louis dejoy. he, alongside michael cohen and elliot broidy and steve wynn, was the guy announced in that press release. louis dejoy is, now, trump's appointee as postmaster general. the guy, who trump has installed to take over the post office, as the president embarrasses on an admitted overt campaign. to mess up the mail. to mess up the post office so it can't handle the ballots that are going to be mailed in for -- for the election. >> they need that money, in order to have the post officer work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. if we don't make a deal, that means they don't get the money. that means they can't have universal mail-in voting. they just can't have it. >> the president appointed this guy, louis dejoy. republican fundraiser with no experience in postal anything, other than him being invested, heavily, in companies that compete against the post office. and so, he would, therefore, personally, financially, benefit if the post office fails under his leaders

at all by this news that the inspector general at the postal service is apparently looking into louis dejoy? are you heartened at all by the calls that there ought to be big spotlit hearing in the house if not in the senate to get dejoy there and other administration members there to defend what they're doing? do you think that kind of thing would make a difference, or is time too short? >> look, time is short, so ill think that the inspector general is launching an investigation, but we don't have enough time. currently the hearings that are scheduled in the house of representatives, which i remind you is controlled by the democrats, they're not scheduled for another month until september. now, there are representatives like ayanna pressley, who have called for the house to come back from vacation to start hearings immediately. i think that's a good idea. i think as soon as next week we could see emergency hearings and haul dejoy in front of committee members, haul him in front and have him answer for what he's done. if he's unwilling to come, then haul his bosses in. there are six members

louis dejoy will be testifying before congress on u.s. postal service operations during the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 election. we will hear from him on friday before the senate homeland security committee starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. monday, he will testify before the house oversight and reform committee. c-span2at live on starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern. you can view both hearings online at c-span.org or listen live with the free c-span radio app. announcer: our live coverage of the democratic national convention continues tonight, with congresswoman, alexandria ocasio-cortez, former president, bill clinton, and jill biden. live coverage of the democratic national convention, tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span, live streaming and on demand at c-span.org/dnc or listen with the free c-span radio app. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. announcer: you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. created by america's cable television company as a public service and brought to you today by your television

democrats have accused louis dejoy of implementing changes to slow down mail delivery to help donald trump undermine the integrity of the election. the "washington post" reports louis dejoy is in frequent contact with top republican party officials and met with the president in the oval office last week. why is that? why is the head of the postal service, the postmaster general, why does he have to be in the president's office? today we learned the postal service inspector general is investigating louis dejoy and his controversial policy changes and whether he violated federal ethics rules. tonight a criminal referral was made to the new jersey attorney general to impanel a grand jury to look at electoral subversion by donald trump, louis dejoy, and other possible trump administration officials. joining me now, the democratic congressman of new jersey. congressman, good to see you. thank you for being with us. what do you think is going on in the postal service? we're using all sorts of words that i think are unusual because there is no way that louis dejoy could have not guessed tha

he's put louis dejoy in a bad situation as well because, you know, louis dejoy said in the senate hearing the other day that these were long-standing processes for changing the postal service to make it more efficient over time and to curb some of the financial losses that it suffered, but when the president lays over that his own public statements that the $25 billion democrats wanted to add that he can withhold that money, that they wouldn't be able to process the mail-in balloting just taints everything that dejoy is trying to do. in addition to trying to claim that the drop boxes were not secure and safe which, of course, history has shown that they are, many states have been routinely using them for years, the question is how much additional use they get this year, but president even cited fear of covid, the pandemic that he has failed to control as suggesting they are not safe, saying they are not covid sanitized. that real was an extraordinary statement by the president and, of course, twitter has -- has flagged that tweet. >> and i had a republican member of that committee just a

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louis dejoy, the postmaster general of the united states. mr. dejoy has earned the respect of both charitable and business communities. since its creation in 2005, the dejoy voss family foundation has positively impacted thousands of people, duke university, the cone health center for children, police foundations to name a few. i was present when mr. dejoy was inducted into the hall of fame for the triad junior achievement business leaders, the world's largest organization educating k to 12 students on financial literacy and entrepreneurship. just this past week, i received in the mail the family contribution, the sponsorship of family services of the piedmont, which serves 18,000 children and adults, many of those battling domestic violence issues. maybe the most impressive act by this family is the one established for students for title 1 schools. the scholars program at elon university. i had the opportunity to meet some of these students who come from some of our most impoverished areas. not something louis flaunts, just something he does. th

donald trump and louis dejoy are saying you can't vote by mail. amy: protests also took place sunday outside the greensboro, north carolina, residence of postmaster dejoy. this all comes as the democratic national convention kicks off virtually today, supposedly in milwaukee. but our next guest, democratic congressmember ro khanna of california, will be voting no on the dnc platform. we will find out why. at ro khanna joins us now from first, washington, d.c. he is a member of the house committee on oversight and reform, where postmaster general louis dejoy is set to testify a week from today. welcome back to democracy now! why don'n't you lay out for us e crisis of the post office with president trump openly admitting on fox that he is trying to defund the polic post t officece of people cannot maiail in their votes, although he and his wifee plan to.o. >> i it is a very serious issue. ththe presidencies t the polling that overwhelming g democrats wt to vote by mail because that listen to a lot of the science and d people are concerned a abt the s

so clearly, louis dejoy has messed with the wrong community. it has obviously touched a nerve, and they got caught red-handed, as leader rep. hoyer: says. so i am glad they are backing off making these changes. but you will forgive me for being a little bit skeptical. we are still going to return to washington on saturday. we are still going to pass this legislation. we are still going to send it over to the senate. and if louis dejoy and donald trump are serious about protecting the postal service, they will give this blessing to this legislation and donald trump will sign it into law when it passes the senate. so this is what we need to do. we need to protect the postal service. i am delighted that you guys are shining a bright spotlight on this. and we are going to do it. so thank you very much. rep. hoyer: i want to thank all my colleagues for coming and i want to thank all of you for coming. i want to thank ms. taylor for being here, as well. on behalf of all of us, for all and some of already said that, for all of those who serve our post

democrats are skeptical about louis dejoy. there afraid he's trying to undermine vote by mail and one person in particular whose concern is eleanor holmes norton. she's from the district of columbia. >> mr. dejoy did not tell the truth at the senate hearing yesterday. we know from a july 15 memorandum directing employees explicitly to leave mail behind and to significantly cut overtime. >> postmaster general louis dejoy appears before the house oversight committee a second hearing on capitol hill in four days. house is expected to pass the postal service bill shortly. a small number of republicans will vote yes including gop pennsylvania representative. >> i stand with the hard-working postal workers usps must be fully funded so that my constituents and millions across our nation can receive a high-quality and timely service that the post office has provided us. madam speaker i will vote in favor. white house chief of staff mark meadows is very concerned about fixing the postal service. >> we have politicized it to a point wher

we'll talk to one democrat who would question louis dejoy in a minute. i'm hallie jackson. it is great to be back with you on this busy monday morning from washington. along with nbc's leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill and peter alexander at the white house. leigh ann, talk through the next steps we expect to see over the coming days, nancy pelosi saying, house, you need to get back here because we have to deal with what is becoming a

democrats are still not pleased with the action yesterday by louis dejoy, rescinding a lot of these actionsng back some of the service issues they were very concerned with. let's start with alexandria ocasio-cortez, democrat from the bronx. >> postmaster dejoy can say whatever he wants about what changes will or will not happen in the future. he has lost the trust of the american people. he has lost our trust to make sure that he will follow through. >> democrats are asking why postmaster general louis dejoy was trying to make the changes amid the pandemic. that sowed fears about the capabilities of the postal service during the coronavirus crisis and raise questions about the fall elections. >> to do it normally would be bad. to do it during covid, when people can't go to the stores, the drug stores, and everywhere else where they need necessities, is nothing short of outrageous. >> white house chief of staff mark meadows says president trump never ordered changes, he just missed democratic assertions of election sabotage. meadows said louis dejoy isn't the one to blame. >> this postmaster

we need to hold -- actually, i think louis dejoy needs to be removed. postal service belongs to us, even though charles koch, as m my reports, within that organization has been targeted by charles koch for privatization since the 1970's. and hoping the members of congress will respond to citizens who are clamoring to protect our postal service and make sure we get our balance on time, get our medicine on time, checks on time, and really reform the postal service and give it the money it needs to survive and thrive in thisis corona rises. juan: : lisa graves, could youou talk a little e more about this hihidden efft by chaharles kocho privatize the postal servivice ththat has gone o on almost unkn byby most americans for so long? >> i was really surprised he really began urging for the postal service to be privatized in the 1970's. when he became the biggest funder for the libertarian party in 1976, its platform expressly called for the abolition of the postal service, then in 1981 his brother ran for vice president, the libertarian party also called for

louis dejoy has served as the postmaster general since june of 2020. he spent more than 35 years developing and managing the successful nationwide logistics company as chairman and ceo of new breed logistics. beginning in 2014, mr. dejoy served as the ceo of the logistics supply chain business in the americas. after the retirement he served until 2015. mr. dejoy. >> good morning, chairman, ranking member peters and members of the committee. thank you chairman johnson for calling this hearing. i'm proud to be here with you today on behalf of the 627,000 dedicated men and women of the united states postal service. on june 15th, i became the 75th postmaster general. i did so because i believe the post service plays a positive role in the life of the nation. i also welcomed the opportunity to lead this organization because i believe there's an opportunity for the postal service to better serve the american public and also to operate in the financially sustainable manner. congress established the postal service to fulfill a public service mission to provide

president trump's newly appointed postmaster general, louis dejoy, imposing strict cost-cutting measures ahead of a huge sil-in voting because of the pandemic. protesters showed up at his home this morning accusing him of engaging in voter suppression. here's abc's rachel scott. >> reporter: tonight, with millions of mail-in ballots at risk of not being counted, protesters lining up outside the postmaster general's home, accusing louis dejoy, a trump ally and gop donor, of dismantling the postal service after putting in place cost-cutting measures that critics say will slow mail delivery. >> louis dejoy is working very hard. >> reporter: today the president tweeting, the democrats know the 2020 election will be a fraudulent mess, threatening to block funding for the post office unless democrats meet his demands on coronavirus relief. >> universal mail-in voting is going to be catastrophic. it's going to make our country a laughing stock all over the world. >> reporter: but the postal service is in crisis, already faced with limited resources and longstanding financial issues, now warning

louis dejoy recently appointed to the role, is a big trumpet donor. —— mac trump donor.il delivery. i was overseas and i cast my vote by mail—in ballot! protesters worried about louis dejoy protesters worried about louis de joy public changes protesters worried about louis dejoy public changes will hamper mail—in voting during the 2020 presidential election. voting by mail is especially important this year. many americans will want to avoid busy polling stations to cut down on the risk of catching the coronavirus. president trump is not a fan of voting by mail. he has warned of potential voter fraud, without proof, and he says he is blocking billions of dollars of additionalfunding for blocking billions of dollars of additional funding for the postal service which ever cracks want to deliver a fair election. —— democrats. cracks want to deliver a fair election. -- democrats. you are going to have a catastrophic situation with universal mail—in votes. situation with universal mail-in votes. he has said... members of the democratic party accused the president of trying to

now, the decision by louis dejoy comes after blistering attacks from democrats and some republicans,using him of slowing down mail delivery in order to delay millions of mail- in ballots this fall. today, president trump said the idea that some states plan to mail ballots to all registered voters could lead to the possibility that there won't be a result in this year's election, leading to a do-over. well, the president's repeated assaults on voting by mail will no doubt be front and center at the second night of the democratic national convention later this evening. and in a surprising twist tonight, the party is also rolling out a video narrated by cindy mccain, the wife of one- time republican presidential nominee and senator, john mccain, who died in 2018. sources say she is not expected to endorse joe biden, but in a portion of the video obtained by cbs news, she talks about her husband's close friendship with him. and as we come on the air tonight, there's growing frustration that warnings about the spread of coronavirus are not being heeded on college campuses. the university

louis dejoy said these changes were being made for quite some time. it's not about the election. but is it enough to halt the changes? are there things that were already made or already changed that are going to make it harder to get ballots back in november? >> yeah. first of all, the situation has created a lot of confusion and chaos where none existed prior. but in addition to that, the words that were released yesterday really are just that, words. it's one of the reasons why michigan joined a suit with several other states to put actions behind those words. a court order behind those words demanding the changes stop. of course, it was an admission, those words were, at the policies were wrong, and that's also why we need commitment to walk back the changes that have already happened, in particular, the removal of the sorting machines you mentioned. yet, just today in grand rapids, additional sorting machines have been dismantled and placed outside of postal service. the postal service in grand rapids. so our evidence on the ground is that these changes are already happening,

again, postmaster general louis dejoy was in front of a senate committee on friday. while he was there, he talked a little bit about the removal of the public blue postal boxes. here is what he said. [video clip] >> today, there are about 140,000 collection boxes in the united states. over the last 10 years, it averaged about 3500, so 35,000 of them have been removed. it is a data driven method. i have not reviewed it, it every year they look at the utilization of postal boxes and where they place new boxes and red communities grow. , since myr 10 years arrival, we removed 700 collection boxes, of which i had .o idea that that was a process when i found out about it, we what the excitement it was creating, so i decided to stop it. we will pick it up after the election, but this is a normal process that has been around since you know, 50 years. the last 10 years, we have pulled back about 35,000. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the post office this morning. here is one text that came in and said, i just received a first-class e

awaiting the postmaster general louis dejoy's opening statement before the house committee. efore a house committee this time. last week he was called in by a senate committee on friday. lawmakers asking dejoy questions and to provide testimony about policy changes that he made at the postal service that may or may not have resulted in delayed mail delivery. the postmaster general is expected to defend his case on that. last week saying he did not speak to the president specifically about any of those changes and committing to no more policy changes before election day. so he is about to give his opening statement, trace. we'll be listening to that. >> trace: it is notable the postmaster general has look all the cuts have stopped. we won't cut anything and keep these things going. in his testimony last week he again and again reiterated the fact that, you know, none of these cuts that have been implemented had produced a slowing of the mail. in fact, he testified it was doing just the opposite. they were kind of streamlining things and he was seeing a pickup in the mail. stil

louis dejoy making questions on his changes to the post office, changes the critics say have crippled the service ahead of the november vote, an election that is expected to see a record number of mail-in ballots. dejoy testifies in front of the democrat-led oversight committee. we will bring that hearing to you live. >>> also next hour, the republican national convention officially kicks off in north carolina. president trump is expected to head to charlotte in minutes for today's roll call vote. we are also following breaking news regarding covid, a race for a vaccine as well as coronavirus treatments, plus accusations the white house is playing politics. president trump announcing the fda is giving emergency authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus, that is plasma from patients who survive the infection, but many health experts claim there is not yet enough data to support the use of the treatment. the "new york times" is also reporting that the white house is looking to give approval for a vaccine before the end of crucial phase three clinical trials,

louis dejoy became post master general in june. among other things he's overseen dismantling machines that can sort up to 36,000 pieces of mail per hour. those sorters may be gone for a long time, if not for good. >> we've heard about the shorters. you addressed that earlier. will you bring back any mail sorting machines that have been removed since you've been post master general? >> there's no intention to do that. they are not needed, sir. >> you will not bring back any processor? >> it's not needed, sir. >> he still urged americans to cast their ballots right away. meanwhile postal workers in two cities are ignoring orders to leave the sorters off line. some say they've been warned as the press may be posing as postal service customers in concern. at the same time house democrats passed a bill to allocate emergency funds. the post office is required by law to give the whole nation the same level of service. its workers take that mission quite seriously. one letter carrier in florida said he just wants to, in his words, deliver

groip there are growing calls in congress for post master gem louis dejoy to resign.ican, a megadonor d all he masr general just three months ago and since criti heol b designed mail delivery in this election year. during the coronavirus pandemic, many states plan to increase their dependence on mail-in balloting. erin moriarty has more. >> is it fair to say that business is booming for you? >> we have be getting more and more calls from counties throughout the country that need help. we are literally at this point sold out. >> for nearly 50 years kevin runbeck's company has helped americans select their leaders by supplying voting equipment and counting ballots. >> we have a whole system of checks and ballots as we read each ballot was he print it. >> reporter: long lines in the midst of a pandemic at primaries in wisconsin, georgia, and a texas runoff election last mont. >> we're out here in 103 degrees, sweltering heat. people can die from heat stroke. people can catch covid. >> my preference is a mail in ballot. don't feel comfortable but i feel compelled to come

and go over to new york with what is going on in terms of the postmaster general, louis dejoy is set questioned. that is as he has become embroiled in a political fight between the democrats and president donald trump over voting and integrity about the election. we are joined by our bloombergquint take reporter. why is the mail service cutback so contentious? >> you know, this year, we are expected to see voters voting by mail more than ever before of course given the pandemic. president trump over the past few weeks has really waged a war over voting by mail and tried to come out and say that voting by mail is in some ways fraud or it is not what people should be doing. that coupled with the fact that louis dejoy, who was also a former trump donor, came out earlier this year and made several cost-cutting measures to the usps, including limiting overtime work for workers has really put him in the middle of a political fight between democrats and president trump leading into november. multiple speakers this week at the democratic national convention came out and tried to reassure vot

workers michael and dale of cleveland told me the new mandates implemented by postmaster general louis dejoy are causing an unprecedented slowdown in mail. >> we want to just do our jobs to the best of our ability and we get the resources to do them. >> reporter: dejoy a republican megadonor and trump ally to took over in june argues his cost cutting mores are aimed at overhauling an agency suffering billion dollar losses, overtime for workers, erased, post office operating hours reduced. leading to service slowdowns, and delivery delays from coast-to-coast. >> we've had mail that has been left in the plants. >> the way they're stopping it, the mail's just not making it to transportation. >> have you seen any improvement at all based on the changes the postmaster general has made >> nope. not a thing. >> none. from the top down. from the top down. >> reporter: the postal workers we spoke with insist the post office has the capacity to handle the expected surge in mail-in ballots. >> we handle over a billion christmas cards every holiday season we can handle a couple hundred million ballots c

president trump over the weekend defended postmaster general louis dejoy and said he was a fantasticost office great again. then he unveiled the new 2020 mailboxes. top democrats have called on postmaster general louis dejoy to resign over his plan to cut operations and make mail delivery less reliable that's right when it comes to the mail, don't mess with the old people they love mail that's why chuck schumer keeps his glasses in the opening bills position at all times. "honey, did we watch bridges of madison county last month? did you know that set us back $3.99? top democrats have called on postmaster general louis dejoy to resign over his plan to cut operations and make mail delivery less reliable, but dejoy got the last laugh because he put his letter of resignation in the mail. that's a stupid joke it's like an o. henry story or a "twilight zone." i don't know you choose either way, the joke was dumb. president trump's son-in-law and white house adviser jared kushner said yesterday that he has no fear about sending his children back to school amid the coronavirus pandemic and

louis dejoy has served as postmaster general since 20 -- june 2020. prior to his unanimous selection and appointment by the board of governors, he spent more than 35 years developing and managing the successful nationwide logistics company as chairman and ceo of newbreed logistics. beginning in 2014, mr. dejoy served as ceo of xpo lodgistics supply chain business. after his retirement in 2015 he joined the company's board of directors where he served until 20 2018. mr. dejoy. >> good morning, chairman, ranking member peters and members of the committee. thank you, chairman johnson, for calling this hearing. i'm proud to be with you today on behalf of the 630,000 dedicated women and men of the united states postal service. on june 15th, i became america's 75th postmaster general. i did so because i believed the postal service plays a tremendously positive role in the lives of the american public and the life of the nation. i also welcome the opportunity to lead this organization because i believe there is an opportunity for the postal service to better

postmaster general louis dejoy, a major trump donor, says he's pausing controversial cost- cutting measuresuse speaker nancy pelosi says dejoy admitted in a phone call with her today that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes, and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed. >> our plans for november will move forward. >> reporter: new jersey governor phil murphy is fighting back after the trump campaign sued his state over its plans to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters this fall. >> we will defend our rights vigorously, and we will not back down. so as they say, bring it on. >> reporter: and in a risky move, president trump attack goodyear tires, merican icon, for announcing a ban o magas. >> i'm not happy with goodyear, because what they're doing is playing politics. >> reporter: the president is angry about goodyear's policy barring workplace political expression, including his campaign hats. >> it's despicable when a president of the united states thinks it's appropriate to call for the boycott of a u.s. company. >> reporter: the u.s.

e of the most interesting things about this was when they were watching the conversations that louis dejoy did or did not have with people like trump and like tasury secretary steven mnu dejoy said he spoke with trump a solely can graduation all -- a solely congratulation numer -- way. they want to know if the president directed dejoy to take some of these steps to that -- c thatated problems. the whole thing, remember, is politically critical, because people like the post office. people like getting theirhe mail and paychecks and their prescriptions and everything else that comes in the mail, whh is why it is critical not justrom the election standpoint and the ballotingnt standput people's lives and livelihoods, as way, election ballots,ar tong what happened in 2018. 95% will be processed between one to five days, a commitment that he made. robert: hallie -- you made a great point, yamiche, about expediting the, ballo but he said under intense pressure from democrats, dejoy refused to unwind vario steps like the mailboxes and sorting machiots, so still af unanswered questions. yamiche: w

now, louis dejoy was sworn in as new post master general back in june. before that well-known businessman and also a very generous republican donor and also contributing to president trump's campaign. since taking over dejoy has made a number of changes at the post office including cutting back on employee overtime and also calling for operations to be overhauled holding some deliveries a bit longer in an effort to save money but the changes have sparked controversy on saturday, a group of demonstrators showed up outside of dejoy's dc home to protest and now the post office inspector general is looking into dejoy's work in the last couple of months. we also have seen democrats demand details about the post office's plans for mail-in voting and ensure that the post office is prepared for the november election. >> the bill is being put together right now during covid that we don't take out machines to move mailboxes, tell postal workers that they can't work overtime. mark: while democrats are asking him to testify, congressman cooper of tennessee could go f

reporter: ayman, this is important because during today's senate hearing, senator gary peters asked louis dejoydirectly, have you taken steps to eliminate or curtail worker overtime? and dejoy said flatly, no. i have obtained an internal usps document, the headline here is pivoting for our future, this is a document talking points that was circulated on july 10th, 2020, and in this document that was given to managers to relay to employees, you can see how the policy changes that are listed here have the same effect of cutting worker overtime to include things like, late trips are no longer authorized or accepted. carriers must begin on time, leave for the street on time and return on time. so this is why one of the reasons, one of the reasons why we've seen those images of a box that was due to be hand sorted of packaged mail that had sat in this facility in upstate new york for nine days because there were no people to sort it because of the effective cuts to overtime. it's not clear if dejoy was playing semantic games or what, we haven't heard from the postal service yet about all of this. it

and although, the postmaster general, louis dejoy, has made changes to the post office operations that critics say will hamper its ability to deliver mail-in ballots at the volume expected in november. the president praised dejoy's efforts. he also sought to draw a distinction between absentee voting and mail-in voting. >> louis. he is working very hard. but, as you know, the democrats aren't approving the proper funding for postal. and they're not approving the proper funding for this ridiculous thing that they want to do, which is all mail-in voting. universal, you could call it, mail-in voting. again, absentee voting is great. you request. i'm an absentee voter because i requested, i got, and then, i sent in my vote. so that works out very well. that's what we've had. but now, they want to send in millions and millions of ballots. and you see what's happening. they're being locke they're being lost. they're being discarded. they are finding them in piles. it's going to be a catastrophe. >> and the president recently requested his own absentee ballot. but the distinction between abse

louis dejoy said last week the service would not be able to handle the volume of mail-in ballots.he now says any operational changes will be made after the november election. let's go to mike hanna, live in washington, d.c. why has he made this abrupt u-turn? is there going to be enough to stop the outcry? an outcrye has been both from democrats and a number of republicans about delays within the postal service that have followed these cost-cutting measures, as he put it, undertaken by louis dejoy. he has announced these measures have been suspended, but nancy pelosi has released a statement saying, although this is welcomed, it is not enough. she points out this is suspending changes, not removing them or backtracking. for example, the mail sorting machines that were decommissioned will not be replaced. she says the house is going to go ahead with its hearing on saturday in which it will pass a bill that insists the postal service is be returned to the perdition -- the position they were at the beginning of the year. in other words, measures be rolled backwards. there is still im

louis dejoy will appr before the committee on friday. >>> now to the breaking news in california, the governor there declaring a state of emergency as the wildfire threat grows. more than 30 fires burning across the state fueled by winds and record-setting heat. many are blamed on lightning strikes. here's a 12-hour time lapse look at yesterday's flames in napa valley. evacuation orders have been expanded in that area. >>> the national weather service will be in central florida today to look at wreckage from a possible tornado. the system leaving behind flooded streets, power outages, dozens of damaged homes in and around deland. the storm also causing some overrntued this is the view from inside a c box trehuck. the driveras taken to the hospital. >>> time now for a look at your wednesday morning weather. we're watching two tropical waves on the move in the atlantic. the first has a 70% chance of development, and forecasters say the second has a 90% chance of becoming a tropical depression some models have it veering toward florida and the atlantic coast. there are heat and fire warn

postal service because of the cuts made by postmaster louis dejoy. hearing that he was going to walk past those cuts, but then speaker pelosi seems to say, in fact, he's not doing that, that he's not restoring these voting machines. he's not restoring the mailboxes. so where does that leave some of those cases that we spoke about yesterday? >> the big quest with the postal service, the decommissioning of those machines, is what is exactly being removed and what exactly is being put in. does the postal service need the 600 machines they are decommissioning? are they obsolete? will they help increase mail-in ballot ak sechlts all of these changes may not be that big a deal. they would mostly be within the executive branch's direction. but any time those decisions are made, big decision, little decisio decisions, cost huff cutting decision, now you're infringing on the right to vote, a constitutional right, millimeter the framers deem so important that even the postal service might run smack dab into the constitution if it affects the right to vote. >>

speaker nancy pelosi issuing a blistering statement after speaking with the head of the post office louis dejoy about stopping the pre-election changes he's trying to make, pelosi saying in part, quote, the postmaster general's quote pause is wholly insufficient. politico is reporting that in just 45 minutes from now, house republicans will hold a call to discuss the democratic bill to shore-up the post office, that going up for a vote this weekend, meantime we're learning more about what exactly the democrats' legislation will do to help the postal crisis, not only calls for $25 billion in funding, it ensures postmaster general louis dejoy doesn't implement any changes until after the pandemic is over or january 201, which happens later. moments ago, the white house press secretary was asked about it. >> on the post office, are you able to share if the white house is open to $25 billion the house is propose zmrg we don't have a cap. we're looking at $25 billion. >> we're expecting to hear from the president, president trump soon, he's due to give a briefing at 5:30 eastern. we'll bring you tha

do you believe louis dejoy when he says there was no correlati correlation? >> i don't know. i'll be very honest. it's very hard to know. i can't tell you that i know, so i'm not going to tell you that i know it. i do know that in election weeks, we have seen far more disorganization and backlogged mail. that is a fact. >> john: so you joined 89 of your colleagues and demanding that the board of governors at the post office remove mr. dejoy from his position. what was the basis for that? >> of talk to the former postmaster general and this isn't new, i've been working this. a lot of the issues were expressed about administration decisions, being that of the post office that were creating total chaos in the delivery of mail. quite frankly, while i'm worried about the ballots in november, i am more worried about the veterans who won't get their medicine and the seniors who have the issues so i'm worried about this on a day-to-day basis. election day matters but i'm worried about it every day. >> john>> john: of house is meeg tomorrow to pass a $25 billion funding bill for the p

louis dejoy will appear before the republican led senate homeland security on friday now. later today, house democrats are expected to unveil legislation aimed at blocking dejoy's recent changes. things like taking out sorting machines, mailboxes, et cetera. he will testify before the house oversight committee on monday. >> the president says that the only way that democrats are going to win in november is if the election is rigged. his word. he's set to leave the white house in minutes. he is going to go to iowa. he'll survey storm damage there and then travel to arizona for a campaign stop. john harwood is joining us this morning. i mean, interesting maneuver i guess to one up the house and the senate republican like committee to have him testify first. >> yes. but, you know, this is something where the democrats have raised the heat to a sufficient extent that they need to respond and at this point, poppy, you mentioned the campaign stop in arizona. everything is a campaign stop at this point in the election season. the president just now commemorated the 100th annivers

prescriptions -- >> no, no, the post office is running very well. >> reporter: postmaster general louis dejoy who agreed to testify at a hearing next monday, demonstrators this weekend protesting outside the washington home of dejoy a trump ally who has given more than a million dollars to the president's campaign and as photos emerge that show mailboxes being hauled away, a spokeswoman tells nbc news, they'll postpone removing boxes for 90 days until after the election while they evaluate customer concerns peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >>> the pandemic reaches new heights and now becoming the nation's third leading cause of death, just behind heart disease and cancer nationwide nearly 5.5 million americans have been infected, over the past week there has been an average of over 51,000 cases per day. the death toll topping 170,000 with the fall semester in full swing, one major university changes course after more than 100 new infections here's jay gray. >> reporter: on college campuses across the country, the school year starts with parties and problems >> i hate to say i expec

all of this comes as louis dejoy was the for the first time before senators. during that hearing he distanced himself from president trump. he said he's a big believer in mail in ballots. he said every american should be able to do so. the postal service can handle the demand. he says election mail will automatically be upgraded to first class mail. >> if people vote within seven days of election are they hig y ly confident or are you confident thad those ballots would be received >> extremely high confidence. >> reporter: he also said he has never spoken to president trump about any of those actions that he took, those controversial actions. he said the only interaction he had with the president was a conco congratulation meeting. he'll be before the house committee on monday. pamela brown, cnn, washington. >> let's go to sara westwood who is at the white house. the trump campaign is accusing democrats of pushes these conspiracy theories. the president himself has pushed conspiracy theories about mail in voting. >> reporter: a war of words here with the trump

>>for 38 is the time meanwhile postmaster general louis dejoy has agreed to testify before house lawmakers next monday, the oversight committee chairwoman says that dejoy will face her committee which is looking into the changes that he's been pushing there at the usps they've already led to slower mail deliveries. the joys administration says it would not necessarily handle mail in ballots as priority mail anymore. democrats accuse him of doing president trump's bidding and efforts to suppress the vote. they're also pushing him to reserve or i should say reverse the changes but the choices he's only trying to restructure the financially troubled agency. the argument is happening as states are expanding vote by mail ahead of the presidential election this coming november. we'll take a break it's 4.39 coming up next death valley may have broken a world record for the hottest temperature are going to tell you exactly how hot it got. >>coming up after the break. and here's a quick live look outside our camera in san francisco showing us the embarcadero and the bay bridge. we'll be right back.

they'redledding that louis dejoy resign over concerns that changes in the postal service could halfer elections during the mail in balance. during a senate hearing yesterday there is no evidence that the slowing down of the mail will interfere with the election. >>> it comes as house lawmakers reconvene on legislation providing billions of dollars for the post office. but without much support from congress and a veto threat from the white house that money will like leaflet make it to the intended recipient. >> democrats pushed through legislation to impoles the postal service with billions and laying maim service across the nation. >> only this vote the yeahs, are 157 and the nays are 150. the bill is passed. withoutal objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> reporter: more than two dozen republicans approved the package. they agree today follow policy chat the postal service. that include getting rid of employees, limiting hours and removing equipment. they say tholes changes could result in the timely ballots. plashing meldoles accused democratles of crafting a b