fine jewelry for my damn self. we're mejuri. handcrafted like the olden days. ♪ designed for the golden days ahead. ♪ good morning. it is saturday, october 31st. happy halloween. i'm ali velshi. we can count the hours until election day. 70 hours until the first polls open on tuesday morning. the candidates are crossing the country making the final pitches trying to motivate every last persuadable voter. this as overnight, another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic that is very much still among us.

yesterday, the united states set another one-day record for total koic covid-19 cases. 98,5900 infections were reported. that marks the first day of back-to-back 90,000 plus cases on u.s. soil since the pandemic began. to date, the total number of covid-19 cases nationwide. 9,128,370. death toll rising to 230,893. the headline reading no way to sugarcoat it. covid-19 cases are surging. one american dies about every minute and a half. despite the dire situation our country faces with the virus surging across the country, breaking records with new infections and killing hundreds and hundreds of americans every day, donald trump and his administration have declared victory over the coronavirus pandemic. it is a lie that is going to be

hard to sell to the american people who are facing the reality of the covid craze cris every day. it is rising in every state. michigan, minnesota, wisconsin and ohio and pennsylvania have all seen big spikes in cases over the last two beweeks. the president is telling people in those states that the coronavirus is no big deal and we learn to live with it. joe biden has a different message. >> we are not learning to live with it. we are learning how to die with it because of you. by the way, we don't cower. nor do i. never will we. unlike donald trump, we'll not surrender to the virus. i'm going to shut down the virus. >> with three days until election day, nearly 90 million americans have cast ballots through early voting or mail-in ballots. we are approaching 40% of the

overall number of registered voters in the country that have voted early so far. the washington post reporting as of wednesday, more than 44 million out of 92 million mail ballots had not been returned. in the states where the data was available. 11 million of the ballots requested by democrats. 8 million by republicans and 10 million by unaffiliated voters. here is the thing. if you got a ballot and you did not send it in, maybe you are still planning to vote. experts are advising you not to send it in the mail. it won't arrive on time at this point. your best option is to head to the polls or find a drop box. propublica issued a statement on

how to make a plan to get your ballot dropped off. do your civic duty. nearly all the key battleground states. biden leads trump. arizona, florida, michigan, north carolina, pennsylvania and wisconsin. these states are among those that play a key role in securing the 270 electoral college votes. trump's chance at re-election hinges on his success where i am. in pennsylvania. following the failure of the polls in 2016, by the way, you would not be alone in questioning the reliability this time around. in many ways, this is different from 2016. biden has a larger national lead than clinton had in 2016. plus, leads in key states needed to win the electoral college. pollsters were aimed at

improving accuracy over 2016. one is conducting more polls. it may contribute to greater precision overall. more polls appear to be waiting samples by educational attainment. something that wasn't done in 2016. and research found contributed to polls under estimating donald trump's support. the other change is turnout. we already know early voting reports have been smashed across the country. least one state, the record goes further than that. as of yesterday afternoon, early absentee voting in the red state of texas surpassed 9 million. this is important because that is greater than the entire turnout in texas for the 2016 election. we still have 70 hours to go. trump's lead in texas is razor thin. he holds a 4 point lead and the

margin of error in play in the state of texas. so much so kamala harris was campaigning yesterday. with me to break it down is mark murray. mark, some of the information i gave viewers comes from you about how we made polling better and it is supposed to be most accurate. in the swing states, in florida and north carolina and pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin and arizona, those states. what are you looking at? >> you know, what i have been looking at, ali, is the fact whether or not in the national battleground state polls if there is any tightening. one of the differences with 2016, we saw a tightening race in the last two weeks of the election. with the revelation of the comey letter and scrutiny and focus on the hillary clinton campaign. we ended up having hillary clinton in many polls had a significant lead both nationally and battleground states.

really much in mid-october after the "access hollywood" video and then it started getting tighter. polls found hillary clinton had a lead, but it was smaller than it had been. in 2020, we had a stable race. not only nationally, but in the battleground states. when i look at national polls, i see joe biden with the lead anywhere between 7 points and 10 or 11 points nationally. that's greater than what hillary clinton had. certainly in the last two weeks of that election. when i look at some of the battleground states, you have a situation where joe biden has a steady lead. in places like florida and north carolina, it is within the margin of error. these are always going to be close states. the situation in which you talked about where are you in pennsylvania. that is something where right now joe biden has a bigger and durable lead than what we saw

from hillary clinton and more importantly, ali, there is a lot more polls. particularly coming from pennsylvania. one of the problems in 2016 was a girth of public polling in the midwest states. that is not happening this time around. >> let me ask you about the road to 270. one of the things everybody looks at and you get to play with this. everybody can go to the local newspaper and play with this state to that candidate. there are lots of roads, mathematically, lots of ways to get to 270. there are more ways for joe biden right now based on states we know going one way or the other than there are for trump. pennsylvania. how critical is it to either candidate? >> it is critical to both. it is shaping up to be the tipping point state. probably more critical as you mentioned for president trump because if he is not really able to replicate that map, it will be difficult. you can actually look to see if

he has a chance to grow in nevada or minnesota. we actually have no public polling to be able to suggest those are really in play for him. his path is really just to win the three big midwest sdatates 2016. pennsylvania, wisconsin and michigan. that is his best path. for joe biden, you know, pennsylvania is absolutely crucial. i would say there is one other path for him to be able to end up winning in arizona where the political winds have changed. political earth is more favorable democrats than four years ago in that state. >> mark, good to see you. thanks for all you do. mark murray. senior political editor. the brains behind the stuff you get from us here on tv. education day -- sorry. election day drama is building in michigan. michigan's become a hotbed for

armed militias. militia members plotted to kidnap the democratic governor whitmer. a proposal to ban carry firearms at polling places. joining me now from grand rap s rapids, michigan is dasha burns who has done reporting on this topic. dasha, this has been going back and forth. heavily armed people can hang around polling stations? >> not quite the last step, ali. that is a challenge for election workers. the attorney general appealed that ruling to the state supreme court and announcing that move citing a poll from the detroit news and wdiv tv. the majority of michigan voters

do not support open carry at the polls. 73% say they don't want to see guns near voting areas. there have been headlines that alarmed people in the community. just last weekend, ali, i was at duelling rallies where groups on left and right brought firearms and that raised tension and concerns. the folks on the frontlines of this are the local clerks and precinct chairs. i have talked to those folks. they feel like they are put in the middle here and they are in a tough spot as the issue is very much in the spotlight. there is not yet a lot of clarity. they are left to their own devices on how to handle this. i want you to hear from the clerk about how she is instructing her team how to deal with this. listen. >> we tried to tell them if they have somebody come in with open carry, let's them go at this point. if they start to feel they are

intimidated, they're purposely trying to draw attention to themselves, the chairman needs to help diffuse the situation. >> ali, she is asking people to be respectful of the voters and those election worker whose as working hasrd to make sure ever vote counts. >> if you are at the voting place and somebody is there with a gun and you feel intimidated, what do you do? who do you tell? >> you talk to the precinct chair and they will have to figure out thousand how to dees. this issue is twofold. voter intimidation concern here. if you go outside grand rapids, you may see yourself in a rural area where open carry is part of the culture. people bring it to the grocery store and to the polling place.

there might be those cases where someone comes in and not intending to intimidate, but voters are concerned. wearing a gun at a polling place is a different context than the local bar. that is where it could be a sticky situation. ultimately on the precinct chairs to decide when to call authorities or deescalate. ali. >> i would say since 1870 in arizona, it probably hasn't been cool to bring a gun to a bar. i get your point. dasha, thank you for the reporting from michigan. for more on this, let's bring in jocelyn benson. thank you for being with us, madam secretary. some people carry guns around. some people may have guns near a voting place. maybe i feel intimidated by it. there may be no actual threat i

can prove to the chair of the polling place to have anything done about it. >> so, look. we are giving a lot of clear guidance to the election officials. the current case is appealed to the supreme court. it was mentioned that the chairman has been instructed and will be instructed if not already by the local clerk to call law enforcement if there is any threat to voter intimidation at all at the polls. working with local law enforcement so they know what to do. the court of appeals opinion was mentioned recognized anyone who intimidates a voter in michigan by brandishing a firearm is committing a felony. that is enforceable by the executive branch and law enforcement. we will instruct our city and local clerks and they will sdru instruct to call local law enforcement and their clerk if anything remotely close to voter intimidation occurs at the polls. we wacnt to protect the sanctit

of the environment and want people know the environment is safe and health and security protected. we will do all we can to ensure the voting experience is a good one for every citizen in michigan. >> i just, for the purposes of voters in michigan, and elsewhere, i want to read the rest of the sentence. the court order. brandishing a firearm and threatening with a knife, baseball bat or fist or menacing behavior is committing a felony under existing law. the gun is part of the issue. you can't threaten anybody or intimidate anybody at the voting booth. madam secretary, you are the only secretary of state i have on the show today. the message you have resonates with everybody no matter what party they represent. it is too late to mail-in ballots. you shouldn't mail in a ballot today or later. >> right. really in any state -- every

state has different deadlines. there is so much uncertainty with the mail that we see. wherever you are, get your ballot in by 8:00 p.m. on election day so there is no question if it counts. follow the specific rules in michigan and many other states if you vote early or absentee. put your ballot in the envelope. make sure you are following all of the rules. get your ballot in by 8:00 p.m. on election day. if you have questions, call the local election official who is on guard and there to protect you and make sure you have the information to ensure your vote is counted. >> we will look at michigan and wisconsin and florida and north carolina and arizona on election night. when do you think we will be able to get certification from you about the results of the election? about the presidential election in michigan? you want to venture a guess? >> well, at this point, we're

going to wait and see how efficiently our clerks' process and tabulate the ballots. importantly to note, unlike ohio or north carolina or florida, where tabulation can occur as ballots come in or processing at least. we cannot begin tabulating our ballots until 7:00 a.m. on election day. we will have over 3 million absentee ballots that we cannot begin tabulating until 7:00 a.m. on election day. based on math and the machines, it will take 80 hours to work through the ballots to get an accurate and full tabulation of every vote. importantly, we'll be updating everybody. public and voters as we go along the process the moment the polls close until we have the full tabulation so you know where we are and what to expect and how soon we get results and the closeness of any race determines a lot of that, too. >> i was trying to get my napping schedule for wednesday

and thursday lined up. you haven't helped me. >> good luck. >> that's right. we'll have power bars and gatorade. thank you, jocelyn benson. a busy week for you. we wish you and your fellow secretaries of state well. tomorrow night on msnbc, back-to-back specials as we count down to election day. a special look at florida's role in the race to the white house. at 8:00 p.m., brian williams and rachel maddow preview what to watch on tuesday night. and 10:00 p.m., steve kornacki has the election coverage special. only on msnbc. the absentee ballot you requested is still in your possession as we just discussed. you havery likely missed your n window to sent it in by mail. it is too late to mail it, but

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depriving our schools. prop 19 closes this unfair loophole that's been exploited by an elite few and helps our schools, firefighters, and seniors. vote 'yes' on prop 19. tell them [record scratch] the party's over.

u.s. postal service recommends mailing in your ballot seven days before election day. we are three days out. if your ballot is still on the kitchen counter, you should not try to mail it in. it is time for plan b. in more than two dozen states, including battle grounds, your ballot must be received by election day to be counted. the postal service has experienced delays this year after postmaster general louis dejoy implementing cost cutting

measures. you still have options. rules in each state vary. check your election web site or go to vote.org. if you have not mailed in your ballot, you can hand it in to the local election clerk or a local drop box if one is available. if you decide you do want to vote in person on election day, but already received your absentee ballot in the mail, bring your absentee ballot and the envelopes with you. the sealed envelope and the envelope it came in. you have to take it all to the polling station. don't fill anything out. go to the polling station and get instructions from the poll worker. i'm in pennsylvania which is a state that requires you to cast a provisional ballot at the polling place if you requested an absentee ballot and then decide to vote in person and you did not bring your absentee ballot with you. the ballots will be counted once

they did not return the absentee ballot. let's recap. it is too late to mail in your ballot and have it arrive on time. it is not too late to vote. every state is different. please take five minutes. research the rules in your state. if you are not sure your ballots has arrived, many states allow you to verify receipt. it is easy like tracking your food delivery. each ballot has a unique i.d. number. most states have the form of the ballot tracking web site or app. look it up. register. track your ballot. if you are not sure, call the election office or google the election web site. ask a neighbor. ask a friend. just get it done. for more help, use your plan your vote tool. go to nbcnews.com/planyourvote. as you head to the polls, please

be covid conscience. the record shattered yesterday. one doctor from illinois has a warning for all americans as we approach the holidays. >> do not have extended family in person indoor gatherings at thanksgiving. we don't want you having your family over and someone getting covid and being on a ventilator by christmas. christmas. however, there is one thing you can be certain of. the men and woman of the united states postal service. we are here to deliver your cards, packages and prescriptions. and also deliver the peace of mind knowing that what's important to you-like your ballot-is on its way. every day, all across america, we deliver for you. and we always will.

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week so far for coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. as 40 states and puerto rico are seeing an increase in cases. the midwest is the epicenter of the new wave and the location of the most consequential states for the election. every swing state is seeing a rise in cases. wisconsin has seen the state's seven-day positivity rate rise to 27%. one out of four people who take a test in the state test positive for the virus. the state supreme court is taking up a case to wipe out the governor's emergency covid orders as he attempts to stop the spread. this court forced citizens to vote in person in the april primary during the height of the pandemic. the president wants you to think there is another reason for the rise in cases. he said this in michigan. >> it is always cases are up. people go crazy. you live with it.

you know, our doctors get more money if somebody dies from covid. you know that? they say i'm sorry, everybody dies of covid. >> trump's example. a cancer patient gets covid and dies and it is marked as a covid death and not a cancer death. that is actually correct. if you die because of covid, covid is your cause of death. regardless of the other ailment. doctors getting paid for covid deaths is another lie. joining me now is dr. nahid bhadelia. professor at the boston school of medicine. i feel tired wasting my time. doctors don't get more if a patient dies of covid. >> that is correct, ali. the president is referring to the hospitals getting higher for the payments for covid. that is to cover for personal

protective equipment when the patient is admitted. what the president is suggested is widespread fraud which would cause them to penalize hospitals. that is a lie. we are going into the worst surge of the pandemic. the reason, i think, this is so upsetting to health care workers, ali, we have gotten up every single morning of the pandemic and gone to work. dorks a doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists. we have all gone in and knowing we could get sick we went in knowing we could get sick and pass it on to our loved ones. our patients need us. this is the time our country needed us. when you hear the president who, by the way, his administration has taken the most well

resourced country and turned us into the largest course of covid deaths and blame us for itthe disaster and we deal with it every day. the surge will continue while he downplays the pandemic. it is heartbreaking. >> i want you mention the shortages of personal protective equipment. at the beginning of the virus, before everybody was making and selling masks, the instructions to people were don't buy the masks that the medical professionals need. they need them. there was a shortage of n-95 masks and things like that. trump is now suggesting experts were saying you did not need masks. that was a different story. that was a different time when we knew less and had fewer masks. they were saying make your own if you don't have one. >> yeah.

the tough part of this is we are still facing shortages of personal protection equipment. as the surge happens, we will see a different emergency in the country than in the spring and summer. you had the localized outbreaks in the northeast and south. the midwest is leading, as you said. almost every single state is looking like there's a beginning of the next surge. the strains on personal protection equipment will continue to lapse. the report says potentially in 2022 because we haven't ramped up production. i worked the in the ebola units in the poorest countries in the world in sierra leone. i would come back and tell stories of we are reusing personal protection equipment and people were shocked. i would talk about making

choices. i had to make bedside choices because there were not enough health care workers and so many patients. two young daughters survivor their grandmother? my time was so tough and split. you are seeing states like utah with the crisis standard of care where physicians in this country are having to make that decision. we have taken a hazard and turned it into a disaster. >> we are also looking at numbers that suggest in some parts of america that we are reaching capacity with beds and treatment, as you said with ppe. we now have to revisit the concept of flattening the curve. >> i think we have to talk about the fact that -- we do. we have to revisit it. i think we are getting to a point where numbers are going up and there seems to be no big breaks coming with the holidays

and fact that people are going to go thhome for thanksgiving a people will gather despite being told not to do so. there will be no option. before the administration, many states need to make a choice to roll back reopening to ensure cases don't get out of control to the point we ruin our health care systems. the report from the hhs and npr said 26% of the hospitals are already over80% of icu capacity. >> dr. nahid bhadelia, thank you for the work you are doing and for the work you have done in helping viewers understand this better. dr. bhadelia is an infectious disease physician and special pathogens unit at boston medical center. this week, velshi comes to you from pennsylvania.

joe biden and donald trump got the memo. they are campaigning across the keystone state this weekend. this could decide the outcome of the election. the election

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

in california, we're the only state where wealthy trust fund heirs get their own tax loophole. these tax cheats avoid millions in taxes on vacation homes and coastal mansions depriving our schools.

prop 19 closes this unfair loophole that's been exploited by an elite few and helps our schools, firefighters, and seniors. vote 'yes' on prop 19. tell them [record scratch] the party's over. we have new numbers on early voting totals in the united states. as of 8:00 a.m., more than 87

million americans have cast early or absentee ballots according to data from the firm target smart and secretary of state offices. joe biden and donald trump are storming pennsylvania. they are a crucial $20 elect 20 needs. biden has visited pennsylvania more than any other state during his campaign. he was born in pennsylvania. this poll released still has biden retaining his lead over trump in the state. biden has 51% to trump's 44%. in 2016, trump clinched just over hillary clinton. the record early voting turnout

and fears of intimidation still abound. we have kelly o'donnell with me this morning. it is great to see you. we are both in the same state. what is happening there? >> reporter: good to be with you, al oiri. in butler county, it is 28 degrees. this is the final push when you get cold weather in a state where the leaves have changed colors. you know election day is getting close. you outlined why pennsylvania is important. this is a state to claim state for joe biden and donald trump. for biden, his childhood home and neighboring delaware. for president trump, this is about defending a surprise win in 2016. where he went to college. a place where he believes he understands the voters. it is so complicated because it is a place where the argument

the president makes against joe biden plays bigger. that is the issue of energy related jobs and fracking. a process used in the energy industry. the president trying to say that will equate to jobs for pennsylvania voters. it is an important state. the president is trying to flood the zone with lots of appearances. in part, what he tells us, the reason for that is it demonstrates, he believes a vitality and fight to try to win this. that is one piece of it. another is the attention that comes from rallies and events with free media and carried on devices or tvs or the newspaper or local news. all of that having monetary value that the campaign doesn't have the funds to pay for in terms of ad time and so forth. joe biden has an advantage in the cash haul. there is a part of this where the president argues because biden has been leading in polls

in pennsylvania, but critical states and the national numbers, he is trying to demonstrate by polli pulling people out to his events and showing that he has support that will encourage people he could win against the polling and that is a way to try to keep his people evnthused and this i not something to just look at the poll. you should look at his ability to get crowds. that comes at the time of covid which is a battle like in minnesota yesterday where the president was limited in his event to 250 geuests. he did that, but had a crowd off to the side that could not get in. he went to address them there. fighting the democratic governor there and in pennsylvania certainly he'll talk about opening things up again. that is an argument that is at the core of the campaign. his handling of covid and how it would happen going forward.

now we're in the final push where the trump campaign is saying they want flexibility. they moved some of the events around. they may still do that in the final couple days to maximize impact. pennsylvania is key. 20 electoral votes on the ballot. that is important for the biden story and important to the trump story come tuesday. ali. >> it is a big state. you are completely at the opposite end of the state than i am in philadelphia. later this afternoon, i'm headed to luzerne county. it is cold out there. stay warm. kelly o'donnell. there say wave of voting procedu procedures. most of the procedures are making it harder as opposed to

easier. my next guest says it the supreme court makes it difficult to trust your vote. kes it diffit to trust your vote ok, just keep coloring there... and sweetie can you just be... gentle with the pens. okey. okey. i know. gentle..gentle new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database so you can start hiring right away. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. and remember the moment that things, for one strange time in our lives, got very quiet. we worried over loved ones, over money, over our planet, and over takeout.

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it ruled that ballots post pa marked november 3rd are not able to be counted and must be received. a similar ruling in wisconsin. reversing the state's plan to count ballots postmarked by november 3rd, but received six days after the election. the supreme court declined to step in on that case. my next guest says we can expect more of the same from the high court. the supreme court is not your friend here. voters should make sure the people they elect to the state electi this supreme court will not. with me now is joyce vance. joyce, welcome. there are two distinct messages

here. the last point where the supreme court is saying lower courts cannot take a more expansive view ruling of elections than the current supreme court would and the fact state legislatures ultimately make the rules. one of the most important things you can do on tuesday in addition for voting for president and vice president is go all the way down to the people who populate your statehouses because they make the rules. >> that's absolutely right. all too often the downballot races don't get the attention they deserve. if we can read any tea leaves from the supreme court decision, remember a lot of the election rulings are happening on the shadow docket where they don't write full opinions. to the extent we can read the tea leaves, it involves deference to state legislation. state courts, but that is an open issue.

down-ballot races are critical. people should educate themselves before they vote. >> you make an interesting point about reading the tea leaves and shadow docket. we shouldn't have to read the tea leaves. the new york times had an article missing from the supreme court election cases. reason for the rulings. if the court is going to treat emergency makapplications with equal care, it may explain what it is doing. what distinguishes judges from politicians. in the era, joyce, where we worry about the politicalization of the supreme court. understanding why they are making the decision. >> judge easterbrook has a fair point. it is said that legislators get to exercise the powers they have because they are duly elected. for the courts, it is the reason of explaining the law that

establishes legitimacy. the shadow docket has concerned scholars. these are cases where the court as in the election cases decides not to hear a poe tietition fro lower court. we have a ruling without reasoning. that is dangerous. it doesn't give the court the standards to apply. it hurts the legitimacy of the court in the eyes of the people. who thought we would be out from the election and discussing the legitimacy of the supreme court rulings and shadow document. strangely enough. we're here. >> joyce, what remedy is this? if there is a supreme court that we are watching make decisions that in the opinion of some disenfranchised voters, it is about rulings that they make or legislators make or rulings that lower courts make, what remedy exists?

this is the supreme court. if the system is broken and the rulings are a little bit unusual, what can anybody do? >> so we have been on a downhill trajectory in terms of making it possible for all eligible voters to vote more easily in the country. some people have said we are in a situation where politicians are selecting their voters instead of voters getting to select politicians. that's become all too true. we have a realignment on the supreme court of 6-3 majority that went continue to impose protections for voters that justice kagin did in her dissent of the wisconsin case this week. so the real problem here comes down to this. we are electing state legislatures to some extent on tuesday. those will be prospective decisions. forward leaning decisions. what your right to vote looks like in upcoming elections.

people have to be smart about making the decisions for the future now. all eyes will likely be on the court. the president was clear when he said he needed a ninth justice on the bench quickly because he thought the elections, this election would be decided in the courts. it looks like republicans activists are gearing up to challenge the counting of votes in specific states and courts across the country. we may well watch this election play out in federal courts. that's a frightening prospect at this point. >> joyce, thank you. thank you for what you have written about this. joyce vance. new york's attorney general is preparing a long list of action for the potential biden administration to undo. she joins me next. "velshi" continues after a quick break. elshi" continues after a k break. to help soothe occasional digestive upsets, plus stress that can make them worse.

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