this sunday, after the conventions, a 65-day sprint. republicans attacking joe biden. >> he is the destroyer of america's jobs. >> looking to the future. >> we will make america great again, again. >> we writing history. >> fortunately, as the virus began to spread, the president acted quickly. >> trying to make the election a choice, not a referendum. >> this election will decide whether we save the american

dream or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny. >> my guest, white house chief of staff mark meadows. and the cochair of the biden campaign. congressman cedric rich man of louisiana. deadly scene in portland. pro-trump and black lives matter protesters clash overnight. gunfire erupts during one confrontation, and a man was killed. we'll have the latest. also, the police shoot income kenosha, wisconsin, of jacob blake. >> they shot my son seven times. >> leads to violent street scenes and the fatal shooting of two protesters by a teenage vigilante. nba players speak up. >> it's amazing to me, why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back. >> and walkouts soon to be joined by players in other major sports leagues. i'll talk to former nba player eton thomas. and sue bird of the wnba. joining me for insight and

analysis are nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. "new york times" correspondent michael schmidt. yeah misha elsin doer from "pbs news hour." and former governor of north carolina, pat mccrory. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press with chuck todd." good sunday morning. we're going to get to all the political news in a moment. we start with a deadly clash in portland, oregon. pro-trump and counter protesters clashed. fistfights broke out, at one point gunfire erupts during a confrontation and a man was killed. joining me is mike baker of "the new york times" who has been covering these events in portland. mike, tell us what you saw, what you witnessed, and if you can, who shot this individual? >> yeah, so last night there was a huge gathering of trump

supporters out in the suburbs of portland, and they had this vow that they were going to go into portland waving flags as sort of a caravan. and initially the plan was to sort of circle around the highways. but some of the people in the caravan peeled off and went right into downtown where there were a whole large crowd of counter protesters there ready to confront them. and so we saw fistfights on the streets, in some cases, people from -- in the backs of pickup trucks shooting paint balls into the crowd, other people throwing stuff back onto the trucks where the pro-trump supporters were driving around. then eventually there was a smaller conflict on the streets where someone was shot. and it looks right now like the person who was shot had a hat with the insignia of the group "patriot prayer," which is a right-wing group here in the portland area. >> mike, do we have an idea of

where these gunshots came from? did they come from protesters? was it law enforcement? was it -- is it possible it was accidental? or do question just not know any information on this? >> there's a -- sort of a distanced individual i don't have of the scene. it occurs on a street. it looks like there's some sort of small crowd milling around. and it appears to be some sort of conflict that occurred between a couple of people, and that's when the shot was fired, shots were fired. >> overall, what has been -- how would you describe the situation over the last month in portland? >> you know, it's changed a lot. you recall in july when the federal government came in with their forces, wearing camouflage, pulling people into unmarked vans. that drew out a huge crowd. protests went from just a couple hundred people up to many of thousands of people coming out at that point. and then since then it's really sort of come down a lot.

i've been here most of the week with a lot of brougof the prote. usually a couple hundred people, much smaller numbers, but also a crowd that's been still -- the more hard-core group that's out there protesting, doing direct action every night, that includes spray painting or lighting a police union building on fire. at the time, because they're smaller numbers, the police would come in and clear them out, make a whole bunch of arrests. police have made dozens of arrests the past week. and it's really kind of kept things into a much more contained -- much more contained way than it was a month ago, compared to a month ago. >> until we saw what happened last night, anyway. mike baker from "the new york times," really appreciate you getting up very early for me on the west coast and giving your eyewitness account, thanks. >> thanks for having me. >> the events in portland came at the end of a volatile week in this country that began with the police shoot are of jacob blake

in kenosha, wisconsin. shooting deaths of two protesters by a teenage vigilante who came in from out of state. and the republican national convention. president trump and other speakers featured a far different picture of america than the democrats did a week earlier. one in which the virus is largely a thing of the past, the president having saved millions of lives with a swift response, and the violence in the streets a sign what was will happen in a joe biden presidency. joining me now is the white house chief of staff, mark meadows. mr. meadows, welcome back to "meet the press." >> good to be back with you, thanks, chuck. >> i wanted to start with this, that the president on thursday night painted a picture of what he said would be joe biden's america. and i look at the violence this week, mr. meadows. this is in donald trump's america. how much responsibility should voters be giving the president for his inability to keep the

streets safe? >> well, i mean, you can try to reframe that, chuck, but that's just not accurate. i can tell you that when we look at kenosha and the phone calls that were made to the governor of wisconsin, we offered help, help was denied. obviously there was multiple gun shots. and people lost their life. we made a repeated call the next day. sent in national guard, fbi agents, u.s. marshals to restore peace in kenosha, wisconsin. and that's what needs to happen in portland. you know, it's interesting to see you frame portland that way after 94 days. perhaps now we're going to act because someone was shot last night. but to suggest that somehow it's been peace envelope portland, chuck, is just not looking at the facts. we've had over 200 anarchists, and they're not peaceful protesters. these are people that every

single night conduct violent acts. and it is in democrat cities. you want to talk about donald trump's america? most of donald trump's america is peaceful. it is a democrat-led city in portland that we're talking about this morning who just yesterday denied help once again from the federal government. and so listen, we need to get to the bottom of this. we need to make sure that we hold people accountable. and ultimately, we need to make sure that these people that are conducting these acts go to jail. we've had over 97 federal law enforcement arrests that were conducted in portland. but largely the d.a. there in portland, chuck, he says, even if you accost a police officer, we're not going to enforce that. it's just not what most americans believe should be happening in our cities. >> you made an interesting comparison. i guess you're saying is there parts of the country that the

president doesn't govern? is the president only in charge of just -- places where he has supporters? you sort of leveled a charge here -- >> chuck -- >> saying these are democratic cities. i'm just trying to understand, does the president not believe he has responsibility of governing and leading the entire country? >> well, he does govern and lead the entire country, but chuck, you're smarter than that. these are local law enforcement efforts that can be supported by a federal backstop, whether it be national guard or the fbi. so when we look in that, look at that, as we look in portland, it's not donald trump's d.a. that's saying to stand down, it's not donald trump that is saying that we need to look the other way, it's the mayor of portland. so let's at least have a true version of what's happening in these cities. if your viewers are going to tune in this morning, why don't you show them the letter from the mayor of portland where he

says, no thanks for federal help, and yet we have someone who lost their life overnight. i can tell you that we are ready, in fact, the president is ready, to make sure that we provide whatever law enforcement and support that we can. and it's not this president who has said, let's defund the police, chuck. >> let me ask you this. if the president is cheering on people that are going to go into portland, those protesters, the president called them great patriots. you think the president should be telling his supporters, de-escalate, don't show up with long guns, don't play vigilante? we haven't heard the president try to -- he only wants to de-escalate the protests he doesn't like. he has not talked about de-escalating the protests that support him that are showing up with long guns and certainly trying to at least give a visual incentive to create a conflict.

>> listen, when we look at the constitution, the constitution is very clear. it gives the right to peacefully protest. it also gives the right for assembly. but when we look at that and we somehow suggest that in certain cities, that these particular areas are off limits, it's not who we are as a nation. you know, when we look at what happened in washington, d.c., the largely peaceful protests that happened on the mall were certainly not something that anyone condemned. yet what we saw were some of the splinters that came off of that, that were running around in the streets of washington, d.c., accosting senator rand paul that you know about, but many, many others. that is not what the constitution protects, and it's not what we should be endorsing, whether you're a democrat, republican, or unaffiliated, in between. we need to make sure that we -- >> i understand that -- >> that we properly address that chuck. >> i guess i'm just trying to --

right, but this young man that took matters into his own hands, the president has yet to condemn these actions. why? >> you just had the report there, chuck. you're talking about the young man last night in portland? >> who shot -- no, i'm talking about the young man who shot two protesters in kenosha. i'm tolkien 94 sha where the person was -- >> the president has been very clear. whether it was that -- with that individual or mr. blake or anywhere else, he has asked for proper investigations. in fact, i was in the oval office when he brought the attorney general in at 9:30 in the morning when mr. blake was shot just the previous evening. and when he looked at that he says, what i want to do is make sure there's a proper investigation. that's why we have laws. that's why we have a justice system. and lady justice has a blindfold on that should look at all of these things in a way that makes sure that justice is brought forward. but for you to try it out on a sunday morning show, or for me to do that on a sunday morning

show, is not what our justice system is set up to do. what we all always must do is make sure that the rule of law is there, not just because it's a rule of law, but because it creates a safer community, whether it's in kenosha, wisconsin, or anywhere else. >> right. i'm trying to understand the president denounced the violence on one side of the protesters he didn't like, but why not denounce what this young man did? why not say, please don't take matters into your own hands? the president has not said said, do not take matters into your own hands. the president has not said that. one of his chief supporters in the media has actually defended this. isn't it incumbent on the president to help de-escalate some of this violence on his side as well? >> the president is -- you say one side or the other. let me tell you where the president is. the president's on the side of law enforcement and the rule of law. and he's been very consistent in that. he said, any governor,

republican or democrat, any particular area, can request help of the federal government. we're willing to come in, we're willing to provide additional assets, as we did in kenosha, whether it's fbi, whether it's operational control vehicles, whether it is the national guard, we're willing to do that. he has been very consistent. so the message to your viewers this morning is clear. the president believes what we need to do is make sure that we have exactly what resources are available for every single city. if you're having a problem, governors, we want to make sure that we can help you with that. >> let me ask you, i'm running low on time, i know that perhaps you and speaker pelosi may be talking today. the democrats believe they've come down and they would like to meet you halfway. they believe halfway should be $2.2 trillion, maybe $2 trillion. are you willing to bring up the number that the president will support? >> well, we brought up the number. i had a conversation with

speaker pelosi. even on her $2.2 trillion counteroffer, she can't tell the american people, nor me, what is in that. i can tell you what is in the offer that the president has made, and he's willing to sign. enhanced unemployment at levels she would agree with. enhanced help for small businesses at levels she would agree with. literally, help for day care and hospitals at levels she would agree with. and help for schools at levels she would agree with. here's the problem. she puts forth a number, suggests that she came down, and yet she's willing to turn down $1.3 trillion of help that goes to the american people because she would rather them have nothing than to give way on what her fantasy might be. >> but what you're suggesting can't pass the senate, right? the senate doesn't have a majority of support for that as well right now. >> i mean, that would be require senator schumer, as you know,

anything in the senate requires both democrats and republicans. but speaker pelosi, if she worked with chuck schumer, i can tell you all of those things that i just mentioned are available for the american people, and the speaker pelosi is saying no. >> are you going to bring your number up? or is $w1.3 your final offer? >> we're not going to negotiate, the speaker was clear. when she said 2.2, she said, don't do anything at all. i said what does the 2.2 going to represent? she said, i'm not going to tell you, let me fill in the blanks. that is not proper negotiation, nor is it anything that the american people accept. many of her rank and file members don't even accept it. >> mark meadows, chief of staff for the president, appreciate you coming on and sharing the perfespective the white house, thank you, sir. >> thank you, chuck.

i want so start with a column from george packer, who writes the following and says this. ordinarily it's the incumbent president's job to show up at the scene of a national tragedy and give a unifying speech, but trump is temperamentally incapable of doing so, in fact has a political interest in america's open wounds and burning cities. biden then should immediately go to wisconsin. the joe biden going to wisconsin tomorrow? >> i don't know the answer to that but also, i think that vice president biden has a responsibility to not make things worse, to make sure that the police on the ground can accommodate his visit, that his visit wouldn't be a distraction, his visit wouldn't make things worse. i think he is weighing all of those things right now. >> given what we saw overnight in portland, given what we've seen take place all week in kenosha, what are your concerns about where the biden campaign is right now on this issue in

particular? >> well, i don't have a concern where we or this issue. i mean, we have been very clear that police reform in this country is a necessity. and that unarmed black people being killed by the police should be low-hanging fruit. if we could just get president trump to acknowledge that and to push for real police reform, then let's address the issue why nba players did not play in basketball games. the fact that people are waking and up speaking out on jacob blake's death. i mean, that's the issue. and i think that without a plan from the white house to address it, it's just really sweeping it under the rug. you hear the rhetorical gymnastics from his chief of staff that was just here. vice president biden has been very clear. he put out a plan on police reform. and i think that that should be the subject we're talking about. >> when it comes to the violence

in the streets now, who should be held responsible? >> those perpetrating the violence. look, vice president biden has been very clear that peaceful protests are a bedrock of our democracy. but what i don't want to do, chuck, is to ever confuse or compare peaceful protesters with those committing crimes. those are not peaceful protesters. peaceful protesters are out there trying to make this country a more perfect union, trying to make sure that their black and brown daughters and sons are safe and survive police encounters. those that are out there committing crimes are not a part of those peaceful protests, and they should not be labeled that way. and i think that law enforcement has to deal with it. but what was very interesting just now, when you talked to the chief of staff meadows, he said that president trump is on the side of law enforcement. well, the question becomes, who's on the side of justice? who's on the side of

constitutional policing? it's not about law enforcement or protesters, it's about making sure that police are held accountable when they violate people's constitutional rights when they shoot unarmed black people, and if the president could convene that conversation, then i think that we will be in a better space. so he keeps talking about what biden's america would look like. well, this is trump's america. he has to own this moment. he has to own the incompetence around coronavirus and 180,000 american deaths, almost 6 million infections, almost 38 million jobless claims. he has to own it. this is his america. so how do you break this country and then run for re-election saying, i want to fix everything that i just destroyed. so that will be the message of the campaign, and we're going to have to make that case. but at the same time, i think america's in a real fragile point. i think that you will hear joe biden speak. you will hear him try to heal

this country. because the president just doesn't have it in him. >> i'm curious what you made last week of all the testimonials from black men at the republican national convention. and how much of an impact do you think it might have? i want to show this chart. the presidential vote among black men going back to 2008. there has been a consistent erosion of support for the democratic party from black men, a high of 95% in 2008, just 80% of the vote in 2016. and there clearly was a concerted effort by the trump campaign to try to appeal to black men. what do you make of the effort, and what should the biden campaign do to counter it? >> well, i will tell you this. donald trump very effectively in 2016 raised the question to black men, what do you have to lose? i think now black men see clearly what they have to lose. they can get killed and the president won't say a word. won't utter jacob blake's name. will not talk about police

reform. if you look at unemployment, black unemployment is twice that of white unemployment. the fact that almost 40% of black businesses will not survive his covid-19 incompetent response. black men see that. so you will see us as a campaign talk directly to black men. we will not make assumptions. we will not take them for granted. we're going to talk directly to them. so whether it's about mass incarceration, economic opportunity, home ownership, college affordability, increasing education funding, all of those things. so we're going to go where black men are and we're going to talk to black men about their issues. but i think they see clearly what it is they have to lose now. >> i want to move on to the economy a bit. the last time you and i spoke, we talked about -- you told me you thought the democrats hadn't done a good enough job reminding people where the economy was in 2016. reminding people of the economy

that donald trump inherited. at the time, this was before the two big speeches, you saw what the rnc is pushing when it comes to the economy. do you think democrats have done any better of a job since we last talked? about reframing where the economy was inned 2016? >> well, i think a little bit of that has happened. i think a lot more has to happen after labor day. we have to make it very clear to people that this president has the worst job creation record under any president in united states history. he's lost 6 million jobs. the obama/biden era created 16 million jobs coming out of the great recession. this president just does not have an economic plan, and i think democrats have to hone in on that. and the one thing trump does very well is says the same thing over and over again. most of the time it's a lie, but he says it over and over again, and people start to believe it. we have to continue to say over

and over again that this president has destroyed and wrecked this economy, just like everything he has ever touched in his life. and so we need to point out that there are farmers that are filing bankruptcy at all-time highs. that the unemployment numbers are where they are. small businesses are closing their doors every day. and so, yes, it's incumbent on us to keep reminding people of that. >> congressman cedric richmond, national cochair for the biden campaign, thank you for sharing the campaign's perspective. >> thanks for having me. the events last week in kenosha, wisconsin. a police shooting, vigilante violence, and pro athletes telling the world they will not remain silent. ta-da!

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welcome back. the nba was back in action last night with a slate of playoff games, including the milwaukee bucks versus the orlando magic. those teams were supposed to play wednesday when the bucks walked out to protest the police shooting of jacob blake in

kenosha, wisconsin. the walkout by nba players led to similar actions by athletes in other sports leagues, professional and college, including those not dominated by african-american players. it was the most striking example of professional athletes demonstrating a willingness to use their celebrity and economic power to leverage social change. joining me are former nba player eton thomas, current wnba star sue bird, also president of the women's national basketball players association. eton, this week we saw this groundswell, some called it a boycott, a wildcat strike, if you will. the number of teams that participated, i want to put up on screen. nine playoff games, 11 baseball games, six wnba games, mls, nhl, college practices. what made this different, eton? what do you think made it where the sports world united? >> well, first of all, thanks for having me on today.

now you're seeing people criticize the nba players for going back to playing after their two-day strike or boycott or however you want to call it. i honestly think that's ridiculous. they have gone above and beyond the call of duty, both the nba and wnba and mlb standing in sond darety. they made a powerful statement heard around the world, you know, and they did it all together. and then they formulated the social change fund, and they're going to be focused on advocating for police reform and police accountability and voting initiatives and criminal justice reform and a lot of great things. so they're doing their part. but it's also not the job of professional athletes to solve the policing problem that we have in this country. that should be the focus of all the people that we just saw at the republican convention this past week. i would say, instead of donald

trump screaming law and order at the american citizens exercising their right to vote or to protest that he should be screaming police accountability. but i bet we probably won't hear that. >> sue bird, a boycott takes money out of the hands of owners, takes money out of the hands of sponsors, takes money out of the hands of leagues. and i assume that there is an intention there that, okay, we want you to be paying attention. what role do you want to see owners and sponsors of sports leagues play? because you're sending a message to them, too. >> right. you know, i do think the wnba is in a unique position in that we have a lot of support from our owners. in fact, i know myself a bunch of other players from other teams got calls directly from their owners saying, we support whatever you want to do. so i think a lot of it is more so about, like you said, the corporate sponsors, trying to get them to understand where we stand what we believe in, what

we're fighting for. but this isn't new for us. we've been doing this for years and years and years. and i think what was so special about this moment was an opportunity, like etan said, for all of these leagues to be unified. and we've learned when we're unified as one voice, that's where the impact is felt for us. to have all these leagues together, you've seen what's happened. again, like etan said, it's been around the world. >> you know, etan, you've probably discovered this as an active player. speaking out in the nba as individual players was a bit more common. you didn't see it a lot in the nhl, major league baseball. and i just wonder how important do you think, that here's two sports that are whiter, certainly their fan bases are very white. the importance of having the sports world united across racial lines? >> it's definitely important. especially in these times. right now, when you see from the right, there's so much divisive type of a tone. i mean, just looking at the

republican national convention. everything is divisive. and so sports has the opportunity to be able to bring people together. and so it's a matter of empathy. so some of these sports that you say are whiter, they might not be dealing with the same things that i'm dealing with as a black man in this country. you know, and people have to understand, every single time something like this happens, the conversation that happens in black homes. my son, malcolm, is 15. just turned 15 years old. i'm terrified for him. literally, every single time something like this happens, i can't sleep at night. i have to go and tell him again the rules of engagement when you're stopped by the police. make sure that you have no sudden movements. that you have to dough escalate a situation that you didn't escalate in the first place. and the only reason why it's escalated is because of the color of your skin. so you can't do what you see your white friends doing, because they can cuss out the police, do whatever they want to do, not comply, everything like that, and they will get to live. and that's a tough situation to be in.

so when you're hearing athletes, a lot of people saying, why is lebron feeling so emotional about this? why is everybody feeling like -- because the fact that you're making millions of dollars in the nba doesn't save you from being black. and that's the difference. so when the policeman pulls me over, i have to follow a set of guidelines. it doesn't matter what i've accomplished or who i am or what tax bracket i'm in. i'm a black man, and i'm a threat. >> sue bird, very quickly, we heard some politicians don't like it when the sports world speaks out on social issues. what do you say to those critics? >> i mean, for me as a female athlete, the one thing that i've come to realize is we're judged on everything except our sport. we've been judged because we're black, gay, because we're women. nobody talks about us playing. you fast forward 10, 20 years of this. and we've developed an identity. we're being authentic to it. so for us when people say, stick to sports. it's kind of like, 20 years ago, we tried, you wouldn't let us,

now you're saying that? it makes no sense to me. >> sue bird, etan thomas, i appreciate both of you coming on, expressing your perspectives on this. it's a conversation that i hope continues. >> thanks for having me. two conventions down, two competing visions of america, 65 days to go to election day. gel. the pnl is next. experience the joy of a bigger world and a highly connected lexus vehicle at the golden opportunity sales event, lease the 2020 es 350 for $359 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath,

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welcome back. the panel is joining us. nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. "new york times" correspondent michael schmidt, author of "donald trump versus the united states." look for scoops galore. ny she will sin doer of "pbs newshour." former governor of north carolina and radio host pat mccrory. welcome to all of you. i'm going to start with showing our apocalyptic campaign frame that both trump and biden created at their conventions, take a look. >> he is the destroyer of america's jobs, and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of american greatness. >> he's failed to protect us. he's failed to protect america. >> the hard truth is, you won't be safe in joe biden's america. >> donald trump's failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods. >> hallie jackson, this isn't a

campaign where you're wondering, geez, boy, both sides are kind of running on the same message. it's pretty clear. i tell you, we heard those messages. two people -- we had three people killed this week in essentially what may be political protests. we're entering uncharted waters here. >> i mean, you're completely right, chuck. it's something that we're going to be hearing a lot more about from especially the person that i cover, president trump. i'm told by sources over the weekend as i was coming on the air with you that violence in the streets, quote-unquote, will be one of the three central themes to the president's campaigning and the vice president's campaigning moving forward over the next 65 days or so, along with what they consider to be a focus on what they see as an improving economy, as well as talking about the coronavirus and what they are doing to try to mitigate the pandemic, if you will. whether or not that will be effective messaging for people remains to be seen. this issue of violence is one you've already seen the president, his allies, his surrogates, talking about. they believe truly that this is going to be something that will motivate people to get to the

polls. it's a message the president is expected to take on the road, chuck. i can tell you he is going to be traveling a ton. over the weekend he was telling allies that he wanted the best and most aggressive travel schedule. in the wors of one person, "he knows he can't win from inside the building," so it's a message the president will be taking on the campaign trail heavily over the coming weeks and days. look for him to be in florida in north carolina, obviously michigan, wisconsin. i've heard a lot of talk about minnesota as well, chuck. >> yameesh, where are we and where's the biden campaign at this moment, in your mind? >> the biden campaign agrees with essentially one thing president trump said, which this is the most important election in the history of the country. both are making the case that this election is going to be changing lives. and as cedric richmond told you, they see this issue of unarmed black people being killed in the streets as low-hanging fruit that america should be able to get this right. so they see this as really pitching this forward and saying, this is the chaos, the

deaths that we're seeing from covid, as well as the deaths we're seeing from african-americans, at 2.5 times the rate of white americans at the hands of police that this should be the central issue. we've heard over and over again, they pitched this as a battle for the soul of america. that's the messaging that you're going to hear over and over again. they're really going to be making the case that president trump failed miserably on the coronavirus. i thought it was interesting as i was covering the south lawn of the white house today that gathering of people with no masks, sitting shoulder to shoulder, cheering on the president on this hot summer night in d.c. the white house transformed completely into a convention space. the president started making the case that the united states was one of the best places when it came to death rates in america. so his idea and the plan there is going to be to try to paint this rosy picture and speak about the virus as if it's in the rear-view mirror. we know that's not true. the united states is second only to india in the number of new cases we're seeing every day. about 42,000 cases. along with the death rate being one of the worst, if not the

worst, in terms of modernized, industrialized countries. those two things, race and the coronavirus, are going to be top of mind for joe biden. he's going to be hitting the campaign trail after labor day, going to states he sees as critical. >> right. pat mccrory, how does the president not walk a line and not look like he's rooting for violence? you know, kellyanne conway on friday making the case that somehow she believes this helps them. there's this line, and there's times you look from a political perspective, it's almost, oh, the violence can be helpful politically. that can come across almost as looking lying he's rooting for it. >> back in may when i was on this panel right after the sad minnesota riots and protests, i gave warning, do not underestimate the anarchists. i actually think a lot of democratic mayors and democratic governors and even joe biden underestimated the anarchists and the feeling that people will

have, especially the middle class, both black and white, against people who attack our police, want to defund our police, who come across as anti-police, when most people in america are in favor of the police. they're not in favor of bad shootings. terrible, horrendous shootings. but what's happened is the anarchists have infiltrated peaceful protests and have gotten no pushback from the liberal wing of the democratic party or anyone in the democratic party. and it's put the democrats on their heels regarding the issue of public safety. public safety is now a major issue in this presidential campaign. >> you know, michael schmidt, look. i think democrats would respond to governor mccrory and say, that's one half of the problem there are also right-wing instigators. it does seem as if right now there is some bad instigators almost looking to take advantage of this moment, maybe for nefarious reasons, maybe for

other reasons we're not talking about. you know, and this to me is the real danger of this political moment we're in as a country. >> the thing that i picked up on this week as this was all playing out with the conventions is just this idea that things are tightening. as we came through the summer, as the president struggled to communicate amidst all of these crises, there was this sense that biden was really pulling ahead. but in the past few days, coming out of this, there's just this prevailing feeling amongst folks, and maybe it doesn't bear itself out in every poll and everything, but that this is a much more unpredictable situation than we thought maybe just a few weeks ago, and that when we look back at 2016 and you look at hillary clinton's numbers at that point, compared to where biden is now, it's just that this is not a sure thing for anyone, or for anything. and that this is going to be an

incredibly unpredictable fall. and whether it's the virus, the politics, or the protests, there's just an enormous amount of unpredictability as we head forward. >> chuck, i want to also say -- i didn't say right-wing or left wing. it's anarchy. >> no, i understand. >> neither side can underestimate anarchists. if we do, we're in trouble as a nation. >> no, and i'm glad you clarified that, pat. a lot of folks automatically throw the anarchists onto the left wing. and i think that's a -- there seems to be instigators here messing around outside of either political movement, at this point. >> anarchists don't care. they just want to cause violence. >> exactly. they want to burn it down. all right, guys. i'm going to pause it here. when we come back, both political parties are fighting to register new voters in battleground states. there's another group of voters that could prove decisive. (vo) businesses are always making choices.

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"data download" time. as in every presidential election year, both parties are fighting to register new voters ahead of november. let's look at how they're doing in four key battleground states, starting with pennsylvania, one of the three states that narrowly put president trump over the top in the electoral college. since election day 2016, pennsylvania's added 122,000 new voters to the rolls. this is according to data from target smart. democrats have an advantage. they've registered 132,000 more voters than republicans.

that's not insignificant in a state where president trump won by less than 45,000 votes. then there's north carolina. there is also a competitive senate race on the ballot this year. overall, there are 1.3 million new voters. and again, democrats have an edge of more million new voters, and there things have been a bit closer. democrats only hold an 11,000 vote edge in new registerings. finally the state of florida, 2.4 million new voters since election day 2016 with democrats holding a 59,000 registering advantage. in those four states democrats have a lead in new voter registrations. there's another wildcard. there are another 35% of new voters in those states that are not affiliating with either political party. these folks are young. take a look at the percentage of these unaffiliated voters who are under the age of 40. 63% of new registrants in arizona, 61% in pennsylvania, 69% in north carolina and 56% in

florida. what do we know about younger voters? well, they don't appear to be trump fans. candidate trump lost voters under 40 by double digits in 2016. so add it all up and these new voter registration numbers suggest an additional challenge that president trump and his party faces going into the final stretch of this campaign. when we come back, both president trump and joe biden plan to address the violence in the streets this week. how that could impact this campaign going forward. that's next. pay for what you need. what do you think? i don't see it. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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welcome back. the panel is back. we are going to hear from the president in kenosha tuesday. we expect to hear from joe biden tomorrow. we don't know where he's going to do that. pat mccrory, if you were joe biden, would you try to get to kenosha tomorrow before the president? >> it's high risk/high reward. you just don't know what type of environment you're entering when you come into a situation where there's been a lot of violence. as a mayor and governor, i did try to go in there, but you have to be very careful about the circumstances because often you cannot control the message. >> yamiche, what does biden need to say tomorrow? how should he be framing his remarks? >> biden should say that i understand that african-americans and people of color in this country are fed up with being treated like second-class citizens. i've talked to so many people, including jacob blake's own father, who told me he felt like his son was treated like an animal. he understood that the forces that led to his son being shot,

they were part of a diabolical consequences of chattel slavery, those were his words. i think if joe biden really wants to connect with african-americans and people in this country, he's going to have to understand that there are people who are hurting and who understand that millions of dollars, a good job, a great degree, none of those things protect you from someone criminalizing your body because you're an african-american. frankly, president trump will also have to do that. instead, we heard the white house this week call the protests by the nba absurd and silly. of course, kellyanne conway saying more chaos and violence works in our favor. so joe biden could find a lane for himself to say those people are rooting for violence. i'm here to do this and be with you and connect with you. >> hallie jackson, it was an interesting phrase that mark meadows used with me. "it's mostly peaceful in donald trump's america. it was a jarring line to hear because he's currently the president. there shouldn't be a distinction there. do you expect that to be the frame for the rest of this campaign that they attempt?

>> it already is, chuck. i don't think that's going to change over the next several months. congressman meadows also said something interesting to you earlier in the show where he talked about how the president is on the side of law enforcement and on the side of law and order. i think that is the frame that you're going to see when president trump goes to kenosha on tuesday. the campaign and, frankly, administration officials that i've talked to think that this is a positive message for the president in the sense that they think it is effective to people who are feeling fearful, frankly to people in president trump's base. so instead of going out and doing what yamiche is talking about, trying to talk about, for example, building bridges to members of the black community who understand that they have been part of this institution of systemic racism, president trump has not done that in the last 3 1/2 years. there's no indication that's going to change on tuesday when he goes to kenosha. instead, the framing wild be about that thin blue line that you've heard him, the vice president, other members of the campaign talk about. chuck, this morning, nobody is backing away from those remarks that you talked about from kellyanne conway. >> nope. >> in fact, the president's surrogates are defending those

comments and leaning into it. i think it's more of what we'll see over the next 65 days. >> you know, michael schmidt, perhaps it's events on the ground that are doing this, but if violence is what's being talked about and not the virus, that's probably not -- that's probably not good news for joe biden. >> i just think the remarkable thing about what the president has done here is that he's essentially running as if he's not in charge of the country. you tried to raise this question earlier with the chief of staff just about the issue of isn't the president in charge. and the president is sort of running as if he is sort of continually the outsider. it's just another example of the president's unprecedented approach to the presidency. it's something that i focused enormously on in the book. it's not just the president's unusual use of power, but it's what that causes. and the products of that. and in the case of what i write about, it's about how the people

around the president have been forced into this highly unique situation where they are trying to contain the president, trying to stop the president, and standing between the president and what they think is potentially the abyss. >> pat mccrory, were you uncomfortable with the south lawn being used for political advertisement? and what would you have said if barack obama had done it? >> i probably would have criticized it. we're all rather hypocritical. one thing about the nba, too, i admired muhammad ali and bill russell and arthur ashe, but the nba, the corporate messaging on the courts i think is a turnoff, especially while they're wearing shoes in china. >> okay. i've got to -- all right. i've got to end the conversation there. thank you, all. thank you, everybody, for watching today. we'll be back next week because

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