iness you have to be then do it all over again. comcast business gives you fast, reliable internet on the nation's largest gig-speed network. and now for a limited time, you can also get fast shipping- with amazon business prime essentials. so no matter what comes next, you'll always be ready to bounce forward. get started with powerful internet and voice for $64.90 a month, and ask how you can get one free year of amazon busines prime essentials on us. call or go online today. comcast business. hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. we are monitoring the supreme court confirmation hearings of judge amy coney barrett. the second day of questioning before the senate judiciary committee. we'll continue to monitor that for you. we'll bring you any updates throughout our two hours, including a much anticipated turn at the microphone for the democratic vice presidential nominee, senator kamala harris.

but we want to turn now to the campaign trail. with 20 days to go before polls close, donald trump in just a few minutes is set to head out to iowa. yes we said iowa. iowa is a state that donald trump won by 10 points in 2016. it's a state where this time around, he is neck and neck with joe biden, according to the most recent polls about his standing there. one sign among many that even donald trump himself can now see the writing on the wall, that is still, with less than three weeks out, losing bigley to joe biden. it's a reality that betrays the desperation of his insistence on casting aside basic public health guidelines, to issue social distancing and crowd his own supporters tightly together. most often very few of them wearing mask, just like he did last night in johnstown, pennsylvania, and like he publics to do tonight in iowa, despite public pleas from local official there's to limit gatherings to 25 people or less as the pandemic intensifies in

that state. but, of course, this is donald trump we're talking about, who won't let a staggering death toll stand in the way of any possibility that he might be able to hold on to a state and hold on to the presidency on november 3rd, especially as a "new york times" reports this. quote, the president, who predicted the country would, quote, get tired of winning, seems preoccupied with the idea of losing. "the times" goes on to detail the scene at trump's rally last night with this, quote, with just three weeks until election day, president trump on the defensive in every major battleground state. the president's top aides know they must change the trajectory of the race. so as mr. trump returns to the campaign trail this week, his advisers are sending him out with a teleprompter in hopes he'll drive a more coherent message against his democratic opponent, former vice president joe biden. yet the president also made clear he had other issues on his mind, namely, how embarrassing it would be to lose to an

opponent he has repeatedly mocked as being senile. and it's because of that very prospect, losing to joe biden, the final stretch of this race that a new report just confirmed by nbc news, but first reported in "the washington post," must have landed with a thud in trump world. the report says that trump's big unmasking investigation, if you forget, it was one of his signature efforts to retaliate against his political enemies in the obama administration, it turns out it has produced a big old nothing burger, nothing, zero, zilch. it is closing without any charges without any public report. and according to a source with direct knowledge of the report, without finding any evidence of wrongdoing. this is following last week's revelation out of john durham's probe into the origins of the russia investigation, that that probe also will not release any of its findings before the election, or in time for trump to deliver the october surprise

he has openly pushed for. the president on shaky political footing and running out of even the most authoritarian of levers to pull is where we start today. alexei mccann nonis here, an nbc and msnbc contributor. also with us rnc chairman and senior adviser for the lincoln project, michael steele is back. and former chief spam for the department of justice and msnbc analyst matt miller. matt miller, i've got to starts wi with you. i spoke to a former justice department official last night about all of these levers, if you will, that donald trump hasn't just been trying to pull, but has been pulling now it would appear for four years. one common thread runs through everything we've learned. he has sought to use the justice department to prosecute political enemies, to investigate perceived political opponents deep inside the intelligence and law enforcement communities since the beginning. what do you make of the fact that another one has turned up with nothing?

>> well, i'm going let the viewers in on a little secret is that an investigation on sean hannity's show was initially probably isn't on the level. and just a clue. and, you know, i think what we're seeing is the limits of the president's strategies. there are two sides of the same coin with respect to doj politicization and what donald trump has tried to do. one is the ability to stop investigations and stop or reduce charges into his political cronies. and we've seen bill barr be very successful at doing that. and the other is to launch investigation and bring charges against his political opponent. and we're seeing the limits of this strategy there, because bill barr can launch investigations into whatever he wants, but you can't force career prosecutors to bring charges when there is no evidence. you can't force grand juries to indict when there is no evidence. we saw is that when they tried to indict andrew mccabe and the grand jury said no. luckily there are some checks built into the system that can

stop even an out-of-control attorney general and out of control president we have now. i think we're seeing some of those checks come into play with the durham investigation and now the end of this unmasking probe. >> let me follow with you, matt miller, because it's a mixed picture. and people that follow this really closely, and i put every viewer of this program in that category know that this high level resignation of mr. durham's deputy may have sort of jolted back into reality or back on track what had felt from the outside like an investigation that had been squarely yanked into, at least from a perception standpoint the political with bill barr accompanying mr. durham to italy and other parts unknown to participate in the investigation about the origins of the intelligence around russia. what do you make of those facts coming out in this period along with the facts that have been reported in "the new york times" and republican and other places that bill barr has loosened

restrictions on prosecutors to prosecute cases and has briefed the president about some of those investigations in their very early stages? >> look, with respect to the durham probe, i think you're right. i think his resignation was big deal, probably a bigger deal than we know publicly. i had concerned about the investigation from its beginning, both the way it's conducted and specific with effect to the statement that john durham put out at one point that was inappropriate, but i always had a hard time believing that the john durham i knew at the justice department would allow himself to be used as a political prop in the 60 days before the election. that just seemed counter to everything i've known about him, and i do think the reason why a report is not coming out is not because bill barr just woke up and decided he was going to do the right thing and respect the department's will. i don't think anyone should be so naive to believe that i suspect because john durham said i will conduct this investigation and do it fairly, but i will not allow my name to be used to wage a political war

for the president of the united states. but that doesn't mean bill barr is done playing other levers telephone justice department. and the levers we've seen where he is trying to change the rules where the allow u.s. attorneys to launch investigations and talk publicly is the most concerning development at doj right now. unfortunately, i don't think we can say that all of the u.s. attorneys will behave appropriately as durham had. there are some who are just much more political figures. they are career people at the justice department. i do have concerns about what they may have in store in the next 20 days before the election. >> and michael steele, in the widest it matters category, it matters because if you care about a functioning federal government. you care about the integrity of the justice department. and enough people have become concerned about enough cases that we read about mass resignations from the cases where barr has been involved. but on the other side, and down here on planet earth, the truth is it isn't working.

here is donald trump's desperate kind of like guy in the bar at the end of the night plea to women to like him. >> i ask you to do me a favor. suburban women, will you please like me? please. please. i saved your damn neighborhood, okay? the other thing, i don't have much time to be that nice. i can do it, but i got to go quickly. we don't have time. they want me to be politically correct. oh, yes, let's discuss it. let's talk about it over the next ten years. no, no, no. no. we saved suburbia in the u.s. >> i mean, michael steele, there are a million gender points to make here, but the idea he doesn't have time to be nice to women, i don't think is going to achieve the aim that he is hoping it will. >> you always give me the hard ones, don't you? i get it. i understand. >> love you. >> i'm speaking out in the cold

at this hour. so two things. one, i think our friend and colleague brian williams encapsulated that moment the best when he said yes, trump is just a guy standing before suburban women asking them to like him, and that summed it all up for me right there. but the second thing, the second thing is that last part, not the why don't you like me part, but the last part i don't have time to be nice to me says a lot about how he sees his relationship with women. how he sees his relationship with people, and so, you know, take my badness and take it all in and like me anyway. well, there are a lot of women out there who have been in relationships like that, and they walked away from them. and i think that's what you're seeing metaphorically in the

polls in some respects, and actually. women walking away from this kind of mind-set and this attitude that has been played over and over again in this administration from little things to very big things. and then when you layer it down and see how it involves his approach to children, that he would actually put a mother's child in a cage, that says something to women. yes, they may not have been -- it may not have been their children, but they're look at how he is treating other women's children. so there is this narrative kind of fulfills itself in so many respects. and i think when voters are now assessing in this final hours of the campaign where they want to go with their vote, they're evaluating character. they're evaluating those qualities of leadership. and they're looking at how you talk to me. and, yeah, that right there was a guy standing before a girl

saying i don't really give a rat's ass about you, but like me anyway. >> i mean, what you just said is so prow found, we need seven more hours to unpack all of that. but i want to bring alexei into this. i think everything michael steele just said rings true on ten different levels. the most important point, we sit here, a country before two candidates before the country asking them to vote. and a lot of them have voted. they are resoundingly rejecting the idea that trump is the best they can do. >> well, and what we're seeing is a massive and growing gender gap unlike anything we've seen in a presidential election or any election before. donald trump is in iowa. president trump is in iowa today. biden is leading with women by 20 points in that state. i saw another poll last week where biden was lead big 27 points among women. and that matters because women vote at higher rates than men.

women live longer than men when we're talking about this trend of seniors souring on president trump and leading toward biden. and we see how women step up and run for office to have a seat at the table when they're not happy about what's going on, especially in the trump era as a way to rebuke him and their republican party. so it's not a voting bloc that you can kind of step in front of and say okay, give me your vote. there are different concerns. i especially even think about suburban women. the demographics of suburbs around this country are changing rapidly. it's not just white women in the suburbs anymore or housewives, as donald trump likes to refer to them as. they're these diverse communities with diverse interests and concerns aren't as symbolized i'm going have someone like cory booker running and destroy your neighborhood unless you vote for me. it's a ridiculous way to try to scare people into voting for him. and it really just shows that he doesn't really see where the country is and where women are in this moment.

>> yeah. >> who, to michael steele's point are having issues not with just the way he is talking politically, but all the challenges women and moms are having because of the pandemic that he is not addressing in real life. >> right. so speaking of moms and the challenges they're having during the pandemic, barron trump's mom, the first lady melania trump has revealed since we've been on the air that her son -- let me just read you melania trump's tweet. to all of you who have reached out, thank you. here is my personal experience with covid. she confirms that she was positive, has now tested negative. she also confirms that her son barron had tested positive and is now testing negative. she says this about her own son. luckily, quote, luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms. so matt miller, to the closing argument that the vice president has landed on that he has abdicated his responsibility to protect you, and i want to play

how he directed that directly to seniors. obviously, everybody from the moment the first family was impacted by covid wishes the president, his wife and his children a speedy recovery, but i think that this kind of information that he wasn't interested in mask wearing, he wasn't committed to social distancing, he blew up a debate because it would have had to be done on zoom, which is how most of us are functioning in our lives. it's how my son goes to school. it's how most of us do a lot of work if we're lucky enough to work from home. i think all these reminders that he couldn't even protect his own household, they seep in an emotional, perhaps not even logical way. >> i agree. i'm very glad to hear that the first lady and their son have both recovered. i think all of us parents, the one thing that has been somewhat reassuring throughout this pandemic is it doesn't seem to

affect children in the way it does adults. and with respect to the president, i think you're absolutely right. i think when you hear the president -- when you see him not willing to wear a mask, when you see him not willing to do a debate remote, the way all of us have gotten used to in our lives, it just goes to show how out of touch he is with every single thing americans are going through. the same asking suburban women to like him. all you ever hear from the president right now is me, me, me, me, me. it's never about you, the voters. even the durham investigation and this unmasking probe we started the show by talking about, we started the show talking about, we're not about issues that are important to voters li vot voters' lives right now. they're about donald trump and his grievances against the deep state and the democrats and everyone else he thinks has been out to get him. that's his biggest problem. it's not just that he doesn't have a message about joe biden. he doesn't have a message about

what voters care about. it's just one long stream of grievance and personal interest in himself over and over again. i think voters are tired of it. >> and, you know, michael steele, that has a place in american politics, but i don't think its place is in the middle of a pandemic when every aspect of american life is upheaved. let me show you the contrast. here is joe biden speaking to seniors. >> you've worked hard your whole life, contributing to society, building a family, building the country, serving america. you serve security. you deserve respect and peace of mind. but you're not getting it. and by the way, if this wasn't so bizarre, you think if i tried to make a movie talking about something like this in america, you would think i was making it up. because donald trump, it's

simple, not a joke. you're expendable. you're forgettable. you're virtually nobody. that's how he sees seniors. that's how he sees you. >> and michael steele, that's a quote donald trump took to a rally stage and said the coronavirus pandemic has killed nobody, nobody. it's killed 210,000 of our fellow americans. >> he doesn't see us. he just doesn't. he sees himself. and that's all there is. no matter what room he is in, there is only one person in the room. that's him. so i think the way joe biden placed that out there for seniors, not only was it empathetic and moving to that extent, it sort of showed, you know, at least how he would approach some of these issues that i see you. you're going to be a part of this conversation. and the fact that the president

would tweet out this photo shopped picture of joe has a senior citizen in a wheelchair again denigrates those individuals, makes fun of them. and to have someone stand in the public square and profess that fact that i see you, i hear you, and i'm concerned about how corid is impacting your life and how -- >> yeah. >> my leadership will impact your life, that matters to a lot of people. >> well, alexi, i think it matters to everyone to be seen and to be heard. we'll go to the data here on this. trump's standing with seniors is almost as insurmountable as his gender gap. biden is at 62% in the latest nbc news/wall street journal poll. president trump is at 35%. this race is different from four

years ago in that it's slipping away on structural grounds. there are just structural impediments to trump making up some of these deficits that have been many, many months in the making. but that one among seniors is staggering. >> well, it's something we've been seeing really since the start of the pandemic and trump's mishandling of the pandemic and the way he has flippantly handled it. when i hear from trump voters who are switching to biden, they're switching to biden and they decided to switch to biden months ago when the pandemic and the realities of the pandemic were seeping in and hitting them and their lives hardest and they didn't see that reality reflected in president trump's rhetoric. so it doesn't matter anything he has tried or done or said since then because they saw how he wasn't taking it seriously in the beginning. and i think that's the big disconnect that people are no longer willing to overlook. the other thing that i think is interesting to point out in polling, to michael steele's point about people feeling seen and heard by biden in a way that they're not by president trump,

there was a poll from quinnipiac last week that showed biden with a 12-point lead in pennsylvania. obviously, that's massive. don't know if it got big, but the interesting number is 60% of registered voters in pennsylvania said that they felt biden better understood their day to day concerns. and to me, that's a more intimate understanding of how people actually view these candidates because it's more intimate look at that big picture question is your life better off now than it was four years ago. i think that's an interesting thing to look at across the board especially as they're dealing with and hearing joe biden whether it's seniors or other folks and hearing president trump saying don't let it consume your life. don't be afraid of it. let's just move on. >> i think they'll look back no matter what happens kicked into high gear when the woodward tapes came out revealing that it

was a strategy, that it was an acknowledged lie, that he done played the threat, confessed to it to try to impress a top tier journalist and writer and everything ensued afterwards. i think you're exactly right. it's not just that he doesn't see us, as michael steele said, in his own voice he learn head doesn't give a you know what. you guys are too good today. alexi, michael and matt, we asked you to stick around. when we come back, thousands enduring long hours, hours and hours and hours of waits undeterred by donald trump's repeated lies about a rigged election. we'll talk this historic level of enthusiasm in turnout. also ahead, new cases of coronavirus are sadly on the rise in 3/4 of this country, putting renewed strain on our frontline workers. what to make of all of it. what we can do, what we need to know. our friend dr. erwin redlener is here. and the confirmation hearing for judge amy coney barrett with

vice presidential nominee kamala harris begins her questioning, we'll go right there live and we'll have reaction to that from claire mccaskill. all those stories and more when "deadline white house" continues. to higher levels of cleanliness. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the expertise that helps keep hospitals clean, is helping keep businesses clean too. look for the ecolab science certified seal. did yocould be signs that syour digestive systemwn isn't working at its best? taking metamucil every day can help. metamucil supports your daily digestive health using a special plant-based fiber called psyllium. psyllium works by forming a gel in your digestive system to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. metamucil's gelling action also helps to lower cholesterol

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we've got to vote early, in person if we can. we have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too because we've got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to. >> former first lady michelle obama said that during the

democratic convention. she warned americans to be prepared for a long wait to vote. but to do it anyway for the sake of democracy. and it would appear, once again, they listened to her. similar sights coming out of states that have begun early voting. very, very long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots. georgia, according to that state's attorney general saw more than 128,000 people go to the polls monday. that broke the state's record for the first day of early voting. records were broken in texas as well. yesterday marked that state's first day of voting. and according to officials in harris county, which is the most populous county in the state, by mid afternoon, a new record had been set, 68,000 votes cast. according to nbc news tracking data, more than 12 million americans have voted early already this year either through the mail or in person. we're back with alexi, michael steele and matt. alexi, these pictures of people waiting online to vote are stirring, but they're also

enraging. what is the sort of national picture or how do we -- how is this america in 2020? >> you know, what's really interesting to me, nicole, when i talked to elections experts and people who are tracking early vote totals, they talk about how insane the turnout is looking already in spite of the fact that we're in a pandemic. but i think this just goes to show this enthusiasm and urgency we've seen with people really getting involved with the political process in different and more committed ways since the 2016 election. it's wild that people are still forced to wait in hours' long lines but that also reflects how people are willing to put themselves at risk for a kind of assess the risk situation and go out and vote in person because of the chaos that's happening in 2020 with the postal service and the way the president is casting doubt on mail-in balloting. the one really fascinating stat that i saw about early voting with people is there is 1.8

million voters who didn't vote in 2016 who have already voted in the 2020 general election. and democrats have an 18 percentage-point advantage with those voters. i think that kind of