good afternoon. i'm lindsey riser. breaking news as we watch capitol hill very closely today. something you don't hear me say often on a saturday. a vote coming up to provide $25 billion of funding for the u.s. postal service which has been turned into a political football. democrats claim the president is using it to undermine the mail-in vote for november's election. house speaker nancy pelosi saying this just a short time ago. >> we will pass the bill, and it will be on a bipartisan way today. and then we will send to it the senate. and let me just say that, as i have always said, public sentiment is everything.

they will be hearing from their constituents, because this hits home. >> coming up i will talk to congresswoman brenda lawrence about all of this. president trump continuing his offensive against mail-in voting today and also, keeping up his attacks against his democratic rivals ahead of his republican convention. one thing the president is not tweeting about, the arrest of his one-time top political advisor. steve bannon vowing to fight back against charges that he defraughted those who donated to a quote charity aiming to help build the president's all. more on that story ahead. i we begin on capitol hill where fanse pelosiy earlier this afternoon held a press conference overonion going deliberations on post office funding and halting changes by the postmaster through the ends of the year. lee-anne, which have we learned from the house speaker today?

>> we know this issue of the post service fund asking the post service? rent ral has become deeply political and steeped in election year politics, especially as the president is saying that people should not trust voting by mail. and he's also demeaning the postal service as well. speaker pelosi was asked about that, also the president's comments about sending law enforcement to the polls in november. here's what she had to say. >> don't pay any attention to what the president is saying. because it is all designed to suppress the vote. he's going to have law enforcement. that's in their playbook. we've seen their playbook. it is a suppress the vote tactic, as the is suppressing of the ability of the postal system to deliver on its responsibility. >> so the house is preparing for that vote later this afternoon. but it also comes as they are

preparing for the postmaster general trump donor to appear before the house oversight committee on monday. this will be his second appearance on capitol hill after following his friday appearance. and that committee is out with some new documents saying that delivery and processing of mail, including priority mail, which is how ballots are sent through the mail, is down 10% since early july. postmaster dejoy had implemented some changes in the operations the postal service shortly after he began his tenure in early june. so they are going to highlight this at that hearing. it is also used as an attack against the republicans, who are saying that all these complaints against the postal service are just a conspiracy theory. lindsay? >> nbc's lee-anne caldwell on

capitol hill. keel keep an eye out for that vote. this morning the president was tweeting hess disapproval of mail-in ballots including new jersey a disaster in the wings. monica, the president has threatened to veto any action taken by congress. what's the latest with that? >> exactly right, lindsey, the white house has already signaled what they plan to do if this ever reach his desk, which is unlickly. now the president has been really been railing against universal mail-in voting for weeks now arguing if people do this, the election could be rigged. of course there is no evidence to back up these claims of widespread voter fraud. but the white house is arguing this is political, this symbolic bill brought to the house for a vote today only deals with the postal service. whereas the white house and chief of staff mark meadows want to see if they can come to an agreement about something more comprehensive. the president has been on the golf course this morning. he was at his own club in sterling, virginia.

we haven't heard his actual reaction to the vote, to the debate, and of course speaker nancy pelosi's words earlier on capitol hill. we expect that may occur shortly as he is returning to the white house in the next little bit. >> the president has a busy week ahead planning toer the republican national convention. how is that going. we have seen the prep starting here at the white house. that is a story and it of itself. the fact that the president is going to be giving his speech on the steps the front lawn and other speeches will be made from the rose garden is unusual. every incumbent in modern history used the.treings of the president to their advantage. we have seen this president on the campaign trail using air force one,nd laing at hangars, all of that is normal. but the fact that we are now uprooting the convention first from charlotte, north carolina

and then from jacksonville the fact that so so much of it will come from the white house is raising serious effects how that works. all of the white house aides were working on the speeches would be subject to that. how is that working inner we are told here officials are trying to be very careful. the campaign and the republican national committee themselves are the ones who will be doing most this work. if not they will be reimbursed because the white house is not supposed to be paying for any of this given the taxpayer funds. the marquise speaker, donald trump jr., the president's eldest son, the first lady tuesday, the vice president, and then the president himself. all of those will be done life. that's something they are going to do in contrast to the democrats. they want more of their programming to be live and their words to appear more organic and dynamic than what we heard from

the speakers at the democrats convention this last week. we are told he is going to be part of every night of programming of the convention. whether he pops up in person somewhere or he is part of some other kind of segment. we are also told to expect surprises. monday we should point out the official business, the roll call is going to be in charlotte, north carolina. the president is expected to be in the state. he may stop by and welcome that group of delegates who are still gathering in person. the democrats roll call was widely praised for its ingenuity. but the republicans will be doing it in person on monday morning from charlotte. >> a bit of a contrast there. monica alba from the white house

thank you. joe biden and kamala harris have yet to announce plans to hit the campaign trail amid coronavirus concerns. nbc's mariana soto my major joins us from wilmington, delaware. what can you tell us about the biden/harris strategy ahead. >> you can except the see them virtually. what they have been doing since march when they stopped doing in fern campaigning, biological their digital presence. and the dnc was a digital convention minus a couple of live remarks. i asked what we should except in the next two months, will we be seeing them in person? they said listen the north star to have our campaign since the pandemic started is the science.

we will be talking to the experts the see if we can go anywhere in the country at any given time given that the pandemic is still going on and people continue to get infected. it is still largely virtual. they said you have seen biden, dr. jill biden, a lot of surrogates. expect to see now the vp pick, senator harris as well as her husband doug emhoff holding virtual grass root events, holding targeted virtual meetings and virtual events talking to different minority groups. all of those things they are laying out now. we don't know yet if we will see them on the campaign trail just yet? we are 73 days out at this point. as you mentioned it has been largely virtual, their campaigning so far. do you sense there could be a lack of personal connection that could end up hurting the campaign? >> it's somethiinteresting thaty that. because as we have seen in the

past few months joe biden's lead in the polls have really skyrocketed against the president. and he has not traveled besides here in delaware and right next door in pennsylvania. he has not been out in the country too much. of course the first person to say that they regret not being able to campaign in person is the candidate himself he is known as a tactile politician. i have seen him at hundreds of events where he spends so much time on the rope line trying to connect with voters. of course he doesn't have that personal intimacy and connection. neither do the voters. as you saw last week, definitely bringing in voters from the people he met years ago on the rope line. even the star of the show on thursday, braden herrington a 13 yearly stutterer who has built a relationship with jobe. bringing in those voices to really give that testimonial to his character and to his

empathy. the campaign is also looking at the big enthusiasm since the moment they announced senator kamala harris as the vp pick. just an inpucks of money, $0 million last week during the dnc also $48 million in the 48 hours after they picked senator kamala harris. that is the metric they are looking for in the text couple of week. >> important points. nbc's mariana soto my major in wilmington. breaking news out of california where emergency workers are racing to contain a surge of deadly wildfires threatening towns and blanketing cities in cities. the fires were ignited earlier this week boy a lightning storm but the state's emergency response be that further complicated by an extreme heat wave and the covid-19 md pa. on friday morning governor gavin newsom pledged that california will use all available resources in its emergency response but admitted of the may not be enough to contain the 560 fires

that have burned more than 771,000 acres. we will continue to monitor this story for updates as they occur. to breaking news in the gulf of mexico, where msnbc is tracking historic twoubl threat. two tropical storms, marco and laura, are expected to intensify into category 1 hurricanes early yek week. and if that happens, it would be the first time two hurricanes are in the gulf of mexico at the same time. the systems could even make land fall on the same day, monday or tuesday. ed a vooir advise rears are in effect from florida to texas. despite speculation, forecast remembers saying these systems cannot combine to form one super storm. former adviser to president trump, steve bannon vows to fight charges he defrauded hundreds of thousands of online supporters. bannon pleaded not guilty thursday after prosecutors accused him and three others of taking money donated to help build a wall along the southern

border. bannon was defiant speaking on his podcast shortly before being released on a $5 million bond. >> i am not going to back down. this is a political hit job. everybody knows i love a fight. i was called honey badger for many years. honey badger doesn't give -- so i am in this for the language haul. i am in this for the fight. i am going to tin the fight. this was to stop and intimidate people that want to talk about the wall. >> joining me, glen kirschner former prosecutor and msnbc analyst. does it sound like a political hit job? >> no, really, this was amateur hour with these four codefendants involved in a conspiracy. you know, when you read the indictment and you realize that steve bannon and his coconspirators are creating fake invoices, they are creating sham vendors, they are setting up shell corporations to bilk these

donors out of their money -- you for example these are the kinds of cases that prosecutors love, because there is so much evidence beyond witness testimony. and this evidence will sink steve bannon and his codefendants if they choose to go to trial, which i predict they will not. one or more of them will decide to cooperate with the prosecutors. and once one coconspirator decides to cooperate, that is a sign that this whole thing will collapse and they will all end up striking deals and pleading guilty. >> what about attorney general bill barr? he knew about this probe months ago, leading to speculation that it could have been the motivation for the ousting of jeffrey berman as u.s. attorney for the southern district of, no. then a law enforcement official backtracked that saying barr was actually informed after berman's dismissal. could berman's ousting

significantly have impacted the case against bannon? >> it looks like that may have been a goal of bill barr. of course he knew about this. he is the attorney general who is responsible for supervising this u.s. attorney's office. it look like if that was bill barr's goal it didn't have the desired effect. here's the other thing closely receipted to this. we have learned from kennedy lany and others, the reporting in recent days -- we also know that criminal deferrals were made by the republican controlled senate input committee to the dc office. what did we know after those deferrals were made, bill barr did the same thing. he swooped in and he pulled the top prosecutor out of the d.c. u.s. attorney's office, jessy liu. and we are all left to wonder what happened to those criminal referrals by a republican-controlled senate intel committee of don jr., cared kushner, and steve bannon? we need to hear about what

happened to those. >> it also kind of brings to light the circle around the president. danon is now the seventh member of the president's inner circle. we are showing everybody right now images of everybody charged with a crime. my colleague, geoff bennett pressed him on that this week. let's listen. >> it is not just steve bannan to. it is roger stone, michael flynn, gates, manafort, cohen. what does it say about the people -- >> i have no idea. >> in a culture of great lawlessness. >> there was great lawlessness in the obama administration. they spied upon our campaign illegally. if you look at all of the things and the scandal they had they had tremendous lawlessness. i know nothing about -- i was not involved in the project. i have no why who was. >> what's your reaction right now, not only to that argument that i didn't know what was going on, but also to the fact there are so many people surrounding the president that have found themselves in hot

water? >> lindsey, this reflects poorly, not only on steve bannon and mike flynn, and roger stone, and so many other trump associates who have fallen, it reflects on donald trump's judgment. who does he surround himself with? it sure looks like he surrounds himself with -- perhaps not exclusively, but largely criminals, grifters, those who would abuse power and the privilege that donald trump gave them by naming them to high positions within our federal government. this speaks volumes about donald trump's poor judgment. >> what else does it raise, though, in addition to his yumt in terms of he's having close dealings with all of these people? does it -- does it suggest something more sinister? >> it suggests that beginning in january in the event we have a changeover in the administration i think an investigation will have to be open to see how far

these criminal tentacles go and might all of these people be involved in some kind of a conspiracy to defraud the united states? we have seen it in glimpses when individual charges have been brought against people. but don't forget, bob mueller referred out 14 investigations for further work. and we have never heard what the result of those 14 referrals are. so i would say in january, lindsey, we all need to stay tuned. >> glen kishner, we will continue to call upon you. thank you so much. coming up, a vote expected any time now on a $25 billion package for theest postal service. this all coming as the usps comes under scrutiny for a new plan that critics claim is leading to a slowdown in mail deliveriry service. and the congresswoman from michigan who is calling for

postmaster general louis dejoy to resign. we will talk about that and what she expects from his hearing on monday. d what she expects from his hearing on monday

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a new but familiar name in washington circles was interviewed about the origins of russia's 2016 election interference case. former cia director john brennan says he was questioned eight hours yesterday by u.s. attorney john durham at cia headquarters. brennan was told he was a witness to events and not a subject of investigation. the russia probe investigated links between the trump campaign and russia. brennan is currently an nbc senior national security and intelligence analyst. congress continues to deliberate on capitol hill today over spending $25 billion to the postal service as well as preventing the postmaster general from implementing any changes before the end of the year. but "vanity fair" is reporting that the u.s. postal service has

already been testing a new program that could slow mail in urban areas, airs that typically vote democrat. a postal service contractor in oregon who looked into the program found that, quote, the tests were being conducted in areas that affected more residents in urban areas than those in smaller towns and households, this subjected a possible voting tilt given the number of people live in large cities versus small towns. dejoy is expected to face even more intense criticism on monday than his senate hearing yesterday. joining me now is one of the members of the committee, michigan congresswoman brenda lauren. we heard louisgy dejoy testify yesterday. he said it is an outrageous claim that's trying to influence the election with his recent actions a of the the u.s. postal

service. how do you square that with this most recent report from van it fair? >> thank you for having me here. many people don't know i spent 30 years in the postal service before coming to congress. it is clear, and it is known operationally when you make massive change at the brad concepts that he is using, it is going to impact the delivery of the mail. taking out multiple machines, five in one building that processes 37,000 pieces of mail an hour -- this is what we are talking about. removing those collection boxes. and reducing overtime. and also restructuring the postal service. that's creating chaos within the organization. on top of the pandemic. on top of a national election. you know, mr. dejoy, our postmaster general may literally think that it is not a crisis. he hasn't been there but 90 --

two months. how can he analytically make that statement? the reason why i called for his resignation is, my goodness, if you don't have the ability, with no postal experience, coming in to be the ceo of the largest employer in the united states, over 600 thousand employees, that you don't have the ability or the compassion to understand that when you make a logistical change at such a broad level, you are going to impact productivity. productivity in the post office is delivering the mail to american citizens. >> given he chambers there is no malicious intent but you are saying you have to know the actions you are taking are going to delay the mail and thus impact the november election where so many people are going to be voting by mail, is there anything he could say on monday that would make you rescind your call for his resignation? >> so, the postmaster general is

appointed by the board of governors. the board of governors are appointed by the president. we are here -- we have a majority republican board of governors who has appointed a non-postal person with no postal experience to be the ceo of the company. so my question to him, first of all, did the board of governors approve this plan? did you actually create an reorganization plan that was approved? the y did you, and do you have any sense or ability to monitor what is happening in the postal service if your ultimate objective and goal is to deliver the mail, do you know the impact of your decisions? if you don't, if you have not sown a willingness but the boldness just the disrupt this may not be the job for you. >> we have been talking about the deliberations taking place on capitol hill today, the $25

billion package to the u.s. postal service. what do you hope comes out of deliberations today? >> let's talk about that. the board of governors who are republicans, who are appoint booed i the president asked for that appropriations from congress. the board -- the postmaster general himself said that he agrees the postal service needed that money. now add on top of that, we are in a pandemic. we are in a federal election. we cannot afford to miss any of the goals and delivery standards. we have to be lock sync and delivering the mail to ensure that our democracy here -- this is not just mail delivery. this is our democracy. it is going to be connected to the ability of the postal service to deliver the ballots. so with that being said, do we need the money? yes. but this bill also says cease and desist from all these changes from all these

disruptors that you are putting in place that will impede the postal service. we have a reduced work force because so many people have been impacted by covid. postal workers are first-line, essential workers. so during this whole pandemic they have been working. and you know, we make an oath of office that -- i say that, we, because i worked there for so many years. we take an oath of office that neither rain snow, sleet, or snow nor the doom of night will impede us from delivering the mail. yet, still, you have someone who comes in and create internal institutional processing interruptions that will stop the postal service. there are some cities and some people calling my office. i have heard multiple members, they are not getting mail every day. the objective of the postal service is to touch every single household in america, every i think single one, six days

aweek. >> congresswoman thank you for your time on this saturday. we appreciate it. >> uchk, be safe. >> you too. coming up, how schools across the country are preparing for reopening. and how some high school athletes are taking drastic measures to ensure they still have a shot to play fall sports in hopes of earning a coveted college scholarship. ♪ after we make grilled cheese, ♪ ♪ then we're eating grilled cheese. ♪ ♪ because it's time. ♪ yeah. ♪ time for grilled cheese. an army family who is always at the ready. so when they got a little surprise... two!? ...they didn't panic. they got a bigger car for their soon-to-be-bigger family. after shopping around for insurance, they called usaa - who helped find the right coverage for them and even some much-needed savings. that was the easy part. usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it- easy.

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the cdc updated its covid-19 guidance for school administrators yesterday as classrooms prepare to reopen nationwide in the fall. in its revision, the cdc emphasized the importance of keeping schools open if possible. arguing that the many benefits of in-person schooling should be weighed against the risks posed by covid-19. it also highlighted new data regarding covid-19 in children which has indicated that children are less likely to have severe symptoms than adults. but the guidance hasn't calmed the fears of school officials. some states like alabama and tennessee are rolled back their

schools' reopenings but many still intend to use every resource available to keep students and staff safe amid the pandemic. cake wayne county, indiana. as the state battles nearly 85,000 infections even school lunches have been reimagined with covid-19 safety in mind. here's more from wthr's matt mccutchen. >> in waynetownship it has been a summer spent to attention to every last detail. students here in lunch have xs where they need the wait this line before they can go ahead and proceed. before they get in for food for lunch they stop and put hand sanitizer on first. then they are instructed to pick up a tray. all of this continuously disinfected between lunches and between students. inside all the lunches will be prepack anned. part of that is to make sure that the number of students can get in and out. to cut down on the number of students waiting in line. also the risk of exposure. then you can see that dots really mark the spot for where

students are to sit. they will all be setting every other here chair here all facing in the same direction all to be sure search safe as possible during lunch. >> mid april we started thinking about all the different scenarios that could happen for the reopening of school. >> while some schools focus on social distancing in the classroom or lunch room others are exploring possibilities outside like this school district in vermont. with just over 1500 cases of infection in the state. >> it is going to be excited. >> reporter: for lily, fifth grade should be memorable. her school in vermont is set to start in person five days a week this fall, mostly outdoors. >> it is going to be a really fun way to learn a bit more and get back to nature. >> reporter: teachers will use an existing amphitheater as a physically distanced classroom

or sake lessons to a wood area. come colder months, portable heaters and rechargeable warming pads will help with class sizes kept small so when indoor learning picks back up spaces won't be crowded. >> this is not what any of us expected but we are trying to use all of our creativity and ingenuity. >> opening safely during the pandemic doesn't only include the classroom. it includes sports as well. some high school athletes are confronting a big decision, either trafr schools to play their dream sport and possibly impress college coaches or don't play at all. julia jester joins us from st. mary's high school which is currently holding voluntary workouts from athletes. what are you hearing from the players and the families that are taking this big leap? >> lindsey, so by public reports at least two dozen elite athletes have decided to move to a different state to pursue their fall sport of choice,

especially high contact sport like football. now, this is not without criticism. there are questions whether these players are bumping locals from the roster or zrording public health moving across state borders, however for these families it is critical to their child's career. i spoke with landon nelson and his father about their family's decision to move from california the iowa to ensure that he could play football this fall and get the critical recruiting tapes that colleges need to make scholarship offers. here's what he told me about his family's decision. >> in ath grade i was like, yeah, this is what i want to do, i want to go to college for football. ever since then i work really hard to do that. when california didn't have a season in the, you know, fall, i knew it would be a hard decision, but i would still need to play this season because it's such a big part of my life.

>> now, the head the national federation of high school sports stressed to me that no sport has been canceled this year. many have been postponed with at least 37 states and territories modifying their fall season and 17 postponing fall sports, including football, entirely until 2021. that was not a risk that landon and his family were willing to make in case california would have to keep shifting thing. they wanted that chance in iowa to play his sport. now, i'm here in annapolis maryland at st. mary's high school, which is an example of how confusing the state guidelines can be. not only do fall sport decisions vary state by state and con by county. private and religious schools can do their own conference decisions independent of what the states say. as of right now in maryland, the fall season is postponed. but their reassessing in october. so earlier today we had football players out here voluntarily working out to keep their hopes

of the season alive and have a little bit of patients that their senior sport will be able to happen. lindsey. >> julia juster in annapolis. very interesting. thank. up next, democracy is on the ballot. the theme from the documents' biggest names this wooejd. president trump wasted no time responding to the complete hammering of his leadership during the democratic convention. we look ahead to next week's republican convention. what will his message and that of the republican party be as they lock to build their own momentum and hit back at democrats? -and always will be. never letting anything get in my way. not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. and certainly not arthritis. new voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. and it can help you too. feel the joy of movement

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the speg speakers appealed to voters on a personal level with a personal message. >> let me be as honest and clear as i possibly can. donald trump is the wrong president for our country. >> donald trump hasn't grown into the job. because he can't. and the consequences of that failure are severe. >> the constant chaos leaves us adrift. the incompetence makes us feel afraid. and callousness makes us feel alone. >> this is our moment. this is our mission. may history 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. >> president trump responded to the dnc characterizing the event as dark and dismal and casting himself as the only thing standing between americans and total chaos. >> over the last week, the

democrats held the darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in american history. they spent four straight days attacking america as racist, and a horrible country that must be redeemed. joe biden grim lly dedeclared a season of american darkness. look at what we accomplished until the plague came in. i am the only thing standing between the american dream and total anarchy, madness, and chaos. >> joining me now, jonathan lemere, white house reporter with the "associated press." we heard mike pence say it, laura trump say it, they are joining the characterization of the dnc of the president as grim. how can they portray a more optimistic message the president

keeping the country always on the verge of chaos. >> the president's rhetoric has been dark and disturbing painting almost an apock limitic scene in cities across the country, cities run by democratic mayors i should point out. this is certainly -- the attention of course shifts to the republicans as of monday. it is going the look very different than what we just saw. republicans and trump advisers concede the democrats pulled off their virtual convention. some dismissed moments of it as boring. but they felt like there weren't any standout problems or gaffs they were hoping this could seize. this coming week is going to have very few taped events, more live events including the first lady speaking from the rose garden. the vice president will speaking live and the president himself will speak from the south lawn

of the white house both he and the first lady breaking convention here giving a political speech from the white house in violation, perhaps of the hatch act. >> being on the south lawn, how might that impact his delivery? >> they are hoping to have some people here. some suggested up to 1,000 people could be on the lawn. they may be spread out. they may set up viewing stations on the national mall. they also applied for fireworks at the washington monument. that's a clue as to the president' sendoff on thursday. it will be a challenge. but it will be different than what we saw in cleveland four years ago. there won't be a packed rein, won't be a balloon drop. the president feeds off of those

crowds. certainly he does at rallies he has been missing those. we have seen the campaign try to revive them. smaller events. airport hangers. i travelled to scranton this week when he had one there in front of a couple of hundred people. that is essential for this president. for many americans this is where they are starting to pay attention, these conventions. the president goes into it, his team acknowledges, he's down, they feel like they are within striking distance in many battleground states but he is losing and they hope to start turning that around this week. >> you have new reporting in ap in which you write that the president wrasse rebetweened at least temporarily the presidency but he has not shake ten virus. how will he and his surrogates frame their handling of the pandemic? do you think that will resonate with voters considering we are also seeing a lot of data that it has been a mishandling. nobody 1.1 million jobless claims were filed last week? >> certainly a two part answer. the president and his team will

suggest that this is under control. they will point to the china travel ban though as loose as it was back in the early part of the year. they will suggest things would have been far worse had the president not acted as he did. they will tout testing. they will suggest that the nation needs to open its economy, things will be worse if it didn't. that's their spin but the facts often don't line up with them. we have seen poll after poll suggest that americans largely disapprove of how this president has handled this pandemic. of course the death total and infection rate is much higher in the united states than any other country this the world, certainly any other western country battling this. what they also want to do is make this election a choice, a choice between what the next four years are going to look like under donald trump versus biden. right now, the viewers are viewing this election as a referendum solely on trump and largely his handling of the pandemic. right now americans are voting -- at least in the polls they are suggesting they don't

approve at all. >> thank for the preview ahead and your analysis we appreciate it. in a week packed with emotional endorsements of joe biden braden hrg ton's stands out. he spoke out to tell how is hel him with the same challenge. >> without joe biden, i wouldn't be talking to you today. about a few months ago, i met him in new hampshire. he told me we were members of the same club. >> since telling his story, braden has been splashed across front pages and social media. nbc's lester holt caught up with the new star to ask him how it's been going. >> i've heard a bunch of comments on twitter, and that made me feel really nice about how i made that address and that's impacted a bunch of children's lives. >> braden says he wants to be a therapist someday to help others as biden helped him. we'll be right back. m. 'lwel be right back. this is my body of proof. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

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police escort. we haven't heard very much since then. after he arrived, that clinic issued a statement to the press saying that mr. navalny was in a stable condition, but later after that, the activist who actually organized his medical evacuation flight to germany said that he was in quite a serious condition even though it is stable. the doctors will be conducting a comprehensive exam, but this will take time and doctors have urged us to remain patient while they do their work. one of the things, of course, that is very much wanted from this exam is some kind of conclusive toxicology report that can say one way or the other whether or not it was a toxin or a poison, as is suspected, that put mr. navalny in such a serious state. but that, again, will take time. now that german ngo that did fly him to germany, leased a statement today telling nbc news

that they're not expecting to issue any further statements today. but that in a few days' time probably, after the doctors have had some time to work with mr. navalny, his family will be issuing some kind of statement. for now, all of mr. navalny's associates here in russia are just saying the priority is to save his life. back to you. >> reporting from moscow, thank you. much more to come on msnbc. we're keeping a close eye on capitol hill as deliberations continue over the proposed $25 billion funding package for the postal service. a live report just moments away. plus, a major settlement reached in the ongoing flint water crisis. i'll be joined live by michigan attorney general dana nelson -- nesle. stay with us. on -- nesle. stay with us from chicken of the sea, comes new wild catch. premium, ready-to-eat fillet pieces of albacore tuna, or alaskan salmon, or ahi yellowfin with just water and sea salt. new wild catch from chicken of the sea. enjoy the catch of the day any day.

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good afternoon, the latest on the action on capitol hillment a rare saturday session and vote for the house involving the fight over the post office. also this hour, a developing story. protests expected tonight over another deadly police-involved shooting. this one in louisiana. plus, steve bannon's arrest got all the headlines, but we'll look at one of the other figures charged as part of the build-the-wall fraud case. a look at nbc news reporting on his role long before he was busted. plus, a new study raises even more questions about kids and the transmission of covid as millions more students prepare to return to classrooms. and i'll talk to the