hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east on the day of closing arguments on one side of the presidential race and a war of words with many, many, many perceived enemies, including borat on the other. really? first to joe biden and his appeal to the american people with one week to go. today in the first of a pair of campaign appearances, biden calling for national unity amid the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn. biden called on voters to reject the distrust and division sown by donald trump. the very survival have the country, biden says today, depends on it. >> as president, i will never wave the white flag of surrender. just imagine where we'd be today if the president had embraced wearing masks instead of mocking

it. imagine where we'd be today with a president who practiced social distancing instead of holding super spreader events. imagine where we'd be with a comprehensive system of testing and tracing. i'm ready to act. i know what to do. starting on day one of my presidency, we will do it. i've talked about the battle for the soul of america since the very beginning of this campaign. and i want to be very clear in these closing days about what i mean and about what i intend to do in that battle, to assure that our better angels prevail over our worst instincts. i believe this election is about who we are as a nation, what we believe, and maybe most importantly, who we want to be. it's about our essence. it's about what makes us

americans. it's that fundamental. >> joe biden is set to make another appearance at a rally in atlanta about one hour from now. we'll take you there when that gets under way. but in the meantime he's leaving it to his former boss, president obama, to draw an even starker distinction between biden's campaign and trump's. here's obama at a drive-in rally today in the critical battleground state of florida. >> they believe that no one, especially the president, is above the law. they understand the protest isn't unamerican, this country was founding on protesting against injustice. and we don't threaten to throw our political opponents in jail just because we disagree with them. that's what happens in dictatorships. it doesn't happen in the united states of america. joe and kamala understand that our building to work together to solve big problems like the pandemic depends on more than

just photo ops. it depends on applying facts and logic and science and not making things up, not flooding the internet with misinformation. these should not be republican or democratic values. they're what we grew up learning from our parents and our grandparents. they're not white or black or hispanic or asian or native american. they're supposed to be american valu values, and we have to reclaim them right now. and how are we going to do that? by voting. >> donald trump was watching that. he lashed out at former president obama's remarks while they were ongoing, which is the clearest evidence you can get that former president obama's final push for joe biden has taken up residence under donald trump's skin. trump himself is on the campaign trail with three large events on the docket, all likely to be

free of social distancing, all in states with worsening coronavirus outbreaks. he's taking a very different approach to the notion of a focused closing argument. trump's attacks of late are spread pretty evenly among a plethora of targets in addition to his predecessor. it includes the governor of pennsylvania, the news media, speaker nancy pelosi, new york city mayor bill de blasio, his opponent's son, hunter biden, and yes, as we mentioned, trump's anger and twitter attacks also trained on sasha baron cohen who plays borat. he is out with a new response. donald trump says i'm a creep. i say he's an existential threat to democracy. that after cohen offered trump a job on his next movie saying this. i'm always looking for people to play racist buffoons and you'll need a job after january 20th. let's talk. such is the surreal state of the 2020 race for the white house. joining us with seven days to go

until polls close in the united states, some of our most favorite. >> reporter: -- reporters and friends. john heilemann, co-host and executive producer of showtime's "the circus." also former congresswoman, donna edwards is back and branding and marketing expert donny deutsch is in the house. john heilemann, i must start with you because you're now out and about. there is something about president obama on the trail in 2020. there is a feeling of pent-up disgust at all of donald trump's sort of abdication of any effort to lead this country. there seems to be a pent-up desire to whack him in a way that no democrat has been able to do. and donald trump responding in kind, literally live tweeting the obama rally. >> yeah, hey, nicolle, good to see you and donny and donna. it's good to be with you one

week out. we've got one week to go, kids. keep it up, keep it up, keep it up. we can make it altogether. let's hold hands and stay plug. i'm going to plug something but for a good reason. the new episode of my new podcast has me talking to david axelrod, david plouffe and alyssa mastromonaco. and we were talking about what it was like to see their boss back on the campaign trail. the thing they all pointed to is that alyssa used to occasionally refer to himself when he talked about what it was like when he was pent up for a while and finally liberated, he would say the bear is off the leash. they all cited that line saying the bear is off the leash. he is having a ball to begin

with. and one of the other things they pointed out and i chimed in with is obama loves humor. we think of him as this aspirational, inspiring speaker and he was at his best as a presidential candidate and as president, but he knows how to wield the knife. he loves to engage in negative politics when he feels like he's on the call of righteousness and he can be funny as hell. humor is what he uses in a lot of those cases and you can see when he's delighted with himself with a line that he's written that he knows will nail trump. he smiles and has the sense of delighted self-satisfaction. he obviously thinks the stakes of the election are as high as they ever could be. he obviously thinks he needs to do something in this election than he did in 2016, though he campaigned forcefully for hillary clinton. he's going to the wall. and the last thing i'll say is in order to allow joe biden to continue to pitch the message of unity that we heard from him in warm springs today and we've heard from him throughout the

campaign, obama is basically standing in and saying i'll be your bad cop. i'll do this work. i'll even let kamala harris not have to do it. i'm take on the negative messaging because i can do it better than anyone else about this president who i respect so little and think is a threat to this democracy. let me in, coach, i'll play. and that's what we're seeing from barack obama right now. >> let's stay with the unleerkd bear, donna. jared kushner trotted out his extraordinary mix of idiocy, racism and incompetence. i don't want to play it but let me just give folks the gist of what jared kushner said. it was along the lines of -- here's what he said. there's been a lot of discussion about the issues that were needed in the black community for the last few years but intensified after the george floyd situation. you saw a lot of people who were virtue signaling. big words for jared.

they go on instagram and cry out or, you know, put a slogan on their jersey or write something on a basketball court. one thing we've seen a lot of, the black community, which is mostly democrat, is that president trump's policies are the policies that can help people break out, blah, blah, blah, and then he says something obnoxious about how -- he says they can't want them to be successful more than they want to be successful. here's what president obama had to say about that. let's watch and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> his son-in-law says black folks have to want to be successful. that's the problem. who are these folks? what history books do they read? who do they talk to? don't read, is that what is going on? black unemployment hit almost 17% during the great recession ten years ago. and through a lot of hard work, joe biden and i helped get it down.

and it kept on going down, not because trump did anything. and then this year because they screwed up the pandemic response, it soared back up to above 17% here in florida, but it doesn't have to be that way, florida, if you go out and vote. >> so, donna and donny, i want to get you both in on this on both pieces of that. obviously the economic fact check was incorporatmportant, b first thing he said, donna, who are these people. i think a lot of republicans who support donald trump think who the hell jared kushner is and what he's doing running the government and the campaign. >> these people are exactly who we think they are and who they have demonstrated themselves to be. you know when, i listen to president obama, first of all, i say hide the leash. we don't want the leash back between now and november 3rd. but i also think that he has a

way of saying things, kind of draws you in and draws you in. and then you realize that the knife is being wielded. and i think that makes people think about what this administration has brought on all of us and really inspiring people to go out there and vote. i love -- i could listen to him all day long. if he could just riff all day long about this administration, i might have to vote several times, although we know we can't do that. you know, nicolle, i've been thinking over these last several days that, you know, we see a campaign where joe biden is allowed to be himself and to be a unifier because he has such a strong ally and surrogate in barack obama. and that has proven even in just a few days more useful than almost anything else that could have been deployed in these last few days, to really make the

case against donald trump but really for joe biden. and so, you know, really i'm taking the leash, i'm going to bury it so that he can continue to be out there. >> so, donny, i feel like what has happened is that michelle obama's when they go low, we go high, mantra was updated and president obama went to michelle and said, okay, honey, here's the deal. i'm going to let joe and kamala go high and i'll go a little bit lower than them. i won't go low, just a little lower than joe and kamala. donna is absolutely right about what that permits a candidate to do. every campaign divvies this stuff up. obviously sometimes sarah palin took the low road so senator mccain could deliver the kinds of messages he was comfortable with. george w. bush relished delivering the barbs and had an ability, but every campaign winning and losing divvies up

who sort of delivers the zingers, but what do you make of this division of labor in the final seven acts of the presidential campaign. do you think it's going to work? >> yeah. you know, there's a joyousness to obama that you didn't see with hillary clinton. you got the feeling in 2016 he was kind of carrying her across the line pushing her, where you get the feeling he's cheering joe biden on. there's kind of a different essence to what's happening. you got a sense the last time around that she didn't have the chops, he had to do it. now you just feel like he's congratulating, he's pushing and at the same time throwing those punches. you know, before i came on today, nicolle, i turned on the trump rally in michigan. and while you saw biden talk about unite -- i had to do it, i just needed some fodder for today. you saw biden talking about the united states of america and then you saw obama. and this is what, literally in seven minutes i watched what trump talked about. it was lock her up.

he talked about gretchen whitmer and he started giggling, the governor who there was a plot to not only kidnap her but execute her. he talked about lesley stahl. he talked about that he, not the american people, had covid and there were 12 doctors around him just like we all have 12 doctors around us, of course, and the doctors couldn't believe how strong he was and he went like this to the covid, it wasn't about the drugs. ins insanity. contrasting you have obama doing the counterpunching and bidening to -- biden doing we are the united states of america. i think trump knows he's a loser, he feels like a lose. he was just doing his lounge act thing. in kansas and montana, which trump took by 21 points each in the last election, he's up by 6 and 7. so basically biden is closer in kansas and montana than in the

battleground states than trump is in michigan and wisconsin. you have to start to look at these numbers and we have to be afraid and we have to be nervous and we cannot take anything for granted. but boy, no matter where you look at the numbers, it really is starting to smell pretty good. >> well, heilemann, donny raises the attacks on whitmer. "lock her up" is now chanted about a democratic governor who trump helped whip up a frenzy of detractors by tweeting liberate michigan. gretchen whitmer has an op-ed today where she writes every time the president ramps up this violent rhetoric, and tires up twitter to launch another broadside against me, my family and i see a surge of vicious attacks sent our way. this is so coincidence and the president knows it. he's so in division and putting leaders, especially women leaders at risk, all because he thinks it will help his

re-election. the behavior is reprehensible, but the politics are what befuddled me. this is hurting him. joe biden's speech today was about what donny just described happening at trump's rally today, and this is why suburban women have not walked away, have run away. why is he still doing this? >> well, i'd be happy to address that, nicolle, but in the same vein i want to actually stick with the earlier example because we didn't really quite get all the way there, because it's the same story. so if there's -- i'd like to ask you if you could, if you tried, if you tried as hard as you could, if you could think of a stupider thing to do politically in the closing days of a campaign where one of the things that you would be hoping for if you were working for donald trump or supporting donald trump is that you would like to see depressed african-american turnout in battleground states, so what's the dumbest thing you could do if you're jared kushner, the son-in-law. go out and make, say, a bunch of

racist crap that would not only inflame african-americans, rightly so, but would give the most powerful motivator of black turnout in the country, barack obama, a talking point as powerful as that one. when you heard obama going after jared kushner legitimajust now, today, he was driving the message of raising the stakes for that voting cohort that matters so much is really the dumbest, most suicidal, self-sabotaging piece of politics i've seen and i've seen a lot of dumb, suicidal, self-sabotaging politics on behalf of donald trump and his friends. it's the same thing with whitmer, it's not just that it is offensive, but that it's dumb. he's doing things on a daily basis that make it harder for him to contest this election, to find the narrow path that does exist, but to find his way to that narrow path to victory. he continues to throw up obstacles in his own path every single day. the whitmer thing is one example, jared is another, but

we could cite 20 more. >> you know, i'm glad you came back to that. donna, i think the larger point that everyone is getting at is that we all became students of how trump won when we all thought he would lose. and it is undeniable that how trump won in '16 is not how trump is acting in '20. trump won in '16 -- he actually drove a message. it wasn't perfect. it wasn't traditional by any sense, but it was disciplined. and what is so stunning is that even for trump, who doesn't do any of the normal things, i looked at his twitter feed and this fight with sasha baron cohen is so stunning because it's such a sideshow. in the entertainment press, there are dozens of stories about donald trump fighting with borat. i guess the question is did anyone sort of plan for this scenario when at least publicly, and there can be things happening behind the scenes that we don't know about, but publicly as a candidate trump has seemed to fall apart? >> well, i mean i think that if

you think about 2016, donald trump stayed on the same message coming down the escalator as he ended the campaign. on the other hand, and of course joe biden has stayed on the same message from the time that he started until now as we're closing the campaign. and what donald trump is doing is he's actually drawing people to all of the things that people finding most distasteful about him and his presidency from day one. he draws attention to the racism, he draws attention to his inability to combat covid and doing exactly the same things that really spread the virus, he draws attention to his incompetence. he draws attention to his boorishness and to his ability to continue to incite both violence and division. and so all of these things are the things that are making the voters who are kind of in the middle and went with him because

he was a novelty, and this year in 2020, he's no longer a novelty. he is a known quantity, and people are rejecting it. the very people he needs, he's doing the things that cause them to reject him. >> donny, because you and i have this conversation off tv, i like to have family friendly language versions of it on tv. but we always talk about, and try to reassure ourselves about how this is different from 2016. another way is tomorrow will be the four-year anniversary of jim comey reopening i think that final stretch of the hillary clinton investigation. tim alberta has done some great reporting and so have my colleagues at nbc and msnbc about all the ways that this isn't different. another way that this isn't -- that this isn't the same as '16 is joe biden is not under investigation for anything. and donald trump has harmed himself with his inability to conjure up any new lines of

attack. they're all the same. lock her up. somehow he thinks lock her up about gretchen whitmer rubs off on joe biden. smearing his son who's struggled in his life and suffered extraordinary loss is going to rub off on joe biden. he thinks calling kamala harris a monster is going to win back the suburbs. his instincts are so wrong, and but joe biden isn't dealing with all of the challenges hillary clinton dealt with four years ago. >> you know, four years ago -- joe biden right now is leading 9 and 10 points nationally. hillary had been around 8 and already dropped to 4. several huge quantitative differences, basically joe biden is over 50% in a lot of the states. his net favorability according to "the new york times" now is plus 5 where trump is minus 15. that's a 20-point favorability difference. heaves n he was not the outsider anymore. he's on defense.

we're right to be skeptical, but they are completely different roles. and joe biden is likeable. you go back to the history of every election, we elect the more likeable candidate. in my 50 years of being somewhat aware of what's going on in elections, that's been the case. and joe biden, people like him. so you have an unlikable candidate, a candidate under investigation, you have the other guy who is an outsider, the other guy running on his record, the other guy who hadn't bailed on being responsible for a large part of 225,000 deaths. so it is apples and oranges. we have to be leery of it. but 2016 is not 2020. it is not your father's 2016. >> and this is the conversation we have off tv as well. donny deutsch, thank you for having it on tv with all of us. everyone benefits. thanks for starting us off. heilemann and donna are sticking around. up next, with trump falling further behind in the polls in some key battleground states, he's continuing to amp up the lies about how safe ballots

really are, which may be what's motivating lines like this in pennsylvania. we'll talk intimidation and voter suppression ahead. plus, one of the most stinging and true statements from president obama this afternoon is that trump is jealous of the media coverage that the pandemic is getting. he really said that, and it's really true. the latest on the virus that is showing no sign of rounding any corners, unfortunately. and our militia groups are growing throughout some u.s. cities and experts see it only intensifying over the next week. we'll go live to lansing, michigan, with a report on how some of these groups are preparing for what they're calling a civil war. all those stories still coming up. up alright, everyone, we made it. my job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. i'm having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner. so we're using a speakerphone in the store. is that a good idea? one of the ways i do that is to get them out of the home. you're looking for a grout brush, this is -- garth, did he ask for your help? -no, no. -no. we all see it. we all see it.

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the governor counts the ballots and we're watching you, governor, very closely in philadelphia. we're watching you. a lot of bad things. a lot of bad things happen there with the counting of the votes. we're watching you, governor wolf, very closely. we're watching you. >> we're watching you. but governors don't count ballots. but it doesn't stop donald trump from trying to intimidate voters and public officials in the final days of the presidential campaign. as polls show him trailing in pennsylvania and other key battleground states. he once again singled out philadelphia, which he couldn't spell correctly, saying there should be poll watchers in the state's largest city. this tweet came as we once again saw long lines outside philadelphia's city hall on the final day of early in-person voting in the keystone state. this also comes one day after

the u.s. supreme court handed republicans a victory by refusing to allow the state of wisconsin to extend its deadline for receiving absentee ballots. but behind all that trump noise and the court challenges, new data from nbc and target smart shows that more than 66 million americans, that's nearly half of all voters who cast their ballots in 2016 have voted early this year. let's bring in nbc news correspondent mara barrett live outside philadelphia's city hall. when the president threatens the governor and singles out philadelphia, how does it land there? this is a pretty fiesty and independent city in a pretty fiesty and independent minded state. >> reporter: yeah, nicolle, you see lines like the one behind me. take a look at this, this is wrapping around two sides of city hall, this city block in philadelphia. so when the president says, quote, bad things happen in

philadelphia, philadelphians are showing up in spite of the president. this is about a two and a half hour wait. we've seen lines of this size over the last month. this is the last day for pennsylvanians to do so. there's music playing and people dancing as they wait in line, volunteers are handing out food, snacks and pizza. current events like the president's handling of the coronavirus, the confirmation of amy coney barrett and being worried about losing women's rights and lgbtq rights is what is motivating them to come out and vote early, all to make sure despite what the president is saying, the confusion he's spoking around mail-in ballots, they want to make sure their ballot is handed in in person and will be ready for counting on election day, nicolle. >> thank you so much. we'll be coming back to you in the final days of this election, i'm sure. john and donna are still here. i want to say something that might not be popular here. i'll start with you. john, i think we're

romanticizing these long lines as these beautiful and stirring displays of democracy in a way that misses the story. the story is this is a betrayal of democracy. i don't know that many people who have eight free hours to stand in line to vote. even if one does, you shouldn't have to. how do you think we got here? >> oh, man, i like the way you go for the true/false questions rather than the essay questions. i think it can be both. obviously the degree of intensity, of engagement, people going out to want to vote early. the numbers, the sheer numbers, the 60 plus million votes cast early, that is an inspiring thing that people in the middle of a pandemic are trying to find a way against a lot of obstacles, and we'll get to those in a second, against a lot of obstacles that have been thrown up. i think that is inspiring.

now, the lines that you have to wait in those lines, that you have to go stand in those lines, that there have been in many places a reduction in the number of places at a time when there should be an expansion in early voting in person, that there should be more opportunities, there should be more infrastructure, there should be more money allocated to spend on this election, as soon as we saw that the pandemic was going to last all the way through to the election season, we needed to have a federal response where money was allocated in the billions of dollars to build out both in-person early voting and vote by mail to make it secure, make it safe, make it robust. we didn't see any of that. the fact that we didn't see it goes directly to the fact that there is a president and a party in power in washington on the republican side who wants to make it harder for people to vote rather than make it easier. so that is a scandal and as donna will tell you and others will tell you, it's not just that they want to make it harder in general, they want to make it harder for certain people to vote and people who might vote

democratic to vote. so there is a giant scandal, a political scandal, a policy scandal, a pandemic scandal that has led to these lines and it's not a mystery or an accident that things are like that. but i think you can see that and be clear eyed about it while at the same time admiring the tens of millions of people who looked at the situation and said, you know what, i really want my vote to count and i'm going to figure out a way despite all of that to get my vote in and i'm going to get it in early because i don't want to be deterred by all these people trying to deter me. >> donna. >> yeah, no, i think it -- i think it is one both really wonderful and marvelous to see so many people determined that no matter what, they want to get their votes in so that they can be counted. but i think it's very problematic that in the greatest democracy in the world, that we have people standing in line for hours and hours at a time, limited polling places, limited

drop-off locations where people can drop their ballots off. this is not how a truly functioning democracy works. and i think that if anything, the lines are actually demonstrating the problems that we have in the system. and you can see some of that is very deliberate and intentional. some of it is designed to keep black and brown voters from casting their votes. but what i know about my people, and i'll just talk about black people, having been denied the right to vote for so long, we are not going to on the backs of our ancestors allow a system of injustice to stand in the way of showing up and casting a ballot. and so, you know, i hope that we've got 66 million votes that have already been cast. there will be a few million more before early voting closes in so many places, but we will also have challenges on election day. and i think voters need to be prepared for that. nicolle, also prepared to be

patient as the votes are counted. donald trump might declare that he won and is the winner on election day, but that's not going to happen. we're going to count every single vote so that all the voters' voices can be heard. >> i appreciate both of your candor, and i take your point. it is -- it is stirring and i applaud every human being standing in those lines but they shouldn't have to. i think should joe biden and kamala harris prevail, i think -- donna, i think michael steele has worked in this space, i think a bipartisan commission that figures out how to make it as easy to vote as it is to pick up an iphone ahead of time would be a great american to do item. john heilemann, donna edwards, thank you so much for spending some time with us today. when we come back, virus cases are up this week. the most in any seven-day stretch since the start of the pandemic. it's surging in places trump

needs to win the most and in places where he's traveled recently. one of the smartest voices we ever get to talk to on all these topics joins us next.

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what's his closing argument? that people are too focused on covid. he said this at one of his rallies. covid, covid, covid he's complaining. he's jealous of covid's media coverage.

if he had been focused on covid from the beginning, cases wouldn't be reaching new record highs across the country this week. >> that was former president obama this afternoon on donald trump's continued mocking of the pandemic and his insanely delirious claim this week that people won't be talking about covid after the election and that it's all a hoax. the nbc numbers today show the coronavirus is spreading faster now than it ever has across the country and in places trump needs support from the most in the next week and a lot of places where he's traveled. a headline from the a.p. today, worst place, worst time trump faces virus spike in midwest. cases are surging where he's traveled. the usa today analysis found five rust belt counties found 1,500 new infections during the

two weeks after trump's rallies than the two weeks before them. trump's denial, denied by the numbers, now an average of nearly 70,000 covid cases per day in this country and sick americans are filling up the icus. 36 states have reported concerning increases of 5% or more in covid hospitalizations in just the last week. the virus is getting worse in states that the republican president needs the most at the least opportune time for him. joining us now, lori garrett, a health policy analyst and a columnist for foreign policy magazine and one of our most favorite people to talk to. i have to start somewhere weird with you today. it appears that even vladimir putin has issued a national mask mandate. and i know that on the science side, scientists and public health officials will take encouragement of healthy behavior anywhere they can get it with donald trump. would you hope that putin would call trump and say, hey, i can do it, you can do it. time to mandate masks? >> well, certainly if we had a

mandatory mask law, we would save a lot of lives. there's no doubt about it. of course tony fauci has said this several times. we do have now some very significant data that shows in places where mask use has been mandated, the rate of new infections is significantly less. one estimate is that we could save 130,000 lives between now and february 1st if we had a national mask wearing policy. >> you know, i don't know that people are processing where we're heading. even the headlines can become blurry. the reality right now, if you could just take us through it, things are getting worse. the weather is changing. i think chicago today closed indoor dining. i imagine other states with real winters are going to have to do the same. people are either going to be making less safe choices or their frustration and fatigue is going to be on the rise. we're heading into a time where

people have projected we could lose up to 500,000 americans by early winter. what are the opportunities to off-ramp from that horrific fate? >> well, i think, nicolle, the first thing we have to do is look at what other countries are doing and what they're experiencing. europe is in real trouble right now. france is looking at 100,000 new cases a week possibly, even more. you see huge surges going on in italy, in spain, even germany. all of these countries are having to reassess their policies. the united kingdom is in deep trouble. they have tried everything. they tried herd immunity, they tried a bit of clampdown, they tried to keep bars open -- schools open but bars closed, nothing is working for them. especially in wales and england. and so we have to look at all of that and say, gee, we're in trouble if we follow the same pattern, particularly given that

we never did get our epidemic down significantly as they did. i think that the most important thing for us to look at right now, if we want to sober up and face the music, is look north. compare the united states to canada. canada hasn't been perfect, but my god, there are provinces in canada where if they have three cases, everybody freaks out and there's a whole attempt to contact trace them and nail it down. and overall if you compare new infections, hospitalizations and deaths, per capita by every measure, canada is doing so much better than we that when you map it and put density coloration in wherever there are cases, you literally can see the border of the united states and canada. above the border, there's almost no dots and below the border it's dense with so many dots of cases that we're just solid red or whatever color you use.

nicolle, i think we have options. we don't have to walk off the bridge and fall into the sea. we can in fact stop this. we can in fact slow this down. but it requires leadership, it requires policy, and it requires some tough decisions that by and large political leaders are reluctant to make, especially when they're facing re-elections. >> so i spoke to one such political leader, governor cuomo, yesterday. and when i put some of these questions about what the winter will hold for new york, he didn't come out and say we won't have spikes, he focused on the testing protocol. and he talked about sort of his ability to know where the outbreaks are. and i've read a little bit about canada. obviously you know much better than me. they seem to have a much more aggressive testing protocol. when there are those three cases, they tend to contact trace and test. is it back to the basic stuff that people like yourself have been talking about since march,

test and trace so that even if we have to not live with the pandemic, but we have to acknowledge that there will be outbreaks in the colder months, there will be people that get sick because they're indoors or not able to social distance or other things but that we know where they are. we have access to testing. is it that kind of basic blocking and tackling? >> you know, the block and tackle approach, as you put it, works in many parts of the world. i mean look at japan, look at finland, look at norway, look at iceland, look at new zealand. a long list where it's working and where it's made the difference. and certainly in canada, that has been their approach. the problem is that for most of the united states, the amount of virus now in circulation is so high that nobody has health departments large enough to do the contact tracing and to do the block and tackle approach. now, new york is in reasonably

good shape compared to most of the rest of the united states. we paid a big price to get to this point. it's going to be a real test of his leadership, whether mario cuomo -- i mean -- i just named his father. andrew cuomo as governor and bill de blasio as mayor can manage to hold the numbers down. now, they are slowly creeping up, and part of the problem of course for new york is that we live in an ecosphere. new york is not an island. manhattan may be an island, but the state is not and we are connected economically and physically to other places where virus is in circulation. and so we have -- we have the possibility of identifying an outbreak and jumping in to trace the cases and bring it under control here in new york, but it may get very challenging as the temptation to go out of state for thanksgiving or for christmas or for any of the other holidays coming up forces

many people to take risks that they ought not take. >> i want to ask you something weird, but just from your expertise of the history of times like these. i know they end, but what does the end look like? is the end in sight? i think people are starting to accept that this isn't going away any time soon, that the new normals, wherever they have taken up residence, whatever their pods are, however and wherever their kids are learning isn't likely to change any time soon. when and how do you see us getting through this? >> you know, you're asking a really smart question, nicolle. how do epidemics end? the truth of the matter is they don't end because everybody becomes immune. that's a myth. it's out there, but it's not true. they end because the sick cease contacting the unsick and spreading virus or bacteria to them so that whatever the modes

of transmission suddenly come to a halt. now, in the case of this virus, what's making it especially difficult is that at least 40%, possibly as much as 60% of transmission is coming from people with no symptoms. and so it's really hard to identify who needs to be segregated away from the rest of the population in order to slow down the spread of the disease. >> it's amazing. we are lucky to get to call on you. we will continue to do so. laurie garrett, thank you for spending some time with us. up next for us, a growing presence on the streets of america. armed militia groups. msnbc's cal perry spoke with the leaders of one of those groups on president trump's heated rhetoric and what we should expect to see on election day. that's next. (♪ )

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even after trying other medications, it may be a sign of damaging inflammation, which left untreated, could get much worse. please make an appointment to see your gastroenterologist right away. or connect with them online. once you do, seeing the doctor is one less thing to worry about. need help finding a doctor? head to crohnsandcolitis.com . concerns over heavily armed militia groups are ramping up. less than three weeks ago, two groups were arrested for involvedment in a atem to kidnap gretchen whitmer. it is becoming a frequent image on the streets showing up at anti-lockdown rallies or outside of racial protest. inspired by the flirtation with the proud boys on the debate stage, cal perry received rare

access to leaders within the growing militia movement in kentucky. >> reporter: self-described militia are a regular sight. headed to toe in mill fatigues with firearms strapped to their chest. >> we are security and we do uphold constitutional rights for people, i tell this to people, whether that is our constitutional right or others. >> reporter: nick leads the group bare. brothers on equal amendment rights. >> do you think that is inciting? >> no. because you have the right to have hold of a weapon no matter what. people ra r making an assumption based on what they believe. >> we've seen you out and in frankfort and louisville, why does your group come out on the

streets toir streets. >> to make sure everything remai remains peaceful. >> reporter: we've seen members outof the kennedy capital, heavily armed against covid restrictions and on the edge of demonstrations for breonna taylor. >> we don't want the towns burned down or anybody shooting each other. >> reporter: but law enforcement said this makes their job more difficult. >> the police are doing all they can but they have their hands tied and a lot of people against them. >> we have to keep our composure. we cannot put our hands on somebody like that. >> reporter: in the increase presence of militia has led many in the city to take precautions. >> we have the revolutionary black panther party. >> are you worried about the militia in kentucky. >> i am.

since the legislative voted to allow people to open carry without a permit. our legislative body has been very clear that is supports systemic racism and sending message that they're welcome here in kentucky. >> do you think some racist. >> some are and some of the plaque groups are racist too. i don't vouch for either one of them. >> there are photos of you carrying confederate flags. >> some people don't. people in my group are puerto rico, blacks, cubans, i've got a mixture. >> this became a defining moment. >> proud boys, stand back and stand by. >> you thought it did speak to your group. >> i think it did. and i think the reason why he said to stand back and stand by was, you know, he sees it the same way. >> and like many he fears the

election could bring unrest. >> are we talking civil war. >> i think that that is a possible. i think it is a -- a probable real close possibility and though most people will try to make it a black and white thing, i think it is a right and left thing. >> reporter: they're tracking over 180 groups and they have groups like the run that nick runs out there to provide stability and then the one in michigan that was a domestic terror group and was going to kill the governor of michigan. what is overhanging all of this is the conversation you've been having all day, what will the president day and will he use the dangerous rhetoric and will he direc some kind of message at these groups. >> cal merry, i need you to come back tomorrow and square some of what the fbi director chris wray has said about domestic

terrorism with what you understand to be the mission statement after this grum and i think it is helpful to understand that. cal perry in lansing michigan, we'll see you again very soon, my friend. thank you so much for that stunning. the next hour of "deadline: white house" starts after a very quick break. don't go anywhere. r a very quick break. don't go anywhere. who's supporting prop 15?

joe biden. 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.

the unfair money bail system. he, accused of rape. while he, accused of stealing $5. the stanford rapist could afford bail; got out the same day. the senior citizen could not; forced to wait in jail nearly a year. voting yes on prop 25 ends this failed system, replacing it with one based on public safety. because the size of your wallet shouldn't determine whether or not you're in jail. vote yes on prop 25 to end money bail. vote yes on prop 25 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.

i jauust want to make sure could earn every vote possiblement and you know that blue wall has to be re-established. i think we have a fighting chance in ohio and north carolina and we have a fighting

chance in georgia. we have a fighting chance in iowa. >> before the plague came in. i had it made. i wasn't coming to erie. i have to be honest. there was no way i was coming. i don't have to. >> i work as hard for those would don't support me as for those who do. that's the job of a president. a duty of care for everyone. >> i'd love to just drive the hell out of here. just get the hell out of this. i had such a good life. my life was great. and then i said let's do this, darling. this should be a lot of fun. >> hi, again, everyone. it is 5:00 p.m. in the east. the two very different factors on which this race is fought. one side on the offense and the other clearly on the defense. showing in where they are choosing to spend time. joe biden set to make the second of two appearances in the state of georgia today. a tate that has not gone through

in a presidential race since 92. his remashes scheduled to start poe momentarily. it is a gamble for a nominee who limited his appearances in the final days of the race. time is a candidate's most valuable commodity and his decision to spend a day in georgia reflects his advisers growing confidence about springing an upset there. donald trump and the much lessen viehable position clinging to states he had once taken for grants. "new york times" reported that mr. trump is heading to states where he won in 16 and struggling today. and arizona and michigan and wisconsin an pennsylvania, assuming he could hold on to rest of his 2016 map and that may be a big assumption, he needs to hold just one of the three key mid western states to win re-election. three state as cording to nbc battleground count, biden is still leading him. the map unchanged from last

month with just two updates. arizona is now a tossup from leaning democratic and texas moves from leaning republican to tossup. for those still scarred from four years ago, worried joe biden is making the same mistakes hillary clinton, politico is a assuring us that is not the case. funny feelings about 2020, tim sal better writes this, 2020 is nothing like 2016. if eve learned anything in the post 9/11 era, it is that volatility is a feature not a bug. trump's shocking upset in 16s with chased by a blue wave in 2018, the springs demonstrate howoy deal logically and otherwise keep both parties off balance. the coalition adeliver vaeblgt crumble two years later. and four years amounts to an

eternity. joe biden on offense is where we start with our favorite reporters and friends. nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joins us live from atlanta where the former vice president is set to speak shortly. and alexi mccannon reporter for axios. and eugene robinson is here and white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan lemire is here. lucky for us, all msnbc contributors. kristen, this is the first time i've seen you face-to-face. congratulations on that, my friend. >> thank you. >> how is the campaign trail feel? >> reporter: thank you so much. it is great to be back on the campaign trail. and i so appreciate that. thank you so much. it is energized here in atlanta, nicolle. and as you poin out, this under scores fact that joe biden is closing out his campaign on

offense. he's fighting for georgia as you said, this is a red state. i spoke to campaign officials who made the point that this could be a close race in the end they feel as though trying to run up the vote tally, if they could peel off a state like georgia, it would help them have a more convincing win. so that is part of why joe biden is here. of course there are two key soe senate races so he's here to enearthize early voters. his message is that he's a president who feels his first rally was in warm springs, georgia. that is a small town where former president franklin roosevelt went to heal. you think of roosevelt who healed from polio and also helped heal the country from the great depression. biden used that as his back drop to make the case that he will pull the country back from the brink of this pandemic. economic crisis and also of course the slaharp divisions rattling the nation right now. that is a key part of the

closing argument. and i have toy the fire and fury came from barack obama who was in the state of florida today who essentially accused president trump of being responsible for mishandling kro covid and the surge we're seeing all across country. it is risky, if you talk to democrats, they raise the question should biden be solely focused on critical battleground states. the biden came doesn't think so. they feel as though they will ultimately pay off to peel off states and expand the map. nicolle. >> kristen welker, you've covered this white house for sometime now. is it an efforts of the people around donald trump though get him to try to focus on joe biden we've talked in the last hour, he's attacked everyone from borat, to president obama, to doing the twitter version of throwing shoes at the tv while president obama was speaking in florida. are they trying to focus him on

in his opponent or have they given up. because the campaign doesn't look particularly on message. >> reporter: i don't think they've given up but i do think they're right. this is the goal every day. so have him be on message and focus not only on joe biden and attacking joe biden, but on joe biden's record. and trying to draw contrast with biden particularly when it comes to the economy. that is president president trump's strong suit. and if you look at the polls, they feel his messaging has not been focused and fueled by personal attacks, lashing out at various targets and there is some concern that that is not going to be a winning strategy in these final days. this is a president who has always been a nontraditional candidate so that type of rhetoric energizing his base. there is no doubt about that. but the broader question is how will it play with independent voters and play with those

critical suburban women that president trump needs to have in his pock if he wants to win re-election, nicolle. >> eugene, i don't have kristen's diplomatic skills. >> would say it doesn't play with suburban women. he is repelling suburban men and women. his inability to focus, tim wrote this great series of pieces and jonathan and alexi are out there reporting on this every day and you've written brilliant pieces as well. but the most sort of, you know, warm knife through cold bulleter analysis is tim saying people just don't like trump any more. >> yeah, look, that act of -- has to wear thin on people eventually. not all people, right. because his most fer vently devoted is still fervently devoted and they'll be with him

and come out to his rallies and cheer lihim on. but he knows, i believe his campaign people know, that is not enough. he's got to find more people like that, people who didn't vote last time, who are irregular voters but who are like the people in his base and he has to convince them to do something that they don't necessarily usually do which is vote. that is why he's going the places he's going to. smaller cities and in the middle of pennsylvania. where you could -- you could find his base voters. well, the biden campaign is able to try to expand the map. i think they had better keep an eye over their shoulder on the three key states of wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania.

everybody looking at pennsylvania. but the fact that nbc now says texas is a tossup, i don't -- that is still hard for me to believe that democrats are going to win texas. you know, i'll say one final thing. two final things. i'll echo your view that kristen welker was magnificent in the debate. i said that she clearly won the debate. so kristen, you are the queen of everything. >> thank you, eugene. >> you're welcome. and the second thing is, you know, they said about hollywood, nobody knows anything. well nobody knows anything about this election because it is not like any other election. 60 plus million people have already voted, right. so the election day has been going on for sometime. the full count, the pail-in ballots, there is just so much

we don't know about how this is going to play out over the next week. >> alexi, your colleague jonathan swan knows lots of things as do you. and one of the things that he, think reveals in this interview with ted cruz that even ted cruz knew that donald trump's attacks in the debate that kristen moderated against hunter biden did not work. let's watch and talk about it on other side. >> one of biden's best points was when he said all of these attacks back and forth about my family and his family, they don't matter, what matters is your family. that may have been biden's best moment, actually. and i -- >> so you are not moved by the hunter biden -- >> i don't think it moves a single voter. >> alexi, i don't think that you could find a time when i've rolled the tape on ted cruz to

say anything politically honest or enlightening. but this is the most enlightening position on this whole body of attacks on hunter biden. whatever it is or isn't, it is not moving votes away from joe biden. were you surprised to hear it comes out of ted cruz's mouth. >> a little bit. but that is a testament to the swan's skill interviewed of course. but the trump campaign remains the most online campaign ever. and i've been talking about this with friends and journalists and thinking this idea even in the way that trump kind of brought up the half baked conspiracy theories and attacked against 00 hubber, and unless people are keeping up with the minnisha of the hunter story, people at home have no idea what he's referring to when he says those words. and it really just sounds like going back to that complaint from 2016 about hillary's emails

and laptops that are destroyed. but it is just another example of how the message coming from president trump is not totally based in reality. and we heard former president barack obama say today, which is doesn't have to be this way. it didn't have to be this way. and the message from the right is more of it isn't this way. s are saying it didn't have to be this bad. look at the factors and education factors that have changed because of the pandemic. it didn't have to be this way because of trump's mishandling. trump saying covid who. i won the nobel peace prize. i'm running for re-election. i'm losing support with suburban women, just like many e, it is . that is something that i think joe biden is trying to hammer in last few days, especially in states like georgia. the idea that characters is on

the ballot and we're living in a reality that didn't have to be this bad because of president trump. >> jonathan lemire, tell me what is really going on when donald trump starts -- at a rally. he is more agitated by his predecessor than by his current opponent and with seven days to go, i condition imagine there is anyone in donald trump's political life who relishes a twitter war with fox for airing the obama speech or against obama or borat or bill de blasio or nancy pelosi, is there any effort to focus donald trump to be any shell of the candidate he was four years ago? >> first of all, it is always the case that president obama has lived inside of president trump's head. he's been obsessed with him. some his policy agenda is simply to undo things that obama did

than advocate anything that the president or his team believes in first and foremost. but this is hissinab inability stay on message is a concern. and it is different from four years ago. but for last ften days of the 2016 stretch, donald trump compared to any other candidate would have still seemed all over the place. but for him, he was pretty on message an pretty disciplined. he pu twitter away and toned it down and his rallies and i was at more than i could counts, multiple times a day hammered ome the same themes with real consistency. it was immigration and trade and allegations of corruption against hillary clinton and american first foreign policy idea and it's over and over. the reality tv star with the cratch phrases and they drilled home and sunk in and that is not the case this time around. it is not just that he seems

more obsessed with hillary clinton or barack obama, he can't deliver his message or he does in such a scatter shot fashion they don't stick. he is delivering a closing argument. it is meant to be, the idea of selling you want to vote for me and the trump economic recovery versus what woe about' biden socialist policy and perhaps a depression. he does say those lines -- >> what did he last say that. and let me ask you, let me put you on the spot. >> please. >> i have heard a version of what president obama said about covid from trump allies. when president obama said donald trump's mad at covid because it is getting more press coverage than he is, i heard a version of that from an outside adviser to donald trump, that donald trump is the sun king and anything that blocks him from all of the sunlight and all of the attention enraged him, whether it is another politician, whether it is a storm or a pandemic. that is the truest thing that

has been said about him in this campaign cycle and they have no comeback. >> two points on that. first, in terms of delivery of closing message, i was there on sunday in new hampshire. he did say that line. it was about 30 seconds worth and then moved on. in that same rally, he spent 15 minutes talking about renegotiating the contract for the new air force one. which left most in the crowd sort of puzzled and shaking their heads. not quite sure that is going to move the needle on any polls. and then secondly there is no question, that he has long prized above anything else his ability to drive the media, to sort of control the narrative. he's told aids that sometimes he'll tweet something and wait to see how long it takes before a cable networks changes their chyron. he's able to deflect and set up the fog machine and to bounce off of scandal to headline to

headline where he often seems like he could stay one step ahead of the chaos he created but with covid he can't. it is the one thing that has dragged him down and shadowed him this entire year and it is what his -- why his advisers believe he is losing. the american people have simply judged that he's handled this pandemic poorly and he can't change the subject with only a week to go. >> we're keeping an eye on this biden rally that is about to get underway. we'll go to it as soon as it begins. i want to get in another question to you alexi, about what is going on in texas and i heard from beto o'rourke months ago that texas could be in place. texas obviously the place of one of the most tragic racially motivated massacres during the trump presidency, down in el paso, texas, particularly hard hit by the pandemic. texas, a place that has been trending away from republicans,

beto almost bested ted cruz, and now some democrats and some polls and nbc news through texas in the tossup category. what do you know about texas? >> it is a really wild dynamic and reality of the 2020 election. but you talk to democrats just like i do who are admitted privately and publicly that they're feeling good about chances of winning texas. not just within a poin or two like beto o'rourke did but actually winning. and of course, that is still an uphill battle. but the way that he talked about they are looking at the demographic that has been happening. tear looking at polls which is showing where clinton in 2016 lost by over 800,000 votes and beto lost by 15,000 and now the poll is tied between joe biden and donald trump. i think it is not elected a

president since 1976 and that is a long way and the way they're asking biden to spend more reflects the way they're feeling bullish about that. but there is frustration. democrats are unhappy that biden's campaign has only spend $6 million on paid media in the state. you raised over $380 million in september alone if you spend $10 million, this is what i'm hearing from texas democrats to spend at least $10 million, they say they're internal polling shows that would seal the deal for sure. so they're feeling hopeful that the work they're doing would be able to flip it without biden resources. they are saying spend $10 million or $20 million and you'll lock this up. [ inaudible ] but to be determined if the biden campaign spends more than the original $6 million. so far that is what they have planned. >> it is remarkable the conversations that go on between state party activists and campaign headquarters in the

final seven days and thanks to great reporters like all of you we get to hear about some of them. thank you so much for starting us off this breaking news, topsy-turvy hour. you're the best. thank you. we'll bring you live coverage of joe biden's campaign event in atlanta when it begins. but whether we come back, inside of the mind of a trufrp loathing republican, a official in washington who stays on job and quiet despite his hatred for the president. plus barack obama calls donald trump not normal. we'll be joined by a journalist in and author who said trump is something else, a traitor and his behavior of america is among history's worst. and the rising number of coronavirus cases across the country increasing so fast hospitals are struggling to keep up. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. t go anywhere? i don't have silent. everyone does -- right up here. it happens to all of us. we buy a new home, and we turn into our parents. what i do is help new homeowners overcome this. what is that, an adjustable spanner?

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as of this morning, amy coney barrett is now supreme court justice amy coney barrett. it is a moment in american history that is almost concern to carry significant political consequences for republicans. but for the hold your nose and vote variety, the republicans who didn't like trump in '16 but voted for him any way, for the judges and the roll backs it is a moment they've been waiting for. who cares about what trump does to the presidency, they say. at least we got the judges. that particular breed of republican is alive and well. even where you might not expect it. inside of donald trump's own administration. it is the topic of a terrific new piece of reporting from olivia newsy entitled

enablement, the justification of one powerful trump loathing anonymous republican. here is how newsy described this anonymous official. like just about everybody else didn't believe he would win the republican nomination. i was one of thoseiddiots. i told family members there were three chances. when the test came he found it was possible, easy even to put up with what he didn't want to agree with in order to cloim and survive in washington. joining us now, olivia troy, former white house coronavirus task force to mike pence and now working with the anti-trump group and tim miller, political director for republican voters against trump, the former director of jeb bush's 2016 campaign and contributor to the bulwark. i thought of you the minute i

read this. because we know a lot of people by name that made the same calculations olivia brilliant profile made. what do you think? >> you knew it would send my blood pressure through the roof, nicolle. >> i have read it twice. yes, it raises my blood pressure to read that quote from it, yes. exactly. >> i'm taking a deep breath right now. for anybody watching, this guy is everybody. this guy is all of the republican friends that we used to work for in washington, people that used to work for me on anti-trump are this guy. and the thing most frustrating for me, nicolle, the torture itself justification, are a dime a dozen these days. but there was a line in there how he said that he was there and other people like him who recognize that trump is a

permanent scar on the face of the country, they were there to prevent the worst stuff from happening. he said that adult life is about contradictions and that is just such malarkey. okay. adull life is about choices and learning that your choices have consequences. you aren't a child any more and that gets to have it both ways. and these guys, the political ones in particular, didn't save anything. i don't know who this guy is but there is to difference if cory lewandowski, or bill mitchell or any other crazy red hat trump person had taken their job. they didn't stop anything. and the thing that if they really believed what they said, if they really believed that he was a scar on this country and they wanted to make a difference, they wanted to prevent the worst stuff from happening, they would do what we're doing. what olivia is doing and speak. that is how -- and make sure that he doesn't win for four more years. that is how you prevent the worst stuff from happening and

that hypocrisy drives me up the wall. just own it. if if you are for him, just own it. don't pretend like you're doing us any favors. you're the no. olivia is the one doing us favors. >> and i'll come back to you. you have more. not to be confused with olivia newsy, the highly skilled and superb journalist. i have some evidence that mike pence might be along the lines of what is described by olivia newsy in that article, that he too understands what is trump is and what trump isn't. you work for imuch close, does he know better or think that is the best a republican party could do, a porn star hush money check writing president who corrodes the facial security agencies of the government he leads who lies at a clip that fact checkers could barely keep up with and the most anti-life,

the most pro-death president we've ever had in terms of not even trying to protect the people that he represents from the raging coronavirus pandemic. >> he knows. he has learned that hypocrisy firsthand. we all have in the white house. and it's -- when i saw this piece brought by -- i had mixed feelings. i could relate to the fact that it was -- i understand where they're coming from, hang in there and try to do the right thing. but i also -- it also made be angry. because i watched a lot of politicals enable 100% unwaveringly. they didn't put up a fight at all in those situations. and it was frustrating to read this and say this is great, you'll continue to be anonymous and going on background, that is

wonderful. and what are you going to do if he gets re-elected. are you going on background for the next four years and share information because it is detrimental. but four more years when our country is destroyed by the current president, how are we going to justify that then. i want to hear the excuse that time. i would like to forward to that one and see how they reconcile that in their heads. >> tim, olivia troy just pulled back the curtain on the most insidious aspect of the trump presidency. they leave mar-a-lago and tell reporters how reprehensible and piggish is. i don't know he thinks that we find out but he hasn't figured it out yet. do you think that time is running out for people, and i know you do, but he's still there and this race isn't over yet. so i want your objective

analysis of whether that model couldine be sustained another week or another term. >> no, it is just absurd. it is how they feel better about themselves, to go on background and see something in the newspaper. but they're getting all of the benefits out of it. jonathan wrote this today, none of the people who are afon mus will suffer any consequences. and they'll all get jobs and life will go on for them as normal. they have a spot on their resume that they could talk about whatever the job was in the administration. get a job at goldman sacks like dina powell did. and the time is running out, but it is not out. and i just talked to somebody today who worked in the administration who was thinking of writing an op-ed. i said write it. if you look at, i see h.r. mcmaster and these guys going on the cable circuits and they'll criticize trump but not saying

that they're voting for biden. if this is an emergency, like everybody said it is. all of the backgrounds say it is a emergency an he's incompetence. then support joe biden. and they have a chance. they could have supported impeachment or a primary. none of them did. this is the last chance. however many days, seven days to support joe biden. that is the last chance. >> now, olivia this is an argument about intellectual honesty and i had this conversation with joe walsh who was going to primary trump who is now supporting joe biden. but if you're against trump and if you're attacks on trump are that he's a threat to the democracy and you saw his dysfunction and houw he destroyd any ability tor the coronavirus task force to function, do you think there is any -- and i know a lot of people who still support trump. some who are still in the orbit but think he's personally and morally reprehensible, and that

he's outmatched by the coronavirus pandemic and incapable of leading even the half of the country that supports him, he couldn't protect his own staff and his own wife and child and his debate campaign manager or anyone that was around him. do you think that more people will, whether they talk about it nor not, pull the lever for joe biden who have seen trump up close? >> i hope so. because the only way we're going to get past this is even if you don't want to come out publicly, and say it, i hope that your moral compass and sense of unity and patriotism in protecting the country and standing up for what is right in though moment will lead you to vote for the right person. and yesterday i noted it was the first time in my entire voting

life that i voted for an entire democratic ticket. i have voted republican since i turned 18 years old. and i had no problem because of where we're going as a country and i had tears in my eyes of just relief knowing that i'm doing everything i can to change this. >> can i just -- >> thank you for sharing that. >> go ahead, tim. >> i love olivia, i just need to be meaner than her. because they actually have a responsibility greater than vot voting for joe biden. secretly voting for joe biden in d.c. and then going to your pals at the country club and telling them that really you voted for joe biden, it doesn't actually do much for me. if you're in there and you have a story to tell and you now how bad it is, it is time to tell the storych it is past time.

i don't think that just -- i agree with her, that there are people that will secretly vote for joe biden. but i don't think that that -- i don't look very kindly on that as a silent act of protest for people inside of the white house. >> well, and i mean, look, tim, we have traveled that other path of being more hated than democrats but being republicans who attack donald trump or at least point out his short comings. so i think you know how i feel. but, looking i personally would take any of it. pulling support is better than closing their eyes and pretending all of the horrible things aren't happening. you're sticking around. we're heading into breaking news. we're still watching for the joe biden event in atlanta. we're going to sneak in a quick break. we'll bring you the speech when it begins. we'll be right back. begins. we'll be right back.

we are back. joe biden is expected to take the podium any moment. this is his second event in the state of georgia. georgia typically not a state that democrats visit seven days before voting ends. joe biden making a play in almost all states that donald trump won four years ago. joe biden's travel includes florida, iowa, wisconsin, michigan and today's doubleheader in georgia.

tim miller, what do you make of the joe biden's travel schedule and where the two campaigns stand today with one week to go. >> look, i think that georgia is the state that really stands out there. if you look at the advertising dollars, trump is running out of money. he pulled out of florida today and he's outspending biden in only one state on television, georgia. now georgia is gravy for the biden campaign. i think that is a state that maybe is trending more blue and one to watch on election night. but if it comes in early for georgia, this is going to be a runaway for joe biden. i think it shows he's on offense. it doesn't necessarily mean that this thing is over, of course. but this is a map that is much more favorable to joe biden than, say, maybe an alternate story where he could be defending minnesota or focusing on the upper midwest. it shows a campaign on offense for sure. >> so if we're talking about

travel and the decisions that campaigns make in the final week, alexi mccann reported at the top of the hour that there is some state wide leaders, democratic leaders in texas who would like to see the biden campaign make a play there. what do you think about texas? >> texas is all gravy. but if he wants to show up there just as a kind of a -- a cherry on top, that is fine. but he's got to focus on the states that win. let's get to 71. if we win texas because it is a landslide, awesome. but he should focus on -- to win. >> tim miller sounding like every nervous democratic friend in my life. joe biden about to take the podium here and begin remarks in atlanta, georgia. his second stop of the day. in the state of georgia. let's listen in.

♪ [ horn honking ] >> thank you for that incredible introduction. my name is joe biden and i'm jill biden's husband and i'm kamala harris's running mate. y'all think i'm kidding, don't you. folks, it gives me so much more optimism about the future to see that my and so many inspiring young people like mia. that is president trump. he is having trouble being heard over there. [ cheering and applause ] they're very polite bunch.

look, folks, so many young people i've met all across america are getting to deeply involved helping create the change that you know is possible. you know, and of course i know you've had an incredible role model in mayor keisha lance bottoms. i'll tell you what, she is something else. first of all, two things you got to know about her when you meet her. number one, understand she's smarter than you. that is the first thing i had to learn. and the second thing is she's got a backbone like a ram rod and she has a moral compass that is true north. i really admire her. you've done an incredible job, mayor. you're a powerhouse of a leader and helped shape and support this campaign from the earliest days. so want to thank you mayor bottoms for your vision and your partnership and commitment to the campaign and the people of atlanta. and thank you -- and i'll tell

you what, i know that is the real reason you came. the entertainment. i don't blame you. but i tell you what, it is great to meet them both and for that them energizing and sharing the message of hope with all of us. i wan to recognize the elects officials today. billy michelle, calvin smiley who have been with us from the very beginning of this campaign. and we got to send back to the united states house of representatives lucy and hank and stanford. all three of them are great congress persons. because if i win, i'm going to need them badly. and by the way, i think it is important that you win as well. along with carol and bordeaux. folks, think we're going to surprise everybody this year. i condition tell you how important it is that we flip the united states senate. there is no state more

consequential that georgia in that fight. you have two competitor races here in the state. you have two great candidates that will need all of the support they could get. reverend war knock and john austin. both great candidates. no, they really are. and by the way, if we told you all a year ago or told those guys out in the street a year ago, good to see you, man, told those guys out in the street how competitive georgia would be you would have looked at one another like you're crazy. but it didn't take long for people to figure out what the game is up. when the carney show goes through town the first time and people find there is no pea under the three shells, the next time it comes back it doesn't get much attention. that is what the trump administration has done. let's give the people of georgia two new senators who will fight for your interest, not for

donald trump's interest. and not continue as others have to make fun of my running mate. i love how the guys try to degrade everything and everybody. it has to stop and it is going to stop with us. folks, it is go time. there is one week left. millions of americans over 60 million americans have already voted. and millions more by the end of week. i believe when you use your power, the power to vote, will change the course of this country. right here in georgia, with all of us, this is the final days so keep that sense of empowerment with us. that sense of optimism. what we can do and what we will do. what we can over come, what we will overcome. look, folks, i've been around a wild but never bep been por optimistic than i am today.

but i know it is hard. over the past few months there has been so much pain, so much suffering, so much loss in america. more than 225,000 dead americans because of covid-19. 7,800 right here in georgia. and millions of people are out of work. on the edge. they can't see the light aft the end of the tunnel. and donald trump has given up. over the weekend, his chief of staff of the white house said, i quote, we're not going to control the pandemic. at the debate last week, donald trump looked at me and said we're rounding the corner. as my grandfather would say, he's rounding the bend. he said it is going to go away. we're learning to live with it. i told him we're not learning to live with it. if you're asking people to learn to die with it and it's wrong. donald trump -- donald trump has waived the white flag, abandoned

our families and surrendered to this virus. but the american people don't give up. they don't give in. and surely they don't cower and neither will i. i will put in place the plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly. bringing this country together. with testing, tracing and masking. it is estimated that if we wore masks, the next few months, by his own experts, in the cdc and other agencies, if we wore this mask the next few months, we'd save 100,000 lives. 100,000. it is estimated we lost over 135,000 lives so far needlessly because he's done virtually nothing. but still donald trump refused to listen to science. we shouldn't be politicizing this race for a vaccine. we should be planning for its safe and equitable and free

distribution whether it comes, and it will. provide for funding for ppe, masks and gloves an all of the things we need to set stashl standards for your schools, and our businesses to open safely because they can. the house he's done nothing. i'm going to bring democrats to deliver the economic relief for families, schools and businesses. i said before i'm not going to shut down the economy, i'm going to -- not going to shut down the country, i'm going to shut down the virus.

look, donald trump crashed the economy that barack and i left him. like everything else he's left and inherited, he's squandered it. we can build back better with an economy that awards work, not wealth. we can do it without raising taxes on the middle class. no one making less than $700,000 -- should be $400,000 a year will have one penny in taxes raised. not one penny. it's a guarantee. we're going to ask the wealthiest and the biggest corporations 91 of the top corporate companies in america pay zero federal income tax. we're going to ask them to begin to pay their fair share. not a higher rate than they paid at the beginning of the bush administration. that's what will deliver tax relief for, working families, the middle clalss and to help them buy their first home or

child care or caring for an ageing loved one. trump got a supreme court justice and you know why he did it? to destroy the affordable care act and take away the health care for 20 million americans who have it. over 100,000, 100,000 who are covered because they have preexisting conditions for the first time including 340,000 georgians. 100 million americans would lose their protections for preexisting conditions, including more than 4 million here in the state of georgia. complications from covid-19 will be the next preexisting condition because of heart scarring, lung scarring, allowing insurers to jack up your premiums, deny coverage and we'll once again be charged more for the health care because they are women. donald trump thinks health care is a privilege.

i think it's an american right. if we all get out and vote, you can keep your private insurance or choose a medicare like public option and lower premiums and deductio deductions, out-of-pocket spending and reduce cost by 60%. that's what the when perts are te -- experts are telling me and you. by the way, i'll protect social security and medicare. meanwhile, donald trump says if reelected, he'll change the way we enact it. if he does what he's proposing,

social security will be bankrupt by 2023. go home and tell your parents who worked like hell for that that's what is coming up. donald trump fails to condemn white supremacy. he doesn't believe there is system maic racism as a problemd he won't say black lives matter because they do. we know they matter. [ cheers ] >> that's why protests have broken out across the nation. burning and looting is not okay but much of it is a cry for justice and long had the knees of injustice on their necks. the names of george floyd, breonna taylor, jacob blake will not soon be forgotten, not by me, not by us, not by this

country. folks, true justice is jobs and minimum wage. we're going to pass a national $15 an hour minimum wage. nobody, nobody should have to work two jobs to be above the poverty level. it's wrong. we're going to change it. by the way, what we do it, experts will tell you we're going to raise the economy. raise the standard of living for everybody when folks at the bottom do better, everybody does better all the way up the ladder. we're going to give black and

minority folks a real chance to own a home debt free to build wealth and pass opportunity through the generations in the middle class have been able to do. we'll invest $70 billion in the hbcus and minority institutions so students like maya at howard or morehouse, spelman, clark atlanta university, the future generations of proud students continue to get the very best education and by the way, in the white house, i've committed, there is going to be in the out reach community a section of the divine nine will be included. that's a promise. you know, i've been told i grew up with a chip on my shoulder in an irish catholic down that looked down on it, i do realize

i have a chip on my shoulder. when i read from serious people about eight months ago, something about how if i were elected president, i'd be the first president who didn't go to an ivy league school in a long time, like somehow it meant i didn't belong. i know senator harris will be the first hbcu to serve as vice president and i say it's about time a graduate from a state university and hbcu graduate are in the white house. don't tell me we can't do it because if we're sitting there, you will be there, too, i promise you. folks, i'm optimistic because i know we can meet the challenge of the climate crisis by creating millions of new high

paying jobs investing in technology and research. folks, this is all in our capacity. we can do this. you know, there aren't a lot of pundits who would have guessed four years ago a democratic candidate for president in 2020 would be campaigning in georgia for the final week of the election. or that we'd have such close senate races here because something is happening here and across america. people have different races, backgrounds, democrats, in independents are coming together to show it's possible and this is the most important election in any of your lifetimes.

it's a battle for the soul of america and we are showing who we are, you and i, all of us. this country can't afford four more years of donald trump and mitch mcconnell. they can't afford four more years of leaders who think they're only responsible for people who vote for them, folks, i don't see america that way. this has to change. it will change with me. every american, including the guys on the other side of the fence will be seen and heard and respected by me. if elected, there won't be red states and blue states, only the united states of america. i was reminded of that earlier this month when i went to the sacred grounds of gettysburg. i was reminded of that earlier today when i was up in warm

springs reflecting on franklin roosevelt taught us about the need to heal our nation. folks, i'm running as a proud democrat but i'll govern as an american president to unite and to heal. i promise you. it's as hard for those who don't support me as those who do. that's the job of the president. a duty to care for everyone. so on these final days, stay empowered, stay optimistic, stay united because you, too, have a sacred duty, the duty to vote. georgia matters. so please vote. help get out the vote. early in person voting in georgia goes through october 30th. if you vote