good morning. it is sunday, october 25th. i'm ali velshi joining you live this morning from asheville, north carolina, at the beautiful omni grove park in. this is the seventh stop on our special sunday series, "velshi across america." over the last two months, i have traveled to battleground states to ask you, the voter, about how you're deciding who will be our next commander in chief. we're now nine days away from perhaps the most sequential election in our lifetimes. tens of millions have already cast their votes while others have waited in long lines like this. this is yesterday in new york city, by the way. all to do their part, your part,

in our democratic process. let's begin by taking a look at the morning's headlines, though. as we count down to november 3rd, "the washington post" reports police departments everywhere are bracing for civil unrest on election day. quote, while law enforcement agencies routinely plan for elections, officials say this year's preparations are unusually extensive, because of the sheer levels of anxiety and toxicity across the country with fears that a modern american election could give way to potential violence. overnight, word of yet another spread of coronavirus among white house staffers. vice president mike pence releasing a statement saying that his chief, marc short, quote, began quarantine, end quote, after testing positive for the virus. nbc news learning that pence senior political adviser marty opst also tested positive. he was at the debate on october 7th posing maskless with him and after the event. according to pence's office, he still plans to travel right here to north carolina today for previously scheduled events.

north carolina, like many other states, is experiencing a spike. this, of course, as the deadly virus spreads across america's heartland. "the new york times" reports a harrowing third surge of covid-19 leading to a single-day record on friday. in kansas, doctors already dealing with effects of positivity rates that have jumped by 20% in the last week alone are preparing for what's to come. >> we do expect that the number of cases in this wave will continue to increase. and of course, that's concerning. hospital beds tend to sort of correlate with the population size. if there are a large number of infections for every 100,000 people in a state, it's likely that those infections will result in hospitalizations and those hospitalizations will challenge the capacity of the health care delivery system. >> out on the campaign trail, trump continues to downplay the effects of covid-19 on the american public, continuing his false and dangerous story that we are rounding the corner when

it comes to the pandemic. all while infection rates reach all-time highs. . and if you think this sounds like a desperate candidate who believes that he and his party is losing, you're probably right. according to the "washington post," trump confided in a group of private donors that it would be difficult for the gop to maintain control of the senate, in part because trump says he doesn't like some of them. an attendee of the nashville fund-raiser told "the post" that trump told donors, quote, i don't think the senate is tough. i think the senate is tough, actually. the senate is very tough. there are a couple of senators i can't really get involved in. i just can't do it. you lose your soul if you do. i can't help some of them. i don't want to help some of them, end quote. of the 23 seats currently held by republicans that are up for re-election, nine have a legitimate chance of turning democratic. two of the most hotly contested races in the entire nation are right here in the carolinas. in north carolina, the challenger, democratic state senator cal cunningham is currently holding a solid six-point margin over republican

incumbent senator, thom tillis. the latest poll comes after tillis was diagnosed with covid-19 in early october. it also comes following the revelation that cunningham was involved in an extramarital affair. strangely, neither incident seems to have had a major impact in this particular race. in the south carolina senate race, that could be a major upset in the making. democrat jamie harrison has shot to stardom and looking to overtake longtime republican senator lindsey graham for the seat that was one held by strom thurmo thurmond. the most recent polling shows that harrison has flipped the script in a period of less than a month, after trailing graham by a little over six months two weeks ago, harrison now has a two-point lead in the latest poll. that is within the margin of error. as part of his efforts to unseat graham, harrison has shattered the fund-raising record, become the first in american history to pass the $100 million mark for fund-raising and spending in early october.

harrison says he's willing to work across the aisle to get things done in the gridlock of washington. he's made a name for himself as a relatable father and a husband who rose out of poverty, went to the ivy league and came back home with aspirations for public service. joining me now is jamie harrison, the democratic challenger for lindsey graham's south carolina senate seat. mr. harrison is the former chairman of the south carolina democratic party. jamie, good to see you again. i think it must be five or six weeks ago you and i were talking. it's still a pretty uphill battle for you, it still is, but you've raised a lot of money and your opponent is calling for an investigation into where all of this money is coming from. so save him the trouble, jamie, tell us, where's all the money coming from? >> it's coming from the people, ali. it's good seeing you. listen, it's the grandmas, the grandpas, the aunts, the uncles, who are just tired of lindsey graham playing washington political games. and they're ready for somebody to bring hope back to communities in south carolina and across the country. listen, lindsey graham is a

rubber stamp. you see the urgency that he had this week to get a supreme court justice in. but he hasn't had that same type of urgency to pass another covid relief bill. in south carolina, 750,000 people have lost their jobs, 400,000 have lost their health care. 3,500 have lost their lives. and i wish that our senator would take that more seriously than he does playing the washington political games. but that's the reason why he's in trouble right now, here, ali. and that's the reason why he's asking mike pence to come down here in the seventh hour, to campaign for him, a week before the election. it's the reason why mitch mcconnell is pouring $20 million in the last two weeks into south carolina. he's in trouble. and we have momentum here in south carolina. that's why folks should join us at jamieharrison.com. >> jamie, two days ago you tweeted, south carolina is the senate battleground that no one saw coming. it's not often that you find your part of history in the making, but that's exactly the

case for all of you who have believed since the beginning, let's finish the job. talk to me about the history you feel like you're making. >> let's understand the history of the seat and the state that we're running in. this was the seat of john c. calhoun. it was the seat of strom thurmond. this was the seat of a man called ben "pitchfork" tillman, who was a governor of south carolina, but also a united states senator. and when he was in the senate, he would go to the floor of the u.s. senate and talk joyfully about the lynching of black folks. you know, in south carolina, we were the gateway of enslaved people coming into this country, almost 40% of africans came to this country enslaved through the port of charleston. south carolina was the very first state to secede from the union because of the issue of slavery. on november 3rd, we can make history here in south carolina. we can usher in what i call the new south. because south carolina, when i win, will become the very first state in this great union of

ours that will have two african-american senators serving at the same time. we can make that history on november 3rd. exactly right. >> that will be something. >> let me ask you about what has to happen now. it's not just a matter of the polling, as we've seen across the country. we know that generally speaking, only 55% of americans vote in presidential elections. we're hoping that all of this turnout means that more than that number will vote this time around. but for you, it's going to be as much turnout as it is what the polls are showing. >> yeah, the turnout is really important, but the energy and the momentum -- you know, lindsey graham just had a few rallies the other day, and you could fit all of the people at his rallies probably in the phone booth. i just had a rally yesterday, and we filled a high school parking lot with cars and so many folks energized because this is a new movement to close the book on the old south and write a brand-new book called the new south. so i'm very, very excited about the prospects of actually having

somebody in d.c. who's going to roll up their sleeves and work on behalf of the people of south carolina. >> jamie harrison, good to see you. thanks for taking time to talk with us. jamie harrison is the democrat candidate for south carolina senate running against lindsey graham. thank you, sir. meanwhile, we've got brand-new polling moments ago showing the presidential race in texas is shaping up in an interesting fashion. this is a survey from "the dallas morning news." and it shows joe biden with a three-point lead over donald trump in the lone star state. 48-45%. again, right within the margin of error, but joe biden leading. this lead does -- the margin of error is 3%. it speaks volumes, because we are talking about texas, historically, one of the reddest states in the united states. i want to welcome karine jean-pierre, campaign chief of staff to vice presidential nominee kamala harris and a senior adviser to the biden campaign. kari

karine, good to see you. thank you for being with us. i want to talk about you and kamala harris and the campaign. but let's just for a second talk about texas. i want to be clear, it's within the margin of error, but to see a presidential race in texas where a democrat is leading a republican is something that has not been seen in this country for a very long time. >> it is something we have not seen in this country for a long time, ali. and you're absolutely right. and hello to you. look, here's the thing. i'm going just cut to the chase here. the only way that we have a good night, that democrats, our campaign has a good night on election night is if we all go out and vote. that's it, period. we all have to go out and vote. and that is our focus as a campaign. if you -- i'm going to tell folks right now, please make a plan if you haven't voted, go to iowavote.com, vote early if you can. be safe, mail in your ballot. if you've already done that, join us and send texts and make phone calls. this is where we are, ali.

we are nine days out. and election day isn't actually on november 3rd. really, everyone is voting right now. everyone is voting right now. everyone is voting until november 3rd. and that is what matters. and also, ali, i think if you look at what we saw yesterday, from our campaign, you saw joe biden in pennsylvania, you saw kamala harris in ohio, you saw -- we saw president obama in florida. and there couldn't be more of a contrast, because what they did is they laid out what a biden/harris campaign -- administration would look like when it comes to fighting coronavirus, when it comes to making sure that we listen, that joe biden is going to listen to the experts, listening to science, because he believes in science. and so this is what we need to continue to do. that's the message that we're going to continue to push, the leadership and how do we make sure we do not have another four years of donald trump. >> karine jean-pierre, donald

trump is playing this whole routine that the coronavirus thing is a media push and we'll stop talking about it after november 3rd, which is kind of interesting to suggest that the media stops talking about anything, because if anything, we can carry stories on long after they're over. but he's sort of suggesting it's a hoax and it's not important and people have fatigue from it. but we've got 225,000 people dead. we've got more than 80,000 new people who were infected on friday. how do you counter the idea that, yes, i'm also fatigued. i don't want to wear a mask. i don't want to live with this thing. but it is around us and it is a deathly matter. >> yeah, it is disturbing to hear that from donald trump, when you have, like you mentioned, more than 220,000 people in this country who have died of coronavirus. and because of his mismanagement of the virus, we have now spiraled into this economic crisis. and people are losing their jobs. they're losing their jobs, because this president refuses to do his job. and so we just have to continue

to make that contrast. and it's very clear, it's very clear what's going on, because you've just got to look all around. joe biden has this -- he says this thing which really resonates with people when he talks -- when he does his speech, which is, look around the table. there's someone who's missing. there's an empty chair at your dining room table tonight. and that is what the american people are dealing with. they're dealing with losing loved ones. they're dealing with losing their jobs. they're dealing with having to be in a virtual reality. and people are dying. and there's no -- there is no one at the top who is actually being a leader. and that is what we're talking about. we're talking about leadership that is so needed in the white house, because donald trump refuses to do his job. and he lies about it! and then, as you know, ali, he is right now, his administration is in the courts, trying to take away health care. trying to take away aca from tense of millions of people.

you're not supposed to be taking away health care while we're in a pandemic. you're supposed to be expanding health care, making it more affordable. giving people options, which is what joe biden is going to do as president of the united states. and this is where we are as a country, nine days out. folks have to go out and vote. everything is on and everything at stake is on the ballot. like you said, this is the most sequential election of our lifetime. >> and you are a good campaigner for joe biden, but let us not forget your boss, the historic vice presidential nominee, kamala harris. karine, good to see you. thank you for joining us. karine jean-pierre is the campaign chief of staff to the vice presidential democratic nominee, kamala harris, the historic vice presidential nominee, kamala harris, and a senior adviser to the biden campaign. hey, we've got breaking news that could have a major affect on the campaign trail just nine days before election day. the number of people in vice president mike pence's orbit who have tested positive for covid-19 has now grown to four.

nbc news has learned that two more of pence's aides have now been diagnosed in recent days, in addition to his chief of staff, marc short, and his senior political adviser, marty opst. pence will likely not quarantine and if all goes according to plan, he will be here in north carolina later today. remember, mike pence is the chair of the white house coronavirus task force. all right! enter sandman. the biden campaign calling in the closer to rally last-minute enthusiasm before election day. it's president obama like you have never seen him before. first, though, with pine days to go, i asked north carolina voters what advice they would give to candidates they're supporting. here's republican pratik bakta and democrat. >> there's a reason people elected you the first time. and that is they didn't want a career politician running the united states of measuring. they want someone who's business oriented, will give economic prosperity, create new jobs, bring new jobs, revitalize

america. and i believe he's done that, continue to do what you're doing. you have a lot of sport behind you. and north carolina will be behind you. >> let everyone know whether you vote for him or not, that he will be there for you, he will listen to your issues, and that if he is elected president on november 3rd, that he will take care of all of us. and be a president for the united states of america. a pree united states of america ♪ (music) hi, i'm dorothy hamill. even as i look toward 65, one thing hasn't changed

i still love getting on the ice. which means i need to stay healthy. now, as i'm thinking about selecting a medicare plan, i know i want one that has the kind of coverage that takes a total approach to my health. one that connects all the different parts of my health care to keep me aging actively. did you know that aetna medicare advantage plans take a total, connected approach to your health? starting with the benefits you want, like $0 monthly premiums. dental, vision and hearing. and telehealth so you can see a primary care doctor remotely from the comfort and safety of home. and a monthly over-the-counter allowance. aetna medicare advantage plans will help me keep doing what i love. because, for me, this never gets old. medicare annual enrollment ends december 7th. call today to learn more and we'll send you a $10 visa reward card with no obligation to enroll. secret stops sweat 3x more ♪yo yo yo yo yo yo start your day with secret.

than ordinary antiperspirants. with secret you're unstoppable. no sweat. try it and love it or get your money back. secret. ♪ all strength, no sweat

let me tell you something else about joe biden. joe biden's tough. you know, something that you can't really say about this

president. he likes to act tough and talk tough, he thinks scowling and being mean is tough. and being rude is tough. but when "60 minutes" and lesley stahl are too tough for you, you aren't all that tough. if you've got to walk out of a "60 minutes" interview, you're never going to stand up to a dictator. if you're spending all your time complaining about how mean reporters are to you, you're not going to stand up to putin. >> that was president obama hitting the campaign trail this week on behalf of his former vice president joe biden and senator kamala harris. and unlike in 2016, when he was still in office, obama is no longer holding his punches when it comes to talking about his successor's behavior. >> that's not normal behavior, florida. you wouldn't tolerate it from a

co-worker, you wouldn't tolerate it from a high school principal, you wouldn't tolerate it from a coach. you wouldn't tolerate it from a family member. florida man wouldn't even do this stuff. why are we accepting it from the president of the united states?! it's not -- it's not normal behavior. >> president obama's right. this behavior is not normal. it's not funny or even the novelty that some thought it was. this is the president of the united states and should be held to a higher standard. millions of americans are living in poverty because of the coronavirus pandemic, but is there any relief in sight? we're going to talk about that next. but first, it's time to address the elephant in the room. for weeks, donald trump has continued to lie about me at his campaign rallies and it happened again last night in wisconsin. >> i don't know who he is. ali velshi, right?

velshi. i hate to give him the publicity, but who the hell cares, right? and he's going -- right, he's in minneapolis, and i'm reporting from minneapolis, where it's a very peaceful demonstration. and you look behind him, right, the entire city is burning down. it looked like berlin at its worst day. the entire city. and he's talking about, this is a peaceful -- and then he got hit on the knee by a canister of tear gas, right? and he went down. he's down. >> mr. president, this happened on live tv and it was nothing like you described. so if you're going to keep peddling this fiction to your base, there's get some of the facts right. it was a rubber battle, not a canister, i did not go down. you know exactly who i am, because talking about me is regular rally fodder for you, and we have met, and i have interviewed you, and you know my name is velshi. it's too easy syllables. vel-shi. it's foreign sounding, i know. i am, in fact, an immigrant. an actual kenyan-born muslim.

you know, the kind you thought barack obama was. and i work for msnbc, but you actually know that, too. it's nine days before a presidential election. more than 225,000 of your fellow citizens have died from covid-19 and hundreds more die every day. millions of americans are falling into poverty as the virus rages. the middle and the working class economy is being eliminated. focus on things that matter to americans. cus on things that mao americans. keeping your oysters growing while keeping your business growing has you swamped. (♪ ) you need to hire i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base so you can start hiring right away. claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo

with this seal, this restaurant is committing 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. there is still no coronavirus relief bill, despite another week of intense negotiations between house speaker nancy pelosi and the treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, on behalf of the president. that's no comfort to the millions of americans who are in desperate need amid the coronavirus pandemic. and the numbers, i want to remind you of them, because they are staggering. we are talking about 8 million people who have fallen into

poverty in the world's richest country since may, bringing the total number of americans living in poverty to 55 million. only about half of the 22 million u.s. jobs that were lost in march and april have been recouped. 15 million people lost their health care coverage via employer-sponsored insurance. 35 million people could face eviction in the coming months. more than 567,000 people are homeless in this country. and by the end of 2020, one estimate indicates the massive unemployment as a result of the pandemic could drive homelessness up by 40 to 45%. imagine that. president trump keeps pointing to the economy as the top issue, advocating for the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, claiming it will help bring the economy roaring back. but roaring back for whom? in fact, if you're in the stock market, the economy is fine right now. the next guest of mine agrees that the economy is the top issue. it's a rare agreement that he and donald trump and i share. but with one key distinction. my next guest looks at the

economy through the lens of morality and justice and faith, specifically, who's hurting? who's being left behind? and according to the latest numbers we just went through, the economy is not working for millions of americans right now. joining me now is the reverend dr. william barber. he is the co-chairman of the poor people's campaign. he is a man of the cloth, but he is actually one of my favorite economic guests, because reverend barber, you see your calling. you see faith. you see religion and you see this country and politics as something that is unjust if people cannot economically share. if they cannot prosper, if they cannot have food on their table or a roof over their heads. and that problem that you are trying to contend with is not being dealt with right now. >> exactly right. you know, i grew up in poverty, in one of the poorest congressional districts in this country. theologically, there's no way you cannot address poverty and claim to follow god and claim to

follow jesus. and right now in this country, you mentioned 55 million more, but if you add to that low wealth, if you add to that people who are one emergency away from poverty, it goes up another 75 million people that are poor, no wealth and that 8 million, ali, that 8 million, it's like 53,000 people a day since may. and we're not going to have change on this until we have a change in who sits in the office. because here's the reality. trump and mcconnell weren't focusing on it before covid. they were focused on the greedy, the wealthy. they want to address poverty and living wages. they were trying to take health care before covid. they were trying to block living wages before covid. and so that is why all of this country, now poor and low-wealth people are moving together to say, we must do more, we must vote and change who sits in office and change the kind of policies that come from those who sit in office. >> you just mentioned minimum

wage. i would like to ask my control room to put up a graphic we have of minimum wage. right now the federal minimum in this country is $7.25. many states have a minimum wage that is higher than that, but there are people in this country earning $7.25 an hour, if they have a job. that will get you $15,000 a year. we're talking about a minimum wage proposed by joe biden and others of $15 a year, and people talk about how unfair that is and how that's going to drive business underground. $15 an hour is $31,000 a year, reverend barber. the thieves who want to make that kind of money. what is wrong with us that we are -- you're talking about the number of people who are low-wage and in poverty, in the wealthiest country in the world, where if you are invested in the stock market, reverend dr. barber, you are doing substantially better than you were at the beginning of this year or at the beginning of covid. >> actually, also, not only majored in theology, but majored in public policy. the same persons that disagree with franklin delano roosevelt

even setting a minimum wage, we're dealing with their cousins now, in theory. they don't agree with anything but treating corporations like people, and people like things. it actually should be higher than 15, if it had been-based on inflation. but $15 an hour, a union would do two things. number one, it would bring 49 million people out of poverty and low wealth. and it would pump $368 plus billion into the economy. something is very wrong. it's economically insane not to be dealing with poverty and making sure people have health care. but ali, go ahead and let me flip this over. one of the things we're doing, the poor people's campaign now, we've reached out to 2 million poor and low-wealth voters, because we found out in those states, if poor and low-wealth voters just voted from 1 to 19% higher, they could fundamentally change the electorate. and we know that extremist republicans, in particular, ali, they have used voter suppression, because they're scared. they're scared. they know if poor and low-income

black and white and latino people come together, it changes the whole electorate. you talk about south carolina a minute ago. do you realize that the margin of victory in south carolina is only 300,000 for trump. 580,000 low-income voters didn't vote. in texas, it was only 810,000, but over 2.9 million poor and low-income voters didn't vote. in north carolina, the margin of victory was only 170,000. 920,000 poor and low-income voters didn't vote. what's happening now? all of this pain is pushing them together. all of this pain is saying to them, we better vote for our lives. it's not just about a personality, it's about living. and people are about to go to the polls and turn out like never before. because we are not headed -- we're not in depression -- many people were in depression before covid. we're heading to more catastrophic happeningings. and if we don't turn this around. and it can only be turned by policy. and policy can only be turned by

people you elect. so this election is about elect wh ing about who will change the policy and lift this country from where it is. >> so our message to our viewers today, if you are out there, find somebody who is not prospering and remind them that while this society generally speaks, treats the less-prosperous and the poor as voiceless, there is one voice that you have. it's the voice at the ballot box. it is your vote. reverend, thank you for the work you're doing. dr. william barber is the co-chair of the people's campaign. good to see you and be in your state, sir. it is hard to escape the weight of the coronavirus pandemic. i spoke to voters here in north carolina about their thoughts on how it's been handled so far and that's up next. n handled so fard that's up next ♪ ♪

[ engines revving ] ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh. [ engine revs ] for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. with sweet potato fries. eating a falafel wrap (doorbell rings) thanks! splitsies? ♪ oooh...you meant the food, didn't you?

who's sujoe biden.rop 15? biden says, "every kid deserves a quality education and every family deserves to live in a safe,

healthy community. that's why i support prop. 15." vote yes. schools and communities first is responsible for the contents of this ad. who's supkamala harris.5? harris says, "a corporate tax loophole has allowed billions to be drained from our public schools and local communities. no more. i'm proud to support prop 15." vote yes. schools and communities first is responsible for the content of this ad.

all right. we are back from asheville, north carolina, at the beautiful omnigrove park in. the state will be critical to the success of either joe biden or donald trump in the election. right now, it's anybody's game, as the state polls have the presidential race neck and neck. but after 2016, who knows what to believe? so with nine days until election day, i wanted to know what's on the minds of voters here in north carolina and the answer was overwhelmingly coronavirus and the nation's response to the global pandemic. here's part of our wide-ranging conversatio conversation. >> one of the things -- the primary thing, actually, which is why i'm favoring joe biden, is that the leadership needs to be national. you know, there needs to be a national leader who recognizes seriously that this is, this is happening. that this is not a joke, it's not going to go away. we don't need to ignore it, we

don't need to go into the white house or however and say, well, i'm fine. everybody else is fine. that is not true, okay? and it's not realistic. and there are so many people who have lost relatives and friends and who know and understand what this is. it is -- it's nonempathetic. and actually, it's cruel in many ways. and so that would need to stop. and also, i think that we know that closing down parts of the economy have to happen. maybe not all at the same time, but what we want to do, in terms of going out and having fun and like that, really makes no difference. the virus is going to do what the virus does. and so the measures are going to have to be, you know, i don't want to say draconian, but this is not going to be a, well, would you please response. he's going to have to step up hard and tell us, look, this has

to happen this way. >> i don't think that the measures have to be draconian. we at unca are one of the only universities that i know of off the top of my head that are going to finish the year in person with people being on campus. and i think that's because, one, we do have a mandate, because it's we created a culture of wearing the mask, whether you don't have to when you're outside or you do have to inside. because we all feel the sense of duty. and i don't think the current leadership has put out that sense of duty in every american that we all have the responsibility of keeping our society safe. >> you have roommates, right? >> i do have roommates, yes. >> do you guys argue about this? >> we actually do have a disagreement. i love people. >> i can tell. >> i love talking to people, i love being around people. but i can't have people over because my roommates wouldn't feel safe and i have to sacrifice that, and that's my duty to my roommates to not have people over. like tonight, i was planning to have a s'mores get together, but we had a negotiation on how this

could work and came to something comfortable. and i think duty and conversation is very important when dealing with covid-19. >> i think we need to continue using masks. but i think it's still a personal choice. you know, use good hygiene, respect the fact that establishments have requirements of masks and certain provisions for them to be safe, for their guests, as well as their employees. we do that at our places. >> you run hotels, so you obviously have got to deal with this. >> yes. >> including people who may not want to wear a mask in your establishment, so how do you deal with it? >> you have to respect it, you have to have a shield in front, and you know, there are times customers may not want to do that. but then, you have to, you know, that's customer service. try to win them over, try to help them understand. it's for the safety of everybody. but again, it still boils down to individual preferences. you know, you have a virus that spreads and it's very dangerous. but this virus is not going to

go away. just like the flu didn't go away. >> but the guy you're voting for says it's going to go away. in fact, he said it again today. he said, it's just going to go away. >> it's going to go -- i don't believe it's going to go away. >> so this is an interesting point, because it's killed 225,000 people, and the guy you are going to cast a ballot for in the next nine days says, it's just going to go away, the media is freaking out about it, it's not really a thing. how do you reconcile that? >> well, if you realize that we have vaccines on the way, you could say, well, the vaccines are coming and that's going to help it go away. but honestly speaking, we could say the same thing about a flu, but it's never gone away. we have to deal with the virus as it is today, but if we shut down the economy and say, okay, we're going to shut it down until it goes away, it's never going to happen. >> i used to work for a restaurant where we did a lot of like family-style food service. in the south, that's incredibly important. we gather over meals.

so we've had to really pivot how we entertain and serve guests. and i hate the way that -- especially here in north carolina, we've been at 50% capacity and, you know, businesses are suffering. restauranteurs are suffering. hotels. and it's everything else. the guys that run the parking garage or the valet and things like that, it's just -- it's incredibly sad. so i'm all for it, if we need to wear masks and wash our hands more and put out that level of comfort to our guests, but still be fully open, to me, i think that's the way forward. >> so i guess i'm stuck on the idea that everything you said makes a whole lot of sense,supp who to this day is mocking mask wearing. >> i don't think so. everyone in our section wore a mask, i wore a mask, my girlfriend wore a mask, everything i was around had them on. hand sanitizer was readily

available. and i mean, to me, that's fine. i think if you're not sick and you're not putting out -- you know, you don't have any symptoms and you're doing tall precautions that the scientists have said, why can't we go on with normal life? >> this is very important to me. i don't think that masks should be an individual choice. i believe it should be mandated. there should be a federal and state law to say that we -- to suggest that we should be wearing masks at all times. we wear seat belts every day when we drive, because it save lives when we drive, if you get in an accident. masks save lives. this is not something that happens on tv and in the movies and maybe people are really getting it. this is something that has happened to someone really close to me. and fortunately, she, you know, recovered. my godkids, both of them were asymptomatic, so they didn't have any issues, but my best

friend did. and she came out of it. so wearing a mask can save your life. we are over 220,000 deaths here. and the fact that if you can wear a mask and it can help save your life, that's critical. we don't fight, you know, the law enforcement to say, i don't want to wear a seat belt every day when we get in a car. it is just known that it saves lives and that's what we have to do in our everyday lives. and masks should be the same way until we get over a curve with this virus. >> we need real information, okay? like i said before, we need to rely on scientists. this is an unknown disease. nobody knows about whether or not herd immunity is going to work. nobody knows how long you could be immune after you have covid. everything is an unknown. i had an argument with a person recently about this herd immunity thing. that's absurd. you know, it's just a crapshoot.

you know, you have to listen to the scientists, you have to get the real information out there rather than helping clorox and lysol companies, you know. and to tell you the truth, i'm glad that wae have a democratic governor right now, because if we had a republican governor, it would be a lot worse in north carolina. look at florida, look at georgia, look at north dakota, okay? i mean, like, texas is another one. you know, now the red states are starting to spike and so forth. you've got to get serious about thi this. >> so the interesting thing is, i was a few minutes late getting to that panel and they had all been talking to each other about a half hour before we got there. and nobody knew each other's politics and they were getting along like a house on fire, and then they blamed me for ruining their chi, by asking who they

were voting for. but in the end, they all left as friends and happy to have had that conversation. and my great thanks to my six panelists for joining me yesterday in asheville. thanks for their candor and thanks to everyone who have joined me every week. it's been such a great conversation. we're not finished, though. next sunday, for what i assume is my last stop on "velshi across america," i will be live from pennsylvania, next sunday morning, 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. be sure to tune in. the mayor of asheville joins me next to discuss the changing demographics of her city and of the state of north carolina. r c the state of north carolina. you love your pet...but hate wearing their hair. did you know that your clothes can actually attract pet hair? with new bounce pet hair & lint guard, your clothes can repel pet hair. one bounce mega sheet has 3x the hair fighting ingredients of the leading dryer sheet. simply toss into the dryer to bounce out hair & lint. look how the shirt on the left attracts pet hair like a magnet! pet hair is no match for bounce.

it's available in fresh scent & unscented. with bounce, you can love your pets, and lint roll less. how can i change things where io live?like me in government? change begins with a question. so citi foundation is supporting girl scouts as they empower young leaders through civic education to help create a better tomorrow. wean air force veteran made of doing what's right,. not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa

fixodent ultra dual power provides you with an unbeatable hold

and strong seal against food infiltrations. fixodent. and forget it. i'm about to do an interview we are nine days away from election day and for this stop on velshi across america we are in, i'm not making this up, the stunningly beautiful asheville, north carolina. like many cities surrounded by more rural areas around the country asheville politically is a spot of blue politically surrounded by red. like other areas in the country the city was heavily gerrymandered and its congressional district has changed several times over the last decade. joining me now is the democratic mayor of asheville, he is ster manheimer. good to see you. >> thank you for having me.

>> while donald trump is busy taking most of the oxygen out of the air you had the historic vice presidential candidate here in your city. how is that campaign looking and what was that like? you introduced her? >> i did. i had the pleasure of meeting her and introducing her and it was very exciting. you know, of course, they are holding campaign rallies that are smaller with social distancing, but i can tell you that the people here were really excited she was here and if it were a different time we would have had a large crowd. >> tell me about asheville politically and what's going on in the races in north carolina in your perspective. >> as you mentioned we are a sea of blue -- we are a small, small ocean -- little sea of blood in a big ocean of red. we have been split historically for our congressional district due to gerrymandering which was undone recently. so we have a really tough race here going on with our congressional race. we have a u.s. senate race happening in north carolina that is neck and neck and we have a governor race which is not neck and neck, we're hoping to see our governor roy cooper

reelected handily. >> are you sensing greater political activity? are you sensing movement, all the stuff we are talking about, the early voting, do you get a sense of it and how ackley do you think your sense is in asheville? you do early vote in this state and it's a relatively successful voting operation. >> early voting is going gangbusters, our numbers are very high. we can see that we actually know that people are really excited, but if you just walk around, drive around and look around, i mean, people -- not only do they have campaign signs up but what i see that's different this year, people have signs that just say vote. just vote. it's everywhere. it's on masks, it's on yard signs, it's everywhere and people are -- they're fired up. they really -- i think they feel like 2016 they made a big mistake, too many people stayed home and we can't afford to do that this year. >> one of the topics that was really big when i started these road tours and it has become less now with coronavirus was the social injustice and the civil unrest and this racial

strive we started seeing right at the beginning of coronavirus. your city has taken an interesting stances on reparations this is before the george floyd protests and since then on police reform. talk to me a little about how that plays out in asheville. >> you know, asheville is a very progressive city and we have tried to be ahead of the curve in terms of going head-on to face the issues of racial justice issues, social justice issues and i think we've done an excellent job of doing that. you know, it is exciting, we get a little bit of attention for it and it's certainly creates a lot of political discussion here. >> what do you think anybody else can learn from this, though? because you've actually had some tough discussions which other people think about but don't get down to because they're tough? >> what i would say is so far so good. i feel like we are on the right side of these issues, i feel like we've been working ahead of the game when it comes to things

like gay marriage, we were there before the state was there, you know, we've ended up on the right side of these issues because morally it's the right place to be and if you go to that place you will end up in the right place. and they are tough discussions but now it's different because we see not just in communities of color we are having these discussions, white people are having these discussions and that's what's different. >> mayor, thank you for coming here. great to be back in your beautiful city. >> thank you. >> i hope to be back again maybe one day not doing the news from asheville. esther manheimer is the mayor of asheville. that does it for me. join me next sunday for our final stop velshi across america, we will take pennsylvania next week. i'm probably going to hang around in pennsylvania, probably in philadelphia, until we are done with election night because i think it's going to be an interesting place to be. catch me every saturday and sunday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. eastern. coming up next on "a.m. joy"

michael cohen joins maria teresa kumar to discuss what he thinks trump is plotting nine days before the election. stay with us, you are watching msnbc. with us, you are watching msnbc. did you know you can go to libertymutual.com to customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? really? i didn't-- aah! ok. i'm on vibrate. aaah! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ are your asthma treatments just not enough? then see what could open up for you with fasenra. it is not a steroid or inhaler. it is not a rescue medicine or for other eosinophilic conditions. it's an add-on injection for people 12 and up with asthma driven by eosinophils. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove eosinophils, a key cause of asthma.

it helps to prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and can reduce the need for oral steroids like prednisone. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, 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. could you be living a bigger life? keeping your oysters busihas you swamped.

you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo

he was asked what's your priority in your second term? what did trump say? he got mad and walked out of the

interview. he thought the questions were too tough. too tough. miami, listen, if he can't answer a tough question like what would you like to do in your second term, then it's our job to make sure he doesn't get a second term and that's why over the next ten days we've got to work hard to elect joe biden and kamala harris, the next president and vice president of the united states. good morning and welcome to "a.m. joy," i'm maria teresa kumar. we have nine days to go until voting season ends and so far a record 53 million americans have cast a ballot. this was the scene as early voting began in new york city yesterday. not too shabby for a city that the president called a ghost town just a few days ago. also on saturday president obama hit the campaign trail in miami where he set the record state about his economic