andy beshear is the democratic governor of connection. larry hogan is the republican governor of a very blue maryland where the democratic legislature has a veto-proof majority. the two agreed to appear together today. i thank you both and welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> good morning. >> governor beshear, let me start with you. i'll put up a case curve. you know this curve very well with co-vied right now. it's astonishing how fast delta has surged in the state of kentucky. you're trying to deal with it, but you've been limited in your ability to do certain things by your republican legislature. what can you get dwon now to try to slow this surge in kentucky? >> well, our situation is dire. we are setting case records. we have a record number of kentuckians in the hospital battling covid, in the icu battling for their lives. we have a record number of families praying for their loved one who is on a ventilator needing that assistance to breathe. recent supreme court case and our legislature limit my ability to do some things like

larry hogan, the republican governor of maryland, and andy beshear, the democratic governor of red state kentucky. >>> plus, the newly elevated fight over abortion. texas enacts the most restrictive abortion law in the country, dismaying abortion rights advocates. >> as a matter of reality, roe v waid is a dead letter in texas today. >> and the supreme court lets the law stand for now. >> a child is a child. this person is a person. >> my guests this morning, former democratic senator claire mccaskill of missouri and former republican congresswoman barbara comstock of virginia. >> also, long term power outages in louisiana. record rainfall and flooding in the northeast. what hurricane ida tells us about the threat of climate change. joining me for insight and analysis are yamiche al alcindor from "the washington post" columnist matt buy, betsy swan and brandon buck. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> and a good sunday morning. the u.s. enters this labor day

record number of kentucky hands in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy beshear said on nbc's meet the press. he knows a mask order would help but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left pleading with americans. let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives, not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a result, our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on whethe

a record number of kentucky ins in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy beshearaid on nbc's meet the press. he knows a mask order would help. >> but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left pleading with americans. let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a result, our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on wheth

and it isn't just florida democratic kentucky governor andy beshear calling saturday for an emergency session of the commonwealth's legislature to deal with the covid surge spurred by the delta variant and that surge may worsen the world health organization adding another variant to its you variant. we certainly are aware of the new variants. but keeping a very close eye on it. doctor anthony fauci saying this week that while the who is calling a variant of interest. he is not a lot and it is not at all even close to being dominant. as you know, the delta is more than 99%. dominant. even though it is not in the essence taken hold to any extent here. >> we always pay attention to at all times. >> another potential source of concern to return to campus for college students images like this from lane stadium in blacksburg, virginia. a capacity crowd. mostly maskless for the virginia tech opening football game further complicating the fight against delta and with health officials. also advising president biden to hedge on whether to offer vaccine boosters by september 20th except for some

a record number of kentucky ins in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy besheare press. he knows a mask order would help but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left pleading with americans. let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives, not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a result, our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and. >> people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on whether vaccine boosters

kentucky democratic governor andy beshear said today on nbc's meet the press that a mask order would help but like other governors across america. he says he legally cannot implement one. so now he's left with pleading. let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives, not to cause someone else's death. >> that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. to complicate matters more. the white house is backpedaling on whether or not vaccine boosters could be available later this month. >> still america's top infectious disease. doctor anthony fauci believes the pfizer vaccine booster will be approved by september 20th. here in california. more than 4.2 million covid cases and 66,000 deaths have been reported as a result of covid-19. the new numbers come just 2 weeks before the white house's deadline of september 20th to start administering booster shots to the general public. >> we're not going to do anything unless he gets the the appropriate fda regulatory approval and then the recommendation from the advisory committee on immunization practices. loo

governor andy beshear will ask the legislative body to extend the declared state of emergency through review executive, agency, and cabinet ors. a recent decision by kentucky's supreme court curbed the governor's ability to sign covid-related executive orders. and hawaii is taking no chances with covid over this labor day holiday weekend. cases have flared up with hundreds of patients hospitalized statewide. while they're not imposing mandates, the governor warned of the burden covid was placing on hospitals and asked the public to enjoy the holiday safely. >> because of covid, the hospital systems across the state is in danger of moving toward the worst-case scenario. if that happens, we have heard from our health care leaders that people may not receive the care that they need, and certainly some may die. our choices today and over this weekend can help prevent the worst-case scenario for our health care system. so please act responsibly this holiday weekend. and moving forward as we battle this highly transmissible covid-19 delta variant. do it for the sake of your family, our comm

governor andy beshear saying the state had 30,000 cases last week, the highest number ever in one weekspitals across kentucky overwhelmed and the majority don't have enough staff to meet rising demand. beshear calling the situation dire. here's cnn's miguel marquez. >> it's more than a cold. believe ta. >> reporter: billy couch didn't think much about covid until he got. >> this is not fun and games. i've been here so long, i want to go home. but i can't go home because i can't breathe still yet. this is not a game at all when you feel like you're going to die. >> reporter: in the hospital 19 days now, the unvaccinated 42-year-old isn't sure how he picked up the virus. he toughed it out at home for eight days before being admitted. how serious is covid? >> it's bad to the bone. i recommend everybody wash their hands, do what they got to do, stay home. stay social distanced because it's bad. trust me, it's bad. >> until you had it, did you think it was bad? >> no. >> what did you this inc. it was? >> i didn't pay it no attention to be honest, but i do now. and get your shots. >> reporte

a record number of kentucky ins in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy beshear said on nbc's meet the press. he knows a mask order would help. >> but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left pleading with americans. let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives, not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a result, our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on wh

democratic governor andy beshear is asking lawmakers to extend the state of emergency until mid january the state supreme court shifted virus policy making from the governor to the legislature. idaho public health leaders have activated crisis stay, for the state's northern hospitals. they say there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle. the move comes as the state's confirmed coronavirus cases have skyrocketed in recent weeks. idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. the centers for disease control and prevention says the day or night of the coronavirus is now responsible for more than 99% of active covid-19 cases. and that is complicating the effort to get children back to school. correspondent jonathan serrie explains tonight from atlanta. >> as america's school children returned to physical classrooms, states that opened early are already seeing spikes in cases. in texas, more than 27,000 students tested positive in a single week, prompting renewed debate over whether schools with high infection rates should return to virtual learning. >

a record number of kentucky ins in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy besheard on nbc's meet the press. he knows a mask order would help but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left remember that liberty is is 's the right to live our lives, not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a result, our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on whether vaccine boosters will be avail

joining me right now is the democratic governor of kentucky, governor andy beshear., you have a critical staffing shortage that you've talked about. lay out, where do things stand for your state this morning with covid? >> we're in a really tough place, kate. we have hospitals full. we have tents set up to triage people outside. we've called in fema strike teams, the national guard. we've deployed nursing students all over the state. we've taken over testing from hospitals to free up additional people. we've had more people test positive than ever before. we have more people in the hospital because of covid than ever before. we're at record numbers or near record numbers we set just days ago, people in the icu or on a ventilator. the delta variant is really aggressive. it is really dangerous. we're going to see some form of this all over the country. we really need people to get vaccinated and to wear a mask when they're in public but indoors. >> i'll talk about masks in just one second. if some of your hospitals are to the place of needing to close down surgical roo

a record number of kentucky ins in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy beshearpress. he knows a mask order would help but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left pleading with americans. let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives, not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a resultv our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on whether vaccine boosters will

a record number of kentucky ins in the hospital battling covid in the icu democratic governor andy besheard on nbc's meet the press. he knows a mask order would help but like other governors around the country. he says he legally can't implement one. so he's left pleading with americans let's remember that liberty is is the right to live our lives not to cause someone else's death. that should be pretty easy for people of faith, for people of values. republican maryland governor larry hogan is also urging americans to get vaccinated saying his state demonstrates vaccines work. we have vaccinated 81% of all the that are eligible as a result, our hospitalizations are down 70 some percent from their peak. >> deaths are down even though the unvaccinated account for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. many americans remain hesitant to get the vaccine. >> some of it has to do with the fact that there's been tremendous disinformation campaigns and. >> people are believing things that are simply not true to complicate the matter. the white house is backpedaling on whether

and it isn't just florida democratic kentucky governor andy beshear calling saturday for an emergency session of the commonwealth's legislature to deal with the covid surge spurred by the delta variant and that surge may worsen the world health organization adding another variant to its list them. you variant. we certainly are aware of the new variants. but keeping a very close eye on it. doctor anthony fauci saying this week that while the who is calling a variant of interest. he is not a lot and it is not at all even close to being dominant. as you know, the delta is more than 99%. dominant. even though it is not in the essence taken hold to any extent here. >> we always pay attention to at all times. >> another potential source of concern to return to campus for college students images like this from lane stadium in blacksburg, virginia. a capacity crowd. mostly maskless for the virginia tech opening football game further complicating the fight against delta and with health officials. also advising president biden to hedge on whether to offer vaccine boosters by september 20th exce

beshear? caller: yes. i am very pleased with what andy has done in kentucky.egretfully, most of our legislators are republican, and they have started to restrict what he can and cannot do. andy has done a good job, especially keeping the public aware of what was going on and dealing with the covid situation. host: what specifically? caller: he had daily meetings through -- for a year in the covid. he had health representatives come in. he had very transparent with his handling of how the party for dividing -- we have had the mock campaigns done by different parties or republicans, but he did a good job. host: it is kay ivey in alabama and this is the line for democrats. caller: this is norma. host: go ahead. caller: i most definitely would recall kay ivey in a heartbeat. our county, we are still in the 20% range of vaccinated, which means we have about eight out of 10. you go to walmart, you have eight people out of 10 who are not vaccinated. it is a scary situation to go out in public. my first cousin's daughter was a high school science teacher. she died of