consulting with your customers or the public have caused significant delays. delays that have hurt people across the nation. delays that come at a time when people depend on reliable service now more than ever. >> trump donor now postmaster general to the united states of america, louis dejoy testified before the homeland committee.

that clip you saw was senator peters and calling him out on new cost cutting measures being put many place and dejoy said he's highly confident that mail-in ballots will be delivered only time, but concerns remain. the president has openly admitted to not wanting to fund the postal service in order to suppress mail-in voting. and as he faces an election 74 days away, polls show he could lose that election. so not much motivation. let's bring in ron stroman who retired as u.s. postmaster in june, as well as geoff bennett. take us through the important sort of revelations from this testimony and this questioning today. >> well, nicolle, among the things that the postmaster general said today that the postal service is capable of handle all of the mail-in ballots come election day.

it's a different thing about whether or not the postal service is fully empowered to do that. and the reason i raise that point, one of the things that mr. dejoy said today that did not seem entirely on the level was his denialybo the top democrat on that committee, gary peters, if he's taken steps to eliminate or curtail overtime. and dejoy said no. and that contradicted every conversation i had with postal employees from new york to iowa to portland. i said, get me tangible evidence of the policy changes and what was given to me is this. this internal document that was circulated on july 10, 2020. the reason why july 10th is important is because peters in the hearing held up a chart and you can see a dip in the productivity at the postal service around july. even though the pandemic started back in march. this is what a postal service manager would say to his or her

employees as they're all standing up on the facility floor, and it talks about in effect cuts to overtime. it says, late trips, extra trips are no longer authorized or accepted. carriers must begin on time, leave for the street on time and return on time. additional transportation will be authorized to dispatch mail to the plant after the intended dispatch. so you can see here how this has the effect of limiting worker hours and this is precisely what led led to the delays. and we got the talking points from the appalachian district. so you can see here how this document from u.s. ps was metabolized through the system. so they got this, managing costs is critical to our organization and this includes matching work hours to the work load. and it details here how workers' hours were being cut. i have asked the postal service

what's up with this in effect was mr. dejoy double speaking, was he lying, obfuscating? i was not heard from the postal service but it's important for people to know, the reason why there have been these days long and some places weeks long delays is not because of capacity. it is directly linked to the changes that mr. dejoy instituted and he has admitted as much. in a different memo he referred to the policy changes and say that the delays were unintended consequences. whether they were intended or unintended that's up for debate, but certainly workers have seen their overtime cut. >> geoff, stay with us. ron, let me bring you into this conversation and just ask you a two-part question. geoff has through his reporting shared photos of overstuffed bins with food rotting in them and mail -- i mean, how can you guarantee that everything in that bin will be delivered and

on time? especially if it includes a ballot. >> sure. well, thank you very much. i really appreciate the opportunity. if i could just say a couple of things about today's hearing. i think that the democrats did an excellent job at getting several concessions out of the postmaster general. first, he committed to delivering election mail 95% on time. most within one or two days and he indicated that he would process election mail, as if it were first class mail, contradicting a letter he send out our that was sent out to election officials. he also contradicted the president when he said that the postal service has the capacity and the resources which are adequate to process election mail. now he indicated that he didn't

have a developed plan that's going to be important. but i think people should take away some degree of confidence. but there were as you indicated troubling aspects of his testimony. at the beginning of the hearing senator peters conclusively from january until now, there has been a dramatic decline in on-time mail volume. the question then becomes what's the cause of that delay? and what the postmaster general said was that his order that trucks would have to leave the plants on time did not cause -- i'm sorry unintentional delays because the processing schedule and the transportation schedule did not link up. basically what he's saying when the mail is processed, you tell

the truck to leave on time, the mail won't get there on time. the problem is we have internal documents that say that the postmaster general specifically said mail behind. that's not an unintended consequence. that is a deliberate delay of the mail. but let's even assume for a moment it was unintended. here you have a major figure, a ceo of 600,000 employee organization who doesn't understand the consequence of making some of these initiative decisions. that certainly is not what i would expect from a ceo of a major corporation. i think also it has been pointed out i think this issue of employee overtime needs to be clearly dug into a little bit more. internal documents that were just referred to indicate that the employees certainly believed that coming from the postmaster

general was a directive for no overtime and that has potentially the direct cause on the delay of the mail. with regard to the sorting machines, what sorting machines the postmaster general argued that he had because the mail had declined, he had excess capacity and therefore he could take the sorting machines out of the plants. well, i think senator hassan was particularly probative on this point. she pointed out that in new hampshire, you only have one sorting machine. and when that goes down, you have no backup. there's no flexibility so the mail is going to be delayed. one of the reasons when i was at the postal service we didn't pull out all of the machines was because we wanted to make sure we have a fail safe system. if you have an increase in mail such as you'll have in november,

then that leads to disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters. so i think there are significant questions that continue to be need to be answered. >> ron, you laid out two scenarios. one was an intentional, telling the trucks to leave before they were full and the other was unintentional. the first one is against the statute that forbids and describes as criminal retarding mail delivery and the second might enter into the gray area. do you believe as congressman hakeem jeffries and ted lieu have asked the fbi to examine, do you believe it's worthy of a criminal investigation? >> i would say, nicolle, i don't have the answer for that. to my perspective if it's intentional or unintentional, the consequences are the same and for the american public whether he intended or not, the mail is being delayed. i think there's absolutely no question about that.

as i said, it has been conclusively demonstrated today and postmaster dejoy admitted as much. i don't know whether or not it is criminal or whether he intentionally did it. i do not have the answer to that. i think there are significant questions in light of the documentation that we now have. the documentation says that employees believe they were told deliberately to leave the so there is an inconsistency betw documents and at least what the employees believed. >> let me ask you one final question. can you unring the bell? can you put the tube back in the toothpaste? if you don't immediately today permit overtime in the time of a pandemic and with record numbers of mail-in ballots going out and coming back in, can you -- can

you meet the requirements -- can he even keep his own word of guaranteeing that every ballot will be treated as first class mail and get in on time? >> i think it's a significant risk it will not happen. from my perspective, i think the risk is too high. the risk is our democracy. it is risking disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters who the lack -- if their votes don't count could impact the election. the other thing that's particularly interesting here is that the amount of money that you're talking about saving is minuscule compared to the overall financial stability and health of the postal service. the only way the postal service gets healthy is by working with the congress. so by alienating the congress, and you heard that today where senators are furious about the lack of transparency, the lack of communication and that is really the only way the postal

service gets healthy. so you're cutting off your nose to spite your face. you're getting minuscule savings but yet, you're alienating the very constituency that you're going to need for financial stability of the postal service. >> ron stroman, geoff bennett, thank you. we'll stay on this. after the break, donald trump's attempt to bury the financial records from public view is looking like a losing legal effort. developments on that story when we come back. rt developments on that story when we come back ♪ ♪ 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 ♪

book two separate qualifying stays and earn a free night. the open road is open again. and wherever you're headed, choice hotels is there. book direct at choicehotels.com.

donald trump has been on the receiving end all week long of political and legal blows. and the latest is perhaps the most personal as his years long attempt to bury his tax returns grows all the more desperate. the president's lawyers made a last ditch effort with an emergency halting motion in the second circuit court of appeals because the judge refused the request that cleared the way for the manhattan prosecutors to subpoena the tax documents. the judge said he didn't change his mind because the attorneys gave zero proof that the president would have suffered irreparable harm and would have damaged the manhattan district attorney's investigation.

to explain this to us, is neil katia. you tweeted this is exactly what you felt would be put into motion by the supreme court decision. explain. >> okay, so first of all, we know that prosecutors in new york both federal and state have been in the past investigating donald trump for financial impropry tires, like the payment of $120,000 to stormy daniels which he tried to deduct from the tax returns. and mysterious disappeared after bill barr became attorney general, but the state investigation by cy vance the local district attorney has been ongoing. what trump said to the supreme court was i'm the president, i don't need to turn this information over. the supreme court pretty much unanimously said, oh, no, you're just like any other individual.

and so if you have any arguments that any other individual has for why you shouldn't have to turn this information over in the face of a prosecutor's request, give us that -- give the lower court the information, make that argument. as i said at the time of the supreme court decision there's no real argument there. there's nothing viable and yesterday, trial judge in new york said, yeah, there's nothing there and a sweeping opinion that totally rejected trump's arguments and then today the trump administration's -- excuse me, trump's move for a stay for a delay of turning that information over to the grand jury was rejected by that same judge. so now they have rushed this to the court of appeals, with the really desperate move to say, hey, the sky is falling, you've got to stop this. and the problem is, you know, because the supreme court said you've got to treat the president like every other individual, this emergency claim is going nowhere. and so this information is going

to go to the grand jury. >> so tell me what that means. does that mean that he has all of these opportunities as any defendant does to object. but at some point he runs out of legal recourse and has to turn over the goodss? >> yeah. so we're at that point, pretty much. he'll go to the court of appeals try to make these arguments. i suspect they're going to have a very expedited hearing in the next few weeks and then i think we'll lose unanimously there. he'll try to go to the supreme court and then it's almost a sure loser there. i think the grand jury is going to get this information. now whether it comes out to the american public before the election or not has a number of variables about how quickly the grand jury moves, so on. but as i said back when the supreme court decided this, this is moving fast as it should. the president has delayed this for more than a year. and if this were you or me and the grand jury was asking for this material, they would have had it last year, you know --

it's done every time, every single time. >> so steve bannon is the latest presidential -- really west wing staffer to be indicted. is it time for donald trump's employment package to come with a defense fund? everyone that goes in somehow comes out needing counsel. >> i mean, it's quite striking, nicolle. i feel like donald trump is the best thing happen to us, he's the one-man jobs creation for the entire legal industry. every single person seems to be lawyered up. and to me it isn't just the law breaking or the number of people in trump's inner circle who have been indicted, convicted, pled guilty and the like. it is also the rationale. what bannon was indicted for yesterday was lying. saying he was trying to build this wall to help the american people but he was enriching himself and he said he'll take no salary to all of the donors

while at the same time he was secretly enriching himself. you wonder where he learned those moves from. >> it's actually a really important point and it's a political argument that if you chose to make it, joe biden has plenty of proofpoints that not only did donald trump and his people not drain the swamp. they have lined their pockets around issues that to his base matter to them. thank you so much for jumping on and spending some time with us. we'll stay on all of these stories. after the break, we have seen where donald trump's coronavirus plan got us. tragically. so we'll look at what joe biden would do, next. e biden would do, next

we'll never have our lives back until we deal with this virus. if i'm your president, on day one, we'll implement the national strategy i've been laying out since march. we'll develop and deploy rapid tests with the results of available immediately. we'll make the medical supplies and protective equipment that our country needs. we'll put politics aside. we'll take the musczzle off our experts so the public gets the information they need and deserve. honest, unvarnished truth. they can handle it. we'll have a national mandate to wear masks. not as a burden but as a

patriotic duty to protect one another. >> democratic presidential nominee joe biden laying out his coronavirus plan. articulating a national strategy that the company has lacked since the pandemic first hit. in that time, the virus has infected more than 5.6 million americans and 175,000 lives have been lost to it. joining us now, infectious diseases physician and medical director of boston medical center. it was so nice to hear a plan articulated and to hear a way out of where we find ourselves, which if you have kids contemplating remote learning and working from home. joe biden has put solving or addressing the pandemic front and center in his campaign. >> that's right. when we talk about handling

epidemics, governance is a huge part of that and it doesn't matter what country you're talk about what pathogen you're talking about is a leader who listens to science and the evidence. a leader that puts the resources where they need to be put in a timely manner and keeps the foot on the pedal to make sure that gets accomplished and the last bit is transparency and transparency about the situation. the thing that i was struck the most about, there's a lot more to the biden plan. he talked about availability of pre pre-testing. talked about first responders and essential workers. talked about expanding cdc programs to get the kind of da that that you and i have talked about in the past about clusters and things like that. the most important thing he said yesterday was there aren't going to be any miracles. he said he's providing this transparency, there aren't going to be miracles because the reason why myself and every other expert that comes on your show says the same thing is because we have tools already to make a difference in the way

this pandemic plays out. the problem is, we're dealing with two pandemics. one of the virus and one of denial. our lack of good governance and dispelling the myths out there about the virus has led the denial pandemic to keep us from taking care of the virus pandemic. >> well, what struck me is that everything joe biden said is available to donald trump. it would benefit donald trump politically to slow the pace of loss of life and infections in this country. why haven't we done what joe biden said last night? take the rapid tests, develop them and produce them to scale so that workplaces could open, so schools could open. so that anywhere where we want to bring people back they know they are safe. >> some of the work has been

ongoing. the trouble is not enough resources have been put behind it to prioritize as a resource to get these tests out there. even when they are out there, it would require education of pub luck in te -- public. i think it requires a message of unity. this is not the common cold. it's not ebola. it's because it's a disease that in some people shows no signs and in other, completely defr states their families. we have to have this sense of community and this belief that our actions are affecting other people around us even if we can't see it. that's a message i don't know if the current leadership is able to relay. i don't know that it can bring the country back together after trying to split it apart for years. >> schools front and center. this administration tried to

inject itself into the middle of the debates. here is what the new york times reports. as college students return to u.s. campus, schools are already rewriting their plans for the fall. the university of north carolina chapel hill, michigan state will hold most fall classes online and notre dame and the university of pittsburgh are among several that have abruptly suspended inperson classes for the coming weeks. >> yeah, colleges are learning the lessons that schools have seen over the last couple of weeks which is community transmission matters. college campuses do not exist in isolation and unfortunately, in those areas where the disease transmission is still high, you're seeing this clusters. even in places where the disease transmission is not that high, it's going to require a lot of resources, a lot of testing, a lot of linkage, contact tracing rather than blaming students for off campus parties. i think this is the speedomet

responsibility of adults. we want areas with high transmission won't shut down bars or some areas won't require masks but we're punishing our students to say you shouldn't be acting a certain way. the most important part is we know that kids and college students can transmit this disease and they are a reflection of the community they are in. >> thank you so much for answering our questions on this. we haven't spent as much time on the pandemic this week with the other events. it's good to get back rooted in science and facts. thank you so much for that. when we come back, a preview of how drouonald trump and his party plan to gear up for their own convention next week. y plan own convention next week

♪ pnc bank believes that if an app can help you track your pizza... come on cody, where are you buddy? ...then your bank should have the technology to help you track your spending. virtual wallet® is so much more than a checking account. easily see what's free to spend. and see where your money is going so you can budget even better. okay, he's got to be close. he's six blocks... in the other direction. make a left, make a left make a left... he made a right again. virtual wallet® for digital banking from pnc. it's time to get more from your bank.

character is on the ballot. compassion is on the ballot, decency, science, democracy, they're all on the ballot. >> i'm the only thing standing between the american dream and total anarchy, madness and chaos. >> the president keeps telling us the virus going to disappear. he keeps waiting for a miracle. i have no news for him, no miracle is coming. >> now we want to open up and the democrats have to open up their states and stips and they have to open up the schools an let's play football. >> we have great purpose as a nation. to open the doors of opportunity to all americans, to save our democracy. to be a light to the world once again. >> they take millions and millions of ballots and send them all over the place. grab it and put them in a big pile there. every one grab it.

it's a disgrace. >> hi, again. it's 5:00 in the east nap was 24 hours in presidential campaigning. joe biden and donald trump on the very same day making their very different cases to the american people. starkly different visions for the future of this kcountry as the fate of our democracy hangs in the balance. joe biden accepting the democratic presidential nomination. with direct hits, threats foreign and domestic. quote, at a time of suffering and uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession, he presented himself as a person of compassion running against a president who struggling to show any. with the end of the democratic convention and the start of this general election fight to the

finish for joe biden, a preview of the tactics he can expect from donald trump as his party now gears up for a convention of their own. it will come against a backdrop of scandal, hearings are under away around trump's attack on the postal service. a 7th trump adviser has been charged with a crime and a series of legal setbacks including a new one in donald trump's bid to keep his tax returns under wraps indefinitely. that's the foundation on which the republican party will mount its start to the general election. as donald trump previews his tactic tactics, they include stoking fear over racial inclusion, magical thinking on the pandemic that's killed many rn 175,000 americans and on the very issue of the right to vote itself. designed to undermine the lu results of the election should america not buy what he's selling. joining our conversation is msnbc alicia menendez.

john, on the joe biden who delivered that speech last night, how does donald trump go back to woman, man, camera, pickle, cucumber? >> how can he not? happy friday. good to see you. it's been a long week. you've been on television like 24/7. >> yes. >> she lives there. she lives in that seat. >> dupts mattit makes -- it's o comforting thing in my existence. it's nice to end the week with you. i don't understand what donald trump is. he's the broken atomic clock of politics. it's like he's always going to be donald trump. he can't be anything other than what he is. i think the question you're asking, which is the right

question is like, how could a rational human being, again someone other than donald trump by definition, think that the strategy, the tactics, the personality, the mode of presentation, the character, all of that, the political persona that his been his light motif, the way he's behaved for the last months, how could he think after seeing joe biden give the best speech of his life. i've been covering joe biden since 1987 which will tell you how old i am, like 112. in terms of stakes, everybody has been reviewing it all day. the most important political speech of his life and he gave, i would argue the best and most effective speech i heard him give. how does donald trump continue to be donald trump in face of that. i think the answer is we're going to see more of donald trump. not a different donald trump. more of donald trump but just like in spinal tap he's going to try to turn it up to 11.

>> let me follow up. i guess i'm coming from what i learned from matthew dowd and some of the smartest pollsters that i worked with when i was on campaigns. an attack, no matter how nasty and brutal and i think when we watch it, we cover trump on the dial. it goes to 11 and you think it's more damaging. no, no, no. the measure of how damaging attack is how plausible it is. we know there's 35% that will believe anything trump says. if he says joe biden hangs upside down at night. they will believer that. that's not who you're talking to by this week. by this week, you're talking to largely married suburban women in lake county, ohio and wisconsin and erie, pa and people who have been given pause

over the last few years. of good people on both sides of a kkk rally and for them to see joe biden not just in command and control but delivering arguably one of the best speeches of the week, his cucumber, pickle, camera, woman are just not going to land. >> the topollsters have a word r what you're describing is sal ye salience. people talk about attacks that cut. for an attack to cut, it's got to find some purchase. it's got to plan something that people think is true. it's got to amplify something people see. one of them will continue to be, i think they recognize this is not the way to win but it's the

way to lay a trap down the line. we saw joe biden last night flawless president notary public ma -- not make a mistake. not miss his line. they will not saying that he is slipping in terms of mental acuity because like the attacks on a hillary clinton in 2016 where the russians kept saying she is sick. she's got ms. they said all that stuff and she collapsed on 9/11. that peiece of fake news found purchase when she had a bad day in the hot sun on 9/11. for a number of people that attack became krecredible. i think they will keep pounding biden on the mental acuity thing in hopes that in the next two months he has a stumble and then there's the other set of issues which relate to biden is a puppet of the left and trying to win this election on the one thing that donald trump still has a lead on. he had the lead at beginning of

this week. that's not a small lead. it's real lead and a lead the biden people have not made a lot of progress. i want to see where we are. i think we'll hear a lot of that next week and for the next two months which is, okay, donald trump is terrible person. he's managed the coronavirus terribly but when it comes to rebuilding the country, he still the better guy. that's the one issue that still out there where we'll see what this convention did for joe biden. that's the thing that trump campaign will cling to. they're not going to give them up. >> i'm sure john is right. the logical element there and we'll see what the democrats and

what the biden campaign does with it. the reason the economy is dehappd delapitaded is because of donald trump. everything that happened in this country, we could have been south korea or new zealand. we're america down at the bottom of the list for the worst handling on the globe with brazil and russia. >> right. it's the challenge for him is his most glaring demerit is the one that's come most recently. you saw two pieces. you saw both the character piece of this and the policy indictment. i was struck as i'm sure you are by the fact that there has been so much personal grief. so much personal loss and so much collective grief. it's felt like there was nowhere in which to put all of that grief. there was no person that could help us sift through it. what you saw last night was former vice president biden, someone who is almost become an

avatar for grieving families step into that role of comforter and chief and reminding people it's been missing. it's been a missing component of the american fabric for the last four years. you saw that also, i thought in a lot of the ordinary americans who came forward and shared their stories. i was very touched by 11-year-old estelle who taulked about her mom being deported. everything that comes with this pandemic and our threats of democracy, we're grieving thing about an 11-year-old's ability to live with her mother in the country they love and very real threats there as well. i think you saw a marriage between the character of joe biden and that contrast piece and the policy contrast piece was just let's have a national plan. it's possible to have a national plan. here is what it would look like. those pieces woven together

broo prove to be a powerful narrative. >> here is joe biden talking about his conversation with gianna floyd. >> one of the most important conversations i've had this entire campaign is someone who was much too young to vote. i met with 6-year-old gianna floyd the day before her daddy, george floyd, was laid to rest. she's an incredibly brave little girl. i'll never forget it. when i leaned down to speak to her, she looked in my eyes and said, and i quote, daddy changed the world. daddy, changed the world. her words burrowed deep into my heart. >> there were so many moments

where in this instance, joe biden is doing his own story telling but the young boy who stutters, who met vice president biden. there were so many people telling their stories from the span of joe biden's eight emoti you're open or still deciding who to vote for. >> right. i pick up on alicia's point. there's an incalcuable loss that joe biden has experienced. he's used that. that's what you want and expect your leaders to do. it's about public service as opposed to self-service. i take a line from his speech last night. something connected george floyd. he said that george floyd's death and murder was breaking point and john lewis death was an inspirational point.

what that suggest is that as any leader should, they need to be able to identify a moment where you have to act and rise to that moment and that occasion and that inaction becomes very conspicuous. i expect and i think one of the themes from the last few days is that we all seen and experienced this moment where we have to act and realize that we must behave and view the world differently. as others have talked about, whatever attacks will come from donald trump and i expect that they will be many. i expect the willy horton-ish ad to appear. even while that's happening i think they fall on more and more deaf ears because of what joe biden talked about. george floyd's death, that murder was breaking point and walk up call to so many of us.

i guess the final point is that the world in which donald trump lives is shrinking. the world that joe biden is trying to create for americans is expanding. i think that's exactly what you're supposed to do on a campaign. expand, not shrink, not diminish. >> the game at this point for both sides is a game of addition not really subtraction. everything donald trump does and this is annie carney describes next week at the rnc. the result at least optically, this is a result of what they had to do. the result will be exactly the scene mr. trump hoped to avoid. a carve nous room that because of social distancing requirements will look mostly empty if people follow the rules. the roll call during which

delegates have their vote will be done by people whose faces are covered by masks. this is everything -- when donald trump went to tulsa, refused to go outside, refuse the require masks and refuse to mandate social distancing, it was to avoid all those things previewed for next week. >> yes there is a cosmic justice in the world because, you think about the kind of comedy of and i do mean comedy in the laughter part of donald trump saying to north carolina, screw you. you won't let me have my convention, i'm going to florida. gets down to florida, the pan demonstra -- pandemic is out of control. he's got to go back to north carolina with his hat in his hand and have the republican convention.

he's having that kind. now in washington doing the things he's tries to avoid. there are moments when i think there is a god and this is one of them when it comes to what trump sgis getting his just desserts here. i know david will come back to the point. david knows numbers and we have talked a lot about those millions of non-college whites who in battleground states did not turn out for donald trump in 2016. who the trump campaign were all of its dpeefects and the proble with its candidate and other things, they still have the money that they have. they still have the digital operation they had running for a couple of years. they still been spending time in the states. try to identify the voters. their dags is not by taking away voters from joe biden. their strategy is to go out and find the voters who are

non-voters in 2016. that's how they hope the win. their campaign has been so incomp tent i don't want to suggest they will pull 16 rabbits out of 16 hats. there is a paths where anybody who says this race is over. i think that would be a side of complacency that would be dangerous. if you want to win this race, you have to keep trying to figure out the ways that donald trump can win it. >> agreed. >> so much more to get to. when we come back as we learn new details about trump administration to sab teenage mail in voting. donald trump is threatening to send law enforcement to monitor in person voting. it may be his clear intention to

suppress the vote. women front and center at the dnc taking the fight to donald trump. add vladmir putin top opposition leader fights for his life, we heard nothing from a president who seems more than happy to copitulate to moscow. u? or could it play out differently? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. -and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away

if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily- and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be your moment. ask your doctor about eliquis. what's around the corner could be your moment. for bathroom odors that linger try febreze small spaces. just press firmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. for 45 days. ♪ but come ye back when su-- mom, dad. why's jamie here? it's sunday. sunday sing along. and he helped us get a home and auto bundle. he's been our insurance guy for five years now. he makes us feel like we're worth protecting. [ gasps ] why didn't you tell us about these savings, flo? i've literally told you a thousand times.

♪ oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling ♪ i'm just gonna... ♪ from glen to glen i'm ju[♪]gonna... when you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar is crucial. try boost glucose control. the patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. it provides 60% more protein than the leading diabetes nutrition shake. try boost glucose control.

are you going to have poll watchers? are you going to have an ability to monitor, to avoid fraud and cross check whether or not these are registered voters?

whether or not it's been identification to know it's a real vote from a real american? >> we'll have everything. we'll have sheriffs and law enforcement and we're going to have hopefully u.s. attorneys and we're going to have everybody. attorney generals. it's very hard. >> donald trump clearly expanding his voter suppression effort to not only include mail in voting but also now based on that interview, in-person voting. he wants to use law enforcement officers and attorneys general as poll watchers to police who vo move democrats say they would challenge in court. nbc news reported in june that the trump campaign and the republican national committee are setting up the gop's first national poll patrol operation since a con sent decree banning the rnc from doing so in 2017. poll watching is an ords part of elections. both parties do it. voting rights advocates worry a

moneyed large scale offensive by the republicans will intimidate and target minority voters who tend to vote democratic and show turn out. is a law enforcement operation without a reason other than what it sounds like? >> voter suppression, voter intimidation. there's no two ways about it. when talking about law enforcements at polling sites, i'm not just worried about them. i'm also worried about the people who believe they are standing up for donald trump also in front of polling sites armed as well. we seen evidence of that over the last couple of years. this is a really troubling development. when you layer on top of that is

manipulation. add to that the fact a few years ago the supreme court voting the gutting rights act. you have layer after layer of a disman disman dismantling and diminishing of voting rights for people of color, for african-americans. i applaud the work that folks like stacy abrams and others are doing to try to knock down the barriers. we have a president who is keen on actually using american infrastructure and law enforcement to tamp down the vote. >> let me read you what phillip writes. if you accept the hannity-trump position that in-person voter fraud is the significant problem, which you shouldn't, because it isn't. you might sending cops to the polling places might make sense. what exactly are they going to do. how is a sheriff going to

identify a real vote from a real american? stop people who look like they don't belong there. possible triggering a new consent decree. arrest people who show up at the wrong polling place as trump did multimillion times whn he went to vote in 2004. if you think in-person fraud is rampl ant you think there's clear tells like a guy wearing a false mustache asking for mary jones ballot. after 2000, jake baker and jimmy carter looked at this and in-person voting fraud isn't really a thing. it's not a big thing. >> it's nonexistent. it's not a thing. it's not a thing. yet it shouldn't surprise us that you have the president making any of these claims. he claimed he lost the popular vote in 2016 because non-citizens were voting. that was a lie. he claimed he lost new hampshire

in 2016 because students were being shipped from out of state. that was not true. he claimed in 2018 the reason republicans didn't better is there was this mass voter fraud happening in person, as you suggested. all of it not true. voter frauds extremely rare. people pretending to be someone else virtually, nonexistent. the threat comes in saying it. in saying it enough times that you start to get people to believe it and that in and of itself begins the shake people's belief in our democracy and you have some people who say this is too complicated. this is too messy. i'm going the stay home. you have the chilling effect of actually having law enforcement at a polling location. that chilling affect very clearly targeted at black and brown voters. then you also have this more limbal thing happening with you are questioning the integrity of our elections and in doing so, potentially demotivating people

from voting and that is just as dangerous as any of the more systemic actions that you see happening right now. >> john, i had this sick feeling today as i was pouring cup eight of coffee down my throat that it doesn't matter if donald trump pulls off arming polling stations with law enforcement and attorneys general and by the way if bill barr goes to a polling station, i think hell will freeze over. what damage is done and in this sort of like -- i'm not drawing a parallel to the behavior but just the noise around it. people on thanksgiving to cover that. what if the damage is already done. what if it doesn't matter what trump ends up doing but he's already terrified people. he's already disincentivised

people. i feel the same way about the mail in voting. what if he's done the harm needed to do to have the impact he wanted to have. >> i think it's going to be impossible to answer whether he's done the harm. i think the concern is right. i'll say more about that in one second. the reality is there's still the days between now and election day. we still have field the play on. donald trump is doing what you're talking about. voit voter intimidation is voter suppression. you put out the word you might get a costed.

people start to go, i'm not going to deal with that. you give people excuses not to go because they think it will be hard, they might have to spend a night in jail. all of that stuff is designed to keep people from shoeg up. you've already got people worried about showing up at polling places because of the pandemic. trump puts pressure on that and trying to discredit mail in voting and you're all across the board trying to drive down participation. trying to drive marginal votes out of the system. that's the other answer to the question. change your number by pushing

downturn out and the vote. the great thing is between now and when the vote happens, at any given state there's still this fight is real. it's now. that's the job for democrats and anybody who cares about having a free and fair election in america where every one who has right to vote votes. the fight is now. people should be fighting this fight. you have to fight bad information with good information. you have to fight misinformation with true information. every one of us has a responsible. obviously our leaders have a bigger responsibility but all of us have a responsibility with every one if we seen our lives to knock down the lies. knock down the fear. make sure that everybody you know gets out to vote because that is their franchise and we need those votes if we want to have the kind of election that the country deserves. >> i would just extend that to the way we cover it. it's the harm he's doing right now.

everybody that hears that and that processes that and has -- right. all right. three of my favorite friends on day i have a hard time putting sentences together. thank you so much for spending time with us today. when we come back, we saw it all week long and may decide the election. women making the case, a tough one against donald trump. that's next. ough one against donald trump that's nt.ex ♪ 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. and aren't necessarily great for your teeth. the acid can actually wear away at the enamel which over time can cause sensitivity and a lot of people start to see their teeth turn yellow. i like to recommend pronamel to my patients to help them protect their teeth and keep the enamel strong.

they were impossible to

ignore this week at the democratic national convention. the sheer number of smart, powerful, dare i say women who advocated for change and planted the flag for joe biden and kamala harris. >> we're at an inflection point. we can do better and deserve so much more. >> this can't be another would of, could have, should have election. >> america needs all of us to speak out even when you have to fight to find the words. >> this crisis is bad and it didn't have to be this way. >> our country doesn't belong to him. it belongs to all of us. >> we will elect joe biden president whose heart is full of love for america and rid the country of trump's heartless disregard for america's goodness. >> now more than ever, we need a president who will unite this country. >> with love and understanding

and with small acts of kindness, with bravery, with unwaivering faith. >> faced with a president of cowardice. joe biden is man of proven courage. >> we cannot wait for some other ti time, some other place, some other heroes. >> if we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for joe biden like our lives depend on it. >> joining our conversation is jamile hill. she's the co-host of kerry and jamil stick sports which premiered last night on vice tv. i've been an admirer of your career and courage for a long time and of your bluntness. give me your blunt assessment of how the democrats did this week. >> well, i thought really by

most important take away from it is they installed a level of humanity that's been missing from our political discourse, mostly at our president. they changed the tone. that's what this election is about. there's not going to be a perfect candidate that will emerge for the democrats. what i think we saw them doing is kind of falling in line and presenting a new tone that this nation needs to reestablish. a tone of compassion. a tone of empathy and frankly, a spirit of fighting. despite all the drama, all the the chaos that donald trump has brought into our lives, we still have a lot of power as a very powerful in this country an we need to seize that power. i thought it be appropriate this is a fight led by women. given there's a long of history of women, especially black women, who have become the backbone of the democratic party leading charge that benefits all

of us. >> black women arguably changed the course of the democratic primary. i think they came out in the largest numbers in south carolina for joe biden after he had in his own campaign's estimation a very disappointing finish in new hampshire. disappointing finish in iowa and disappointing outcome in nevada. what is the dynamic to keep the faith, to win, first and foremost but what is that bond. how does that bond play out over the next 75 days? >> i do think that the scope of the democratic party is really changed because black women not only have kind of taken the mants mants l just becoming more prom innocent and seizing and walking into their own power. that's very appropriate considering kamala harris is now the vice presidential nominee. you saw stacy abrams.

a number of black women who have been able to walk into this and lead the way in way to guide other women. frankly, there's a lot of black women, a lot of people of color who are still very disappointed at the lack of response in saying that was shown by white women in this last election. many of them who decided to vote for donald trump. i think there was a lot of women who decided they were not going to lead this chance. they would be strong throughout this to show other women that we don't have to have a president that devalues us and humiliates us. >> i have had this debate over four years with whoopi goldberg about whether donald trump is a biggest racist or a bigger masogynist. if you look at the speakers, men, women, every generation and

race, both issues are now out in the open. i know you have paid a price in your career for being blunt about donald trump and race. what do kwhou mayou make of the that the issues are so out in front now. >> it was one of those things i called donald trump a white supreme assists in 2017 and got into a lot of trouble for doing that while i was still at espn. i thaought then that people understood that the president was a white supremisisists and racist. there were people who did not understand that. over the course of time he has proven me right and more right every single day. this is not something i wanted to be right about. the nation, while we have a very complicated racial history, a very dispienappointing racial

history, we do not deserve to have a president. donald trump seems to be more desperate, i hope they are very aware of a lot of the dog whistles he's continuing to use. prop propagating fear, going after the suburbs and spelling out that he's going to make that a place where certain people and we know what he means by certain people, don't belong there. continuing to just shout into this megaphone of racism and kp xenophobia and these other things he's trying stop the will of the people. i know there's a lot of challenges. your last block you talked about voter suppression, which is real. there will be a lot of challenges to get him out. i do have a feeling that the will of the people will be stronger than the monster in the white house. >> i want to ask you a couple of sports questions. i know we're running out of time. bear with me. real quick on lebron james efforts to turn arenas into some of the largest voting precincts in the country, are you -- do

you think that can be brought to scale in way that helps counter what's coming from the other side? >> i do. i think athletes, especially black athletes play a really important part in this. the thing is, we feel very divided as a country right now. understandably so. if you think about it, the one thing that often brings us together is sports. to have athletes, to have somebody of lebron james prominence taking an issue like voter suppression so seriously and amassing other people, o ere a -- other athletes, politicians, advocates together. regardless of what side of the aisle you fight on, you have to be in favor and have to support having a fair election. it's the very base sis of our democracy. i think this is something that many sports teams are very capable of that could assist in this proprocess acess and makin

this day is not chaos. not only having open state stadiums and teaching peach what their rights are. 1 in 13 voters disenfranchised are black. some of which that have criminal records are not aware can vote depending on what state you're in. i implore everybody to get educated about what the voting laws and rules are in your state. you can still get a mail in ballot and drop it right off at the precinct. i did that myself. >> i'm from the san francisco bay area. i'm a warriors fan. steph curry made his way into prime time last night with his family and daughters. what did you make of that? do you think that breaks down some of the barriers to make it easier for ath lletes to be fro and center. politics and sport vs been

interconnected. they have been a powerful, sometimes risky for the ath l s looe --th leets to get involved. was that important last night? >> it's very important for people to understand sports politics, racial issues have always been completely connected. the momentum you step into an arena, it's political because taxpayer money paid for that. i think now because of the presence of donald trump, the way that he has come after sports, come after athletes, steph curry, steve kerr, lebron james. they feel more empowered than ever to return some of that fight. a lot of them, they understand what their communities are facing when it comes to voter suppression. they understand that because of their platform, they're in a unique position to inspire

people to vote and i have seen just a widespread real, just emphasis from athletes on trying to use their platform to maybe have a significant change in this country come november. >> there also in this you fleund bizarre position to have combat disinformation. it's a pleasure to get to talk to you. i hope we can do this again. >> any time. i'm a big fan of yours as well. >> thank you. when we come back, from meddling in our election to putting bounties on the heads of our soldiers and poisoning a top opposition leader. vladmir putin is getting away with all of it and donald trump is letting him. all of it and d is letting him as a caricature artist,

i appreciate what makes each person unique. that's why i like liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. almost done. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

anger is growing globally toward russia surrounding allegations from his followers that kremlin opposition leader and perhaps putin's only real opponent was apparently poisoned. his spokesperson said it was quote an intentional poisoning from a cup of tea he sipped at an airport cafe. he's now on a vent later in a coma fighting for his life. here at home, lawmakers from both parties immediately rep remanted moscow and warned of putin's daring moves against his

opposition but not donald trump. the illness is the latest opportunity for trump to set boundaries on his relationship with putin. yet so far, all he's said is we're looking at it. joining us now former state department official. former sta department official. it is just unprecedented that america doesn't join with our allies to condemn this kind of behavior from vladimir putin. >> and not a word from the state department, nicole. it is appalling that the white house hasn't said anything. it is appalling. it sends a terrible message around the world that we don't stand up for opposition leaders who are preaching democracy and anti-corruption to authoritarian leaders. that's who we are as a people. joe biden talked about light and darkness last night.

there is nothing darker than an authoritarian leader poisoning his opposition, which is what happens in russia all the time. it is darkness incarnate. >> is it causal at this point? is it because we say nothing that vladimir putin feels so emboldened about doing these things? >> i don't think so. i think he is emboldened anyway. he already has trump in his bac pocket. the fact we don't say anything just proves it. in a weird way, it is like he's taunting trump and trump is impotent and unable to reply. i think it shows that he's talking to everybody on the world stage that i can do this and other authoritarian leaders, in turkey and hungary or countries in africa look at this and go, well, if putin can get away with it, maybe i can get away with it, too. and the united states doesn't

say anything. >> let me show you some of the interview with hillary clinton last night. >> we have heard nothing from pompeo. we've heard nothing from, you know, the white house. and it is a demonstration of the moral bankruptcy but also, the clear and present danger that the trump administration poses to ourst freedoms, to our value and i am really concerned that more people in our country are not understanding what has happened elsewhere in the world that trump seems to admire, and what would stop him from going even further than he has if given the chance? >> it seems what secretary clinton is warning about is that with america just totally an send from the world stage, that there is some real concerns in national security circles about how audacious vladimir putin

will be. >>im absolutely. there was the letter signed by the 70 republican national security officials that droppeda yesterday. >> 73, yeah. >> 73. and i think we've talked about this before. nobody knows more about what putin does and putin's actions and putin's thug-ocracy than hillary clinton. it was the demonstrations in 2011 against putin that putin blamed on secretary clinton. i mean, he said she was personally responsible for it. so he has a terrible animus against her. the way, he should. because she absolutely knows everything that he's up to. she would have absolutely called him out chapter and verse if she were president clinton and i believe that if president biden will do exactly the same thing. >> rick, tie had together. we cover them as separate crises but it is all connected. russia helped donald trump in 2016. russia poisoned the putin

opposition leader. donald trump says nothing. russia helps trump again in 2020? is that the circle of life? >> i would add even one more thing, that we haven't done anything about belarus. where belarus is a china state of russia. there is a despot that has been there 25 years. big demonstrations against him. the president of the united states has said nothing about that. it is an all inclusive theory of the case where putin feels like he can dangle trump on his knee. as the senate intelligence committee said, russia has done more to try to subvert our elections since 2016 than they did before. it is going on right now as we speak. and the trump administration is not doingum anything about it. >> i have a hunch that we will be talking about russia and what russia does with america absent the world stage pretty often

between now and election day. andti we'll be calling out to d so. thank you so much for spending some time with us today. when we come back, remembering lives well lived. back, remembering lives well lived conditions. conditions. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. needles. fine for some. but for you, there's a pill that may provide symptom relief.

ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. an "unjection™". and mine's unlisted.. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in new café mocha flavor. i'm looking for my client. i'm so sorry. accountant. [ sighs ] hey! hey man! you're here.

you don't trust me here is vegas, do you? well... i thought we had a breakthrough with the volkswagen. we did. yes. we broke through. that's the volkswagen! that's the cross sport. wow. seatbelts. ♪ please, just tell me where we're going. ♪ what do we wburger...inner? i want a sugar cookie... wait... i want a bucket of chicken... i want... ♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. shingles doesn't care. i logged 10,000 steps today. shingles doesn't care. i get as much fresh air as possible. good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age, increasing your risk for getting shingles.

so what can protect you? shingrix protects. for the first time ever, you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about protecting yourself with shingrix. shingles doesn't care. shingrix protects. brenda pittman was a 49-year-old music teacher at west marian elementary school in mississippi. she knew everybody and everybody

knew and loved her. after she died of complications from the coronavirus, her obituary described her like this. quote, a mother of two but helped raise half of marian county. you would have to look hard to find someone under 30 who didn't know, was not taught by or had not been fed by miss brenda. her death is travesty compounded by what happened the day after the funeral. that's when her husband charlie died of the coronavirus, too. one of their sons buck shared this photo on sunday. his parents with the caption, i know they are together in their heavenly home right now. i home they're waiting on me just like this. and this is dori ellis rays paula. doctors originally diagnosed her with covid-19 all the way in may. sometime later she went into a comba and her mother was at her bed side at cincinnati children's hospital almost nonstop for nearly three months.

the 9-year-old put up a real fight. an admirable fight. a heroic fight. this week it turned out to be just too much. her mom, a single mom of five, who just lost her oldest child, described her daughter as an extra vert, a curious spirit with a happy, friendly demeanor. we'll leave you with the advice her mom gave to spectrum news. if you have kids, love them as much as you can and show them that you love them because, quote, you never know when they're going to go. thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these truly extraordinary times. "the beat" with my friend and colleague ari melber begins right now. ari, hi there. this is our first in-person handoff. >> it is.