♪ mixing official government business with campaign politics, night two of the republican national convention featured the first lady speaking from the rose garden. and secretary of state mike pompeo breaking decades of protocol by speaking from jerusalem. also, the governor of wisconsin announces a state of emergency amid police-involve shooting of jacob blake a 29-year-old black man. and the cdc quietly changes its guidance on coronavirus testing which some experts say could result in fewer people being tested and also impacts contact tracing efforts.

good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, august 26th. and i'm yasmin vossoughian. we've got a lot to cover this morning. night two of the republican national convention kicking off with the president blurring the lines between the government and the trump campaign. speeches continued under the theme land of opportunity, as they are putting it. the speakers touting president trump's first term achievements and continuing to describe a dark vision for america if joe biden wins in november. former florida attorney general and one of the president's impeachment defense lawyers pam bondi tried to paint biden as corrupt. she repeated debunked claims that the former vice president improperly intervened in the ukraine to protect his son.

>> we were told to look at joe biden as the model of integrity when you look at the 47 year of politics, the people who benefited are his family members, not the american people. let's take a closer look. we all know about joe's son hunter biden a corrupt ukrainian oligarch, even though he had no experience in ukraine or energy sector. none. yet he was paid millions to do nothing. he only had one qualification that mattered. he was the son of the man in charge of distributing u.s. aid to ukraine. joe says he'll build back better. yeah, build the bidens back better. >> all right. so what bondi failed to mention last night was the fact that biden and his son hunter's dealings with ukraine and the president's efforts to expose them were at the center of president trump's impeachment trial. and while she argued that biden's family had benefited

from his years in the politics, she left out the fact that president trump's own daughter ivanka and jared kushner and tiffany trump and eric trump who continue to run the trump organization. just this week, the new york attorney general filed legal action against the trump organization and has asked the courts to compel eric trump to testify. first lady melania trump delivered her keynote address in the rose garden yesterday. in her speech, she demonstrated the first attempt at sympathy at the republican national convention for the more than 170,000 americans who have died from the coronavirus. >> the invisible enemy covid-19 swept across our beautiful country and impacted all of us. my deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one. and my prayers amid those who

are ill or suffering. i know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. i want you to know you are not alone. my husband's administration will not stop fighting until there is an effective treatment or vaccine available to everyone. donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic. >> all right. so the opening night of the republican national convention drew in far fewer viewers than the state of convention back in 2016. night one only brought in 17 millions viewers down 26% from 2016. the overnight audio from the republican national convention was lower than the democratic national convention which attracted 19.7 million viewers

last week. but significantly down for the democrats from 2016. los angeles is attributing decline in viewership to a lack of live event as well as a dropoff in viewers under the age of 50. let's get into some of this now, joining me political reporter for the "washington examiner" emily larson. emily, appreciate you being with us this morning. give us the takeaways from the republican national convention. >> hi, good morning, yasmin. i think the little things that are striking to me, comparing the republican convention to the democratic convention is the amount of time that the republicans are spending not only reaching out to new voters a bit, but mostly, trying to shore up their own base. and increase that enthusiasm. the democratic convention, we saw a lot of reaching out to republicans, a lot of former republicans talking about joe biden. and we saw a lot of really --

not really a lot of mention about some of the most controversial social issues which we did see last night in the republican convention. there was a whole speech about abortion which we didn't have at the democratic convention. and also a lot of, i think, i was in charlotte over the weekend talking to some republican delegates who were there for the in-person portion of their meeting. and what they're looking for is a more optimistic tone. so many of them said they're looking for an optimistic tone to combat the doom and gloom from the democratic convention last week. i think last night was more optimistic than the first night of the convention. but there's still very big focus about the stark version of the country that could be coming if joe biden is electeded in all of the speeches last night. >> so, do you expect as we look ahead, in the final two nights of this convention the same to be heard across the board?

what are we expecting to hear tonight? >> sure. tonight, vice president pence will be speaking from ft. mchenry, that will be the head liner tonight. and we'll see the governor kr christi christine granholm and this is more about whether or not you want to the re-elect trump, more of a referendum of him than anything. in this election, i have seen republicans working very hard not so much trying to define biden, there was a bit of that last night but trying to define the republican ticket as a whole. this is an agenda of four more years of president trump.

and i expect to see a lot of focus on the positive aspect of trump's administration, while downplaying or completely not mentioning a lot of the negative aspects such as the coronavirus pandemic, as you mentioned earlier. >> which is very hard to avoid as we are living in it right now. emlay larson, thank you so much. jacob blake, the 29-year-old black man who was shot multiple times by police in kenosha, wisconsin wednesday is now paralyzed. his attorney said that his internal organs is so severe it would take a miracle for him to walk again. the milwaukee attorney sentinel is looking for a man with a long

gun after one man was killed and two injured over blake's shooting. it marked the third night of protests that have torn through the city. past the 8:00 p.m. curfew. about 250 law enforcement officers and 250 national guard members were on hand. governor tony evers has declared a state of emergency there. yesterday, blake's parents pleaded for justice for their son and an end to the violence. >> they shot my son. seven times. seven times, like he didn't matter. but my son matters. he's a human being, and he matters. >> as i was riding through here, through this city, i noticed a

lot of damage that doesn't reflect my son or my family. if jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased. >> all right. an eyewitness to blake's shooting tells nbc news he heard officers yell, quote, drop the knife. but police have not said they actually recovered a weapon on the scene. two high-profile supporters coming out in support of mail in voting. bill stepien is the most notable to break with the president's official. stepien said this, i think in states in which mail-in voting has occurred it's fine by me.

they've shown in instances that it's works. it's been proven over the years. it's mail-in vote lying large with governors looking to prepare to implement or expand the practice. and tim scott his support of mail-in voting today. >> this process of mail-in ballots will prove to work out just fine. i think every single american should have the right to vote. how we do so is important. that we do so is more important. and i'm going to have confidence that all of the living pieces will actually fit together and we'll have a very strong, integrity-driven election. still ahead, the lawsuit of the removal of a confederate

tattoat a time statue. and also, laura as we're bracing for the storms. those stories coming up. ♪ you should be mad they gave this guy a promotion. you should be mad at forced camaraderie. and you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. but you're not mad, because you have e*trade,

who's tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. don't get mad. get e*trade's simplified technical analysis. i'm a verizon engineer, and i'm part of the team building the most powerful 5g experience for america. it's 5g ultra wideband, and it's already available in parts of select cities. like los angeles and in new york city. and it's rolling out in cities around the country. with massive capacity, it's like an eight lane highway compared to a two lane dirt road. 25x faster than today's 4g networks. in fact, it's the fastest 5g in the world. from the network more people rely on. this is 5g built right. only on verizon. 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.

(vo) audi e-tron.vo) the next frontier of electric. get an exceptional offer at your local audi dealer.

there's one more important area where our president is right, he knows that political correctness and cancel culture are dangerous and just plain wrong. in much of the democratic party it's now fashion onable to say t america is racist. that is a lie. america is not a racist country. >> that was part of nikki haley's monday night speech at the rnc. it is coming amid the ongoing debate over the removal of confederate statues. a virginia judge has ruled that a lawsuit seeks to prevent ralph

northam's administration from removing a statue of confederate robert e. lee may go forward. a richmond state judge dismissed a suit to allow the statue along the boulevard where the statue sits. plaintiffs say the governor does not have the authority to remove the statue because it would violate terms and conditions of the transfer of the statue of the land that it sits on. the trial is set to begin this fall. and in the ongoing pandemic, new questions are emerging over the president's emergency removal of blood plasma treatment for hospitalized patients. on sunday, president trump and two of his health officials cited that the treatment has reduced deaths by 35%. now, a lot of experts are confused about where that key statistic came from, leave something scientists to say the fda had grossly misrepresented

the data. according to the "the new york times" a statistic was not found in the fda's official authorization letter in a 17-page memo written by fda scientists or in the mayo clinic analysis cited by the administration. with the data appearing to be built on a shaky commission, fda commissioner stephen hawn walked back his criticism. >> in a tweet earlier this week, he wrote that the criticism is entirely justified. still ahead, more on tonight's rnc. and a check on the severe weather, when we're back in a moment.

alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice. and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. welcome back, in california, cooler weather is helping

firefighters who were baffled wildfires for the lastest days, as crews try to put out the flames with more than 650 wildfires burning. fire experts say as many as 1400 buildings have been destroyed. expect those numbers to rise to 3,000. the fires brought on by record high heat waves and lightning strikes have burned over 1 million acres of land, causing over 250,000 people to evacuate from the region. with that, i want to get a "first look" at your forecast with msnbc meteorologist bill karins. so we're tracking the fires out west where some people's homes completely devastated, having to evacuate the area there, then we have what is going on in the gulf region which is hurt rain laura barreling towards the gulf coast, it seems. possibly, bill, the last i checked a cat 3 when it makes landfall. where are we this morning? >> it could be a cat 4 at

landfall. overnight, the storm has rapidly intensified. laura is doing everything that i feared yesterday. that it was going to take advantage of perfect ideal conditions in the gulf, warm water, high octane fuel. it's growing in size and intensity which means even the effects near the center will be felt pretty wide. there's hundred of thousands of people evacuating that did either yesterday or doing so this morning. if your emergency manager tells you to evacuate, do so. this is not a storm to fool around with, trying to ride out and stay at home. essentially in the storm surge, the warning area, get out. save your life and hopefully, you won't have too much cleanup. they think it will be a category 4 from the hurricane center. it's rapidly intensifying. and when these storms rapidly intensify, we don't know when it's going to stop rapidly

intensifying. that's why it's a category 4 before landfall this afternoon, notice we're pinpoint, beaumont areas to lake charles as the areas that could get hit the hardest by the strong winds. to the right would be the most storm surge. this hasn't changed much and that's good news for the people in houston area, galveston. you're not completely out of the woods, but the forecast has not shifted to you. and then the storm is a big rainstorm all the way up to areas just south of st. louis to tennessee through kentucky, and it will leave a pretty rainy saturday heading through the mid-atlantic region. so, let's talk about our computer models. and as we go throughout the day, all of these lines are possible landfall from beaumont, port

arthur area. lake charles is 30 miles inland and we're expecting a storm surge of 11 feet. that's how swampy and low-lying southern louisiana is. that water is going to go 30 to 50 miles inland because the surge. here's how it looks on the european model. late this afternoon, still not much going on, but then right around sunset which when the worst of the rain and strong winds come onshore. the european model has landfall east of and over cameron parish, louisiana. would be the worst storm surge from cameron all the way up to lake charles. this is the scary graphic, yasmin. we've now increased the next stumpe up to 14 feet. so for areas right around southern louisiana, this could be worse than ike. this could be worse than rita. i mean, those are storms that were multibillion dollar disasters. and that's what we're comparing this to now. >> 14 feet of storm surge could be absolutely devastating.

that's exactly why it's important to heed the warnings as bill just said, if folks are asking to you evacuate the area. take this thing seriously. thank you, bill. i'm going to check back with you in just a little bit. still ahead, everybody, much more from night two of the republican national convention including secretary of state mike pompeo's controversial speech from jerusalem which is now the subject of an investigation. also breaking with decades of tradition, the white house is used as the backdrop for several rnc events including a presidential pardon and a naturalization ceremony. we are back in a moment. what happens now?

now that the rent's due but they've cut your pay. now that the virus has cost lives but your healthcare costs too much. now that our president has had months but he still doesn't have a plan. what happens now? joe biden knows how to lead through a crisis because he's done it before. when our economy was on the verge of collapse, joe biden led the largest economic stimulus in a generation and saved millions of jobs. now joe biden is ready to lead us through this crisis. he knows rebuilding our economy starts with fighting the virus, increasing testing, getting more protective gear for healthcare workers and calling for mask mandates nationwide. as president, he'll get working families back on their feet by lowering healthcare costs and helping small businesses recover. so what happens now? we elect a president who will build back better.

i'm joe biden and i approve this message.

♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. we're going to begin this half hour with a controversial second night of the republican national convention. breaking a long tradition, as secretary of state nonpartisansh nonpartisanship. mike pompeo delivered a support supporting the president's re-election. >> i have a big job as susan's husband and nick's dad. susan and nick are more safe and their freedom is more secure because president trump has put america's first vision into action. it may not made him popular but it's worked. this president has led bold initiatives today because of president trump's nato is stronger, america has stronger

weapons to build missiles. as a soldier i saw first hand people desperate to flee to freedom the way each of us can ensure our freedom by don't just talk but by who deliver. >> so that speech was recorded in jerusalem during an official visit to the middle east. the secretary of state's address is being condemned by democrats and others as a breach of diplomatic precedent. and a possible violation of federal law prohibiting executive branch employees from overt activism while on duty. even before pompeo's speech airlined, the committee's investigation into whether pompeo is violating the hatch act, informing the state department of the inquiry after explicitly prohibited senate confirmed appointees from even

attending political conventions. in response, the state department has insisted that pompeo was appearing at the rnc, quote, as they put it in his personal capacity. and no funds were being used to support the reported address. and it was material that pompeo has repeated countless times before audiences foreign and domestic at think tank events, media interviews and press conferences that have seldom been met with raised eyebrows. pompeo did not attack joe biden and did not expressly urge voters to cast their ballots for the current president. also blurring the lines between official and political duties acting homeland security ch chadwell conducted a naturalization ceremony for five

new citizens of the united states. the president trump presiding at the white house, critics sounding the alarm he may have violated the hatch act as well which prohibits government officials from participating in politics while on white house duty. and saying it did not violate laws because held separate from the convention. was publicized earlier in the day, and video made available to the public which the campaign decided to use. speaking from the white house, the president congratulated the new lly naturalized citizens. >> you followed the rules, you embraced the laws and made yourself men and women of the highest integrity. it's not easy, you went through a lot. and we appreciate you being with us today. you earned the most pricesed, cherished priceless possession anywhere in the world, it's

called american citizenship. >> so, before the rnc kicked off its second evening last night, the white house used a seven-minute video of a convicted bank robber after his 2009 release. john ponder pleaded guilty to bank robbery in nevada back in 2005. and after serving his sentence founds a job training and mentorship organization called hope for prisoners. during the crafting of the criminal justice legislation signed back in 2018, ponder came to the president's attention and was invited to the white house for a national day of prayer. both ponder and the fbi agent who arrested him who has since become one of his best friends spoke at the rnc last night where the theme was land of opportunity. trump's action clears a federal bank robbery charge from ponder's record. joining me once benefit, political reporter for the washington examiner emily

larson. let's talk through some of these stories, emily. i first want to get the reaction you are hearing over the president's pardon of the bank robber turned activist john ponder we were just mentioning. >> sure, i think this pardon represents, as well as the naturalization ceremony represents how important that these two issues are to president trump and the republicans. showing that they -- about this is sort of a demonstration of criminal justice reform. and a demonstration of hoping that -- to show that they support legal immigration, despite all of the criticism of the trump administration when it comes to immigration issues. so much so that these are so important that they're willing to deal with all of the accusations and legal questions that arise with the action taking place in a really

unprecedented way during a political convention. this has not ever happened before. and whether the president does things that are explicitly to help them in their re-election, using their powers for that purpose. but not in such an overt way. and so i think that's a little bit off-putting to even a lot of conservatives who are in washington. but i will say that this the kind of reaction that this is eliciting, is exactly what i think the trump campaign and a lot of his most loyal supporters like to see. wheth whenever they do something that upsets the normal or washington consensus, that is seen as a victory. >> it also seems that the president do this things as major tv moments, dramatic moments, that he feels like the american audience will kind of

take in. we've got a lot of unconventionals during his rnc so far. and we've only made it through two nights, still having two nights ahead of us. another unconventional is the speech that was delivered by the secretary of state last night mike pompeo from jerusalem. never to have been done before. what has been the reaction over that? >> sure. also very unprecedented petition to bring pompeo in from jerusalem. as you mentioned earlier about the content of his speech but really the place of the questions how much government resources were used if at all for this. and the investigation of that, i'm sure, that you mentioned earlier will be continuing to be in headlines something that pompeo and the trump administration will continue to battle. >> all right, "washington examiner" emily larsen. still ahead, new cdc

guidelines that could have a negative impact on testing. those details and more next. yourself first look at "morning joe" continues. when managing diabetes you can't always stop for a fingerstick. with the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you don't have to. with a painless, one-second scan you can check your glucose with a smart phone or reader so you can stay in the moment. no matter where you are or what you're doing. ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle

libre 14 day system. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us. we live in the mountains so i like to walk. i'm really busy in my life; i'm always doing something. i'm not a person that's going to sit too long. in the morning, i wake up and the first thing i do is go to my art studio. a couple came up and handed me a brochure on prevagen. i've been taking prevagen for about four years. i feel a little bit brighter and my mind just feels sharper. i would recommend it to anyone. it absolutely works. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. hey allergy muddlers... achoo! ...do your sneezes turn heads? try zyrtec... ...it starts working hard at hour one... and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. zyrtec muddle no more.

(vo) audi e-tron.vo) the next frontier of electric. get an exceptional offer at your local audi dealer. ...to soccer practices... ...and new adventures. you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past... they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. let's help protect them together. because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. ask your doctor if your teen ♪ where everybody knows ♪ someyour name ♪ant to go ♪ and they're always glad you came ♪ applebee's. now that's eating good in the neighborhood. come out of the dryer wrinkled? next time try bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets.

the world's first mega sheet with 3x more wrinkle relaxers. the wrinkle guard shirt has less wrinkles and static, and more softness and freshnes*á bounce out wrinkles with bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets! welcome back. the centers for disease control and prevention quietly tweaked its guidance on covid testing on monday making a change that could result until fewer people being tested and hinder contact tracing efforts. the guidance now states that healthy people who have been exposed to covid do not necessarily need a test, as long as they don't have symptoms. now that is a reversal from previous advice that clearly recommended testing for all close contact individuals regardless if they had symptoms. a recent scientist at columbia health telling nbc news this, it seems as though this new guidance is actively

discouraging people from seeking testing even if they have known exposure. and that we need more testing and not less. dr. brett gillmar who oversees testing for the trump administration said in an email statement that the guidance has been updated to reflect current evidence and best health practices. university of alabama is reporting more than 560 new cases of coronavirus across its three campuses and medical center in less than one week after starting classes there. according to data from the university dashboard, student staff and faculty at the university's main campus in tuscaloosa account for 531 of the total confirmed cases since classes began back on august 19th. those in-person classes began with face covering mandates, physical distance requirements and other covid-19 measures in place. but images of crowds gathering outside of bars over the weekend

circulated on social media and grew scrutiny from school officials. since then, the university announced temporary restricting of gatherings at dorm houses and a 14-day moratorium on all student events. while the city of tuscaloosa temporarily closed bars with the mayor suspending the consumption of alcohol at bars in the city for two weeks. let's switch gears once again and get a check of weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. tracking laura as well, a lot of folks in that region bracing what is to come, bill. >> yeah, this is a pit in my stomach moment for meteorologists like myself and other people. we went to bad seeing the intensification beginning paand

it's exactly what we've feared. the storm is intensifying. and now we're expecting category 4 strength. it's not 2 is better than 1, it's exponentially worse as you go up the kalscale. the amount of damage that the winds can do, much worse, 100 to 130 or 140. from the hurricane center, 110-mile-per-hour winds. if you haven't evacuated yet and you've been told to, rush to completely, get everything done, save lives. it's possibly historic and rival any of the storms to hit the northwest gulf of mexico. we're talking rita and harvey. it goes to a category 4 this afternoon. they think it may slightly just a tick weaken as it makes inlands. but it's getting so big and so large and strong that the water

in the gulf already pushing towards the northwestern portion of the gulf. even if it does weaken towards landfall, the surge numbers won't go down. that happened with ike and rita. the storm surge numbers are going to be just devastating. and then the storm has a big rain event as we go into areas from the midwest all the way through tennessee. and the storm races all the way to the mid-atlantic. it may not be considered a tropical system but we do expect a rainy saturday in the mid-atlantic region.life-threatening destruction is going goi g destruction is going going to b the storm surge. as well as 50 miles inland. well past interstate 10 if you've ever driven there in southern louisiana. lake charles, 30 miles inland and they're expecting that storm surge. that's crazy. areas that almost have never seen water are going to get it. here's where we see the winds, lake charles, beaumont, port

arthur. power outages, yasmin, will last days, maybe even weeks after landfall. for the houston area, it has not improved for them. it's not shifted your way. we're not going to completely ease up on that forecast and tell you that you're completely safe yet, but it is looking better by the hour. >> thank you, bill. i know you'll be watching this throughout the day. still ahead, everybody, we're going live to cnbc as the tech industry gears up for one of the biggest market debuts of the year. also major earnings for one of the biggest additions to the dow. the stories driving your business day, coming up.

i'm a verizon engineer, and i'm part of the team building the most powerful 5g experience for america. it's 5g ultra wideband, and it's already available in parts of select cities. like los angeles and in new york city. and it's rolling out in cities around the country. with massive capacity, it's like an eight lane highway compared to a two lane dirt road. 25x faster than today's 4g networks. in fact, it's the fastest 5g in the world. from the network more people rely on. this is 5g built right. only on verizon. another day, another chance tlet's do this.rd. by making internet speeds fast and reliable. so you can keep up with your customers. by ensuring those speeds have wireless internet backup. so if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. and by covering all your connected devices with serious security. so we can handle this. and this. while you get on with this. and this.

be fast, be secure. bounce forward. with comcast business. get started with a powerful internet and voice solution for just $64.90 a month. call or go online today.

it's totally not the same without you. we miss your let's do this look, the sound of your laugh cry screams, and how you make every day here the best day ever. we can't wait to get you back so we've added temp checks, face coverings, social distancing and extra sanitizing to get the good times going again. it's time to roll out the red carpet and kick open the universal gates. we're finally back... and can't wait until you are too. welcome back. time now for business. data analytics company palantir is vowing to go public, one of the biggest debuts for the stock market. cnbc areas julianna tatelbaum is

joining us live from london. big day ahead, julianna, this morning. talk us through what you know. it seems as if julianna is having trouble hearing us this morning. we're going to try and fix that. we'll bring her to you in just a moment. also up next, everybody, we're going to have a look at axios' one big thing. and a big showing on "morning joe," more of the second night from the republican national convention. also former republican and governor mark sanford will weigh on in on party's future and the future of the gop. "morning joe" is moments away. ♪

(vo) elevate your senses. the audi a6. get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer.

welcome back. time now for business once again. data analytics company palantir planning to go public. julianna is joining us live. good morning to you. great to see you this morning. what can you tell us about this? >> reporter: great to be with you. palantir technologies filed to go public through a direct listing. this is a data analytics company

working with the central intelligence company and other groups. it's seen as one of the most reclusive groups in silicon valley. the company unveiled losses that will test the market's appetite for loss-making startups. this is particularly interesting after the cataclysmic collapse of wework last year. as opposed to a traditional ipo, it will be a direct listing. it doesn't raise fresh funds, it gives existing members a chance to sell their share. salesforce stocks soared yesterday in after hours trade up more than 13%. the company unveiled $5 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time. it also hiked its annual guidance and on the conference call with investors the ceo said it was humbling and bitter sweet the company produced such strong results amid the difficulties and tragedies created by covid-19. this is as businesses need to

adapt and become more digital very, very quickly. >> thank you, julianna. great to see you this morning. joining me now with a look at axios am, the co-founder of axios. mike allen. good morning to you. give us axios's one big thing today? >> axios one big thing is how trump could pull off another upset. nbc and axios has reported what a deep hole president trump is in. you can look at staples, demographics, the topics that are moving voters. all of those look like a very deep hole for president trump, but look at some of the data another way and reporters start to get flashbacks to summer 2016.

so once again, you have staples like we're seeing there where joe biden is up but in some cases hillary clinton was up even more in 2016 and once again out there you have this large vote of people that may not be connecting with pollsters, may not be fully reflected in polls. jasmin, what first caused us to do this story, to look into some of this data, to dig through some of these similarities to 2016? one thing you learn when you are a political reporter is to believe your eyes and one thing that i have seen as we've traveled the country is -- and we see it on your air as well is that you see these trump boatcapades and trump flags everywhere. trump almost becomes a lifestyle

choice. the pic that you're seeing there, that was taken by our friend jeff worcester near banger, maine. look at that yard. that's not a normal yard sign. i couldn't even have counted them. it looked to me like there are 90 to 100 trump/pence signs in there. there's a small sign that there's a fervor and fever among the people who are still for trump. and the convention we hear a little bit about how they're trying to bring in some of those voters who are the same demographic but who they didn't have before. >> it's interesting that you talk about polling because when you listen to steve kornacki talk about some of the national polls that we see in comparing where clinton was at back in august in 2016 to where biden was at, now biden does have more of a stretch. he has more of a lead than hillary clinton ever had back in

2016. >> yeah, no question, and that's why with this caveats, including the fact that joe biden doesn't have the likability, favorability issues that senator clinton had. trump has unquestionably lost a lot of the white college educated voters that he needs. biden has eaten into seniors who are the trump sweet spot. so there are lots of reasons that if you're the trump campaign, you recognize, as i said, how deep this hole is. behind the scenes the campaign is telling us that they do feel better. they do feel that they have stablized to improve since mid june when it looked very dark. one official said the other day we hit bottom, but you'd rather hit bottom in july than you would in october or november. so they're feeling slightly

better and this idea comes. if you're going to vegas, you're going to say joe biden is a prohibitive favorite. we started to realize that once again we're over stating it a little bit that trump supporters are sort of underestimated as they were back in the summer of 2016. you get a few flashbacks. you go to a game, which team would you rather be? you would rather be biden, but we see here that president trump does have more to work with than sometimes is acknowledged online. >> how is the trump campaign reacting on the inside it seems? they were certainly nervous a month or so ago, especially when they had the change after the trump campaign manager. >> well, they still are. they recognize that the president's on the wrong side of so many issues.

axios had some interesting data that was shared with you. if you look at what people are talking about online, they're talking about the economy, they're talking about the pandemic, they're talking about racial justice. none of those issues at the moment is good for trump. that's what we've seen for the convention. can they try to reframe a couple of those issues in a way that are more favorable to him and that gives him more to talk about? but, let's face it, like their whole playbook has been taken away. their playbook, as you know, was to run on a strong economy and they hoped a reopening america but they don't have either of those. but here's one other data point to take a look at, not only are people who work in the grocery industry, like the delivery industry are doing well, here's another demographic that's doing well that could be good for trump, and that is workers.

blue collar workers, people who build things like if you want home remodeling, if you want a deck built, you're going to have to wait a long time. so some of those workers may be finding a little bit of a boom. wall street journal poll finding the president stabilizing to up even maybe a little bit from 2016 with hispanic voters and favorability with white voters. so not just the ballot test but just how they feel about trump. up 20 points from 2016. so default, long way to go, but more to work with than most people realize. >> all right. mike allen, thank you. i'm going to be reading axios. you can read it at signup dath axios.com. the economy was rebuilt in three years, then came a once in 100 year pandemic. it was awful. health and economic impacts were