Transcripts For MSNBCW Deadline White House 20201001

Anything president Vladimir Putin of russia could have imagined. All mr. Putin has to do now is amplify the president s message. The front page of todays New York Times illustrates that point perfectly. For urgent, a1 stories describing the president s intensifying push to erode trust in the vote. Active measures to disrupt the polling places and fears when the president of this country fails to condemn White Supremacy and the threat all of that poses to the very existence and future of our democracy. And we cant say that we werent warned, folks. Here is fiona hill. Our highly professional and expert Career Foreign Service is being undermined. The russian governments goal is to weaken our country. To diminish americas global role and to neutralize a perceived u. S. Threat to russian interests. We are running out of time to stop them. Now to break it down, the president s disinformation lately falls into three broad categories. One, lies about the pandemic. Two, lies about his political opponents and adversaries and, three, lies about the election process itself. In the third, trump is whipping his voters this a frenzy based on claims about voter fraud that his own fbi director said isnt happening. The republicans are putting together what they call an army of Trump Supporters to monitor election procedures and Voting Rights groups fear it can veer to voter intimidation, but the question is how far mr. Trumps supporters will take the exhortation to protect the vote that the president has baselessly described as being at risk of widespread fraud. Quote, while i was worried about trump norm breaking in 2016 it is far worse for a sitting president to be undermining the integrity of the election. One election law expert said to the times. Whether he means the things he says or not, hes convincing the most ardent supporters the only way he loses is if the democrats cheat. Trumps efforts to delegitimize the election as he does not disavow the White Supremacy adds to his political weakness and drag on the kind of voters they rely on to stay in power. But trumps wink and nod to racists is very much in line with some new reporting from nbc news. It shows there was pressure exerted on Homeland Security officials for make sympathetic comments about Kyle Rittenhouse, a trump supporter who is charged with killing protesters in kenosha. And thats where we start with some of our favorite reporters and friends. Former chief of staff of both the cia and the pentagon, and Msnbc National Security analyst jeremy bash. Eugene robinson and ab stoddard. Jeremy, i can imagine assembling the headlines and having them read russian attempts to sow discord and have all of the campaigns being pushed by russians but the advance if you will on that 2016 effort is now theyre all being put into motion by the american president. What does that do . Well, nicolle, we are entering a very dangerous phase. Over the next 33 days whats not on the ballot is merely a choice between the republicans or democrats or trump or biden. Actually whats on the ballot is a choice between democracy or whether or not were going to revert to some russian form of dictatorship or autocracy. Its long been an ambition of putin and of russian state propaganda to show the world that american democracy doesnt work. That actually the people cant elect their representatives and that the peaceful transfer of power cannot occur and thats used to justify putin staying in office 10 or 16 years and thats the kind of rhetoric that President Trump is talking about, ill stay in office for 16 years. His effort, make no mistake, is to undermine the ability of the American Voter to have confidence in our democracy. He wants people to stay home. He wants his white supremacist gangs to come out and prevent people from going to the polls under the guise of poll watching. He wants to suppress the vote and even if he loses, nicolle, loses outright he wants to take that case to the Supreme Court where hes trying to put his hand picked person on the court and he essentially does not want to yield power under any circumstances. Jeremy, let me follow up and just put you on the spot. Who do you blame for if fact we have got on the this point that we can read the headlines i just read on television . It seems to me that this is a National Extension of how trump viewed the american presidency. Michael cohen has talked about that and others are testifying to his affinity for dictators. But it seems absent a complicit Republican Party he could have been slowed down before it got to this. Who do you blame . No question he has accomplices. Look at the attorney general barr, hes obviously been in front and center defending this approach to quote unquote Law Enforcement. Of course, the director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe put out a highly partisan statement on Tuesday Morning before the debate. I guess alleging something about clinton and the 2016 campaign. It videoed that the office of the director of National Office has become a partisan arm of the Republican National committee and of course members of congress that support the president i think are in a sense giving a green light to this kind of behavior. It is, nicolle, a very dangerous phase and i think we just need to absorb the fact that even if trump loses he is saying he will not accept those results. Hes willing to risk violence and even some regards civil war to stay in power. And, you know, a. B. , it would seen that its graver to those hes drawing into the fight, to his supporters that hes brainwashing not to accept the election and to those who say he loses, all the polls show him losing eight to ten points nationally and show a much more clearer electoral path for joe biden than trump. I want to ask you whos to blame, because i think it gets to where i can end the segment, who can stop this . I think all of the advisers who tried to act like they were working for a normal president and im going to put the next person who im going to show you in the category are come police it in not stopping him and not going to congress and heres h. R. Mcmaster on with Hallie Jackson earlier today. This is almost like a perfect storm, where we have the extreme groups at the same time as a president and others are diminishing our confidence in our democratic process. What the groups draw power from is a sense that people are disenfranchised, they dont have a voice. You do have a voice. You get to vote. You get a say in how youre governed. We ought to be thankful for that and grateful for that and protect that you know, this tremendous, you know, experiment we have in democracy. And the radical idea of our revolution that sovereignty is with the people. So mcmaster seems to live in a world where the White Supremacists are disenfranchised, not nodded to and green lit by the president and by his press secretary. What do you make of the people who got us to todays point . You know, nicolle, it has been so hard to watch people like hr mcmaster not step up and be responsible about the recklessness of President Trump. That they have seen so much more of than we have behind closed doors and they know so well the grave threat that he presents. And its so interesting when you were talking at the top about what we couldnt have known. Did we know not in 2015 that President Trump didnt believe in the courts and the congress and the constitution . Is anyone surprised . I think what republicans in congress who are you know, who are the president s enablers might not know is he would openly in closing weeks of the campaign express comfort with potential violence and stoke the aggression of hate groups on the right like the proud boys. But when you ask them they wont answer your email. Essentially they are not planning to come out and save us with 30 something days remaining and say this is incredibly dangerous to threaten the peaceful transfer of power, to say you will not accept the results of the election, to tell voters their votes wont count and you plan to use the Supreme Court to invalidate ballots that came in legally. This has never happened in the history of our country. We will not be the same country anymore if it does and theres nothing but silence. So you saw a few people come out and say its time to disavow the proud boys in the last 48 hours but you can tell it was painful for them and i just dont know as he escalates the rhetoric and the republicans, they know its wrong, that stoking white supremacist aggression is wrong and all of the stuff hes telling the voters about the mailin ballots is wrong. They certainly agree its wrong and they will be open about that privately but they will not speak up. And heres one of the people, eugene, who they wont speak up for. Christopher wray is the sitting fbi director. Here he is in testimony about ten days ago, describing the russian effort to interfere in the 2020 election and then trump responding. Lets watch. We certainly have seen very active, very active activity by the russians. I did not like his answers yesterday. The big problem is china. We can have others also and im not excluding anybody. But the big problem is china. So Christopher Wray did not say that the big problem was china. The dni has china not backing biden. Why dont they come out and at least because i accept what a. B. Is saying and shes got her ear to the ground, so i dont know if i believe that anymore, that they know hes wrong. Do they really know hes wrong . Do they really think that china is as bad, as malevolent as russia, really . No, not really. I mean, they hear what he is saying but i dont think anybody buys that. I think i think most republicans in congress, i think most probably probably most people involved in President Trumps campaign know that the fbi director is likely to know what hes talking about. They just dont want to contradict the president when he spews his nonsense and his nonsense is the reality he would like to create rather than the reality that. Is look, this is just situation that we have to deal with. I dont think theres going to be some sort of last minute, you know, enlightenment by the president , all of the president s republican enablers and theyll suddenly rediscover their love of american democracy. We have to vote, we have to vote in huge, undeniable numbers. I voted on tuesday. People are voting in many states across the country now. And, you know, the old saying is voter early and often, but just vote now. And overcome the obstacles. Its just whats going to have to be done in order to end this nightmarish interlude in our democracy called trumpism. And it you know, all the polls indicate that that is within reach. And that that can be done and yes, you know, you can perhaps monkey around on the edges with a close election. With an election thats not close, you cant monkey around with that and it will be accepted and he will leave. He might go kicking and screaming. He might have to be grabbed out of the white house on january 20th. And one minute after noon, but he will go. You know, eugene brought us to sort of the next logical part in trying to game this out, jeremy. I wonder if you can put on both all three of the hats you have worn, really. Your Intelligence Committee hat and your cia and your pentagon hats and pull the thread further on what eugene just described. If the polls hold up for donald trump to win would be i think an historic comeback and a historic breakdown, far exceeding in any discrepancies from the polls four years ago. Anything can happen in the final 33 days of the president ial election, but should the current polls hold, what do you think would happen if a Biden Victory were clear, were certified by the Associated Press and all of the organizations that traditionally certify the elections, what do you think that transition would hold for the country . Well, first, i think if we anticipate what trump would do, i think he would immediately move to enjoin the reporting of the results or the counting of ballots that were necessary to determine the final results. And he would go into federal court and try to get a quick injunction against some of the vote tabulation and try to get the court to enjoin the electors from reporting the slice of electors and would pull on any string he knew how, talking to republican state ligt legislators to try to stop them from reporting their election numbers and get mike pence as president of the senate to essentially read out a victory for donald trump. I think we wont know that trump is gone until as eugene pointed out january 20th. Because every step of the way in the transition, even if election day results are clear, i think trump is going to fight this. I think this is definitively going to the Supreme Court. I think judge barrett has to recuse herself from any decision because of course trump is putting her on the court in part so she can back him up on any election controversy. And i think this is going to be a very difficult, dangerous moment for our country and of course hes going to sow violence and proud boys to go out to the streets to try to create as much chaos as possible. You know, a. B. This is the scenario that donald trump has described. He says in his rallies which i have a professional obligation to watch that he needs the Supreme Court to decide the election. Donald trump talks in his debate performances about not accepting the counts and turning this whole thing over to the court. Donald trump refused to condemn White Supremacists from the debate stage. Coming back on the republicans, not as punishment, but you have your ear to the ground. They have been warned. Are you surprised they havent come out on the side of good old democracy and election . Thats whats so interesting about what jeremy describes because you posed to him what if its a clear biden win and thats why you see the Democratic Party in ohio pushing so hard because if ohio can decide decisively for biden on election night, then its over. Theres no foreseeable path and so theyre investing in ohio. Ohio is a legitimate tossup state. And you see democrats pushing for wide margin to shut it all down and at that point i believe theyre expecting the good faith and goodwill of republicans at that point to say this looks like a legitimate win and no, i cant agree with the president s made up grievances about something happening in a warehouse somewhere or down a river. We are waiting to see if thats the moment when they break, when they decide its over. At this point theyre afraid to speak out, even though they have disenfranchised by acquiescing to President Trumps propaganda their own races, their own voters and of course the country they purport to love. Theyre going to be watching mailin ballots come in as they are now in far greater numbers for democrats than they are for their own party as a result of this rhetoric. So i think the most hopeful scenario is if its decisive win, a good, clean margin and in florida and then something really close in ohio and looking lok, we cantust belt where fake any slate of electors here even though were a Republican Legislature in pennsylvania, wisconsin or michigan, we have to agree this is a win, does Mitch Mcconnell and other leaders do they stand up and say this looks like a clean win . Thats the scenario you hear joe biden describe it would be fine. If its a good, clean win, everyone will behave. That will be their last chance if theyre not going to speak out now and i dont think they will. Eugene, i just have to end with you and i cant wrap this conversation without underscoring how far from normal it is. Normally you have to win. You dont have to win by such an enormous margin that the guy who announced he plans to cheat and will send voters to scare other voters will try to hang on to power. How do you think voters are processing this . Well, look, voters are anxious because the president is creating anxiety. Deliberately. And in part trying to depress turnout, turnout among some groups, turnout in some states, but i do think voters are going to overcome that. I think it will be a healthy and large turnout and then it will fall to those Election Officials and those state legislators and those governors in those contested states that lets say donald trump loses them and loses them clearly. So they are then going to deny the obvious will of their voters, the people who put them in office and the people who, you know, are going to bounce them out of office if they try Something Like that. They are they are then going to deny their will and instead go against it. Its possible because i have given up predicting whats possible and whats not possible. But i think at that me too. But i think at that point, it becomes very difficult. That becomes very difficult in mike dewines ohio or even in ron desantis florida. I think it becomes a real problem if youre youre going to worry more about Donald Trumps political future if youre one of those state level officials or your own political future . And donald trump, you know, will at that point a loser. So we will see. We will see. I so wish that this were a thought exercise or a red team conversation, not literally ripped from the front pages of todays newspapers. Jeremy bash, uheugene robinson thank you. The White House Press secretary clearly refused to denounce White Supremacy. If youre confused about coronavirus, President Trump has you right where he wants you. The american president is the single biggest spreader of coronavirus lies. Well show you that. And the reason it might be because joe biden has highlighted the president s failures effectively and all polls point to a likely trump defeat. Well dig into his fear running against joe biden going back to last may and leading to the impeachment. Well speak to a Biden Campaign adviser about his biden obsession. All those stories coming up. Halfwashed. Downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. Downy and its done. [ engine rumbling ] [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know theres a 30minute limit, right . Tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. [ beeping ] against the back drop of the news still making headlines that republicans are now very worried about Donald Trumps murky comments to put them in the best light possible about white extremist groups and his refusal to denounce them during tuesdays debate, today we are learning that its not just trump whos having a hard time condemning White Supremacy. His press secretary, Kayleigh Mcenany was asked quote, does the president denounce White Supremacy, she said this has been answered by the president himself and the day before by the president himself. On the debate stage he was asked this, and he said sure three times. Well, here was trumps actual response from the debate stage today night. Are you willing tonight to condemn White Supremacists and Militia Groups and sure. And to say they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in kenosha and as we have seen in portland. Sure. Im willing to do that. Specifically go ahead, sir. Ill say almost everything i see is from the left wing, not right wing. What are i want to see peace. Do it. Say it. What do you want to call them, give me a name. White supremacists and proud boys. Proud boys, stand back and stand by. Tell you what, somebodys got to do something about antifa and the left. This is not a right wing problem. Kayleigh mcenany also said quote, yesterday he was point blank asked do you denounce White Supremacy and he said i have always denounced any form of that. Again, here was trumps actual response yesterday rather dismissive in which he said he doesnt know who the proud boys are. I dont know who the proud boys are. I mean, you have to give me a definition because i dont know what they are. I can only say they have to stand down, let Law Enforcement do their work. In new york like they have they have down in new york do you denounce them i denounce any form of that you have to denounce but i also, joe biden has to Say Something about antifa. Its not a philosophy. His mouth cant get around the word, any form of that is not denouncing White Supremacy. So Kayleigh Mcenany brought up trump denouncing the charlottesville clashes. He said that racism is evil and those who cause violence in the name are criminals and thugs including the kkk, neonazis, White Supremacists and here hate groups but she left out that trump said this. We had some very bad people in the group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in the group excuse me, excuse me. I say the same pictures as you did. You had people in the group that were there to protest and the taking down to them of a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from robert e. Lee to another name. Lets bring in to the conversation, Yamiche Alcindor a political analyst and a. B. Is still here. Why cant they move their lips around the words i condemn racism, i condemn White Supremacy, i condemn the proud boys, next question, yamiche . Im not quite sure and it was remarkable to see john roberts of fox news press and press and press to try to get that answer. Its a simple answer. Its a layup question in some ways for someone to say do you deannounce this. But what we saw from the White House Press secretary instead was reading old quotes to say that the president has done this, when we havent heard his words. They say the media is focusing too much on this but john roberts said this not just democrats and reporters. The actual there are republicans, miles from white house, who are also wondering why cant this white house denounce White Supremacy and they see it as a benefit to them, except that President Trump is not denouncing White Supremacy and hes hurting the chances of those downballot. We saw tim scott the only africanamerican senator, republican, he is pushing to get an answer for this still. At first he said maybe the president misspoke but today he said well, i still want an answer for that. So this tells you the white house continues of struggle with what should be a simple condemnation of White Supremacy. So a. B. , im going to show you what yamiche just described which is fox news john roberts. An extraordinary piece of sound in a vacuum but considering he works at fox especially extraordinary. I want to follow up. The white house is mad this is a distraction, the white house created the distraction. I guess my question to you is to push a little further here. They could have made this go away the night of the debate. They were informed early yesterday that there were two things donald trump had to clean up from his debate performance. One was refusing to condemn White Supremacy and the other was the broad swath with which he sought to delegitimize an election that hasnt occurred yet. Really hes done neither. This isnt a distraction created by anybody other than the white house. What do you think is behind it . Yeah, he has not been cleaning up those things. Nicolle, this is so purposeful. Thats why they struggle with sentence fragments. Look, think what you think about kaylee, she cant say anything different than what the boss tells her to say. She has no choice but to squirm and not denounce in explicit terms any hate group that he refuses to denounce. Theyre just using that line about why this is some dumb distraction when as you said it could have never happened or been ended on tuesday night. This is something that when you hear the president hes done this in years past. People keep asking me to disavow, ill disavow, but he doesnt put the sentence together. If donald trump was upset about the proud boys making a meme and a bunch of tshirts and a rallying cry on tuesday night we would know it. Hes not upset about it. And hes not going to tell us hes upset about, no matter how many republicans have called him in a panic in the hours following the debate. He has made clear that theyre not going to denounce a White Hate Group and they have no intention of doing so and all of that language is always purposeful. Let me show you, yamiche, the sound that you referenced from john roberts. If the president didnt know who proud boys were, and joe biden just threw out the name, if he didnt who they were, why did he denounce them . Why didnt he say, i dont know who they are, give me more information about it. This remains puzzling. For you on twitter who are hammering for asking that question i dont care. Its a question that needs to be asked and those republicans a mile away from here are looking for an answer. Stop deflecting. Stop blaming the media. Im tired of it. Wow. Yamiche, thats incredible. And he must have different followers than i do, and more adept with the mute button. I cant imagine that anyone would be angry about a reporter wanting to know what the final answer is on Donald Trumps view on White Supremacists. Thats right. John roberts really hes expressing what a lot of reporters and americans are feeling. Why cant they answer this . Why cant they just get their mouths together and say, this is what we denounce. We denounce White Supremacy in any form. John roberts working for fox news, one of the used to be one of the president s favorite networks but i make the case that Fox News White House correspondents, someone like john roberts, hes been addressing the administration for a long time and they got to see a specific time that he was trying to get an answer and he said, look, this isnt just me. Its the americans who want the answers and were trying to press the white house for the answers. They wont give them. Today was a tough day for Kayleigh Mcenany, the White House Press secretary. She was put simple answers. She couldnt answer them. There was another fox News Reporter who said what river did the president was the president referring to when he said there were ballots being thrown in a river, who were they and where is this river . She got that question over and over again and she couldnt answer that. She cant answer the white supremacist question either. Because theres no river. Thank you for spending time with us. Up next, researchers are trying to figure out why the United States hasnt been able to get the coronavirus under control. Researchers have come to one conclusion. The words of president donald j. Trump. Apps are used everywhere. Except work. Why is that . Is it because people love filling out forms . Maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much Vacation Time they have. Or sending corporate their expense reports. Ill let you in on a little secret. They dont. By empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. To learn more, visit paycom. Com they do one of the most deven in normal times. S, our Frontline Health care workers. And when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder. Prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. To invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone rich, poor, and inbetween. Whether its this pandemic or the next health crisis, vote yes on prop fifteen. For all of us. History says, Fine Jewellery for occasions. We say, forget occasions. Fine jewellery for yourself. snap were mejuri, the new luxury. A drug called chloroquine and some people would add to it hydroxy, hydroxychloroquine. Its shown very encouraging, very, very encouraging early results. Im taking it. Hydroxychloroquine. Right now, yeah. Couple of weeks ago i started taking it. I see the disinfectant knocks out in a minute, one minute, is there a way we can do Something Like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning . Its painful to even watch those clips again and this may come as no surprise after seeing them that eight months in to the pandemic, a new study out today finds that the single largest driver of coronavirus misinformation is that guy, donald trump. According to researchers at cornell university, mentions of trump make up overall misinformation in the 38 million articles they analyzed about the pandemic earlier this year. And false information about you guessed it, miracle cures was the most prevalent topic by far. This as we continue to learn more about the possible undermining of science happening inside the white house today. Axios reports that cdc reporter redfield was overruled when he tried to extend a no sale cruise order and meanwhile, 38 states are seeing an uptick in cases this week. So far, 208,000 americans have lost their lives from the pandemic and more than 7. 2 million have become sick. Lets bring in the founding director of colombia universitys National Center for Disaster Preparedness and nick, i want to start with you. Viewers of this network felt strongly about it, a lot of hosts and anchors had strong feelings as well about not carrying Donald Trumps news conferences at the outset of the pandemic because he was disseminating dangerous information. This cornell study seems to confirm that point of view. Well, look, nicolle, i think what the study shows is that the president is the typhoid mary of a second pandemic in the nation and around the world. Its a pandemic of misinformation of false facts and miracle cures and he is a big driver of it. The president of the white house is the most important voice in the world. His voice carries weight. Its why networks care his news conferences so often and why his words are printed so often, but it raises a real question if people are doing harm if they simply carry, you know, a live remark of what hes saying in real time. It certainly can defeat our efforts as reporters to fact check him and provide context for viewers. I think thats an important debate we should have as reporters. You know, i guess i asked the question, dr. Redlener, because the pandemic doesnt wait for us to figure the things out. At the time it was raging and spreading, some people were taking disinformation about masks, about hydroxychloroquine, and he was tweeting liberate michigan at the time they were trying to tamp down the outbreaks. He has been spreading not only disinformation, but defiant messages. Contradictory messages in your line of work, science and medicine. Right, nicolle. This has been incredibly distressing from day one of the pandemic. You know, we used to think it was back in the old days that its just a matter of ignorance and incompetence which is a good measure of both of those in the government thats been run by donald trump. But i think if we learn nothing else from the Robert Woodward tapes and interviews theres something much more than that. Theres an intentionality, a Defiant Campaign of undermining americas Public Health infrastructure. Its ability to make appropriate judgments. And, you know, the messages of absolute dishonesty that have been put out by this white house when the president absolutely knew better. And now the incredible undermining of americas leading scientists and americas leading Public Health institutions. Theres like a serious intentionality i have no idea what it would be, but its cost the lives of many, Many Americans. You talked about the fatalities a good half of those could have been avoided if the president and his people had acted with more responsibility. Yet, they chose a path of recklessness that has caused the deaths of Many Americans and many more americans are going to die because of the policies and the messaging thats been put out by donald j. Trump over many, many months now. Its a tragedy of unimaginable proportions for american society. We have a new predictions, the models predict 388,000 americans will have lost their lives by the end of the year. And god willing none of them will get sick on a cruise ship. But we know that the cdc director tried to keep cruise ships closed, banned. Axios is reporting, quote, Public Health official have privately complained that the this warting of redfield on the cruise ship ban is politically motivated because its a Major Economic presence in florida. A key Battle Ground state where polls are statistically tied. What a horrible state of play, that Donald Trumps political prospects and in a Battle Ground state are playing into the decision about whether to put thousands of people in a petri dish of a cruise ship. I saw that story and i was so shocked, nicolle, because cruise ships are petri dishes without coronavirus. How many stories have you read of passengers getting stomach bugs from the buffet line and well prioritize that. I think whats driving it is the president s strategy has been to declare the mission as accomplished on coronavirus. To basically create a sense of normalcy that things are creeping back to normal, because the bill for in and the further deaths if people arent careful can come after election day at which point hell be out of election or safely reelected thats the real danger here that short term efforts to make things seem theyre normal are going to undermine us all in the long term. Dr. Redlener, id love your thoughts on that, but let me give you a twopart question and the last word here. Were seeing upticks, a new yorker and a manhattanite and a city and a state that was through the worst of it is now seeing some really alarming upticks in almost two dozen zip codes in the new york area. Your thoughts about that and anything you wanted to add to the cruise ship ban being overruled by political appointees. You know, new york city and new york state actually do a tremendous job of getting this under control and that was the case for many, many weeks as you well know. Now were starting to see an uptick as you pointed out and unfortunately i think most of us in the business, my business, would say that it was inevitable that well start to see resurgences in places that had been under control and now are not. That is really a difficult situation as is my grandson here knows. But the problem is hi. Not much we can do about this oh, boy. All right. Anyway this is what Remote Learning looks like. Oh, yeah. So it is. But i think the issue is karen . Sorry. The issue oh, boy. Please. The issue is that were going to see a big uptick all over the place in the United States and elsewhere in the world. This is not going away. Were not doing to be free of the covid19 pandemic for the next couple of years and we need to get used to that fact. Even if we get a vaccine. Its going to be a long time before we get this under control. So im not the least bit surprised about what were seeing in new york. And we have to you know, gear up and be adults about this and do what needs to get done to protect ourselves by doing the things that have been recommended. I am very worried though, i must say as a last point oh, boy. This is the best thing that i have seen. You can talk about whatever you want. Oh, boy. All right. Anyway, boy, oh, boy. All right. Well give you the last word after that. So my last go ahead. My last word here is that the undermining of our senior scientists and our Public Health agencies the United States was looked at as the premiere expertise in Public Health in the world for a very long time until donald trump came into office. That loss of reputation is going to be one of the things that would have to be repaired by ifd its going to take a long time. Weve undermined the credibility of our Public Health experts, the representations of our Public Health at sees. This is a disaster that will result in lots of work for the next president , hopefully it will be a different president. Well just have to deal with this. But the expectation and more deaths, many of which will be unavoidable is unfortunately in our future, nicolle. Doctor, you and your grandson, thank you for making my day. Nick con foss sorry, thanks for spending time with us. President trump says hes opposed to any rule changes before the next debate besides the commission saying rule changes are needed because of donald trump. Well ask an adviser about this next. I have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now, theres skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. Skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. Staying at home is more important than ever, especially if you have a chronic illness or just got out of the hospital. Kindred at home can come to you. With the help of our skilled, compassionate clinicians, you can learn to manage your illness or regain your strength in the privacy of home. We take every precaution to protect you so your home can be both a comfortable place and a safe place to get the care you need. Kindred at home. Go online or call the number on your screen. Donald trump this afternoon suggested he will oppose any changes that the president ial commission on debates tries to make to upcoming debates. That Commission Said it was planning changes after tuesdays chaotic first debate. Lets talk to corinne jump, Senior Adviser to the Biden Campaign. Senator harris is the next one up. Vice president pence, not expected to be as defiant as donald trump was. Where do you guys come down on that . Here is the thing. Joe biden is going to participate in these debates like he has said in the past with whatever rules change that the commission puts forth because he believes that the American People deserve to hear from the candidates and put forth their position for the country. We are going the play our part. Hes going to show up and hes going to do that, do exactly what he tried to do joe biden tried to do on tuesday which is lay out that vision, make sure the American People know knew what his plan was and what he wants to do as president of the United States. Donald trump has a whole different idea, right . He doesnt want to talk about his record. He wants to really just be a bully and just not talk about division and not answer to the questions and not talk about his record. Thats the game that he plays. Thats what he does constantly and consistently. But thats not what we want to do. We want to continue to have that conversation and lay out a clear vision for the American People and let them know theres a different direction we can take this country is. Did you guys talk amongst yourselves about whether or not this was sustainable for two more debates or do you feel like youre at the mercy of how engaged a moderator decides to be with donald trump . I think were going to do the job you have to do as a candidate in a debate, which is make sure your vision and your policies and your plan for the country, when you become president of the United States, if you have that opportunity, that you lay that out. Heres the thing, nicolle, this is nothing new. Donald trump is who he is. The only clear answer he was able to give on tuesday was give a wink and a nod to White Supremacists. Thats the only thing he was able to do. It honestly is not surprising that the man that has walked away from dealing with, from really tackling covid19 wants to walk away from talking about having putting rules in for a debate. That is not surprising at all. Here is the thing, nicolle. People are tired. Voters are tired. Eugene roberts talked about this early, talked about the importance of voting. People are voting right now. If americans and voters want to stop the nightmare that were in, we cannot do it alone. We need everyone to come together and vote, and thats how were going to stop this nightmare that were in right now. And thats what joe biden is doing. Thats what Kamala Harris is doing. They are out there every day, whether virtually or physically in person in a battleground state talking to people, doing it in a safe way and laying out what their plan is. Its working. Its connecting. We have to remember. Donald trump was so afraid, so scared to face joe biden that he got impeached for it. He got impeached for not trying to face joe biden. This is where we are with limb. He doesnt know how to play fair, doesnt know how to talk about changing peoples lives. He doesnt understand that being president is for the people, theres compassion, theres leadership. He has shown none of that in the last four years. Again, voters are not stupid. They see this. Theyve seen this for the last four years, and i believe theyve had enough. Karine jeanpierre, we never get enough of you, my friend. Nice to see your face. Thank you for spending time with us. Were grateful. Have a great day. The next hour of deadline white house starts after a very quick break. Dont go anywhere. Im looking for a president that is humble enough to understand that they are a servant. I dont think we need a genius. I dont think we need a magician. We just need an honest person who is willing to listen. We need someone who will take in information, surround themselves with talented people and lead the country as best they can. Anyone we choose will make mistakes. Thats for sure. But the reality is, if we pick for character, if we pick for values, well be best off. We have to believe in our values. You have to believe that your commanderinchief at the end of the day is someone you can trust, and i can trust joe biden. Hi again everyone. Its 5 00 in new york. That was retired four star general Stanley Mcchrystal. Hes not just one of hundreds of other generals and other senior military officials to come out against donald trump and for joe biden as it increasingly becomes clear that the chaos and discord thats become one in the same with Donald Trumps Political Campaign and presidency, poses a threat to national security. General Stanley Mcchrystal is a leader, a highly respected figure in the armed forces for decades under republican and democratic administrations. Hes well known for publicly criticizing then Vice President joe biden back in 2010 and making some comments that ultimately led to his resignation out of respect pour the obama administration. Now he says his disagreements to him feel small compared to the abuses of our democracy at the hands of President Trump and trumps failures of character, comments that come amid a barrage of stories about the president emboldening White Supremacy, mocking Fallen Soldiers and dismissing the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic. General mcchrystal is picking the candidate running in opposition to all of that, he says, because, quote, if we pick for character, if we pick for values, we will be best off. Today, former leader of the Republican Party agrees in another stunning biden endorsement that would be unimaginable in normal times, former republican governor of montana, a man who was george w. Bushs Campaign Chair which is where i met him in 2004. Hes a former Republican Party chairman, marc cacicot says this. I regret i will cause consternation perhaps in some corners. Even as a republican i will not be supporting donald trump for president and i will not be voting for him. That means i will be voting for joe biden for president. The content of a mans character or a womans character to serve in that capacity is more important than any other issue that i have to consider as a matter of ken sheconscience. Two big cracks that could show a dam break. The New York Times, quote, President Trumps refusal to condemn an extremist right wing group sent a shudder in the Republican Party, amid mounting fierce it could damage the party on election day. The Washington Post describes, quote, a reckoning among republicans on wednesday about the incumbents incendiary remarks on White Supremacy and his baseless claims of electoral fraud with gop officials privately expressing alarm about the fallout with key voters. That fallout with key voters is where we start this hour with some of our most favorite reporters and friends. From Security Policy at the department of Homeland Security, Elizabeth Neumann is back with us. Political director for Republican Voters against trump tim miller is here. Washington post political reporter bob costa is here. Bob, you know the sort of state of the republican psyche better than any reporter in washington. What do we really think about trumps performance and the state of the race . They feel boxed in, nicolle. They feel they cant go against him right now with about 30 days left in the campaign and have some drawn out public fight with him. They also dont want to be embracing him at this moment. They see the democratic fundraising numbers and the poll numbers. At this moment theyre navigating the storm often uneasy in trying to figure out their way to keep power. Thats so whats the word, krarch. How many of them know better, bob costa . How many should he lose or be rebuked by the voters will say, yeah, i was just afraid of a tweet but this is better for the country . One thing i picked up in my report and you may have heard it, too, is a lot of republicans want President Trump to win but privately theyre not going to be distraught if hes defeated. A Real Movement to start planning for 2022, 2024, opportunities to redefine the Republican Party. When im having these conversations with sources privately, i do challenge them, one, youre not speaking out publicly on anything about your concerns and, two, who says youre going to be able to walk away from trumpism so quickly. American voters may have a longer memory. Tim, i do have a couple of these conversations, its hard for me to keep my mouth shut and listen. Thats why bob is a much better reporter than i will ever be. I end screaming at these people. The political reality is that joe bidens coalition includes a lot of people who look to Stanley Mcchrystal and mark roscoe as the old normal figures in politics they didnt mind that trump was crass or that trump was more plain spoken, but they didnt want him to break democracy itself. You are seeing a significant movement. This is who were talking to at our event. You saw in a recent poll in pennsylvania, 22 of people in suburban philly and suburban pittsburgh who identify as republicans are voting for joe biden. You are seeing movement on the ground. This is real. I do need to comment on something that bob said here and those in that New York Times story, im sick and tired of these people expressing unease privately. Honestly, i wish they would just say they like it. Its been five years now. You know exactly what youre getting with this president. He has defended White Supremacists time and time again since the day he came down the escalator. I cant tolerate this, this sense of oh, im being uneasy or i wish in the next debate he would phrase things better. This is donald trump. If donald trump wants to condemn somebody, hell condemn them. He calls us human scum, nicole. He calls Joe Scarborough a psycho and a murderer. Saying there are fine people on both sides is not a condemnation. You know who he is. If he wanted to condemn them, he would. He likes them because theyre veeting for him. If you want to be on board with him with the White Supremacists, then be on board with them. Dont whisper to bob youre uneasy. Give me a break. Go ahead. Just real quick. Tim brings up an important point. There really isnt a version among many republicans who are in congress to having any kind of in depth conversation on race. Theyd rather talk about the transactional nature of their relationship. Theyre getting Supreme Court nominees in exchange. Maybe economic policy. But when you bring up race, the blinds come down and they would just rather shrug off the question. They want to shrug off the question because theyre supporting a guy that defended White Supremacists. Thats why theyre shrugging off the question. They dont have an answer. Its not okay to talk to the friends at the country club in fairfax and say im supporting a White Supremacists. Hes had the chance to call them all the same names he calls us in the media, never tum pers and immigrants. Thats why they dont want to talk about it. Theyre ashamed. They should be. Elizabeth neumann, i want to bring you in on the conversation. All i was going to add, i think you see the most political deterioration for donald trump among independent and republican women. If you have kids that have any awareness of the racial reckoning that went on this summer and all of our kids, or most of them are still home. They were all home this summer, it is impossible to explain Donald Trumps on going refusal to condemn White Supremacists. What do you make not just of the state of the Republican Party today in its image as Donald Trumps lackeys and sycophants and carrying his water, transactional for the Supreme Court pick, the stain of embracing racists will not wash away ever. How do you feel that filters down to the electorate 33 days out . I think were all fed up. Its time. I want to be able to focus on my kids. I want to go to little league. I dont want to have to be careful around friends for saying the wrong thing about not being supportive about trump. We want to move on with our lives. Sadly this president is so dangerous that we cant. We have work to do to be able to save our country, quite frankly. Thats how dire a situation we are in. But i want to echo what tim is saying. Now is the time to come and speak out. This isnt an election about your policy preferences. This isnt an election about maintaining power. This isnt even an election about siding with the racists. His comments on tuesday night are going to lead to more violence. You are now siding with somebody who is in violent defiance of their oath of office to protect the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. You cant continue to support a man o who is treasonous in carrying out his duties. This is dangerous and it needs to stop. Elizabeth, you and tim are the most passionate on the topic of race, and youre the two most closely and recently sort of practicing republicans that i have the privilege of getting to talk to. Is your alarm, elizabeth, because you know people that are still sort of in the pattern and sort of muscle memory is going to bring them to vote for trump again, or are you worried about hes unleashed or both . Im more unworried about what he has unleashed, he has emboldened White Supremacists from his comments. As tim said, this is a pattern and practice. Hes done this in the past, but the rise of White Supremacy, though, it has always been there. I dont want to imply it just crops up in 2016, but there has been a significant increase since he started campaigning during his tenure. They feel emboldened. They feel he is helping them with their cause. Part of the insidious nature of some of their ideology is they believe the government is controlled by the elites, by the jews, any manner of people they feel are evil, and they think donald trump has to do this dance. He has to he cant explicitly endorse them, but he is not condemning them. So, therefore, he actually is supporting them. Hes really on their side. They build conspiracy theories around his rhetoric like this where he apologizes and then doesnt apologize. They think this is a subtle way, a tacit approval of what theyre doing. Youre going to have more recruitment. Hes encouraging people in suting and notsosubtle ways to take their arms to polling places. That is so dangerous. Were already tense as a country. We already have any number of stressors associated with the pandemic. We have people that are very vulnerable from a Mental Health perspective. Planting these ideas in peoples minds is just inevitable, somebody is going to carry out an act of violence and blood will be on his hands again. Bob costa, does anybody youve talked to express unease about the violence that might have been unleashed by Donald Trumps comments tuesday night . They express concerns. When you look at all my reporting over the years, this is a party that embraced in donald trump when he believed in birtherism, he became the republican nominee. Now hes president of the United States. This is a Republican Party that has not walked away from candidates across the country who endorse the qanon conspiracy theory. They see the evidence of mounting unrest in different areas, clashing between protesters and White Supremacists, and they essentially say were still with this president for whatever reason, a myriad of reasons you hear from different sources. But thats the Republican Party, not just now but over the past ten years. Tim, all three of you can read a poll. Even though polls suggest its not working, donald trump has done none of his messages since joe biden seized the nomination, have changed the structure of this race. Hes been seven to ten points behind joe biden consistently. Why do you think they stay with i ask this question as a former george w. Bush staffer. I think most viewers at this program are probably glad that the republicans were very at ease going against george w. Bush when some of his policies became unpopular. But this acting as hostages to an unpopular president , trailing his opponent by ten points has really that has never been done before, tim. Yeah. I think there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that george w. Bush was not going to troll them and call them names and do everything he could to get them to stop to get them to lose. Donald trump doesnt care about any of them. Hes not trying to bring along anybody on his coattails and they know that so theyre afraid of him. Another part is, i talked to a really Top Republican consultant about this and asked him the same question. He said, well he has sue dam husseinlike numbers with the base. You cant believe him. When bush got unpopular, he dropped all across the party, so there were ways to step out away. I think thats part of it. The other reasons its not changing is because donald trump in his bones believes this, that everybody told him that he was going to lose last time. Every time after the access Hollywood Tape and every racism comment he made, he was going to lose, he had no chance, that he had to soften up. He won anyway. I think donald trump believes why should i listen to him this time. I think all the republican hostages in the senate and the house are worried theyre going to step out there on this ledge and hes going to surprise the world again. They think he has this magic dust thats going to allow him to win. I think theres a little bit of political calculation and a little bit cowardice. Bob costa, i want to give you the last word. As you said, donald trump ascended on the big lie that was birtherism. He seems to be closing the last 34 days dug in. His White House Press secretary dug in on refusing to denounce White Supremacy. As a reporter, what does it look like as this story starts and the end of his first term or end of his presidency ending on a racism message . The story of President Trump is not necessarily a story he created on his own. When you look at what happened in this counted, an erosion of institutional integrity, belief across the board, all these different kinds of institutions that protect the american system, american political life, and he has barricaded through it. He has taken an axe to it at times, and through that opening he has created a whole new american politics that is now his closing message in this campaign where norms do not matter. In fact, they are shattered. Bob costa, tim miller, thank you both so much for starting us off with a really candid conversation that needed to be had. Elizabeth neumann is staying with us for a little while longer. When we come back, a stunning exclusive scoop from nbc news, internal documents showing Homeland Security officials were instructed to make sympathetic comments about the alleged gunman who shot and killed two protesters in kenosha, wisconsin. That story is next. Plus, as donald trump refuses to condemn White Supremacists, hes under fire for another rant, this time against immigrants, refugees and a sitting United States congresswoman. A big announcement from nba star lebron james that will help voters cast their ballots in next months election. Deadline white house back after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Condemning the actions like Kyle Rittenhouse. Were looking at all of it. That was an interesting situation. You saw the same tape as i saw. He was trying to get away from them, i guess, it looks like, and he fell. Then they very violently attacked him. It was something that were looking at right now, and its under investigation. I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would have been killed. Its under investigation. So that was all the way back in august when donald trump refused to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17yearold charged with fatally shooting two protesters in kenosha, wisconsin, just days earlier. Rittenhouse who is from illinois and previously attended a trump rally was arrested on first degree murder charges and is fighting extradition to wisconsin. His attorneys say he acted in selfdefense. Were learning according to internal talking points obtained by nbc news that federal Law Enforcement officials were directed to make public sympathetic comments about rittenhouse, ones that sound very similar to the ones the president made there. Quote, in preparing Homeland Security, officials for questions about rittenhouse from the media, the documents suggest that they took note that he took the rifle to the scene of the rioting to help defend Small Business owners. Oh, my god. Joining our conversation, nbc news Homeland Security and justice correspondent Julia Ainsley who broke the story. Elizabeth neumann is still with us as well. Julia, he is not a Law Enforcement official, not even a legal adult. He was a teenager carrying a long gun in a protest and he shot and killed two people. Is that right . Thats right. When they looked at his social media to figure out what may have motivated him to come to kenosha in the first place, they found out he was a trump supporter and very supportive of police. So that tells you something about the way Trump Administration responded to this incident right off the bat. When these talking points went out after that august 25th incident, there was very little investigating that had been done, no investigating by dhs because they are not involved in investigating his incident at all, but they still wanted dhs to weigh in, to be able to say if they were asked that Kyle Rittenhouse was someone who acted in selfdefense, who was trying to defend Small Business owners, and that they should push back against any narratives that he was a lone wolf who was police obsessed. All these were in talking points given to dhs officials who ordinarily, if they were going to make a comment on anything like this, they would have intelligence backing them up, not political talking points. Did anyone follow the advice, julia . I looked back on different talking points. It looked like they didnt go as far as the president. You could see people like ken cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary at dhs say things that were more sympathetic about rittenhouse, saying we need to reserve judgment. As weve seen, theres been such a chasm, nicolle, and the difference in the way they talk about people like rittenhouse and the way they talk about groups on the left, specifically this idea that antifa is sending people organized around the country by plane, all clad in the same black uniform. Thats been a trump talking point and also a talking point for mark Morgan Atticus Toms and border protection. Again, were seeing this huge split in the way not only trump splits between people who are acting on the right or the left of these protests, but also the way his own dhs is responding. Again, these are Law Enforcement officials. They are not supposed to be feeding into the political talking points of the day or really making comments on on going investigations at all. Elizabeth, youre probably i dont know, i cant see you, but nodding your head. Injecting politics, injecting trumps politics probably seem like exactly the kinds of things that led to your resignation and endorsement of joe biden. Your thoughts on julias reporting. Sadly, youre seeing more and more of this, a pollicization of the department of Homeland Security, of Law Enforcement officials. What struck me it is very normal when we have an incident in the first few hours, first few days to have a standard talking point that says were waiting for the investigation to unfold. Usually the facts on the ground are not, in the first few hours, some aspects tush out not to be true. Its always wise to withhold judgment until you have a clear picture. But we knew that rittenhouse was a part of a Militia Group that selfdeployed. We knew this because it had been reported before the incident occurred. What strikes me as odd is that the role in Law Enforcement, the role of government is to clearly communicate to the citizenry, please remain calm and to educate people that, in fact, private militias are illegal in all 50 states. Georgetown law has done a remarkable law of trying to educate and make available those laws. So you would think a responsible government would in that moment say, please dont take it upon yourself to try to protect somebody elses Small Business. Please let Law Enforcement do their job. But thats not what you saw. You saw more interest in trying to defend rittenhouse than in actually calling for calm and letting Law Enforcement do their job. Elizabeth, it ties back to something that one of the president s longest serving political advisers said on television. Kellyanne conway said that the violence on the streets of any American City benefits donald trump politically. How much do you think the politics that olivia troye talks about, whether with the Covid Response or that you saw in thwarting efforts to bring intel about White Supremacy or Russian Election hacking, how much does that sort of taint the information that goes out from Public Officials about an alleged crime like this . I think at this point almost everything that goes out is for the purpose of getting trump reelected. Theres so few people left in press and communication jobs that are able to report on good news or tell you facts about anything other than what will help get trump reelected. Sadly look, theres always a tension and nicolle you know this with a press office, a communications office, because your job is to try to make things in the best light possible. But you also are balancing the fact that youre managing the government and you have a duty to provide Accurate Information to the public so that maybe for their own protection, if its a National Emergency like covid is, or just so the electorate can be informed about what the government is doing. What youve seen in this administration, sadly, is that the press is no longer the Public Affairs office is no longer about communicating the the public, but rather being trumps personal campaign. Elizabeth neumann, its always great to talk to you and your experiences and insights from the inside. Julia ainsley, this was a fascinating scoop. Thank you so much for spending time to come and talk with us about it. When we come back, what Donald Trumps latest racially motivating rant against a sitting congresswoman tells us about what he stands in the 2020 election. Here is a hint. Its not good. Deadline white house continues deadline white house continues after a quick break. Its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Did yocould be signs that syour digestive systemwn isnt working at its best . Taking metamucil every day can help. Metamucil supports your daily Digestive Health using a special plantbased fiber called psyllium. Psyllium works by forming a gel in your digestive system to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. Metamucils gelling action also helps to lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. So, start feeling lighter and more energetic. By taking metamucil every day. So false, a judge ordered them bistruck from the voter guide. Prop 15 are using scare tactics but the following facts are not in dispute. Prop 15 closes big Corporate Tax loopholes, protects homeowners, and cuts Small Business taxes. But thats not all, by closing the loopholes, communities can invest in local schools, ppe for nurses, and our firefighters. Dont be deceived by big corporate scare tactics. Vote yes on 15. What is going on with omaha . Ive been reading reports for two years about how corrupt she is. How the hell . Then she tells us how to run our country, do you believe it . How the hell did minnesota elect her. So our country happens to be her country, but everyone knows what he was implying there, right . A day after calling Racial Sensitivity Training racist, trump launched an attack on an american lawmaker amid a largest racist monologue about refugees. They pledged a 700 increase in refugees. 700 . Congratulations, minnesota, congratulations. Biden will turn minnesota into a refugee camp, and he said that, overwhelming public resources, overcrowding schools and inundating your hospitals. You know that. Its already there. Its a disgrace what theyve done to your state. So much for the shining city on the hill. Joining our conversation, democratic strategist aisha mills and democratic pollster corinne l. Belcher. Im somewhat god smacked and speechless. Voters will drive turn out for anything but that. That is now anybody sees america except the people in the middle of a pandemic not wearing a mask who go to trumps events see america, cornell. Careful nicolle. There are a large swath of americans who actually do see it that way. I dont have to tell you that race and racial matters is as old as american politics itself. In fact, but this type of brazen racism is different. You go back to talking agent the southern strategy. He talked about how in 54 you could be very explicit. By the time you got to 1968 you couldnt be as explicit as you were. You had to nuance it or it would backfire. Youd get blowback. I dont know where we are right now. We hoped that as the years continued you would have to donald trump, he doesnt campaign in dog whistles. He campaigns in explicit racism the likes of which we have not seen in several decades. Look, i said it in 2016, its the racism, stupid. It is, in fact, the backlash and the fear and the anxiety that comes from having the first africanamerican president s for the first time in our countrys history, the vast, vast majority of white voters said i want the country going in this direction and a new coalition of both whites and Browning America said we want the country going in this direction and it was a majority. So theres a lot of anxiousness out there. Hes feeding and fanning that anxiousness. I would not be at all surprised if he does once again garner the 46 or 47 of the electorate that he did in 2016. Cornell, do you think its a good closing message . Weve spent in my opinion too much time talking about the trump base and not enough time talking about the trump coalition. Is this the broad message to the trump coalition, or is this the hardening of the trump base . I think its the hardening of his base. What the heck else is going to campaign on . Is it covid, the economy . Racism is all hes got. So i dont think theres a lot there. Without racism, the emperor has no clothes. And such a scary thought. Aisha, i guess one variable here is shes a sitting members of congress. Theyre chanting lock her up about a sitting members of congress. Well, we know decency and respect certainly for rule of law, but for other people isnt a donald trump thing and its not what his craw cares about. I think its perfect for his base because they want to be anti establishment, they want to take down people they dont like and frankly, they feel theyre above the law. Theyre so beyond decorum that they feel they can break everything down and set up new rules. In this case, who cares about congress . Who cares about these institutions that have shaped this nation since almost the beginning of time, but certainly since the beginning of our democracy . Its all playing well for him. I want to go back to what cornell was talking about. This idea that trump had some kind of magical winning coalition, i dont necessarily think was true. I think there were people out there, white people in particular, who could excuse the fact that some racists like donald trump. Hes not really racist. Okay, well the racists may think hes racist and a couple of people may like him because they think he is, but hes not really racist and they could excuse it away. What he has done now, he has been so ridiculous that theres no opportunity to excuse him away. I dont think there was a coalition that loved him so much as people figured they would give him a chance because they didnt really like the alternative. He can get his 40something percent. Thats not enough to really win the presidency. Aisha, i agree with you, and i think thats right. I hate this term, but i think it might apply here to some of the kinds of Republican Voters, especially republican women, pro life women who were voting for the Supreme Court picks, they gave themselves this permission by telling themselves a lie, hes not a racist. The racists like him but hes not a racist. That lie is gone. Some of them may come back. Let me show you what congresswoman omar had to say about all of this, about being singled out and attacked by trump and his supporters last night . I mean, this man is a white supremacist. Its no surprise he has ideas of feeling somalis are worthless and is having a hard time accepting a fact that a district that is 65 white can elect a somali refugee. But the truth is 78 of them voted for me to come to congress. And not only are minnesotans welcoming of refugees, they have sent one to washington to represent them. We are very clear in minnesota we are greater than hate. That is why he didnt win minnesota in 2016 and why he is not going to win minnesota in 2020. So aisha, when i was listening to her, i was thinking, oh, my god, donald trump thinks that refugees and Asylum Seekers and Illegal Immigrants are all one bucket of people and he thinks he can smear them all with one broad brush. Shes about right. She won her district by a large margin. His efforts to conflate refugees that come o to this country, th used to be one of the things americans were so proud of, we were a beacon, a place where people under political persecution that people wanted to come to. That chant last night lock her up and the sort of racist spiel i played that came after it really does represent another sort of normalization among trump and his supporters of flagrant anti american, anti refugee rhetoric. I take cornells word that this was sort of out there in the past. Its not been out there in recent times from an incumbent president on a rally stage. Lets not also forget hes a misogynist. The lock her up chant came for hillary clinton. Theyre not original though. I would like us all to consider this, because i find myself getting down in the dumps of, is donald trump racist or not, conversations. Here is what donald trump is brilliant at. We cannot let him dupe us. Hes throwing the ropeadope out there, gaslighting americans, using race and misogyny and bigotry and all these things to keep us distracted from the facts that i personally believe im not speaking for anybody else. Im certainly not paid to speak for this network. I personally believe hes trying to distract us from some of his own legal challenges, his own financial challenges. A lot of the muck that he may be in right now that is probably costing americans in ways that we cant even begin to imagine, hes using things like race and being nasty and a bully and hate to distract from some really serious mess that hes got going on. I dont want us to take our eyes off of the real prize here which is salvaging america from the nightmare and the danger that this guy in the white house has put us in financially, economically and certainly globally with regards to our diplomatic efforts. So dont let donald trump go around and call women and brown people nasty things and yall get distracted by it. Im telling you he is hiding something and he wants you to look over there at the ridiculousness so youre not really paying attention to whats going on with his finances and how he is probably syphoning off things from the United States that we wont even be able to repair imagine, let alone repair for years to come. Its a good point. He does benefit from the shiny object strategy. We have more headlines to cover. When we come back, lebron james fights back against Donald Trumps threats of voter intimidation. Well be back with that story after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Life doesnt stop for a cold. [man] honey. [woman] honey thats why theres new dayquil severe honey. Its maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honeylicious taste. Dayquil honey. The daytime coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, power through your day medicine. Wow. And someone told them to shut up and dribble. Obviously we have a very long way to go when it comes to Racial Justice in america. Scenes like this last night are powerful. This is from game one of the nba finals. Some of the leagues biggest, hugest superstars including lebron james kneeling the American National anthem, wearing shirts that say vote, a profound messaging strategy backed up by real, real change on lebrons part. Lebron is working to get more poll workers into black electoral districts. Hes amazed more than 10,000 volunteers. Put that up against what were talking about today as relates to donald trump and his call for poll monitors and watchers potentially sparking fear and chaos on election day. Aisha and cornell are still here. Cornell, youve taken me down a notch in my optimism that Donald Trumps racism doesnt land with as much as a swath. I do think lebrons offcourt actions and the way these issues have been elevated do have an impact. Would you disagree . Im going to try to bring you back up, nicolle, because i dont want you down. The good news is that, look, i think racism on the ballot this time around in a way it hasnt been before. Me, too. I can argue that for a long time white americans didnt have much skin in the racism game. It was something that other people had to deal with and it was that community and those people over there. Now you hear in focus groups white moms talking about whats the future of this country if we continue down this path . And whats the future for our kids if we continue down this path . Two things donald trump has done and done uniquely. One is hes made white people understand that they have skin in this racism game and they have to also play a part in doing something about it or god help america because were going to be in trouble. Two is what you see you see what those players doing and seeing with athletes and hat off to lebron james and his leadership here, but youre also seeing a level of activism in politics like we havent seen since probably the since proba 60s where athletes and entertainers, talking about the importance of voting, civic participation. 10, 15 years ago, i dont think we would have seen this. This level of activism now is coming out because of the quint essential threat to our democracy that is donald trump. So hes brought people together in a way that, you know, the down side, it is taking this to destroy our country to do it. But the upside is hes making people understand that they have skin in the racism game and that no one can sit on the sidelines. We all have to get involved. And i dont want to stick myself in this story, what do i know . Because youre in it. I mean, youre right. Everyone has skin in the game. There is no opting out of this conversation. The most visible public figure in the United States of america on tuesday night in front of millions of people including kids, refused to denounce White Supremacists. I think most school codes refuse to denounce hate speech. I dont know where you go in terms of making a case to the suburbs which donald trump seems intent on playinging this twitter feed if you are an out and out white supremacist. Yeah. Im tired of considering Donald Trumps strategy. Im looking at, 30 days from the election, what are democrats doing . Cornell is right. Barack obama was awesome and amazing and certainly transformative for a generation of us. And got out people, and it was exciting. But weve never really seen anything in our lifetime like we saw on the scale of the inauguration of donald trump, when the womens march hit and literally was the largest in history. The resist movement that then followed is what changed the forces of congress and made at this time most Diverse Congress in history. Donald trump is riling people up for sure and calling to participate for better or for worse. I am thinking of how do the democrats seize this moment when there is so much racial turmoil in america. We have black bodies bleeding in the streets. We have cops getting off forward murders of breonna taylor. We have Structural Racism that persists in our country. Now is the moment when democrats can actually, who have power in the house, can actually do something to change the game that has been gaining us. We have been in pain since we first set foot on the shores of this country. Now white people are hip to it, privy to it. So what will the democrats do to keep this mobilization going . But more importantly, to start to present some Structural Solutions and change to get us beyond all this hate amongering. Thank you so much. When we return as we do every day, we will remember lives well lived. While keeping your business growing has you swamped. you need to hire i need indeed indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base so you can start hiring right away. Claim your seventyfivedollar credit when you post your first job at indeed. Com promo so this photo was taken on monday. It is the scoreboard in the gymnasium at Ledford High School in many north carolina. Youll notice the number 10. That belonged to chad, an all basketball player who graduated from that high school in 2019. He then enrolled in Appalachian State university. Until very recently was studying to become a physical therapist. When he started to feel sick, he quarantined at home. After ten days, he returned to college. According to the New York Times, almost immediately he began experiencing serious neurological problems. His uncle said his nephew who was in tremendous shame just couldnt get out of bed. His legs werent working. They carried him into the emergency room. Chad was a rare case. Instead of attacking his respiratory system, the coronavirus attacked his brain and it happened fast. He died monday night. Chads loved ones say he was kind, talented and smart. Of course, thinking of his family and friends this afternoon. And we promise, we will remember number 10 as well. Well be right back. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. Were always grateful. The beat with ari melber starts right now. Thats the second time ive done it this week. Im so sorry. Dont worry. I know the late nights youve been working. In hip hop they say put some almost on my name. I dont need almost. You say it right half the time, were good enough. I do have a question for you. Im glad youre here. Ive watched and i particularly thought right after the debate, you talk about how different audiences might see it so differently. As this maze out, im curious from your experience, how do you tell a candidate or a president , whatever their short comings may or may not be, boy, you really messed up, even if you dont think you did. So in 200for you, that task fell to me. I was on the bus with george w. Bush when the first polls came out. That was when the news magazines,time and newsweek, had some of the best polling. After his first debate which he famously bombed against john kerry. He lost almost the entire bounce that he received after his convention. And i went to the back of the bus and i said, mr. President , the polls are out. He said, how did we do . Not good. We lost everything. He said i think we lost the post debate spin war. I got ready to get right back at him and he said im