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a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome to weekends with alex witt. we're going to get right to it right now. we begin with the growing fallout over reporting from the atlantic, alleging that the president disparaged fallin troops back in 2018 calling them losers and suckers. today trump alleys are coming to his defense while democrats are firing back. >> have you ever heard the president disparage u.s. service members or veterans? >> well, absolutely not. and i would be offended if i thought it was true. >> the president sat there in front of that cemetery and dishonored that sacred ground by engaging in political anti-rhetoric against some of us who were on the trip, including me. >> i recall.

>> i don't care what he said about me but i do care that he said it in front of our deceased men and mostly in uniform that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. meantime democratic vice presidential nominee kamala harris is speaking out today on the importance of the election. >> >> we have a president who is trying to convince the american people not to believe in the integrity of our election system and compromise their belief that their vote might actually count. these things are all at play. and i'm very realistic, joe is very real esta very realistic until we could bring back the public's confidence in the system there will be many obstacles that people are intentionally placing in front of american's ability to vote. >> as joe biden and the president gear up for a busy

week on the kacampaign trails. both going to pennsylvania and michigan. but let's go to the white house now and kelly o'donnell. another welcome to you. we have the president and his allies again pushing back against these reports that trump disparaged u.s. soldiers. what are they saying. >> reporter: it is a defense of the president and focused on things he has done in office to help the military through pay raises and additional resources for the pentagon, for additional steps to get health care for veterans through some of the legislation. of course, that takes a lot of people to accomplish but they're giving the president a lot of credit for this. part of what we'll see here playing out is so critical because of the timing of the election. normally in a non-covid year labor day weekend could be all candidates spanning the country, super active, multi-state visits and we're just starting to inch back into the retail campaigning with public appearances.

the president has been doing some and joe biden has been doing a little bit and now both sides are getting out there and an issue like this will likely play out in very different ways on the campaign trail. today two cabinet secretaries were asked about this. their experiences behind the scenes with the president. and they're knowledge of whether he's ever used this kind of insulting language towards service members or veterans. stephen mnuchin and steven wilkie both responded today. here is part of what they had to say. >> this president supports the military in an unbelievable way. he's created more funding to rebuild the military and that is one of the things that he campaigned on and he delivered. >> the same people that brought you fake heart attacks, fake strokes, russian collusion, and the actions have been beneficial for veterans all across this country in ways that we've not

seen since the end of world war ii and i would say the same for the united states military. >> reporter: and in secretary wilkie's comments with things about the president's physical health, which were not reported by reputable news organizations. we've raised questions about his health from time to time but organizations like ours didn't report mini strokes and heart attacks as he just suggested so it is conflating to serious reporting by jeffy goldberg of the atlantic and some other news organizations are deeply sources with sources that would have access to this knowledge. very different than the kind of conspiracy stuff that exists on web. but that is how they're trying to discredit this report. and if wilkie's case and mnuchin's case saying they've not heard him use these kind of terms. >> kelly o'donnell at the white

house. and to the biden campaign. joe biden is planning a trip to harrisburg, pennsylvania and kamala harris travels to wisconsin for her first traditional campaign event as the vice presidential nominee. marianna sotomayor is joining me from washington with another welcome to you. how are the candidates shifting from the virtual events to the trail in your coming week and is there a sense of excitement within the campaign because they're doing that? >> reporter: definitely, alex. the campaign is excited to see not only joe biden but welcome senator kamala harris on to the campaign trail as you mentioned, she's going to be heading to milwaukee tomorrow. it is her first stop as a vice presidential pick. but even though we're seeing them on the campaign trail now, they're not going to get rid of the virtual portion. we're seeing their spouses doing a lot of virts you'ual events a seeing candidates and spouses

doing more local interviews in the battleground states and the campaign ramping up the amount of new ads. they're continued effort to target voters as much as possible in the weeks to come. now, one thing to note is senator kamala harris today is an interview laid out the messages that not only she but also biden will be bringing to the campaign trail and really trying to hit voters with. take a listen. >> what is the biggest challenge and the biggest goal is to concern the vote of everyone. and that is's -- that is going to telling folk how to build back better and putting science and public health concerns ahead of politics and saying we're going to grow our economy and invest in the jobs of the future and in the american worker. and the american family. and that is how we're going to earn those votes. >> reporter: both biden and

harris will be spending their time trying to convince voters just a couple of weeks before election day as many voters are already starting to turn out and submit mail in ballots, alex. >> indeed, thank you so much for the heads up on all of that. well let's bring in congressman jason crow of colorado and members of the armed services committee and an army veteran who served in iraq and afghanistan. welcome to talk about this. this is not a pleasant subject for someone like you to hear but the trump administration is rolling out more defenders today amid the fallout that reports are that the president denigrated u.s. soldierers who were killed or hurt in combat. here is a little more of vetera veterans' affairs secretary robert wilkie earlier. >> have you ever heard the president disparage u.s. veterans? >> well absolutely not. and would you be offended if i

thought this was true. some of the sources that you cite are general officers. i was born in khaki diapers. i've spent my entire life around the military. and i've never known any general officers to hide behind stars. so what i'm looking at is the donald trump that i know. and the donald trump that who has turned around veterans' affairs. >> so i'm curious what you make of that defense. do you agree that the president has turned around veterans' affairs, turned it around for people like you. >> when the veterans that i represent in my community, there is still a very long way to go. and it is no surprise that the president's going to roll out loyalists and people that work for him to try to defend him. but there is no surprise that this happened. president has a long history of disparaging veterans and service members, our fallen soldiers. when he said things like that my mind goes to the men and women that i served with, my friends

that didn't come home from iraq and afghanistan. if he's going to disparage our service men and women, our fallen, he should name names so we know what he's talking about. it is disgraceful. that is the last full measure of his disgrace as i said on friday. and it is time for the country to stand up and repudiate this man that is incapable of actually respecting and honor service and public service overall. >> let's take a listen together as the president speaks up in his own defense. here is that. >> nobody has done what i've done with the budgets, with the military budgets, with getting pay raises for our military. >> i've done more for the military almost anybody else. >> it is a shame whether a second rate magazine. i don't read it. i know very little about this magazine. but when a second rate magazine could write things about that with somebody that has done so much for the military. >> what are the facts when you

look at his record with the military? >> well first off, i've been a member of congress for several years now and i sit on the armed service committee. congress makes the budgets. i've sat in the hearings and i've help put together the defense department budget. it is congress. he signed the bill but it was our bill and our budget that got there through. in terms of saying nobody has done anything more for the military than the president has, that is just absurd and beyond any kind of realistic measure. we have a lot of challenges in our military, this is something thats who repeatedly turned his back on our allies, who has pulled us out of syria and left our alliance and partners behind. who goaded iran into attacking soldiers in iraq and now we have over a hundred soldiers in iraq with traumatic brain injury and there is incident after incident

of him using themill in a transactional way or for political purposes and let's not forget ukraine, at war and with holding $250 million of critical security and mimt aid for his own political purposes. so i could go on for a very long time about this president's history of politicizing and using our men and women in uniform for his own benefit. but it would not help to pile on at this point. we have to repudiate this man and this president and move forward as a country. >> i want to take a look at parts of michael cohen's upcoming book with "the washington post" reporting that the major claims, the former fixer alleging that trump made overt attempts to get russia participate in the election and write about the hush money payments. you, is sir, were an impeachmen manager, were any of the news different from the information

that you had. >> i have to be honest, michael cohen is irrelevant to me. there is a long history of this president being corrupt, nepotism, using the powers of office to further his own campaign and personal benefit. over and over and over and over again. the fact that we have just one more person that is piling on this very long and established record of corruption by this president, and misuse of official resources and collusion with russia, we don't need michael cohen to tell us there was collusion with russia. we know it. dozens of other people have proven it. there are facts out there despite what the president and his enablers and other folks might say so this is just one more example and whether michael cohen put this is in a book for his own benefit or not doesn't concern me. >> do you think, though, had michael cohen been more forthcoming at the time, some of the things are in this book were

proven to be true during the time in the impeachment, would that have helped your case during the impeachment? >> i don't think we needed additional help by our impeachment. many republican senators said that beyond any doubt that proved what we were saying happened with regard to crane happened and they believed us, they just weren't willing to impeach because they didn't have the personal or political courage to do so. i think we established a very clearly what happened and whether michael cohen puts it in the book or ambassador bolton puts it in a book doesn't matter. the facts of the record are clear and established. >> right you are to bring ambassador bolton into that conversation as well. very nice talking with you, sir. i look forward to seeing you again. coming up next, my conversation with benjamin

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[ crowd chanting ] sights and sounds from night four of the protests in rochester, new york. over the death of daniel prude, they took a turbulent turn when police say they were hit with rocks and incendiary devices. rocher police say they dispersed tear gas and pepper balls for the first time. and last night's protests came hours after new york's attorney general said a grand jury will be convened as part of the investigation. protesters are angry that it took five months for police to release body cam video. we're expecting a news

conference by the police chief at the top of the hour. and in portland, oregon, another night of unrest after the 100th night of protest escalated to violent clashes. police declaring a riot using what appeared to be tear gas to try to disperse the clouds. rioters lit multiple fires making over 50 new arrests. let's go to erin mclaughlin in portland, what more could you tell us about this as they're calling it riotous night? >> reporter: a particularly violent night last night for portland. 50 arrests is a high number, all things considered, especially when you consider that on friday night 27 were arrested. authorities seized a number of items, in the course of the arrests, including explosives, body armor as well as a dagger. we were actually at the starting point earlier in the evening,

then ventura park to the east of the city, hundreds had gathered there billed as a blm protest. they advertised food and music but the people that gathered were preparing for confrontation with police and we watched as they prepared body armor and shields. hours later taking to the streets, marching toward the east precinct. it was there that according to police it was clear that their intention was not peaceful protest, that their intention was to clash with the police. they stopped the march or tried to. that is when molotov cocktails were thrown, people were lit on fire by the molotov cocktails, one person seen on social media extremes and clashes continued into the small hours of the morning. now earlier in the day in washington state, was a separate event, a memorial service for aaron j. danielson, a trump supporter and member of a far right group called patriot

prayer. he was killed last saturday, shot dead in downtown portland. his friends and family gathered to remember him. many waves pro-trump flags an others patrolled the perimeter with heavy weapons, a member of patriot prayer spoke on his behalf saying he was a peaceful person. now his allege the killer who was shot and killed, a self-described member of antifa was shot and killed on thursday, that is the subject of an ongoing investigation across multiple agencies across washington as well as oregon. alex. >> clearly very challenging difficulty and violent times there in world. erin mclaughlin there. now to a new development from kenosha, wisconsin. jacob blake, for the first time speaking publicly. a fuel two weeks after being shot by police. he spoke from his hospital bed. he lies paralyzed in the bed

from the waist down. the video was posted to social media by benjamin crump but it is unclear who recorded it. let's take a look. >> it is a lot more life to live out here, man. your life and not only just your life, your legs, something that you need to move around and move forward in life could be taken from you like this. 24 hours, every 24 hours it is pain, it is pain. it hurts to breathe, it hurts to sleep. it hurts to move from side to side. it hurts to eat. please, i'm telling you, change our lives out there. we could stick together and make some money, make everything easier for our people out here. because it is so much time that has been wasted. a life to live out here. your life, and not only just your life, but your legs, something that you need to move around and move forward in life could be taken from you like

this. >> so that video there on a loop. and joining me now is benjamin crump, jacob blake's family attorney. glad to see you as always, despite always such difficult circumstances when doing so. why did you post that video to twitter? was it on behalf of jacob and the blake family, was there a message they wanted to make public, what is behind it? >> thank you for having me, alex. it was a video that was taken by a family acquaintance. it was just his emotional feeling to say that, you know, thanks to everybody for supporting him. he still has a lot of pain, as he said. everything in his body hurts when he breathes, when he talks. and that kind of thing. and it also shows what he said to vice president biden. that even if he never walks again, he's not giving up on

life. he's going to be the best he could be. he has his children that are looking to their father to be strong and to be a father figure and so he's committed to that. and he's also committed to trying to say, let's do something about this. let's don't continue to have these excessive brutal force police against black people in america and there be no accountability. i watched your segment earlier, alex, with tony romanuchy has been detained by daniel prude, another unjust fied killing of a black person, of people that were supposed to protect and serve them them. >> benjamin, i have to say, as i listen to that video, i find it heartbreaking. there was no anger there. he's frustrating and lying there in his bed, how is he feeling

about all of this? you say that he's trying to be positive and looking forward, is that what it getting him through? i mean, can you imagine going like this from having your legs an being able to walk to having something happen like this, being shot by police and being paralyzed the rest of your life? >> yeah, alex, he's an inspirational young man. because his main concern has been about his children. and, you know, he wants to tell his boys that it wasn't right what happened and daddy wants to make sure you all get the right counseling, that you know that you're going to be okay. i mean, that is his main concern about his children. not so much about himself. and he's inspirational on such a level. that when you think about it, alex, how bitter everybody else when they watch that video, i mean, he never poses a threat to the police as he's trying to get

away from them, get into the automobile and get his boys out of a volatile situation. his boys has been 8 years old, 5 years old and 3 years old. and so you look at that, alex, and then you juxtapose it with what happened with the young white man who killed two people and walked down the street with an assault weapon his neck, passed several police officers and passed several national guards, nobody shot him in the back, nobody killed him, he got home uninjured and yet jacob blake killed nobody and he's in a bed paralyzed. >> yep. talking about kyle rittenhouse, there. you mentioned the conversation with the vice president who spoke with jacob blake by phone and i know that he met with the family. talk about the tenure of that conversation? do you know what joe biden said to him? >> yes, ma'am.

it was a very engaging to see vice president biden relate to jacob blake jr. on a human level. he offered him compassion. he offered him consideration and prayers. he tried to talk about, you know, we all are praying for you. we are looking for the best in you. and he was very inspirational. and he was blown away by jacob blake jr. talking about i'm not going to give up. you could tell everybody i'm not giving up on life. and vice president biden said that was just inspiring to him. a young man facing all of this here, talking about the best things in life that we have a reason to fight. and he kept talking about his children. he wants to be there for his children, alex. and when you look at jacob blake jr., you see just so many

pictures of him with his boys. where he wasn't working, he was trying to spend time with his children. >> yeah. benjamin, you know what the police say and that is that jacob blake had a knife and that he was going for it. what do you know about that? is that true? >> well, we heard attorney general barr, alex, put out this information and we think he is misinformed on major level. i mean, literally, the police were the aggressors from the beginning to the end. this is by evidence on the video, and all of the witnesses accounts. you never see him put these police officers in a life or death situation as attorney general barr tried to suggest. >> so, benjamin, does that mean there was no knife? >> well, based on what we know, the wisconsin department of

justice has told us there -- that he didn't have a knife, none of the witnesses purport that he had a knife. it is attorney general barr who made this staintement. so we have information inconsistent with what attorney general barr has suggest the. and furthermore, they keep putting all of these things out here to assassinate the character of this young man. jacob blake jr. has never been convicted of any crime. they keep trying to put out misinformation that he had a sexual assault charge against him. well, that is an allegation that we fully believe he will be exonerated of and found not guilty. but they have tried to condemn him for it. they forget that trump and judge kavanaugh was charged with

sexual assault or allegations and they kept saying well there is two sides to every story. but when it comes to jacob blake jr., they seem to forget that part of it. >> you mentioned donald trump and, in fact, as you know, he was there in kenosha on tuesday and he did not meet with the blake family. but the white house said there was an effort made to try to set up a meeting but the president later said that he didn't meet with or speak to blake's family because they wanted to have a lawyer present. and presumably that would be you. what is the truth between these contradicting claims from the white house? >> well, all i'll say is this, alex. when president obama called tray john martin's parents, they were on the phone. when he called michael ground's family in ferguson, lawyers were on the phone. when vice president biden called george floyd's family, our

attorneys were on the phone. when vice president biden and senator kamala harris called jacob blake jr.'s family, our attorneys were on the phone. it is only president trump who has a problem talking to a black family who has fallen victim to police, excessive force having their attorneys on phone. we don't understand it. i mean, the department of justice has an investigation. so certainly it would be appropriate for them to have their legal representatives on phone when you're talking to any government official that could decide that accountability of whether or not the people who shot your son seven times in the back will be held accountable. so, we don't know what is the problem with having attorneys on the phone with make -- trump

makes statements he has his attorneys with him so why can't the blake family have their attorneys with them. >> we'll have to leave that question as a rhetorical one. benjamin crump, on this labor day weekend, thank you for making time for us. it is good to see you. good luck. it is a nightmare scenario for the election and raises fears about the potential fallout for the nation. we're talking about it ahead. t d [ engine rumbling ] [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know there's a 30-minute limit, right? tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

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plea to the people in this country to realize that we really still need to get our arms around this and to suppress these types of surges that we've seen. >> and nbc's aplanda goalen is in seaside heights, new jersey. and if you see people wearing masks and staying socially distant as dr. fauci would like everyone to do? >> reporter: alex, good to be back with you. there are certainly crowds here, more than we've seen throughout the weekend and i'm not seeing a whole lot of masks. there are some spreading them and spreading out but the boardwalks are very full and the beaches with packed. that is what the community wants to see, because the beach front communities have been impacted by the economic effects of covid. the businesses have not had the seasons they wanted to and were down 40% compared to last year according to the mayor.

they're trying to draw the people out and elongate the summer season and coming to the beaches and spending money at the restaurants and arcades an charging people to go to the beach. keeping the beaches open through the end of september to an elongated summer season for the businesses. and speaking to the business owners here, they're just emphasizing why that is so important this year especially. take a listen to what they told me. >> we need this weekend, we need every other weekend in september. i mean, there is no way that we could possibly do what we need to to do by being closed as long as we were and then open up as late as we did. so i think most of us are grateful that we're open. >> nobody wants to come here when there is snow on the boardwalk. so what we'll -- we'll see how it goes. we'll try to go as long as we can. >> reporter: so, alex, things will wrap up around here with labor day as the last summer

hoorah. the community wants to see that extends throughout september and potentially into october and continuing on past columbus day weekend, we'll see if that could continue. this is the first weekend where 25% capacity is loued for indoor dining and doesn't make much of a difference based on the businesses because most of the seating isoutdoors but it will allow to compensate here at the beaches. >> i would say maybe half of the folks behind you were wearing masks. thank you. the best-selling books about president trump keep on coming and the latest one takes aim at his favorite network. the author of "hoax" joins me next. next ♪ upbeat music >> tech: you'll get a text when we're on our way. >> tech: before we arrive, just leave your keys on the dash. we'll replace your windshield with safe, no-contact service. ♪ upbeat music >> tech: and that's service you can trust

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in clinical trials, weight, cholesterol and blood sugar changes were similar to placebo. so if you're affected by schizophrenia, have a conversation with your doctor about caplyta today. so if you're keeping track, there is now a long and growing list of books about trump like phil rucker, john bolton and

mary trump and soon to be reesed by michael cohen and bob woodward. books he doesn't agree with, he uses the word hoax. >> it is a hoax. just like the fake dossier was a hoax. just like the russia, russia, russia was a hoax. it was a total hoax. no collusion. and you'll hear more of these things totally unrelated as we get closer and closer to election. >> joining me now brian stelter, host of cnn's reliable sources. brian is the author of the book "hoax." brian, how do you feel about the president doing some good pr for your book there? >> it doesn't seem like he's proving my thesis. he's proving my point. which is that he's using this word to try to destroy the common ground that we all share. he only used the word hoax a few times in his first year in office. but now he uses the word on

average more than once a day. hoax is a dirty word. it is a malicious word. it means someone is trying to hurt you. but ironically it is the president who is pulling a hoax on all of us. >> brian, you've had, what, more than 250 interviews for this book. >> while you were researching it. has anyone from the white house or fox news pushed back calling the book a hoax, the things that you write about? >> the answer is no. some fox stars have continued with their usual insults about me, that is part of the game. they think it is fun to name call the way president trump does. but there has not been pushback because i think so many sources and different directions told me the same thing that trump hijacked fox news and turned fox into a propaganda machine. yes, there are some exceptions to the rule but this is a high jacking, this is a take over the likes of which we've never seen before. i had one former white house aid we use fox for a content creation system. it starts on fox and spreads all

through the right wing media world. that is an incredibly powerful tool for the president. and one has to wonder, alex, what would the trump presidency look like if he doesn't have fox. i think it would look very different. >> but how does this president get away with it? when in this digital age, anybody could google something and get research if they're so inclined, i mean there is everything at the finger tips. >> right, you could find the truth. how do the supporters go into a suspended belief for him. >> i think fox is like a warm bath. who doesn't love a warm bath at the end of the day. something you have to think hard about. it is relaxing and peaceful. that is what the prime time shows are. even though they are intense and outrageous, it is comfort food for the audience. what fox does, like the word

hoax, it shuts down the conversation. i think on msnbc and cnn, we say go check your source. i don't think that happens on fox asoch. there is not that same encouragement of a diverse balanced media diet. >> but you write that fox once had a journalistic culture so how did it become this entity that appears from your reporting to be almost at war with itself internally and how -- >> there is a tug-of-war. that is a good way of putting it. carl cameron said the news muscles start to get weak and at trophy. so the journal and muscles have weaken and the propaganda muscles have strengthened and that is frustrating people for who leave, there are people that have left fox because they couldn't take it any more and then there are others who stay

who want to make it better from the inside. jen fir griffin this weekend confirming the atlantic about trump disparaging for war veterans. good for those trying to make a go of it at fox and right now the propaganda side is mostly winning. >> are there discussions about this still ongoing. didn't james murdock -- not lock lynn, step down because he disagreed with the content. so are there situations within fox where people are kind of at war with each other and situations between the family that mirrors a lot of families in this country that are at war with each other over donald trump and the -- >> it is like a lot of other families. this is a billionaire family and liberal son james is so disgusted by fox news he's left the family empire. but it is possible in the future to imagine a scenario where james could try to take control of the company.

it is not going to happen today or tomorrow. but it could happen some day and that is one of the end notes i have in hopes. >> you mentioned jennifer griffin and yesterday the president tweeted that she should be fired from her job as she was working to confirm the details in the atlantic magazine. the president claiming that americans killed are losers an suckers. does it reveal anything about the relationship between the president and fox news now? is there tension there? >> he wants propaganda not news. he wants pro-trump opinion not news. he doesn't want reporters on fox. he lashes out to the reporting on air even though it is squeezed down and fewer hours of it. he doesn't want to see any of it at all. sadly three and a half years no the trump presidency, he has proven he doesn't know what journalism is and doesn't want to see it. he said jeffrey goldberg shouldn't be allowed to publish the articles. and jennifer griffin shouldn't be fired, she should be given a

promotion. >> there is a quote from the epilogue and is fed fox viewers came awos with the impression that nothing was knowable. everything was relative. there were distortions an deceptions in every direction, up could be down and left could be right and real news could be fake. so here is my question, where the anecdote? what is it? >> i think thankfully most people see through the lies and most people know that the president is not trustworthy and the pandemic has proved that this year. i open and close hoax with the story of the pandemic and the downplaying of disease that is still going on today. most americans see through it and i think we all need to have better more honest conversations with each other and that includes talking to folks who love fox and whether it is in our own family and friends and i think the more conversations that we could have with each other the better and i hope this book helps people reach out to friends or family members that love fox but aren't quite sure how to talk about it. >> i just got to tell you, and here is proof, i paid $28 for

this book and it was worth every penny. >> oh, i'll send you a signed book. >> i would love that as well. so i'll keep that one and give this to someone. thank you so much. appreciate your time. next, the nightmare scenario and the fallout for the nation. that's ahead. for the nation that's ahead (vo) through our love promise, subaru and our retailers are proud to be replanting 500,000 trees... ...in areas devastated by wildfires. subaru. more than a car company. [camera man] actually anyone 50 or over is at increased risk for shingles. the pain, the burning! my husband had to do everything for weeks. and the thing is, there's nothing you can do about it! [camera man] well, shingles can be prevented.

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mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. could you be living a bigger life? ask an asthma specialist about fasenra. "new york times" with more people voting by mail. joining me now "new york times" and author of that article. trip, big welcome to you. so i've been talking about this ever since you wrote about it. walk us through this nightmare scenario that you describe in your piece and what you are hearing from election officials on the ground. >> you bet, alex. so ever since the coronavirus came along, there has been a huge partisan difference between

the number of supporters of joe biden who plan to vote by mail, and supporters of donald trump who largely vote in person. and demonized all year suggesting it would be a massive fraud. so you'll see a lot more democrats going to the polls, excuse me, vote by mail in late october, november. and see a lot more republicans vote in person. what's that's going to do in particularly key states which don't couldn't mail in votes until after they counted same day collection day votes, you'll see early returns showing a massive preference for president trump. some people call it a red morage. then more votes voted through the next week many of these states they shift toward biden

and in some cases it may be likely that biden flips some of these swing states that appear to have gone for donald trump. and you can imagine how the president will respond to this. >> yeah, i mean it's actually quite frighten go to think of the things he may try to do. there are concerns according to your article he could try to declare a victory, correct? and then there by that would disenfranchise the votes coming in. allegedly he could try to, right? there could be people all sorts of behavior on the streets when you think the president has won and joe biden sweeps in a week later having won. how does this play out in your mind? what are your nightmare scenarios post election day starting on november 4? >> well, i'll discuss how democrats elected firofficials respond rather than myself.

the worst case president trump ba based on election night returns declares victory and nothing legal until said by state election officials. but he said mail votes have something inherently something fraudulent about them. so in the days and weeks i won this election and anything indicating that maybe biden won it is a fraud and the election is not legitimate and he's been inmating that in many ways all this year, go back to 2018 during the midterms, and he did it in realtime with some close races in florida and arizona. so it's not pure speculation. the president has dropped all kinds of i won't call them hints, they are broad indications or telegraphing that this is how he's going to respond to election night. >> and look how he's called out how hillary clinton won by votes

in 2016 called that fraudulent because he thought there was fraud that would total more than 3 million votes. you know there is no allegation of any kind of anything like this. but trip here's something i'm curious about. ment due to the coronavirus could play out, why is it that states which refuse to or will not i should say will not start counting votes until everything else has come in so there by elongating everything in the time in which we'll find out the presidency? why can't they start counting votes the second they start coming in? keep a tally that's winning. why can't they change those rules? >> well, every state holds its own elections a little differently. and most states do count mail in votes either as soon as they receive them or a few days before election day or sometimes a week or two. it really varies state by state. what's key here are a handful the battleground states,

pennsylvania and michigan and wisconsin, those are the three states that put trump in the white house and most likely chance of getting there again. somewhat anonymously those three states do not allow currently election mail vote ballots not to be counted but not allowed to be processed, opening the ball lots and confirming to be scanned by a machine. so in a couple of these states michigan and pennsylvania specifically democrats secretaries of state and elected officials are trying to change the rules and they have to be done go through the legislatures to allow preearly processing of the mail ballots that would go along way toward helping this situation. >> well, it is a murky situation at best at this point. but trip thank you so much for

writing about it and discussing with it me on this show. thank you for watching everyone. coming up next, lindsey riser talks about the new books and the comments cohens says he made about barack obama. e made about barack obama but i know what time it is. [whispering] it's grilled cheese o'clock.

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reiser breaking news out of new york. a news conference is set to start every moment after another

night of protests in the city. following the death of daniel prude in police custody. grand jury will now hear the case. and any minute we are expecting to hear from the mayor and police chief. we'll have that for you live. also this hour, president trump under fire from multiple sides this weekend. a new book that could be titled michael cohen's revenge former fix erie veiling new information about how the president feels about russia, race, and more. this as the president and his supporters continue to try and dis miss claims that he called military heroes suckers and losers. we'll have more on that. plus kamala harris and joe biden both hitting the campaign trail on labor day and robert gibbs joins us to talk about the state of the race coming up. let's begin right now in new york where we are awaiting a press conference from the mayor and police chief follows fourth straight nightf