fine jewellery for occasions. we say, forget occasions. fine jewellery for yourself. (snap) we're mejuri, the new luxury. good day, everyone, from msnbc world headquarters in new york welcome to "weekends with alex witt." here's what's happening. we begin with the breaking news as the president is hospitalized currently for coronavirus treatment. the white house is trying to clear up the time line of the president's covid infection. new this hour, a source familiar with the president's condition telling nbc's peter alexander some of the president's vital signs friday morning were early indicators of the potential for prognos progression beyond mild illness after a group of his doctors at walter reed medical center gave an optimistic update. >> he said before he's male.

and he is slightly overweight. other than that he's very healthy. his cholesterol is great. his blood pressure is great. he's not on medication for that. he's up and active. you saw his activities, the days leading up to, the long hours and everything else. he's able to handle it. >> meantime, the number of people in the president's inner circle testing positive for the coronavirus, certainly it's growing. wisconsin senator ron johnson and former new jersey governor chris christie announcing today they both have tested positive for covid-19. joining me is josh from outside walter reed medical center so, josh, on that briefing about 2 1/2 hours ago or so from the president's physician it is already causing confusion. can you bring us up to speed on what's happening and clarify things for us. >> you used the word confusion, alex. that frankly is the word of the

hourout side walter reed with conflicting messages coming from people in and around the white house, not only about the status of the president's health at this moment but about when he was actually diagnosed with coronavirus. and when he started treatment. we heard from the president's doctors and first time they came out and briefed reporters. had a show of medical force standing side by side in white medical jacks. take a listen to what they said about how the president is doing at this time. talking about how the president's vitals are doing good and how they're happy with his progress, also saying that it's been 72 hours since he's been diagnosed with coronavirus. that creates a lot of confusion because as far as we knew from what the white house said it wasn't until thursday night, less than 72 hours ago that the president had been diagnosed and if he was diagnosed 72 hours ago, that would have put the time line before he decided to continue anyway and go to new jersey to do a fund-raiser. and then after all of this

positive talk from the doctors, alex, we heard from a person who is familiar with the president's situation, who spoke to reporters from the white house travel pool who works here in the president saying very much the opposite saying the president's vitals over the last 24 hours are very concerning and that the next 48 hours will be critical. that source going on to say that we are still not on a clear path to full recovery. so we're trying to get that squared out, a white house official as you pointed out later said the doctors were unclear about the time line and meant day three as opposed to 72 hours so some ironing out to do there. in the meantime, the president putting a positive face on it at least through his twitter account just in the last few minutes expressing his gratitude to his medical team and also saying that with their help, i am feeling well. alex. >> i got to say as we keep up this tweet from the president if i can ask my directory put it

back up there, everything about that tweet does seem to be authentic and vintage donald j. trump from the capital letters it places and exclamation points and tenor. at least we know he's well enough to communicate in typical donald trump language. thank you so much. appreciate that josh lederman. jase mason, white house correspondent at reuters. lots of new developments then there's that conflicting information over the past couple of hours concerning the president's health. what is your take on what we know definetively so far? >> well, a couple of thing, first of all you're right to say the white house is trying to clean up sort of the confusion about the timing and the doctor, dr. conley sent a memo that was released by the press secretary saying that he had spoken incorrectly and that, in fact, the president had been tested or tested positive for covid on thursday night. so that is what they're saying about that now so that helps

with that piece of it. generally though, i think you can analyze the press conference today at walter reed which was very upbeat for the most part and contrast that with the piece of news josh was sharing that was spoken by a source familiar to the pool and conclude that that upbeat conference was probably directed as much at the patient as anyone else. if the white house is concerned about not having a clear path for a full recovery over the next 24 to 48 hours that certainly indicates that despite him seemingly being okay, that the diagnosis going forward is still very unclear. >> how concerning is that just speaking generally, jeff? if what you say is true and the word i use, sunny, and dr. sean conley, the way he put the update on the president's condition. if that was really meant to be

delivered to the president who is listening, an audience of one, how concerning is it we're not getting complete transparency on the president's health. >> that is part of the challenge of covering the white house and conclude based on the fact that the president has said to bob woodward he play the down the initial stages of the pandemic in the early months of this. his instinct is to put a rosie or sunny disposition to use your word, alex, on things and has done that throughout the entire pandemic. he may be doing that now. of course, it's concerning. this is concerning for his health there specifically and people and others listening to him. but it's also concerning because of who he is. he is the president of the united states. and that position, of course, is the most important and most

powerful person in the world and everything related to his health right now can have implications not only for the campaign which, of course, political reporters like myself and the rest of the world are following closely but for governing right now. >> all of which is being done in the president's suite at walter reed. let me ask about the number of people, jeff, that are testing positive. it's certainly growing, chris christie $750 who has now joined the list that chaim out. 11 confirmed cases from within the president's inner circle. so you got to wonder what is the mood like in the white house right now? is there any sense of regret that more could have been done as to where we're going? >> it's a terrific question and don't know the answer. what i do know is we have seen white house officials in the last couple of days begin to wear masks and that is an indication that perhaps they regret not having done so

earlier or certainly realize the importance of it now. the question, of course, when you see that. why didn't that seriousness come a lot earlier and no doubt a question that people have been to be wrestling with. if you look at this, this is a massive failure for the white house to have allowed to the extent that word to be used the president of the united states to get sick. this is a national security concern and that's who happened. >> i had three experts on asking that question and there was no logical explanation so i was like i can't even go forward and talk about that. but we do know that white house reporters have been impacted, jeff. there are at least three who have tested positive. this according to the white house correspondents association. i know you are there all the time. give me a sense of what the protocol is like right now. do you feel safe doing your job? do you think now we'll see

changes given that the head guy at the white house is in the hospital suffering from covid? >> well, i mean it's -- i can't speak to what the white house is going to do. the protocols we've been following within the press corps have been robust. everyone -- nearly everyone in the press corps wears a mask all the time at the white house. i don't think it's a surprise to anyone that i do. the people in the pool get tested every day but that's only 1 people. the rest of the reporters and the rest of the people who come onto the complex are not getting temperature checks when they walk in. there was a time earlier in the pandemic when everyone that came on to the white house grounds had their temperatures taken. inexplicably they stopped doing that this summer which, again, is a risk not only to all of us who go in but to the president of the united states. >> yeah. >> if that starts again that would be an interesting sign. the other thing i think bears repeating, though. we have absolutely seen this play out this week that just getting tested for the virus

doesn't make you immune. it just means at that moment you don't have it and there are certainly white house officials who said to me over the last several months when i'm speaking to them and they aren't wearing a mask and i am, oh, i'm okay, i was tested this morning. and that's just not taking into account the realities of this very vicious and very dangerous -- >> i got to say, jeff, i'm sure a lot of the viewers will remember this. it was a notable moment when you were querying the president about something and he came after you for wearing your mask. i know you're smiling. you remember it well. he literally came after you and really tried to intimidate you. humiliate, you embarrass you, whatever it was, what was that like? >> well, he did it twice actually. earlier in the pandemic he asked me to take it off at one point and then said i was being politically correct and more recently in front of the white house he did that. you know, what was it like for

me? it was just -- it's tricky because it's important to me to wear a mask, period. and in both of those instances i was around colleagues. in the second instance and in the first for that matter, i wasn't -- i was certainly more than six feet away from the president which is what he was saying and he was right about that but i was around hours and that's why i wore it. >> jeff mason, a hero on both those occasions. good for you for standing up for what's right and talking to me. i love having you on. thank you so much. so i want to bring in msnbc contributor dr. lipi roy and get to the official, i guess, assessment from you, dr. roy. what you are hearing. what is your reaction to everything you've heard today. even just today given we're hearing conflicting information. >> it's been an eventful 24 hours. i'll tell you the short answer is that based on what we've heard by dr. conley at that --

it's hard to call it a medical press conference. i felt it was more of a white house conference in white coats but from what i heard, it's reassuring. his vital stables and kidney function and liver function is stable. oxygen saturation is normal. all of that is -- are reassuring signs and as a doctor that's what we want to hear. the fact that his respiratory status has not declined to the point where he's requiring higher levels of oxygen masks or cpap/bipap. or mechanical ventilation the highest extent. he hasn't required any of that but taking this with a grain of salt because i don't feel they're completely forthcoming with details. reporters were repeatedly asking if he was ever on oxygen. my suspicion is that he was. >> your -- you take that from what, the president's condition

could be worse than they're admitting. if you want to apply logic would that be the only reason they would try to cover things up. >> the short answer is i don't know and i can't really play the politics side but as a doctor i can tell you this much, he is in the right place. he needs to be in the hospital right now. it's quite possibly his o2 stats were low in the white house and that's what really was -- what clinically warranted admission to the hospital. they didn't tell us that. a low stat may have been the criteria for starting the treatment that he's been getting particularly remdesivir. so -- but the fact he's clinically stable is reassuring? >> that o2 level you're talking -- wouldn't that predicate the need for being given oxygen? >> right, so then if at any point his o2 levels dropped most certainly at the least oxygen by nasal cannula but it's possible,

alex, when patients get admit fundamental they're worried about other clinical factors, if at any point he was short of breath at all they would have juice easily slapped on a nasal cannula oxygen and just to monitor him so not unusual at all. >> okay, you mentioned remdesivir, dr. roy, so how will that affect things? could it help minimize the effect of covid or speed up recovery? >> yeah, that's a great question and remind your viewers that remdesivir is an actual antiviral medication so aimed to target the virus directly and reduce replication of the virus. also not really fda approved for wide use. it is really emergency use authorization targeted more for like late stage or critically ill people so a little confusing and not clear as to why he received it. the fact if he had low oxygen saturation, that might have been

an indication. hard to give you clear-cut answers without all of a patient's medical information but there has been some mortality benefit with remdesivir, again, as it was studied in a certain population of patients. so really tough to tell. >> the graphic again, it's relative to whats cdc has said about people who are 65 and older, not that one, not treatments. 65 and older, those with underlying conditions are at risk for more serious illness. he is 74 and officially considered obese, hits all the target numbers for that. how do these factors increase the president's risk for potentially serious coronavirus symptom. >> i'm glad you framed it like that the good news is that the vast majority of people who get infected with covid-19 actually recover and do well. that said, it's also important for viewers to remember that the vast majority of people who go on to develop severe illness and

complications and death do fall under those categories. they are over 65 and they have underlying medical conditions. again, what we know about president trump is that he had a bmi of 30.5, that qualifies as obesity, so we know he has that but again the white house has never been very forthcoming or transparent what the president's full medical history so might have other underlying health conditions including possibly heart disease and thought he was taking a medication to lower cholesterol so hyperlipidemia as well. >> medical contributor dr. lipi roy. thank for airing it all out. i appreciate your expertise. let's talk about wisconsin, everyone. it is battling a sudden surge in new coronavirus cases. it is now the state with the third largest number of cases just in the last 72 hours. the president's rally in green bay would have taken place

tonight had he not fallen ill will covid-19. but my colleague cal perry is joining me from green bay where the hospitals are preparing for the worst. of course, hoping for the best. cal, what are you seeing? >> if there was fear of a second wave certainly here in wisconsin that fear is being realized. we have had three times as many cases in just the last month when you look at the hot spots around the country, it's harder to find one that is hotter than where i am in green bay. if you look just at per capita numbers of urban areas in the country you'll find three of the worst four right here in northeastern wisconsin which is a challenge, of course, for doctors. there are four hospitals here in the green bay area and doctors are talking to us about how they're having to find creative ways to move around patients, take a listen. >> we're not fully at capacity, every day we're making creative changes to address it but it's getting harder to make more changes. >> this last couple of weeks in the hospital we've turned more

and more hospital space into our covid isolation unit and keep expanding that almost on a daily or every other day basis. there's potential we could get to the point where we would not be able to do things like surgical procedures and other things like that because we wouldn't have either the space. >> senator ron johnson, republican, senator from wisconsin confirming he has tested positive for coronavirus. alex, as you may remember, the president was supposed to travel here today. he was going to make two stops in the state, one here in green bay, obviously that trip has been canceled. in talking to those two doctors, i asked them should this city consider some kind of lockdown, shutdown to try to stop the cases from spreading. both of those doctors said, yes, they would consider something that drastic, alex. >> the medical community will. let's see if the citizens there and leadership will as well. cal, thanks so much. more senators testing positive for covid.

the impact it could have on the confirmation hearing for amy coney barrett. bill nelson of florida will join me next. still fresh unstopables in-wash scent booster downy unstopables so when it comes to screening for colon cancer, don't wait. because when caught early, it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your prescriber if cologuard is right for you. i'm on it. that's a step in the right direction. ♪ ♪

[ engines revving ] ♪ ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. - with spray moppingrk vacmop to lock away debrisuction and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad.

president trump's physician today says that the white house medical unit is working with the cdc and local health units to contact trace after the president traveled to several states just this past week and that includes new jersey where the president held a large fund-raiser at his golf club wednesday and this just hours before announcing he had tested positive for covid. cori coffman is in bedminster. i know you are at a pro-trump rally so talk about the reaction in the community. what it's been like. >> reporter: good afternoon. that rally just wrapping up here. it started earlier this morning. wements on for hours. we spoke with a lot of folks who showed up here today kind of got a sense of how they feel about everything. take a listen to what they told me.

>> we have to show our support for president trump. >> what was your reaction to hearing the news about him testing positive for covid? >> i was concerned but i know he's strong. he'll be okay. he will come out ahead. >> very upset but he's a strong guy and he will make it. >> now, ail elect, that was in contrast to what we heard from bedminster residents yesterday who were concerned that the president continued to hold that event despite hearing about hope hicks' condition and the fact that he may or may not have been exposed. so moving forward here, of course, the state of new jersey is now undergoing the task of contact tracing working with the white house to get the list of hundreds who were at that event. of course, that was the last event president trump went to before announcing positive test results then once they're able to do that contact tracing they'll go out to the tertiary round of tracing for all the

people that those people had contact with as well. really quickly we want to show you how busy the president's week had been prior to him receiving those positive results with multiple campaign events in pennsylvania, ohio, minnesota and, of course, new jersey. and all told, so far at this hour, some 12 people testing positive. we have that full list for you. we want to just continue to keep that list up. we'll continue to bring you the updated names, of course, we know in addition to chris christie, the latest name, three journalists and alex, also learning specifically to new jersey, new jersey state patrol says no troopers have been known to be exposed when trump has -- with his positive test result. now they typically do offer security when he does his events in new jersey so that was a question if any troopers were exposed. at this point we're learning none were >> that's very good considering they are part of a protection unit by extension from the secret service when he was in that state.

thanks for the live update. joining me is former florida democratic senator bill nelson. i want to get your reaction to this whole situation. how it has unfolded as our president is being treated for covid-19. >> alec, it's just amazing. every ten minutes something new happens. so fasten your seat belt. this is -- this thing is not over. >> you stole my line. i always say buckle up, everybody. to your point, sir, we know three republican senators who have tested positive, they now have coronavirus. two of them, that being senators mike lee and thom tillis. senator republican leaders have indicated that despite the health crisis they are still planning on moving ahead with the confirmation process for supreme court nominee amy coney barrett. what do you make of this? do you believe it should go forward given the big picture? i mean health and politics. >> well, of course, i don't think it should go forward

because of all the hypocrisy that so many of your guests and my former colleagues have already shared. but i'll tell you how i think it's going to be more difficult now for them to go forward because you've already announced three or four republican senators now have covid. if that increases the logistical problems, if they are back in their states to get them to at least come in for the final vote, that's going to be very difficult. while they are contaminated. now, it can be done. years ago in the senate i had just completed an operation in the hospital and my vote was needed on a critical amendment on an education bill and so i

got out of the hospital bed. i had tubes and so forth and went into the capitol. went into the cloakroom and stood at the door, obviously i couldn't put on a suit, but as long as the clerk could see me and i could indicate to the clerk how i was going to vote, which i did, so they can actually physically work it that they could get it even though they were contaminated. however, the fact that they're contaminated brings up a whole new array of problems. it's going to be very difficult for them to do this, particularly as more and more of them get the covid in the next four weeks up to the election. >> that is a rock star of a story. that was amazing what you managed to do and get there because you know that a vote was needed but let me ask you this, with regard to where we are now

in this pandemic, with so many people either fearful of, having suffered from, concerned they might get covid, do you think there's a chance that protocol will be changed, that it could be done all by zoom or whatever, skype, whatever method you would have or do they physically have to be there on -- in the capitol to cast their votes? >> if that is attempted by mitch mcconnell, you're breaking the tradition of almost 2 1/2 centuries of accepted senate behavior and i think although a lot was broken with regard to eliminating the filibuster and we're seeing and suffering some of the consequences there, i think to change the rules where you don't have to be present in

order to vote is a huge step and i think it's a step too far and i don't think mitch mcconnell could get the votes to change the rules to do that. >> what about democrats and how you believe they should be approaching this? is there anything they can do? any leverage to try to stop this confirmation? >> if other than covid now gets in the way it clearly does, it's a whole new factor and that makes it much more difficult for the republicans. but if mitch is hell bent that he's going to have a vote one way or another, there's very little between now and the election that the democrats can do. once the election is held and if joe wins as i think he is and by the way i think we're already seeing the fallout from the

debate when trump was as rude as he was and i think that is showing up in some of the polls now, it has in a "new york times" poll just today in florida, so if joe wins, i believe that then it would be extra difficult for them to go on after the election up until the end of the year and ram through the supreme court nominee. could they? technically? yes. but, you know, there's some modicum of acceptance of standards and ethics in the running of our government and there's some sense of fair play and after joe would be elected for them to say we're going to have it come hell or high water, i think that would be a lot more difficult. >> i think that is definitely the general consensus.

former florida democratic senator bill nelson, what a great chat. come see me again. i very much appreciate your time here. thank you. >> thank you. coming up questions about the transfer of power if it becomes necessary. what would that process look like that? that is next. new projects means new project managers.

you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. it's velveeta shells & cheese versus the other guys. ♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier.

what they're doing now and what they did in '16 with merrick garland was absolutely cynical and hypocritical so if they manage to get this -- to get coney barrett through, then they'll have a 6-3 court. it'll completely change the balance of the court and the question becomes, what do you do? they stole essentially two justice, merrick garland and this one is so close to the election that it's -- and under any normal terms this would be

ridiculous. >> that was former senator al franken when i spoke to him about amy coney barrett. he echos concerns that it's premature to continue with the hearings especially that committee members mike lee and thom tillis tested positive for covid-19. joining me now constitutional law professor jim mall-green. you have mitch mcconnell and the judiciary committee chair lindsey graham that said they plan to move ahead with barrett's nomination as planned. what do you make of the time line given everything that surrounds it whether it's political or health related? >> well, i think if you look at the overall time line, as senator franken said it's cynical to try to fill a lifetime seat as quickly as they are trying to and in the middle of an election because voting

already started and that's an unprecedented move. adding coronavirus and the fact that three senators have caught the or tested positive including two on the judiciary committee, you know, they have the power to do it. they have the power to move forward technically at this stage, but and that's clearly a priority to them, but the health of senator as and staff might counsel some delay here but clearly that's not the -- >> jamal, let's say more senators test positive. can they be held effectively remotely? can they be held as thoroughly as they need to be done remotely. >> it certainly would be quite different than a live hearing. just like in any adversarial proceeding in court, you have witnessed demeanor that you have to assess, you have asking

someone a question directly to their face and to their eyes is different than asking them on a screen. you don't know what notes someone else or the way in which they prepared so it is different. there is some precedent for people testifying remotely certainly. that's happened during this pandemic but for the magnitude and given the politics around this it would be unorthodox and would change the nature of the hearing. >> i'm thinking about what former senator from florida bill nelson told me. that is, let's say judge barrett's confirmation is delayed until after the election. however that would play out, probably would have to be covid induced for the reasoning of a delay, what would happen to her confirmation under a new president? we have some time between when an election could be certified and when the new president would be inaugurated on january 20th. so what could happen? >> so if there's a new senate

then the nomination is withdrawn automatically so would have to be reinstalled by the next president which seems unlikely. and lots of things can happen between now and then. we don't know what's going to happen with this virus. we don't know what the state of the virus is in the senate. so we're really in unchartered territory here. >> so, jamal, you're saying it doesn't necessarily matter who is elected president. what would only matter in this case would be in the senate and the power were to change hands from republicans to democrats immediately after the election? >> well, once we go to a new congress, yeah, we'd have -- the nomination would have to be resubmitted, yes. >> jamal greene from columbia university, thanks for weighing in. meantime, americans weighing in on the hospitalization of the president. we'll hear from voters in pennsylvania about it. ♪ greetings mortal! your journey requires liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance

so you only pay for what you need. liberty power! wow. that will save me lots of money. you're insured! this game's boring. let's get tacos. only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

voters across this country are reacting to the president's coronavirus diagnosis and some say the news is making them a bit more cautious. let's go to julia jester in ken net square, pennsylvania. i can imagine some are definitely being a bit more cautious. what are you hearing today? >> yes, alex, i'm in a purple area of the battleground state. while all voters wish the president a speedy recovery, they don't agree on too much

else. they want it to be a teachable moment with republicans saying americans shouldn't be as fearful because the president has this and he'll be okay while democrats and independents are kind of not surprised that the president contracted the virus due to the lack of masks in some of his events and really hoping that americans will see this and take it to heart as they combat the coronavirus in their day-to-day lives. take a listen to what some of these voters said to me today. >> he typically doesn't wear masks and doesn't advocate for them so it's not surprising. >> i thought it could be a positive just because he could show that it's -- people don't need to be as fearful? one thing out of this if president trump is sick hopefully the people that don't believe there is a virus may pay attention. >> it made me think twice about i know a lot of people including myself definitely have let some of our guard down and it really kind of brought me back to the

fact that we're still in a pandemic. >> and online poll showed 53% of americans are more likely to wear a mask and 54% are more likely to social distance among registered voters including republicans, so anecdotally here it seemed like some of the more conservative sides weren't going to change their patterns and democrats were already wearing masks you can already see that voters and americans across the country are really paying attention and seeing what they can do to prevent themselves and their loved ones from contracting the coronavirus. alex. >> quite remarkable that those numbers aren't higher than they are. just barely over half of the people are very concerned and plan to wear their masks and social distance. we'll see if those numbers grow. thank you so much. appreciate that. julia jester in pennsylvania. meantime, coming up, jonathan alter will join me to talk about all that's happened

as well as his new book on jimmy carter. that's coming up next. [ 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.

[ beeping ] - with spray moppingrk vacmop to lock away debrisuction and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad.

new today the president's doctor saying he will likely spend the weekend at walter reid medical center. this unexpected turn leaves the outcome of the november election even more up in the air. joining me now, jonathan alter. he is also the author of "his very best: jimmy carter, a life." it is the first comprehensive book on jimmy carter's life out there. let's get to what is going on. what do you make of the president's condition? of the last few hours? how do you determine the conflicting information that we have gotten, jonathan? >> first, i wish the president

and mrs. trump a speedy recovery. we need to hold him accountable for some truly disturbing performance on this. not just overall in terms of combatting a pandemic, where i think it has been a public health menace for many months now. he has been saying that real men don't wear masks, that has been his message here. and by some estimates that caused as many as 90,000 lives. so the message from the top is very important. what we're learning today, alex, is that he is also a personal public health menace. he learned before he went to a fu fundraiser that he tested positive. think of the implications of that. the countless people he exposed to the virus knowingly.

this is deeply irresponsible personal behavior. especially disturbing when it is done by the president of the united states. >> i read a headline relative to all of that saying those big donors there, they were subsequently freaking out. those were the words used. understandably so. this is something that could have dramatic effects on them. but they say this could also weaken the case on vulnerable voters. what do you think of the fact that he is in the hospital with covid-19? >> i think it hurts his chances. it eliminates chances, it freezes him in place, he can't go campaign, but it deprives him of what his big message has

been. he has been saying joe biden is cowering in the basement, and he is out at these rallies. democratic governors were saying that at the time. so the circuit is now in on who was right and who was wrong about the implications of the pandemic. that can't do him any good with undecided or independent voters. >> i want to look at your new book about the life and presidency of jimmy carter. you call him the most misunderstood president in american history. why do you say that? how has public opinion changed. >> the opinion is that he was a bad president, but the truth is much more complicated than that. this happens often with presidential reputations. take harry truman. he was really disliked when he

left office. that doesn't mean that jimmy carter belongs on mount rushmore, he was a political and stylistic failure, but a substantive visionary success. he started renewable energy. fuel economy standards. he was protecting wilderness, toxic waste. trying to clean that up, plus the spectrum on the environment. he was going to address climate change. and on foreign policy despite the problems that ran in hostage crisis, they did return safely, but despite that problem, big victories in mideast peace with

a number of other trends into this was a complicated story about a complicated man, but it is a novelistic story. this man's life from being a barefoot boy with no electricity, no indoor plumbing to the navel academy where he writes steamy love letters to his wife, rosalyn. to the jim crowe south. to the horrific violence in his backyard, and struggling after this presidential campaign. struggling in the second half of his presidency, and an amazing post presidential career that i think americans know more about than they do about other parts of his life. >> absolutely.

habitat for humanity, the way he built homes, this is almost escapism reading and very welcome. >> yeah. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for signing it for me. >> thanks, alex. that will do it for me this hour, aren't you all done with me? it's been four hours. let's get to yasminvossoughian. she has more on what has happened in the last 48 hours. it is will very interesting. 8 h. it is will very interesting. she has more on what has happened in the last 48 hours. it is will very interesting. ppe. it is will very interesting. how? (working mom vo) i think i'm already registered. ...hmm!...hmm!...hmm! (woman on porch vo) can we vote by mail here? (man on porch vo) lemme check.

(woman vo) thank you! (man vo) thank you! (grandma vo) you'll be safe, right? (daughter vo) yes! (four girls vo) the polls! voted! (grandma vo) go out and vote! it's so important! (man at poll vo) woo! (grandma vo) it's the most important thing you can do! it's not just a sandwich, far from it. it's a reason to come together. it's a taste of something good. a taste we all could use right now. so let's make the most of it. and make every sandwich count. with oscar mayer deli fresh

♪ i try so hard, i can't rise above it ♪ ♪ don't know what it is ♪ ♪ get a dozen double crunch shrimp for one dollar with any steak entrée. only at applebee's.

good afternoon, everyone. i'm yasmin vossoughian. questions on the president's health have only created more questions. the covid diagnosis upending